Welcome to Onera, the French Aerospace Lab
Welcome to Onera, the French Aerospace Lab |
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 A partner speaks outBruno Stoufflet / Dassault Aviation: "Understanding the physical phenomena related to aircraft" It’s thanks to flawless multidisciplinary scientific expertise that complex projects like the Neuron or the Falcon 7X can be developed so rapidly The interview How do you work with Onera? Bruno Stoufflet: Our partnership deals essentially with the preparatory phase of the programs. Before starting a new design, we have to be sure that we thoroughly understand the physical phenomena without which we would not be able to determine the behavior and performance of the aircraft. For this, we develop prediction tools for these phenomena. Onera helps us to do this and to validate them, using experiments which reproduce as faithfully as possible the phenomena which we want to study, and using a whole range of measuring instruments. Onera's great advantage is that it has a combination of theoretical and experimental expertise, in areas as diverse as fluid mechanics, thermal mechanics, electromagnetism etc. It is thanks to this combination that we can validate and be sure of our design tools. But the contribution of Onera doesn’t stop at the preparatory phase: during the project itself, it provides invaluable expertise in testing and alternative approaches, particularly in aerodynamics and electromagnetism. Can you give us an example of what you have been working together on recently? BS: We are looking at installing weapons in bays and not under the wings. So we have to understand what happens in the bay, particularly the way in which the flows are disrupted and the way the structure reacts to these disruptions. We will then be able to dimension the bay according to the stresses which it will have to withstand. With Onera, we are working on simplified bays, modeling the phenomena, which take place, and making sure that our prediction tools are sufficiently accurate. This work is being done with the future stealth drone Neuron particularly in mind. In the case of the Falcon 7X business jet, we have worked hard with Onera to understand and model the interactions between the air and the aircraft’s structure. The aim is to avoid exciting the structure's vibration modes and generating uncomfortable shaking. So we've been able to predict this shaking phenomena and to optimize the wings to avoid them. Finally, why do Dassault and Onera have such a special relationship? BS: Some industrial partners tend to see Onera as a service provider. We don’t have this view: we think of it as a research partner. It contributes its scientific expertise, which helps us to be able to make the right choices. As for our part of the bargain, we can provide it with the feedback from our work: we can say what works and what does not, we point out the areas where progress still needs to be made and we help to define new avenues of research. We feel it is very important that the researchers at Onera should remain scientific experts. |
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The Falcon 7X, Barely unveiled and already it’s being snapped up. Dassault has already received 150 orders for its new business jet, the Falcon 7X, even though it has only just been certified, in April 2007. "It’s a commercial triumph", exclaimed Dassault’s Bruno Stoufflet. In particular, Onera has helped to optimize the "winglets", the curved devices at the end of the wing which helps to improve the aircraft's aerodynamics, thus reducing drag and, consequently, consumption. Once the Falcon 7X was designed, virtually all of the wind tunnel tests at low and high speed, on mock-ups, were run at Onera, at Modane or Toulouse. Neuron, stealth and autonomy A stealth drone, able to carry its weapons in a bay and to execute autonomous missions, with ground supervision: that’s the Neuron, a project developed by Dassault Aviation. "It's a demonstrator, not a commercial project", Bruno Stoufflet. "The aim is to show that we know how to build a device like this, with effective means of communication. We had to deal with the problem of integrating the antennae which would otherwise prejudice stealth". The project was prepared with Onera, particularly around the questions of stealth: the electromagnetic signature of the drone has to be modeled and predicted. Onera has also helped Dassault to understand the vibratory phenomena in the bays better (see interview), and to prepare the control mechanism of this craft that will have no fin , for stealth reasons. "We are having to completely rethink the control mechanism" explains Bruno Stoufflet. The first flight of the Neuron is planned for 2011. Onera, much more than a service provider "The themes which we tackle with Dassault Aviation are very varied: aerodynamics, flight quality, electromagnetism etc." said Christophe Mathieu, Onera’s director of aeronautic development. "We have world famous scientists in the area of environmental phenomena impacting aircraft, such as lightning and ice, and the models developed can be of great interest to an aircraft manufacturer like Dassault. What’s more, we take part in the setting up of projects in cooperation with Dassault so that we can receive support from the DGA or the DPAC". There have been a number of consequences for Onera. Firstly economic, of course, as the volume of activity at Onera which Dassault interests itself in is close to 20 M Euros / year. But the benefits are also scientific because Dassault’s project proposals raise scientific and technical problems which are often complex and always fascinating. The collaboration with Dassault also helps to raise Onera’s international profile, particularly within the European Community. |
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Last Update: 27 June 2007 - © ONERA 2009 - Terms of use |
