Propeller Design for a future QESTOL Aircraft in the BNF Project

Kurzfassung

Due to increasing airport congestion the German research project 'Bürgernahes Flugzeug' (BNF, citizen friendly airplane) investigates the potential of aircraft for a possible future air transportation system integrating small airports. Key technologies like aerodynamics for developing new generation quiet, efficient, short take-off and landing (QESTOL) aircraft are meant to be made available via Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and new wind tunnel data. Subject of these studies is a generic twin-engine single-aisle confguration with an active high-lift system and a turboprop propulsion system. With respect to aerodynamics, the possible benefits of the propeller slipstream interaction with the fow field around an active high-lift wing are explored. The first step, the propeller design for the turboprop propulsion system of the aircraft is conducted taking aerodynamic and aeroacoustic constraints into account. This propeller is scaled down to suit a wind tunnel (w/t) model with an active high-lift wing. Aspects of the integration of the turboprop propulsion system on the wing half model and instrumentation of the propeller wind tunnel model are examined.