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INNOVATIVE DESIGN OF HUBS AND PROPELLERS

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Bonus miles for the aeronautic industry

Counter-rotating open rotors (CRORs) could potentially cut the fuel consumption in aircraft by 20 %. An EU-supported project has developed a test rig to put these innovative engines through their paces.

Industrial Technologies icon Industrial Technologies

As air travel braces itself to take off in a big way, increased emissions is a major challenge for the future of the aeronautics industry. One major solution to this problem is the development of innovative engines that burn less fuel. Funded by the Seventh Framework Programme's (FP7) Joint Technological Initiatives, the 'Innovative design of hubs and propellers' (IDOHAP) project sought to test CRORs. These offer potential fuel savings of up to 20 % when compared with the classical turbofan engine in service today. Project partners worked to gather comprehensive data on the aero-acoustic behaviour of CROR blades through experimental characterisation. Towards that end, IDOHAP designed and delivered, in close collaboration with leading European aeronautics research centres, a CROR rig for Airbus. IDOHAP successfully designed a pair of one-fifth–scale hubs for Airbus' new Z49 test rig. The consortium also delivered computer-aided design (CAD) models, manufacture drawings and a structural analysis. The front hub contains 11 propeller blades and rotates anticlockwise, while the rear hub houses 9 propeller blades and rotates clockwise. The designs allow for the simple, accurate and repeatable setting of blade pitch angles and for the retention of the blades in the hub. The project has furnished a crucial enabling design technology for acquiring a CROR model for wind tunnel testing. Once this CROR model has been developed, the IDOHAP system will provide important baseline data to support the development of fuel-efficient and less noisy passenger aircraft.

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