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An improved high-lift aerodynamic prediction method for transport aircraft

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Abstract

The aim of this work is the development of a methodology to predict lift characteristics for transport aircraft in the whole flight envelope, useful in the preliminary aircraft design stage. The purpose is an attempt to improve the classical methodologies for wing load distribution and lift prediction, applicable to both clean and flapped configuration. This has been obtained considering the airfoils’ aerodynamic characteristics until stall and post-stall conditions during the process, and modifying 2D characteristics in the case of high-lift devices to take into account 3D effects introduced by the devices themselves. The method is a modification of standard vortex-lattice procedures which are capable of predicting wing aerodynamic characteristics. As regards the clean configuration, the enhanced method works by integrating airfoil characteristics, whereas as far as the high-lift devices’ effect is concerned, the improved method works by substituting clean airfoil aerodynamic characteristics for the flapped aerodynamics ones, and introducing a correction to evaluate the 3D effects induced by the high-lift devices’ geometrical discontinuities. The methodology is explained separately for these two configurations. The results of the developed method have been compared with CFD and experimental data showing good agreement, making available a fast and reliable method useful in preliminary aircraft design phase.

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Notes

  1. http://www.daf.unina.it.

Abbreviations

2D:

Two-dimensional

3D:

Three-dimensional

AGILE:

Aircraft third-Generation MDO for Innovative Collaboration of Heterogeneous Teams of Experts

AR:

Wing aspect ratio

b :

Wing span

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

\(C_{l}\) :

Two-dimensional lift coefficient

\(C^{\mathrm{clean}}_{{l}}\) :

Two-dimensional lift coefficient in clean configuration

\(C^{\mathrm{hl}}_{{l}}\) :

Two-dimensional lift coefficient in high-lift configuration (high-lift devices deployed)

\(C_{{l}_\mathrm{MAX}}\) :

Two-dimensional maximum lift coefficient

\(C_{L}\) :

Three-dimensional lift coefficient

\(C_{{L}_\mathrm{MAX}}\) :

Three-dimensional maximum lift coefficient

\(C_\mathrm{r}\) :

Wing root chord

\(C_\mathrm{t}\) :

Wing tip chord

DAF:

Design of aircraft and flight technologies research group

F :

Downwash influence function

h :

Altitude

HiLiftPW:

High-lift prediction workshop

JPAD:

Java program tool chain for aircraft design

M :

Mach number

N :

One-half of total number vortex points

MDO:

Multidisciplinary design optimization

S :

Wing area

V :

Free-stream velocity

\(X_{\mathrm{LE}}\) :

Wing sections leading-edge coordinates along x-axis

y :

Wing station along span (y-axis)

\(\alpha\) :

Geometric angle of attack

\(\alpha _{0l}\) :

Angle of attack which produces a 2D zero-lift condition

\(\alpha _\mathrm{e}\) :

Effective angle of attack

\(\alpha _\mathrm{s}\) :

Angle of attack at stall condition

\(\alpha_\mathrm{w}\) :

Wing angle of attack

\(\delta\) :

Zone between no-flap and deflected flap wing section

\(\eta\) :

Non-dimensional spanwise coordinate

\(\varGamma\) :

Circulation strength

\(\varLambda _{\mathrm{LE}}\) :

Wing sweep angle at leading edge

\(\nu\) :

Number of designating vortices’ control points

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Acknowledgements

The research presented in this paper has been performed in the framework of the AGILE project (Aircraft 3rd Generation MDO for Innovative Collaboration of Heterogeneous Teams of Experts) and has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Program (H2020-MG-2014-2015) under Grant Agreement No. 636202. The authors are grateful to the partners of the AGILE consortium for their contribution and feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Engineering (DII), University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Pierluigi Della Vecchia, Fabrizio Nicolosi, Manuela Ruocco, Luca Stingo & Agostino De Marco

Authors
  1. Pierluigi Della Vecchia
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  2. Fabrizio Nicolosi
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  3. Manuela Ruocco
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  4. Luca Stingo
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  5. Agostino De Marco
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Correspondence to Pierluigi Della Vecchia.

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Della Vecchia, P., Nicolosi, F., Ruocco, M. et al. An improved high-lift aerodynamic prediction method for transport aircraft. CEAS Aeronaut J 10, 795–804 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-018-0349-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-018-0349-5

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