Forming of micro-perforated outer skin of HLFC wings assisted by FEM simulation

General Information

One of the main challenges on Hybrid Laminar Flow Control (HLFC) wing design is to integrate the HLFC systems (vacuum chambers, pipe, etc.) inside the small space of the leading edge, together with de-icing and high lift systems. Clean Sky 2 aims to reduce HLFC complexity by using variable pitch micro-perforations along the outer skin in order to control suctions without necessity of internal chambering. Variable micro-perforation entails a new
challenge that must be investigated before deciding on the most suitable skin forming technology and material for new generation of HLFC demo structures, which will contribute to reduce both fuel consumption and pollutant emissions in future aircrafts by 10%.
To achieve this goal, the MICROFORM project will develop i) a suitable forming process for the real-scale manufacturing of leading edge HLFC wing outer skins and ii) supporting simulation tools to minimize initial process development costs of large structures composed by both constant and variable micro-perforation patterns meeting requested quality criteria and dimensional tolerances.
The implementation of MICROFORM is carried out by a multidisciplinary consortium, formed by research and industrial entities who are experts in the development of relevant simulation tools (LORTEK, Hereon) and forming technologies (SOFITEC, FORMTECH).
Hereon leads the work package entitled “Development of a precise finite element models (FEM) simulation tool for stretch forming of variable microdrilled Titanium CP40”. The project is co-funded by the Clean Sky 2 Joint Technology Initiative (CS2 JTI) which is a Public-Private Partnership between the European Commission and industry.

EU-Programme Acronym and Subprogramme Area	H2020-CS2-CFP10-2019-01
Project Type	Clean Sky 2 Innovation Action
Contract Number	Grant Agreement 886409
Co-ordinator	LORTEK S COOP (ES)

Funding for the Project (€)	Funding for Hereon (€)
1,299,601	192,676

Contact Person at Hereon

Dr. Nikolai Kashaev, Institute of Materials Mechanics, Laser Processing and Structural Assessment, WMF, Phone: +49 4152 87 2536 E-mail contact

Participants

FormTech GmbH (DE), Lortek S COOP (ES), SOFITEC Aero SL (ES)

Last Update: 16. April 2021