System analysis of aircraft with natural laminar flow and forward swept wings

Abstract

The objective of this paper is an enhanced analysis and assessment of a short-to-medium range aircraft configuration with natural laminar flow (NLF) and forward swept wings (FSW) designed by DLR. It is intended to show how the proposed aircraft concept could contribute to a more economic and ecologic operation. By implementing a multidisciplinary simulation and assessment framework, the net-benefit on air transportation system level is evaluated from airline perspective under consideration of realistic airline network conditions. Therefore operational aspects (e.g. stage length) and environmental factors (e.g. insect contamination, cloud encounter) which affect the aircraft effectiveness are included into the assessment. Apart from modeling the technology intended effect of fuel saving on airline economics, the study also aims to determine unintentional repercussions (e.g. change in maintenance effort, emissions, noise) which arise due to the design and the operation of the FSW–NLF concept. The overall goal of the paper is to provide aircraft operators with a better understanding of the behavior of NLF aircraft under realistic operational boundary conditions as well as to demonstrate resulting trade-offs between economical and ecological effectiveness.