Current transport aircraft utilize a variety of technologies to maximize overall aircraft performance. Due to the complex interactions between disciplines such as preliminary design, aerodynamics, loads, flight mechanics, systems and structure, integrated wing design is becoming increasingly important to unlock the potential of new technologies.
Both passive and active measures can make a greater contribution to weight reduction than before. Passive measures include, for example, a purposefully designed stiffness distribution of the wing structure taking advantage of aeroelastic boundary conditions. Active measures for load reduction include controlled deflections of control surfaces or trailing edge flaps. These can also be used to increase aerodynamic performance. Optimizing the stiffness distribution of the wing (exploiting the possibilities of modern construction methods and composite materials) offers particular potential for passive load reduction in combination with the active measures. The central objective of the InFlyTec project is to
The project partners are applying the knowledge gained in this process to both a current aircraft with a turbulently flowed-around wing and a configuration with a drag-minimizing wing with hybrid laminar technology (HLFC). The scientists at the DLR Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology carry out all activities in the field of HLFC, analyze the load cases in low-speed flight and develop aerodynamic technologies for load reduction. For the configurations, they determine the load cases that are decisive for the dimensioning and thus for the weight. Taking into account the entire flight envelope, they focus on the analysis of the cruise configuration and on the consideration of low-speed flight.