High-Lift Research for Future Transport Aircraft

Kurzfassung

Careful analysis of long-term objectives of air transport indicates that the needed progress in vehicle performance cannot be satisfied by following the current, evolutionary technology development. Particular examples are noise reduction and high-lift performance at take-off and landing. The long-term objectives call for research on the fundamentals for a new segment of civil, low noise transport aircraft with short take-off and landing capability, which allows a much better integration into the metropolitan areas of the industrialized society. Such research is the focus of the Coordinated Research Centre 880. The Centre aims at drastic reductions of airframe noise by developing the fundamentals of noise reducing surfaces in aero-acoustic and aerodynamic design. A promising approach towards reducing engine noise is seen in special configurations that shield engine noise sources. Improving the efficiency of active high lift requires reducing the flow actuation power. For this objective the benefits of form-variable leading edges, by exploiting the synergies of suction and blowing in active high-lift flaps with spanwisely distributed compressor units, and finally the potentials of dynamic flow control are investigated. The advances obtained in noise reductions and in effective high-lift technologies are assessed using fully iterated aircraft designs. The Centre also seeks new knowledge on the dynamic behaviour of aircraft with active high lift during flight in the atmospheric boundary layer. Therefore, the flight mechanics of critical landing manoeuvers is researched along with exploring the fundamentals of unsteady flow around active high-lift wings and the aero-elastic reactions of the wing structure on flight loads.