Aspects of low speed wind tunnel testing on an A400M model with propeller simulation

A400M is the future European military airlifter which is currently developed to fulfil the requirements of eight European Nations. The aircraft will be driven by four turboprop engines. The disc loading of the propellers is significantly higher than realised on former tactical transport aircraft like C130H or Transall C160. Due to the tactical and logistic tasks of this airplane the high and low speed propeller interference effects contribute essentially to the A/C sizing and configuration development. The following presentation deals with aspects of wind tunnel testing with propulsion simulation in the EADS Low Speed Wind Tunnel in Bremen. The simulation of realistic propeller effects is described. Investigations on an isolated propeller are illustrated and the main results of the test campaigns, focussing on propeller effects at high lift configuration are presented.