Imagine stretching an airplane wing to make it much longer and thinner — like going from a sparrow's wings to an albatross's. Longer wings glide better and burn less fuel, but they also bend and flex more, which creates engineering headaches. This project figured out the best wing shapes and structural tricks to get the fuel savings without the wing flapping itself apart. They built scaled models and tested them in wind tunnels to prove the designs actually work.
Airlines and aircraft manufacturers face relentless pressure to cut fuel consumption and emissions. Longer, thinner wings deliver better aerodynamic efficiency, but they flex dangerously and add structural weight — creating an engineering trade-off that has limited wing design for decades. Companies need validated design methods and test data to push past current wing aspect ratio limits without multiplying development costs.
The project produced a scaled aeroelastic wind tunnel model of a strut-braced wing configuration, complete with instrumentation, as well as multi-fidelity optimization tools for trading off aerodynamics, weight, noise, fuel-burn, and range. Across 17 deliverables, the team delivered conceptual design studies, high-fidelity validation results, and preliminary designs for the best-performing wing configuration.
If you are an aircraft manufacturer looking to meet tightening emissions targets — this project developed optimized ultra-high aspect ratio wing designs validated through wind tunnel testing. The multi-fidelity design optimization tools and aeroelastic data from 17 deliverables can accelerate your next-generation wing development and reduce costly design iterations.
If you are an engineering services company bidding on wing design contracts — this project produced validated multi-disciplinary optimization methods that combine aerodynamics, structural weight, noise, and fuel-burn trade-offs. Access to these design tools and wind tunnel validation data from 6 partner organizations across 4 countries could strengthen your competitive position on next-gen aircraft programs.
If you are developing long-range electric or hybrid aircraft where every gram and every watt matters — this project's high aspect ratio wing optimization methods and loads alleviation concepts can help you maximize range. The aeroelastic design knowledge validated through scaled wind tunnel models directly applies to lightweight, high-efficiency airframes.
The project was a Clean Sky 2 research action coordinated by Politecnico di Milano. Licensing terms for the optimization tools and wind tunnel data would need to be negotiated directly with the consortium. Based on available project data, no commercial pricing has been published.
The project validated designs through scaled wind tunnel models, not full-size aircraft wings. Moving from wind tunnel validation to a production wing program would require further development, full-scale testing, and certification. The consortium includes 2 industry partners who could support that transition.
As a Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking project (RIA), IP follows EU grant agreement rules. The 6 consortium partners across Italy, Germany, France, and the UK jointly own results from their respective contributions. Specific licensing would need to be discussed with the coordinator at Politecnico di Milano.
The project completed conceptual design studies, trade-off analyses, and scaled aeroelastic wind tunnel testing. This places the technology at roughly TRL 3-4: validated in a relevant environment but not yet demonstrated at full scale. Further development cycles would be needed before integration into a production aircraft program.
The project tested a strut-braced wing (SBW) configuration, as documented in the demo deliverable describing the wind tunnel model design and delivery. Trade-off studies also evaluated different wing configurations and loads alleviation concepts for aerodynamic performance, weight, noise, fuel-burn, and range.
The consortium includes 2 industry partners and 1 SME among 6 total organizations from Germany, France, Italy, and the UK. IBK provided mechanical design of wind tunnel models and coordinated manufacturing. The 33% industry ratio indicates a research-heavy consortium with applied validation capability.
The U-HARWARD consortium brings together 6 partners from 4 European countries — Germany, France, Italy, and the UK — combining 3 universities, 2 industry players, and 1 research organization. Coordinated by Politecnico di Milano, a top European aerospace engineering school, the team has a strong academic core with 33% industry involvement. The inclusion of 1 SME alongside larger industry partners suggests a mix of specialized engineering capability and manufacturing know-how. For a business looking to access these results, the coordinator in Milan is the primary entry point, while the industry partners (particularly IBK, responsible for mechanical design and manufacturing coordination) represent the most direct path to applied collaboration.
Politecnico di Milano, Italy — contact through university aerospace department or project website
Want an introduction to the U-HARWARD team to discuss wing design optimization tools or wind tunnel data access? SciTransfer can arrange a direct conversation with the right consortium partner for your specific application.
