The European High Lift Programme II (extended abstract)

The design of high lift systems for commercial aircraft has a substantial potential to contribute to the achievements of the challenging goals formulated in the European Vision for 2020. Basically, efficient innovative high lift devices are the pre-requisite for improvements in two fields: the first is the reduction of the perceived aircraft noise, as the airframe, more precisely the slat, has become the main source of noise during the landing phase. The second field is the strong reduction of CO2 emissions. Whatever advanced aerodynamic concept is considered, the objective is to achieve a reduced perceived noise level for the airport and its residents while sustaining or improving the high lift performance itself, e.g. by means of flow control. High fidelity numerical methods together with a detailed understanding of the high lift flow physics and scaling effects are key issues to accomplish the envisaged improvements.