Project description
New tests on aircraft with distributed electric propulsion
Aircraft with distributed electric propulsion (DEP) could drastically reduce fuel consumption and harmful carbon emissions. The EU-funded VENUS project will contribute important knowledge on the aerodynamics and aeroacoustics performance of a wide range of DEP configurations through numerical simulations and experimental wind tunnel tests. The project's outcomes should enhance the future design of such new regional aircraft. All produced models, data and documents will be freely available to research institutions. More aerodynamic and quieter planes mean less fuel, which translates not only to cost benefits and competitiveness but also to a lower impact on the environment.
Objective
Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), is one of the propulsion configurations that, taking advantage from the Distributed Propulsion concept, is believed to exploit the benefits of electrical engines to drastically reduce fuel consumption and emissions. In the framework of the topic JTI-CS2-2018-CFP10-THT-08, the proposal VENUS will have the objective to understand the physics behind the aeroacoustics of DEP through a deep theoretical, experimental and numerical study. Appropriate numerical procedures for DEP noise assessment will be set-up and experimental data-set obtained in dedicated wind tunnel tests, will be used both as experimental DEP noise validation reference and for providing support to the identification of the main parameters affecting DEP noise. Technologies for DEP noise reduction will be studied as well and tested experimentally. From the technical standpoint, the VENUS consortium will support the model design, manufacturing and integration by realizing a representative test article for WT parametric aeroacoustic tests, able to allow for configuration changes, in terms of engine-wing and engine-engine installation configurations, and to test the selected noise mitigation technologies. The consortium will develop methods and tools enabling a concurrent aerodynamic and aeroacoustic design of DEP configuration aircraft. The final step will consist in the experimental-numerical assessment of the numerical models. As a practical achievement, the study will support the design of a new regional aircraft configuration, in terms of wing and engines’ installation, to target a DEP which is optimized in terms of aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance. It is pointed out that all the produced models, data and documents will be open access for other institutions, with the objective to establish an “open test-case” for the whole European scientific community, unique in the aircraft design landscape.
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
00154 Roma
Italy