Rear End Aerodynamic and Aeroelastic Studies

Project Information

TailSurf

Grant agreement ID: 864290

DOI

10.3030/864290

Project closed

EC signature date 1 October 2019

Start date 1 October 2019

End date 31 March 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost

€ 1 465 541,25

EU contribution

€ 1 465 541,25

Coordinated by

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - TailSurf (Rear End Aerodynamic and Aeroelastic Studies)

Reporting period: 2021-04-01 to 2023-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

TailSurf will contribute to the design, testing, integration and optimisation of ARE for the improvement of performance at component level of 20% weight reduction, 20% recurring cost reduction and 50% lead time reduction. It is also expected that 1.5% reduction of fuel burn at aircraft level will be achieved from the optimal rear end configurations.

Modern vertical tails for large passenger aircraft are oversized in design to overcome an emergency situation of an engine-out during take-off and landing under crosswind conditions. Airframe manufacturers usually use a common vertical tail for an entire family of passenger aircraft, adding drag and weight, especially for stretched versions, which increases the fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. The Advanced Rear End (ARE) concept (WP1.2 of Clean Sky 2 Large Passenger Aircraft (LPA) Programme) addresses this very issue by trying to reduce the size of empennage of commercial aircraft, reducing its weight by 20% and improving fuel consumption by 1.5% over the previous goals. Through this initiative, CS2 expects to improve the manufacturing process by reducing the recurring costs and the lead time by 20% and 50%, respectively.

The objective of this proposal is to study innovative flow control devices, such as plasma actuators, leading-edge undulations and passive blown control, reduce the size of empennage of LPA. This study will be accompanied by an investigation of flexible tail surfaces to improve the aeroelastic efficiency through aeroelastic tailoring and platform-induced favourable bending torsion coupling using CFD and wind tunnel tests. We also propose to test alternative tail configurations, such as V-tails and the family of cross-tails, which satisfies the topic requirements in JTI-CS2-2018-CfP09-LPA-01-63.

The specific objectives and the associated work packages to achieve this aim are:
1. WP1: To define and test technologies and shapes to delay the flow separation, leading to stall of the tail surface and saturation of the control surfaces (WP1 – deliverable DX in MX). Thee control effect of these technologies and devices will be verified by both wind tunnel experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) on high performance computing (HPC) facilities.
2. WP2: To study means and concepts to increase aeroelastic efficiency of tail surfaces using computational and experimental means.
3. WP3: To study the integration of all technologies on an advanced rear-end configuration and numerical prediction and post-test calibration.
4. WP4: To investigate the applicability of plasma actuators (DBDs) for de-icing and delaying stall experimentally.
5. WP5: To carry out management and administration required over the course of the whole project. It will serve to administer and manage the project in accordance with the Clean Sky 2 Management Manual, including the management of risks, finances and administrative tasks. It will also be essential to promote the project results and scientific and technical outcomes through targeted dissemination and communication activities.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Work package 1: Flow Separation Control

Achievements:
•Design and manufacturing a scaled down (25%) model and control devices
•Preliminary wind tunnel using scaled down models and devices.
•Design and manufacturing of Model 1
•Completion of wind tunnel tests of all passive and active flow control devices
•Completion of data analysis

Work package 2: Aeroelastic Efficiency

Achievements:
•Design and manufacturing of Model 2
•Aeroelastic tests in wind tunnel using Model 2
•Completion of data analysis

Work package 3: Integration Study

Achievements:
•Design and manufacture of Model 3
•Model 3 installation and wind tunnel tests
•Completion of data analysis

Work Package 4: Anti & De-Icing DBD

Achievements:
•The design and manufacture of Model 4
• Anti-icing tests of Model 4 using plasma actuators
• Anti-icing tests of Model 4 using graphene sheet
• Completion of data analysis

Work Package 5: Management, Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication

Achievements:
•Completed project management and administration
•Completed financial Management
•Completed risk Management
•Completed scientific and technical dissemination
•Completed Outreach and communication

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

This project falls under CS2 Large Passenger Aircraft IADP Platform 1 “Advanced Engine and Aircraft Configurations”, which focuses on large-scale demonstration of technologies integrated at aircraft level to explore and validate the integration of the most fuel-efficient propulsion concept for next generation. Platform 1 provides the R&D environment for the Advanced Rear End (ARE) concept and aims at the design and manufacture of the optimum rear fuselage and empennage for the next generation of commercial aircraft. Here, TAILSURF contributed to the design, testing, integration and optimisation of ARE for the improvement of performance at component level of 20% weight reduction, 20% recurring cost reduction and 50% lead time reduction. It is also expected that 1.5% reduction of fuel burn at aircraft level will be achieved from the optimal rear end configurations.

An introduction of ARE concept has significant consequences for the entire product with respect to performance, operation and industrial production. Tailsurf project contributed towards the realisation of such tail design by providing aeroelastic solutions to lift the innovative aerodynamic and performance of the tail and subsequently achieve the tail size reduction. A combination of wind tunnel tests and CFD studies of innovative flow control devices, aeroelastic tailoring of tail surfaces and platform-induced favourable bending-torsional coupling have been carried out.

There are more than 800 Engineering Undergraduate and MSc students graduating from UNOTT, BRIS and GLAS every year, who will benefit from the training and educational materials made available to them as a direct result this project. In addition, four post-doctoral researchers will be directly employed in the consortium of UNOTT, BRIS and GLAS furthering their skills and expertise. Additionally seven academics (project officers) have engaged in the dissemination of the knowledge and information obtained from this project through academic and professional publications while attending European and international conferences.

Tailsurf project contributed to the required reduction of CO2 and NOx from the weight reduction and performance improvement of the advanced rear end design and manufacturing, which also lead to a reduction of fuel burn (1.5%) at aircraft level.
TailSurf will lead to a more efficient tail section for the next generation single aisle, the aerodynamic studies will consist of four different models, preliminary calculations show that there is potential for drag reduction of 1.3% leading to a reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions both by 0.97% and increasing aircraft range by 1.38%.

de Havilland wind tunnel at the University of Glasgow.