German Research Foundation (DFG) – Project Number 498601949
Subproject of: TRR 364: Synergies of Highly Integrated Transport Aircraft
Website of the Transregio: TRR364
Abstract C01
The increased weight of innovative energy storage in aircraft requires a higher lightweight construction and load path-oriented orthotropic designs. In addition, new functionalities such as optimized heat distribution zones are also needed. The project will therefore investigate the potential of structurally integrated thermal management using hybrid laminates with continuous (fiber-reinforced polymers doped with graphene materials) and discrete (fiber-metal laminates, hybridization) functionalization. The investigations will include experimental and numerical methods suitable for designing and validating dedicated intra- and interlaminar heat flow paths in these composite materials with realistic boundary conditions, e.g., for thermal convection in a dedicated test chamber.
Abstract SynTrac
Climate-neutral mobility, in particular climate-neutral air transport, is required to meet Sustainable Development Goals. A substantial increase of the overall aircraft efficiency is a prerequisite to achieve the vision of a future climate-neutral air transport system. Consistently continued development of aircraft and propulsion technologies will contribute significantly to this target. The synergies associated with a highly increased integration of the propulsion systems into future transport aircraft contribute to this target to a similar degree with a potential of 10 to 20 % additional energy savings. Main pillars of this integration are Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI), Distributed Propulsion (DP), the combination of thrust generation and aircraft control as well as the manifold aspects of integration of the propulsion systems into the airframe.
The comprehensive assessment of the synergies and the optimally balanced application of the main pillars require a truly cross-disciplinary, cross-system view of the entire aircraft and its systems. The synergies arise from physical processes and phenomena at the manifold interfaces between aircraft and propulsion systems. These make the interfaces between the associated disciplines as well as their physical models and methods fluent to an unprecedented extent. This raises the main research question of SynTrac: Which means of interaction and integration of physical models as well as experimental and numerical methods beyond the current state of the art are successful in realizing the synergies and potentials of highly integrated transport aircraft, and how large are these potentials?
For more Information go to Abstract SynTrac