Aerodynamic configuration integration design of hypersonic cruise aircraft with inward-turning inlets

In this work,a novel airframe/propulsion integration design method of the wing-body configuration for hypersonic cruise aircraft is proposed,where the configuration is integrated with inward-turning inlets.With the help of this method,the major design concern of balancing the aerodynamic performance against the requirements for efficient propulsion can be well addressed.A novel geometric parametrically modelling method based on a combination of patched class and shape transition (CST) and COONs surface is proposed to represent the configuration,especially a complex configuration with an irregular inlet lip shape.The modelling method enlarges the design space of components on the premise of guaranteeing the configuration integrity via special constraints imposed on the interface across adjacent surfaces.A basic flow inside a cone shaped by a dual-inflection-point generatrix is optimized to generate the inward-turning inlet with improvements of both compression efficiency and flow uniformity.The performance improvement mechanism of this basic flow is the compression velocity variation induced by the variation of the generatrix slope along the flow path.At the design point,numerical simulation results show that the lift-to-drag ratio of the configuration is as high as 5.2 and the inlet works well with a high level of compression efficiency and flow uniformity.The design result also has a good performance on off-design conditions.The achievement of all the design targets turns out that the integration design method proposed in this paper is efficient and practical.     

A methodology for constructing the aircraft design schema

Aircraft collaboration design is based on a unified set of schemas containing data and model representations and interfaces across disciplines. The aircraft design schema is a central data model that specifies the paradigm for the representation of a full lifecycle model of aircraft design. The construction of the schema currently lacks theoretical guidance. This paper designs a novel methodology to construct the aircraft design schema, a fully functional, logical, and self-consistent methodology. The methodology defines a schema matrix that includes implementation strategies, principles, processes, meta-object facility, views, scenarios, and products. The aircraft conceptual design schema is constructed according to the methodology, which is a hands-on approach to help understand the concept and implementation. The features of the methodology are analyzed, and the methodology and the aircraft conceptual design schema are presented to address the pain points of multiple solution trade-offs, multiple iterations, and multidisciplinary coupling in aircraft conceptual collaboration design.     

Aerodynamic design of tractor propeller for high-performance distributed electric propulsion aircraft

Aiming to maximize the aerodynamic performance of the Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) aircraft, a hybrid design framework which focuses on the aerodynamic performance of the propeller/wing integration has been developed and validated numerically. Variable-fidelity modelling for propeller aerodynamics has been used to achieve computational efficiency with reasonable accuracy. By optimizing the aerodynamic loading distributions on the tractor propeller disk, the induced slipstream is redistributed into a form that is beneficial for the wing downstream, based on which the propeller blade geometry is generated through a rapid inversed design procedure. As compared with the Minimum Induced Loss (MIL) propeller at a specified thrust level, significant improvements of both the lift-to-drag ratio of the wing and the propeller/wing integrated aerodynamic efficiency is achieved, which shows great promise to deliver aerodynamic benefits for the wing within the propeller slipstream without any additional devices.     

A new online modelling method for aircraft engine state space model

To overcome the drawbacks of current modelling method for aircraft engine state space model, a new method is introduced. The form of state space model is derived by using Talyor series to expand the nonlinear model that is implicit equations and involves many iterations. A partial derivative calculation method for iterations is developed to handle the influence of iterations on parameters. The derivative calculation and the aerothermodynamics calculations are combined in the component level mode...     

Generic functional modelling of multi-pulse auto-transformer rectifier units for more-electric aircraft applications

The Auto-Transformer Rectifier Unit (ATRU) is one preferred solution for high-power AC/DC power conversion in aircraft. This is mainly due to its simple structure, high reliability and reduced kVA ratings. Indeed, the ATRU has become a preferred AC/DC solution to supply power to the electric environment control system on-board future aircraft. In this paper, a general modelling method for ATRUs is introduced. The developed model is based on the fact that the DC voltage and current are strongly related to the voltage and current vectors at the AC terminals of ATRUs. In this paper, we carry on our research in modelling symmetric 18-pulse ATRUs and develop a generic modelling technique. The developed generic model can study not only symmetric but also asymmetric ATRUs. An 18-pulse asymmetric ATRU is used to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the developed model by comparing with corresponding detailed switching SABER models provided by our industrial partner. The functional models also allow accelerated and accurate simulations and thus enable whole-scale more-electric aircraft electrical power system studies in the future.     

