This step-b proposal is submitted in response to solicitation NNH16ZEA001N-ULI, NASA research opportunities in aeronautics 2016, appendix d.5 - university leadership initiative, and is for the…

This federal contract award is for the formation of an Advanced Aerodynamic Design Center for Ultra-Efficient Commercial Vehicles under NASA's Ultra-Efficient Commercial Vehicles Strategic Thrust. The focus is to demonstrate a viable aerodynamic wing-design concept that enables a 70% reduction in aircraft fuel/energy consumption relative to a 2005 baseline. The $9,614,998.92 cooperative agreement was awarded to the University of Tennessee, a major public land-grant research university system, to conduct computational and experimental research activities. This work is divided into technology development, integration, and demonstration tasks to quantify disruptive improvements in system-level efficiency for conceptual N+3 commercial transport-scale aircraft. No set-aside designation was noted for this award.

This step-b proposal is submitted in response to solicitation NNH16ZEA001N-ULI, NASA research opportunities in aeronautics 2016, appendix d.5 - university leadership initiative, and is for the formation of an advanced aerodynamic design center for ultra- efficient commercial vehicles under the ultra-efficient commercial vehicles strategic thrust (topic 3) defined by NASA armd. The center will be comprised of multi-disciplinary university faculty researchers and industry partners from across the country. The focus of research activities will be to demonstrate a viable aerodynamic wing-design concept that enables a 70% reduction in aircraft fuel/energy consumption relative to 2005 baseline for revolutionary and transformational aircraft configurations. This will be accomplished by further development and maturation of the slotted, natural-laminar-flow airfoil concept through both computational and experimental research activities. The impact of this advanced concept on all core areas of aeronautics will be considered, including aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, stability & control, and acoustics. Research will be divided into technology development, technology integration, and technology demonstration tasks, and their outcomes will be used to quantify disruptive improvements in system-level efficiency when fully integrated into a conceptual n+3 commercial transport-scale aircraft.