Selected Current Challenges in the Development of Hybrid Laminar Flow Control on Transport Aircraft

Abstract

The application of hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) on commercial aircraft is one of the most promising fuel reduction technologies. Although this topic has been the subject of research and development for decades, the technology has not yet managed to establish itself successfully. An important factor is the uncertainty of the operators regarding the resulting overall efficiency, i.e., the ecological and economic efficiency achieved under realistic operational boundary conditions. This includes additional maintenance as well as the loss of laminarity under non-ideal operating conditions. From the manufacturers' point of view, the HLFC technology is also not yet satisfactorily mastered. Current research and development activities focus on time- and cost-efficient production while complying with high certification requirements. Using latest sub-technologies, these questions are tackled in several projects within the European Clean Sky 2 program. This paper addresses a few selected challenges from an overall aircraft impacts' point of view and presents the taken approaches to solve these. Through close collaboration between all disciplines and the inclusion of the assessment in the early design phase it is aimed to develop a successful complete system representing a significant step towards market-ready hybrid laminar posture.