DESIGN OF A SMART LEADING EDGE DEVICE FOR LOW SPEED WIND TUNNEL TESTS IN THE EUROPEAN PROJECT SADE

Abstract

The presented paper describes the pre-design and sizing of a smart leading edge section which is developed in the project SADE (Smart High Lift Devices for Next Generation Wings) which is part of the seventh framework program of the EU. SADE aims at a major step forward in the develop-ment and evaluation of the potential of morphing airframe technologies. In SADE the development of morphing technologies concentrates on the leading and trailing edge high-lift devices. At the leading edge a smart gap and step-less droop nose device is developed. For the landing flap a smart trailing edge of the flap is in the focus of the research activities. The main path in SADE fol-lows the development of the leading edge section and the subsequent wind tunnel testing of a five meter span full-scale section with a chord length of three meters in the wind tunnel T-101 at the Russian central aero-hydrodynamic institute (TsAGI) in Moscow. The presented paper gives an overview over the desired performance and requirements of a smart leading edge device, the smart leading edge concept of the DLR what has been selected for the wind tunnel tests and the pre-design ad sizing of the full-scale leading edge section which will be tested in the wind tunnel.