Flight Physics
In the field of flight physics, the ILR primarily investigates the vortex dynamics on and behind aircraft and aircraft components and the associated acoustics.
Vortices on lift-producing bodies are unavoidable and synonymous with drag and, at times, hazards to the following air traffic. The specific production of additional vortices and their interaction can, however, be advantageous, in order to stabilize a flow and delay a separation or destabilize unwanted vortices. This is one of the central research topics at the ILR.
The noise pollution caused by air traffic at airports is still an unsolved problem. The ILR focuses in particular on the noise optimization of new airborne mobility forms in the form of air taxis and drones. The low-noise wind tunnel in Aachen is being set up as a new research infrastructure at the ILR. It combines excellent flow quality with extremely low background noise. A special feature of the ILR is a solution approach that not only aims at minimizing the noise level, but at the same time reduces the disturbing effect of the noise by incorporating psychoacoustic findings. This is achieved by selectively changing the emitted noise frequency spectrum.