ALFA Seal - Advanced Laminar Flow snAp-fit Seal

ALFA Seal项目（ALFA Seal - **A** advanced **L**aminar **F**low sn**A**p-fit Seal）建立在之前英国政府和行业资助的项目基础上，旨在通过启用机翼层流使航空旅行更具环境可持续性，支持政府承诺到2050年实现温室气体净零排放。紊流翼的设计在过去的50年里不断发展，引入了相对较小的增量变化来减少阻力和提高效率。为了满足航空公司降低运营成本的要求，并应对可持续飞行的社会压力，需要在技术上进行一步变革。层流机翼的创新实现了这种阶梯式变化，减少了燃料/能源消耗，从而降低了运营成本，提高了运营商的盈利能力，减少了对环境的影响。未来，组件组装将变得越来越智能和自动化，而新型的层流友好型ALFA Seal系统将实现这一目标。创新的ALFA密封系统易于组装，不需要在接缝（台阶和缝隙）之间使用密封胶，平衡了严格的空气动力学公差要求，与成本效益高，易于修复的结构。简而言之，它解决并管理了层流与机械配合相结合的顽固传统挑战。此外，作为传统密封胶的替代品，ALFA密封系统将有助于提高航空结构的生产率，这也将成为飞机需求上升的一个因素。该项目旨在成熟一种新型的层流友好型组件密封解决方案，以解决空间分配和结构连接（台阶和间隙）等关键问题，满足空气动力学公差，提高生产率。和在役可操作性要求*有助于未来机翼的层流开发——短程飞机的自然层流和远程飞机的混合层流*解决了ATI“加速雄心”（2019）航空结构路线图中的优先领域，并与政府工业战略的未来飞行挑战、英国喷气式零委员会的目标保持一致。ATI的FlyZero计划旨在加速改善未来飞机的环境性能*，利用伦敦城市大学的跨音速风洞作为国家风洞设施（NWTF）基础设施的一部分，获得关键的测试数据，允许模型验证和改进计算建模，这将在项目结束时产生TRL4密封产品

The ALFA Seal project (ALFA Seal - **A**dvanced **L**aminar **F**low sn**A**p-fit Seal) builds on previous UK government and industry funded projects aiming to make air travel more environmentally sustainable through the enablement of wing laminar flow, supporting the Government to committing to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050\.Turbulent Wing design has evolved over the past 50 years introducing relatively small incremental changes to reduce drag and improve efficiency. To meet airlines requirements for reducing operating costs, and to respond to societal pressure for sustainable flight, a step change in technology is required.Laminar flow wing innovation enables such a step change, reducing fuel/energy burn, which in turn results in improved operating costs, improved profitability for the operators, and reduced environmental impact.In the future, component assembly will be increasingly smart and automated, and the novel laminar-flow-friendly ALFA Seal system champions this ambition.The ease of assembly of the innovative ALFA Seal system removes the need for sealant between joints (steps and gaps) balancing the conflicting requirements of tight aerodynamic tolerances, against cost-effective, easy-to-repair structures. In short, it solves and manages the stubborn legacy challenge of marrying laminar flow and mechanical fit.Moreover, as a replacement for traditional sealant, the ALFA Seal system would contribute to a ramp-up in aero-structure production rates, which will also be a differentiator with an upturn in aircraft demand.This project:* seeks to mature a novel laminar-flow-friendly assembly sealing solution for the key issues around space allocation and structural joining (steps and gaps) that meets aerodynamic tolerances, a ramp-up in production rates, and in-service operability requirements* contributes to laminar flow exploitation on future wings -- natural laminar flow for short-range aircraft and hybrid laminar flow for long-range* addresses priority areas within the ATI "Accelerating Ambition" (2019) Aerostructures Roadmap and aligns with the Future Flight Challenge of the Government's Industrial Strategy, the UK Jet Zero Council objectives, and the ATI's FlyZero initiative in accelerating improvements in environmental performance of future aircraft* exploits the City, University of London transonic wind tunnel as part of the National Wind Tunnel Facility (NWTF) infrastructure to obtain crucial test data that allows model validation and improved computational modelling, which will lead to a TRL4 seal product at the conclusion of the project