Aerodynamic Shape Design and Validation of an Advanced High-Lift Device for a Regional Aircraft with Morphing Droop Nose

Abstract

In the present work, the aerodynamic shape design of an advanced high-lift system for a natural laminar flow (NLF) wing, based on the combination of a morphing droop nose and a single slot trailing edge flap, is presented. The paper presents both the aerodynamic design and optimization of the NLF wing and the high-lift configuration considering the mutual effects of both flap devices. Concerning the morphing droop nose (DN), after defining the parameterization techniques adopted to describe the geometry in terms of morphing shape and flap settings, the external configuration is obtained by an aerodynamic shape optimization procedure able to meet geometrical constraints and the skin structural requirements due to the morphing. The final performance assessment of the three-dimensional high-lift configurations is performed by high-fidelity aerodynamic analyses. The design procedure is applied to a twin-prop regional aircraft equipped with a natural laminar flow wing. The morphing droop nose is compatible with an NLF wing that requires the continuity of the skin and, at the same time, extends the possibilities to improve the performances of the class of regional aircraft which usually are not equipped with conventional leading edge devices. Additionally, the morphing technology applied to the flap allows the design of a tracking system fully integrated inside the airfoil geometry, leading to a solution without external fairings and so with no extra friction drag penalty for the aircraft.