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The aerodynamic design of the Arcus wing - Schempp-Hirth

The aerodynamic design of the Arcus wing - Schempp-Hirth

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<strong>The</strong> <strong>aerodynamic</strong> <strong>design</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arcus</strong> <strong>wing</strong><br />

For several years now we have been working on <strong>the</strong> idea <strong>of</strong> a completely new concept for a<br />

two-seat glider for <strong>the</strong> 20 m class.<br />

In <strong>the</strong> past years we have been encouraged by <strong>the</strong> many developmental findings and<br />

experiences we obtained from today’s great handling single-seat gliders in kno<strong>wing</strong> we could<br />

incorporate that knowledge into a concept for a new two-seat glider. Most important in all this<br />

always remained <strong>the</strong> pure joy <strong>of</strong> soaring.<br />

After meeting with Dr. Werner Würz at <strong>the</strong> laminar wind tunnel in Stuttgart in mid 2007, we choose one<br />

<strong>of</strong> his flapped <strong>wing</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>iles as our starting point for <strong>the</strong> <strong>aerodynamic</strong> <strong>design</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arcus</strong> <strong>wing</strong>.<br />

Even though <strong>the</strong> initial performance calculations confirmed <strong>the</strong> huge potential <strong>of</strong> this overall concept,<br />

we wanted to improve <strong>the</strong> flight characteristics even fur<strong>the</strong>r.<br />

To do this, we worked in close co-operation with Dr. Werner Würz and made fundament revisions to<br />

<strong>the</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>ile which incorporated our various requirements.<br />

At <strong>the</strong> same time we worked on optimizing <strong>the</strong> original <strong>wing</strong> planform in co-operation with Jan Himisch<br />

and Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Karl-Heinz Horstman from DLR Braunschweig. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Arcus</strong> Winglets were <strong>design</strong>ed by<br />

Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Mark Maughmer.<br />

<strong>The</strong> results <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se calculations affected <strong>the</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>ile <strong>design</strong>. Once we started optimizing <strong>the</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>ile,<br />

this in turn required changes to <strong>the</strong> <strong>wing</strong> outline and <strong>the</strong> <strong>wing</strong>lets. Thus, <strong>the</strong> <strong>design</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arcus</strong> <strong>wing</strong><br />

evolved in several steps. Besides flight performance we, <strong>of</strong> course, gave special attention to <strong>the</strong> flight<br />

characteristics <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>design</strong>. <strong>The</strong> final result was a very striking and unique <strong>wing</strong> outline. To fulfil <strong>the</strong><br />

specific <strong>aerodynamic</strong> requirements at all appropriate places <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>wing</strong>, we used 6 different <strong>wing</strong><br />

pr<strong>of</strong>iles.


From <strong>the</strong> outset <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> project and as we were working on <strong>the</strong> <strong>aerodynamic</strong> optimization <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arcus</strong><br />

<strong>wing</strong>, we also addressed <strong>the</strong> flutter behaviour <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> airplane. In his research project, Andreas Lutz, in<br />

co-operation with Jan Schwochow (from <strong>the</strong> DLR Göttingen), simulated <strong>the</strong> flutter characteristics <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

sailplane.<br />

With <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong> his research we were able to take aeroelactic behavior and requirements into<br />

account during <strong>the</strong> <strong>design</strong> stage.<br />

As a result <strong>of</strong> this close and fruitful co-operation between Werner Würz - <strong>the</strong> DLR Departments in<br />

Braunschweig and Goettingen - Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Mark Maughmer and <strong>Schempp</strong>-<strong>Hirth</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arcus</strong> <strong>wing</strong> meets<br />

<strong>the</strong> challenges and requirements in an effective and outstanding way.<br />

<strong>Arcus</strong> airfoil in <strong>the</strong> measuring field <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> laminar wind tunnel (Stuttgart University)<br />

<strong>Schempp</strong>-<strong>Hirth</strong> Flugzeugbau

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