The main goal of the project is to introduce novel structural solutions into aerospace industry through design, manufacturing and testing of Nacelle Structure of Next Generation Tiltrotor providing reduction in weight, number of parts and environmental impact (noise, vibration).
Next Generation Civil Tiltrotor demonstrator will help to improve industrial and scientific capabilities in the field of tiltrotors, giving Europe opportunity to stay on a predominant position in the rotorcraft industry across the globe. It is worth to emphasize, that within completion of the Next Generation Civil Tiltrotor project not only industrial, but also societal and environmental aspects shall be taken into account. Continuously increasing number of flights and predicted further growth of air travel, results in increased impact on environment and is a challenge facing aviation industry in terms of finding new and more environmental-friendly solutions that can enter into service in a relatively short period of time, taking into account dynamic (observed and predicted) congestion increase in the airspace.
The above is confirmed by the Clean Sky 2 Factsheet: "Air transport contributes today about 3% to global greenhouse gas emissions, with traffic expected to triple by 2050. Although other sectors are more polluting (electricity and heating produces 32% of greenhouse gases), this expected growth makes it necessary to address aviation’s environmental impact. Meeting the EU’s climate and energy objectives will require a drastic reduction of the sector’s environmental impact by reducing its emissions. Maximising fuel efficiency, using less to go farther, is also a key cost-cutting factor in a very competitive industry – and as air traffic increases, better noise reduction technologies are needed." Moreover, increasing expectations in terms of door-to-door mobility underlines the need of searching for more affordable solutions of improved performance.
Next Generation Civil Tiltrotor – synergy of modern airplanes and helicopters capabilities, which would outdistance them in terms of fuel consumption, impact on environment, cost and performance shall fulfill these expectations.
Realisation of the project will include searching for cutting-edge solutions in aviation engineering field, allowing for reaching the Main Objectives of the project:
- Weight reduction
- Reduction of number of parts
- Environmental impact reduction (noise, vibration etc.)
- Manufacturing cost and time reduction
