Defender
Defender
The DEFENDER project is part of the European Clean Sky 2 research and development program, created to launch public-private partnerships between the European Commission and the European aviation industry with the aim of creating innovative aircrafts in terms of environmental impact, throughout their entire life cycle.
The consortium is guided by Leonardo Helicopters, coordinated by Politecnico di Torino and made up of Italian partner only as the Italian aerospace research center (CIRA) and AERO-SEKUR.
DEFENDER aims at the study of an innovative fuel system to be integrated into a technological demonstrator of a new generation civil tiltrotor (the Next -Gen Civil Tiltrotor, NGCT).
Grant Agreement number: FRC-GAM-2014-2015-01
Call di riferimento: H2020-CS2-CFP03-2016-01
Abstract
The DEFENDER project aims at developing, manufacturing, testing, and qualifying innovative next generation fuel storage system, by applying an innovative layup structure to optimize the crashworthy/weight ratio while keeping fuel bags tightness, flexibility and softness. This system will be integrated into the Next Generation Civil Tiltrotor (NextGenCTR), framed in the Fast Rotorcraft Innovative Aircraft Demonstrator Platform. The NGCTR is the research project of Leonardo Helicopters, whose purpose is the definition and the development of an innovative concept of new generation Tilt-rotor. The project leads to introducing new technologies and a new rotorcraft architecture, in order to increase the operative capabilities in civil missions, while minimizing the environmental impact through reduction in CO2 and noise emissions.
Main Objectives
The main objective of the project DEFENDER is the realization of an innovative fuel storage system optimized for the NextGenCTR, minimizing the environmental impact of the adopted technologies.
The consortium will support the topic manager from the design phase until reaching the ‘Permit to fly’.
The core innovations focus on the adoption of new materials:
- bladder structure, capable of ensuring impact resistance and low weight, while keeping the characteristic flexibility;
- the introduction of closed cell, low weight, high stiffness foams, which withstand and protect the bladders from surrounding structure and, in addition, play a lead role in the global crashworthy of the fuel storage system;
- the adoption of components in Additive Layers manufacturing for the metallic interfaces between bladders and fuel system, which leads to a considerable mass saving compared to the ordinary technique.
All these innovations make the developments of new high fidelity numerical methodology necessary, in order to simulate the crash response of the fuel storage system.
Step of the project
Start / End
1 – Jan – 2018 / 1 – Dec – 2022
Duration 58 months
FEB
Kick off Meeting (KoM)
100%
JUL
Critical Design Review (CDR)
100%
SEP
System Concept Review (SCR)
100%
MAY
Test Readiness Review (TRR)
50%
MAR
Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
100%
DEC
Qualification Closure (QC)
0%
FEB
Kick off Meeting (KoM)
100%
SEP
System Concept Review (SCR)
100%
MAR
Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
100%
JUL
Critical Design Review (CDR)
100%
MAY
Test Readiness Review (TRR)
50%
DEC
Qualification Closure (QC)
0%
Partners
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