With FAUST into the Future: Project to Develop Sustainable Hydraulic Systems for Aviation Launched

We are delighted to announce the official launch of the project FAUST »Future hydrAUlicS for environmenT«, which aims to make the aviation industry more sustainable.

Our Approach at TU Dresden

The Chair of Fluid-Mechatronic Systems is contributing its expertise to the development of sustainable hydraulic systems for aviation.

Our focus is on analyzing alternative, environmentally friendly hydraulic fluids – a crucial step towards the next generation of efficient and resource-saving aircraft systems.

How do we approach this?

• We systematically screen and test a variety of alternative hydraulic fluids.
• In extensive long-term trials, we examine how these fluids perform in hydraulic compact drive units – so-called powerpacks – compared to the industry standards currently in use.
• In parallel, we are developing intelligent fluid conditioning systems. These systems ensure that hydraulic fluids remain in optimal condition even under high pressure. This helps prevent damage to components caused, for example, by cavitation, and significantly extends the maintenance intervals of the systems.

The result: Hydraulic systems become more durable, reliable, and sustainable.

The Consortium

The FAUST consortium brings together leading partners from industry and academia:

• Airbus Operations GmbH (project lead): System integration and aircraft application
• Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH: Development of sustainable powerpacks
• Hydac Technology GmbH: Highly integrated components for high-efficiency powerpacks
• Institut für Flugzeug-Systemtechnik (TU Hamburg): System technology for electro-hydraulic powerpacks
• Chair of Fluid-Mechatronic Systems (TU Dresden): Fluid analysis and research on air-in-oil effects

Together, we are developing innovative electrohydraulic system architectures, sustainable powerpacks, and highly integrated components for aviation.

Outlook

The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), underlining its importance for the future of sustainable mobility. We look forward to working together and making a significant contribution to the green transformation of aviation with FAUST!

Curious about the scientific background? Find out more in our research section.

The FAUST joint project led by Airbus Operations GmbH is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy ( BMWE ) as part of the aviation research program LuFo VII-1.