NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration

Mobility
W
ithairtrafficprojectedtodoubleoverthe
nexttwodecades,theNationalAirspace
Systemmustbecapableofaccommodatingan
increasedvolumeofpeopleandgoods.TheNext
GenerationAirTransportationSystem(NextGen)
willaddressthisneedthroughtheexpandeduse
ofsecondaryandrelieverairports,employinga
CESTOLaircraftcanoperatefromrunwayswithsignificantlyreduced
fieldlengths.
newclassofvehiclescapableofshorttakeoffand
landing(STOL),orverticaltakeoffandlanding
(VTOL).
TheFundamentalAeronauticsProgramiscon-
ductingresearchtodeveloptechnologiesthatwill
enablenewvehicleconceptsthatcanalleviate
futurecapacityproblemsinsupportofNextGen.
Theseconceptsinclude:
Cruise-EfficientShortTakeOffandLanding
(CESTOL)aircraftthatcruiseathighspeed
(Mach0.8+)withlowenvironmentalimpact,yet
cantakeoffandlandonveryshortrunways
Advancedrotorcraft,suchaslargecivil
tiltrotors,thatarecapableofVTOLorSTOL
withvastlyimprovedrangeandperformance
andreducedenvironmentalimpact
CESTOLResearch
ResearchinsupportofCESTOLconcepts
seekstodeveloppowered-lifttechnologiesto
increaseliftonanaircraftatlowspeeds,suchas
duringtakeoffandlanding,whiledecreasing
dragathighspeedstomaintainefficientcruise.
Powered-liftandactive-controlconceptscan
enablesignificantlyshorterfieldlengthsfora
givenvehicleweight.
Thetechnologyconceptsbeingstudiedinclude
steadyandpulsedinjection,vortexgenerators,
uppersurfaceblowing,andfluidicdeviceson
flapsforpurposesofcirculationandboundary
layercontrol.Advancedcomputationalfluid
dynamics(CFD)toolsarebeingdevelopedto
improvemodelingofcomplexhigh-liftsystems
andpredictionofflowseparation,withwindtun-
neltestsprovidingdataformodelvalidation.In
addition,adaptiveflightcontrolmethodologies
Activeflowcontrolenablesincreasedliftfortakeoffandlanding.
arebeingdevelopedtoenablecontrolofaircraft
thathaveverydifferentflyingqualitiesduring
differentpartsofamission.
AdvancedRotorcraftResearch
Thechallengesfacedinrotarywingaviationare
amongthemostcomplexanddemandingofany
configuration:
Highlycomplex,three-dimensionalrotorand
fuselagestructures
Unsteadyflowsinspeedregimes,fromlow
subsonictohightransonic
Dynamicallystalledcomponents
Harshoperatingenvironments
Highlyloadedpropulsionsystems
Avehiclethatisstaticallyunstable
Nevertheless,expandingrotorcraftcapabilities
willhelptoincreasecapacityandreduce
congestionatairports.Thesetwokeyrequire-
Alargeciviltiltrotoroffersthepotentialforsignificantincreases
incapacityandreductioninairportcongestiontomeetNextGen
requirements.
mentsaretiedtothedevelopmentofNextGen.
Tothisend,theSubsonicRotaryWingProject
focusesresearchinthemostpersistenttechnical
challengeareas,producingadvancesinpredic-
tion-toolcapabilityandtechnologyinorderto
expandtheroleofrotorcraftincivilaviation.The
resultwillbenewconfigurationsandmissions
thatcanbedevelopedefficientlyandconfidently.
TechnicalChallenges
Studiesarefocusedonareasthatindustryand
othergovernmentagenciesarenotpursuingor
cannotpursuealone.Withoutintendingtopredict
wherethedesignprocesswillleadwhentruly
effectivedesignandanalysistoolsareavailable,
severalchallengingbutpromisingrotorcraftcon-
figurationshavebeenidentifiedtodrivethe
requiredfundamentalresearch.Fordramatic
breakthroughsinrotorcrafttobeachieved,the
technicalchallengesrequireanapproachthat
integratesaeronauticsdisciplines.Forexample:
Integratedaeromechanics/propulsion
systemresearchdevelopsanddemonstrates
technologiesenablingvariable-speedrotorcon-
cepts.Thetechnicalchallengeistoreducemain
rotortipspeedathigh-speed-cruiseoperating
conditionswithavariable-speedpropulsion
conceptcapableof50-percentspeedreduction
fromhovertocruisewhilemaintainingaero-
dynamicefficiency.High-speedadvanced
rotorcraftconcepts,noisereductionconcepts,
andefficientoperationsconceptsdependon
meetingthischallenge.
Activelycontrolled,efficientrotorcraft
researchassessesseveralactivecontrolrotor-
craftconceptsforeffectivenessinthesimulta-
AwindtunneltestoftheSMARTrotorconceptintheNationalFull-
ScaleAerodynamicComplex,40x80-footwindtunnel,demonstratesthe
effectivenessofactivelycontrolledbladetrailing-edgeflapsfornoise
andvibrationcontrol.
neousgoalsofincreasedaerodynamicefficien-
cy,dynamicstallcontrolforhighspeedcondi-
tions,vibrationreduction,andnoisereduction.
Researchalsowillvalidateandimprovethe
capabilitytopredictrotorcraftbehavior,includ-
ingperformance,airloads,flowfield,structural
loads,andacousticsthroughcollaborative
researchinCFDandadvancedexperimental
methods.
Quietcabinresearchdevelopsanddemon-
stratesadvancedstructuralconceptsanddesign
evaluationmethodsforinteriornoiseandvibra-
tionreductionusingoptimizedcombinations
ofnewmaterial,acoustictreatment,newstruc-
turaldesignincorporatingacousticpassiveand
activetechnology,reductionsintransmission
gearvibration,andactivenoisecancellation.
NextGenrotorcraftresearchfosters,
develops,anddemonstratestechnologiesthat
contributetothecommercialviabilityoflarge
rotarywingtransportsystemsinNextGen.
AdvancedCFD-basedsimulationtoolsarebeingdevelopedandvalidated
topredicttheaerodynamicperformanceofrotorcraft.
Cruise-EfficientShortTakeOffandLanding(CESTOL)andlargeciviltiltrotoraircraftwill
significantlyincreasecapacityinthefutureairtransportationsystembyenablingoperation
fromairportswithshorterrunways.
www.nasa.gov
NF-2009-03-491-HQ