The high-lift contribution to sustainable aviation
The Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) is the largest European aeronautical research programme to date. This ambitious programme aims to develop new technologies, which could significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the aviation industry in terms of fuel burn and carbon dioxide emissions, into working technology demonstrators. The DEAFCON (Wind tunnel model design with active flow control, for low speed test) consortium was launched to investigate the use of smart high-lift devices to be deployed on the next generation of short- and long-range aircraft. To this end, researchers designed a half large-scale model for testing in a pressurised wind tunnel. Specifically, model wings were designed to achieve natural laminar flow at cruise conditions with innovative high-lift systems. The researchers positioned a new Krueger flap at the removable leading edge and smart and conventional single- and double-slotted flaps on the trailing edge. The wings were also equipped with an aileron capable of deflections between – 35° and + 35°. The new wing models and associated hardware were developed to be incorporated into an existing model fuselage with pressure sensor installations and an extensive array of microphones. The set of high aspect ratio wings will allow a wide range of configurations to be investigated in future low-speed wind tunnel tests, including low-speed take-off and landing.
Keywords
Aviation, morphing airframe, Clean Sky, emissions, DEAFCON, wind tunnel
