IGF::OT::IGF OTHER FUNCTIONS - STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) SMAAART TASK TITLE: DEVELOPMENT OF VARIABLE CAMBER C…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF OTHER FUNCTIONS - STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) SMAAART TASK TITLE: DEVELOPMENT OF VARIABLE CAMBER CONTINUOUS TRAILING EDGE FLAP SYSTEM FOR B757 CONFIGURED WITH A MORE FLEXIBLE WING 1.0 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: NASA AERONAUTICS RESEARCH IS DEVELOPING NEW AERONAUTIC CONCEPTS AND TECHNOLOGIES TO ACHIEVE IMPROVED AERODYNAMIC EFFICIENCY, LESS FUEL BURN, AND REDUCED NOISE AND EMISSIONS. THESE RESEARCH GOALS ARE IN RESPONSE TO INCREASING DEMANDS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY SOLUTIONS IN CURRENT AND FUTURE AVIATION SYSTEMS. AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY HAS BEEN RESPONDING TO THE NEED FOR ENERGY-EFFICIENT AIRCRAFT BY REDESIGNING AIRFRAMES TO BE AERODYNAMICALLY EFFICIENT, EMPLOYING LIGHT-WEIGHT MATERIALS FOR AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES, INCORPORATING MORE ENERGY-EFFICIENT AIRCRAFT ENGINES, AND OTHERS. REDUCING AIRFRAME OPERATIONAL EMPTY WEIGHT (OEW) USING ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS IS ONE OF THE MAJOR CONSIDERATIONS FOR IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY. MODERN LIGHT-WEIGHT MATERIALS CAN PROVIDE LESS STRUCTURAL RIGIDITY WHILE MAINTAINING SUFFICIENT LOAD-CARRYING CAPACITY. AS STRUCTURAL FLEXIBILITY INCREASES, AEROELASTIC INTERACTIONS WITH AERODYNAMIC FORCES AND MOMENTS CAN ALTER AIRCRAFT AERODYNAMICS SIGNIFICANTLY, THEREBY POTENTIALLY DEGRADING AERODYNAMIC EFFICIENCY. UNDER THE FUNDAMENTAL AERONAUTICS PROGRAM AT THE NASA AERONAUTICS RESEARCH MISSION DIRECTORATE, THE SUBSONIC FIXED WING (SFW) PROJECT IS CONDUCTING DISCIPLINE-BASED FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH AND INVESTIGATES ADVANCED MULTI-DISCIPLINE-BASED CONCEPTS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR FUTURE AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. WITHIN THE SFW PROJECT, BOTH THE EFFICIENT AERODYNAMICS (EA) AND LIGHTWEIGHT AIRFRAME&PROPULSION SYSTEMS (LAPS) SUB-PROJECTS ARE CHARTERED TO DEVELOP ECONOMICALLY PRACTICAL APPROACHES TO IMPROVE AIRCRAFT EFFICIENCY. THE EA SUB-PROJECT IS ADDRESSING THIS GOAL BY INVESTIGATING TECHNOLOGIES THAT CAN LEAD TO REDUCED AIRCRAFT DRAG WITH MINIMAL IMPACT ON WEIGHT, WHILE THE LAPS SUB-PROJECTS IS EXAMINING METHODOLOGIES FOR REDUCING AIRCRAFT OEW WITH MINIMAL IMPACT OF DRAG. A STUDY FUNDED BY NASA INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM (IPP) ENTITLED ELASTICALLY SHAPE FUTURE AIR VEHICLE CONCEPT CONDUCTED AN INITIAL STUDY IN 2010 TO EXAMINE NEW CONCEPTS THAT COULD ENABLE ACTIVE CONTROL OF WING AEROELASTICITY TO ACHIEVE DRAG REDUCTION. THIS NASA IPP STUDY RESULTS HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED INTO THE EA SUB-PROJECT AS A NEW RESEARCH ELEMENT THAT WILL INVESTIGATE CONCEPTS AND TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL ENABLE HIGHLY FLEXIBLE AERODYNAMIC SURFACES TO BE ELASTICALLY SHAPED IN-FLIGHT BY ACTIVE CONTROL OF WING TWIST AND VERTICAL DEFLECTION IN ORDER TO OPTIMIZE THE LOCAL ANGLE OF ATTACK OF WING SECTIONS SO AS TO RESULT IN IMPROVED AERODYNAMIC EFFICIENCY THROUGH DRAG REDUCTION DURING CRUISE AND ENHANCED LIFT PERFORMANCE DURING TAKE-OFF AND LANDING.  THE IPP STUDY HAS IDENTIFIED THAT ACTIVE AEROELASTIC WING SHAPING CONTROL APPEARS TO HAVE A POTENTIAL DRAG REDUCTION BENEFIT. TO HARVEST THE POTENTIAL OF ACTIVE AEROELASTIC WING SHAPING CONTROL, CONFIGURATION CHANGES IN HIGH-LIFT DEVICES WOULD HAVE TO BE A PART OF THE WING SHAPING CONTROL STRATEGY. FLAP AND SLAT DEVICES INHERENTLY GENERATE DRAG AS THEY INCREASE LIFT. CONVENTIONAL FLAP AND SLAT SYSTEMS AS THEY EXIST IN CURRENT GENERATION AIRCRAFT ARE NOT AERODYNAMICALLY EFFICIENT ENOUGH FOR USE IN ACTIVE AEROELASTIC WING SHAPING CONTROL FOR DRAG REDUCTION. A NEW CONCEPT, REFERRED TO AS VARIABLE CAMBER CONTINUOUS TRAILING EDGE FLAP (VCCTEF) SYSTEM, HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO ADDRESS THIS NEED. INITIAL RESULTS INDICATE THAT THE VCCTEF SYSTEM MAY OFFER A POTENTIAL PAY-OFF FOR DRAG REDUCTION THAT COULD LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT FUEL SAVINGS. SUBSEQUENTLY, A SECOND STUDY BY THE CONTRACTOR AND NASA WAS AWARDED IN 2011 UNDER THE NASA FIXED WING PROJECT (CONTRACT: NNL11AA05B, TASK ORDER: NNL11AD25T). THIS STUDY BUILT UPON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VCCTEF SYSTEM FOR THE B757 EMPLOYING LIGHT-WEIGHT SHAPED MEMORY ALLOY TECHNOLOGY FOR ACTUATION AND THREE SEPARATE SPAN-