Pulsed jet actuators (PJAs) are one of the candidate technologies to be integrated in Fowler flaps to increase the maximum lift coefficient of transport aircraft in the landing configuration. The total system consists of the actuators plus sensors, a piping system to supply pressurized air and a (redundant) power and communication system to provide actuator control. In this paper, it is investigated what increase in the maximum lift coefficient is required to justify the added weight and power off-takes that accompany the integration of pulsed jet actuators. This is done by making an automated design process for the overall aircraft, the piping assembly system, and the electrical wiring interconnection system. These last two sub-systems rely on KBE techniques that automate dimensioning and performance evaluation. A test case is specified that encompasses the design of a typical single-aisle mid-range aircraft with and without the PJA system installed. It is concluded that the introduction of the PJA system requires at least an increase in maximum lift coefficient of 0.2 to justify the increase in system mass and power off-takes. Furthermore, it is shown that if the maximum lift coefficient increases with 0.4, only small reductions in maximum take-off weight (−0.3 %) and operating empty weight (−0.6 %) can be expected, while the total fuel burn remains virtually constant.@en

A new methodology has been developed that integrates the preliminary wing design with trailing edge high-lift systems and accounts for three-dimensional flap kinematics. The high-lift system in the developed application includes the kinematic synthesis of four common mechanisms (dropped-hinge, four-bar, link-track and hooked-track) and a preliminary actuation architecture. The paper details how each of these mechanisms is synthesized based on a set of intuitive input requirements such as gap and overlap dimensions in landing and take-off configuration. A SimMechanics multi-body mechanism model is generated to obtain the internal loads of the mechanism and actuation torque. The mechanisms and actuating drive train are structurally sized, leading to a determination of system weight and power consumption. A weight measurement of the outboard hooked-track mechanism of a VFW-614 flap has been compared to a modeled hooked-track mechanism by using the proposed method. This resulted in a 13 % underestimation of the mechanism weight, which was attributed to modeling simplifications, sizing assumptions and a crude aerodynamic load estimation. A comparison study between the four different mechanism types to be applied on a Boeing 777 wing, shows that the method can give the designer valuable insight in the gap/overlap behavior of the flap during deployment as well as an initial estimation of the difference in required fairing size, mechanism weight, and actuation power between the four mechanisms. @en