Significance of Solar Radiation on Aircraft Engine Under Cowl Temperature

Literature on solar radiation effect on aircraft engine under cowl temperature is very limited. This paper describes an experimental work to quantify the effect of solar radiation levels on a range of aircraft engine nacelle surface finish and orientation in a representative way. The investigation was carried out on four aircraft engine nacelle representations during static ground running conditions. The nacelle models were fabricated using aluminium and surface coated with four different aircraft paint finish. Thermocouples were mounted at locations around the nacelle model. Effects of different solar radiation levels on the temperature distributions on the nacelles were presented. The contributions of radiative and convective heat transfer on the overall distribution of temperature inside the under cowl were quantified.