New tools for testing natural laminar flow wings
The Breakthrough Laminar Aircraft Demonstrator in Europe (BLADE) is part of Clean Sky’s Smart Fixed Wing Aircraft (SFWA) programme. This ambitious EU-funded multi-partner research activity aims to reduce the environmental footprint of air transport. By reducing aircraft drag and noise, the SFWA will make a critical contribution to achieving the Single European Sky initiative’s environmental objectives. BLADE aims to play a key role in the development of natural laminar flow wing technology. In line with this objective, new natural laminar flow wings will be mounted onto an existing Airbus flight test aircraft (A340). The outcomes of the SFWA flight test demonstrator aim to confirm that a specific wing profile can sustain laminar flow with acceptable stability. The EU-funded JIF2LAND (Jigs and fixtures for assembly of the laminar wing at the BLADE flight test demonstrator final assembly line) project contributed to Europe’s Clean Sky initiative. Project partners successfully designed, manufactured and delivered the jigs and fixtures for the SFWA’s BLADE project that will test a laminar flow wing under flight conditions on an A340 aircraft. The newly developed tools will be used to demount the existing outer wings from an A340 and replace them with new laminar flow wings for testing. Project partners successfully developed an efficient process for assembling/disassembling small batches of jigs at a low cost. The newly created jigs are made with 100 % recyclable materials and can also be reused in other applications. After manufacturing all columns, beams and structures that make up the jig platforms, JIF2LAND partners completed the disassembly of the wing and auxiliary elements. Once the wing was cut and separated, they manufactured all jig components, completed the assembly of the blade and mounted the newly created jigs. Eventual implementation of natural laminar flow wings in commercial aircraft will lead to more efficient and cleaner air transport for the future.
Keywords
Natural laminar flow wings, A340, BLADE, flight test, JIF2LAND, jigs
