Integrated Kruger flap tests promise fuel burn savings

摘要

European aerodynamicists are working on Kriiger flaps as a high-lift device for laminar-flow wings on next-generation aircraft, in an EU-funded project led by Germany's DLR aerospace research centre. The objective is to eliminate the sharp edges, gaps and rivet heads found on conventional slat designs in the leading edges of aircraft wings, which disturb the airstream around a laminar-flow aerofoil, even when the devices are retracted. Kriiger flaps have been employed on various aircraft in the past, such as the Boeing 747. But DLR says its researchers have "newly interpreted" the concept, whereby the high-lift device is "perfectly" integrated into the wing to minimise any turbulence.