Advanced transport aircraft technology

Various elements of the NASA aircraft energy efficiency program are described. Regarding composite structures, the development of three secondary and three medium-primary components to validate structural and fabrication technology is discussed. In laminar flow control, the design of advanced airfoils having large regions of supercritical flow with features which simplify laminarization are considered. Emphasis is placed on engine performance improvement, directed at developing advanced components to reduce fuel consumption in current production engines, and engine diagnostics aimed at identifying the sources and causes of performance deterioration in high-bypass turbofan engines. In addition, the results of propeller aerodynamic and acoustic tests have substantiated the feasibility of achieving the propeller efficiency goal of 80% and confirmed that the effect of blade sweep on reducing propeller source noise was 5-6 dB.