民用飞机气动力模型建模方法研究

对民机常用的两种气动力建模方法——全机建模法和分部件组合建模法进行了研究,并对两者的优缺点进行了对比分析,进而对两类方法在大型客机气动力建模中的综合运用提出了建议。     

Numerical study of aerodynamic characteristics of FSW aircraft with different wing positions under supersonic condition

This paper investigates the influence of forward-swept wing(FSW) positions on the aerodynamic characteristics of aircraft under supersonic condition(Ma = 1.5). The numerical method based on Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes(RANS) equations, Spalart–Allmaras(S–A) turbulence model and implicit algorithm is utilized to simulate the flow field of the aircraft. The aerodynamic parameters and flow field structures of the horizontal tail and the whole aircraft are presented. The results demonstrate that the spanwise flow of FSW flows from the wingtip to the wing root, generating an upper wing surface vortex and a trailing edge vortex nearby the wing root.The vortexes generated by FSW have a strong downwash effect on the tail. The lower the vertical position of FSW, the stronger the downwash effect on tail. Therefore, the effective angle of attack of tail becomes smaller. In addition, the lift coefficient, drag coefficient and lift–drag ratio of tail decrease, and the center of pressure of tail moves backward gradually. For the whole aircraft,the lower the vertical position of FSW, the smaller lift, drag and center of pressure coefficients of aircraft. The closer the FSW moves towards tail, the bigger pitching moment and center of pressure coefficients of the whole aircraft, but the lift and drag characteristics of the horizontal tail and the whole aircraft are basically unchanged. The results have potential application for the design of new concept aircraft.     

Assessment on critical technologies for conceptual design of blended-wing-body civil aircraft

Civil aviation faces great challenges because of its robust projected future growth and potential adverse environmental effects. The classical Tube-And-Wing(TAW) configuration following the Cayley's design principles has been optimized to the architecture's limit, which can hardly satisfy the further requirements on green aviation. By past decades' investigations the BlendedWing-Body(BWB) concept has emerged as a potential solution, which can simultaneously fulfill metrics of noise, emission and fuel burn. The purpose of the present work is to analyze the developments of critical technologies for BWB conceptual design from a historical perspective of technology progress. It was found that the high aerodynamic efficiency of BWB aircraft can be well scaled by the mean aerodynamic chord and wetted aspect ratio, and should be realized with the trade-offs among stability and control and low-speed performance. The structure concepts of non-cylinder pressurized cabin are of high risks on weight prediction and weight penalty. A static stability criterion is recommended and further clear and adequate criteria are required by the evaluations of flying and handling qualities. The difficulties of propulsion and airframe integration are analyzed. The energy to revenue work ratios of well-developed BWB configurations are compared,which are 31.5% and 40% better than that of TAW, using state-of-art engine technology and future engine technology, respectively. Finally, further study aspects are advocated.     

An air-rail inter-modal strategy for aircraft recovery

It is common that airlines encounter a disruption of a flight schedule, which is mainly caused by resource shortages. In case of a disruption, subject to scarce resources, most of airlines lose flexibility of performing aircraft recovery on the basis of business interest priorities and need to delay, swap, and cancel flights. This paper proposes an air-rail inter-modal strategy to incorporate a High-Speed Rail(HSR) transport mode into an aviation network for aircraft recovery. The air-rail inter...     

Theoretical aerothermal concepts for configuration design of hypersonic vehicles

Convection coefficients and heat fluxes due to aerodynamic heating on critical surfaces of hypersonic vehicle are obtained analytically. The applicability of recovery temperature for stagnation regions is discussed. Convection coefficient for the bicurvature forward stagnation region is obtained directly from 2-D stagnation region correlation, using the two principal radii of curvatures. Convective heat flux to swept-back leading edge (SBLE) surface is obtained from the 2-D stagnation region and flat plate heat fluxes, using the respective velocity vector components. Results reveal the concepts of temperature-minimised-sweepback, and the thermally-benign sharp SBLE effect at high sweepback angles.     

A multi-agent based intelligent configuration method for aircraft fleet maintenance personnel

A multi-agent based fleet maintenance personnel configuration method is proposed to solve the mission oriented aircraft fleet maintenance personnel configuration problem. The mainte- nance process of an aircraft fleet is analyzed first. In the process each aircraft contains multiple parts, and different parts are repaired by personnel with different majors and levels. The factors and their relationship involved in the process of maintenance are analyzed and discussed. Then the whole maintenance process is described as a 3-layer multi-agent system （MAS） model. A com- munication and reasoning strategy among the agents is put forward. A fleet maintenance personnel configuration algorithm is proposed based on contract net protocol （CNP）. Finally, a fleet of 10 aircraft is studied for verification purposes. A mission type with 3 waves of continuous dispatch is imaged. Compared with the traditional methods that can just provide configuration results, the proposed method can provide optimal maintenance strategies as well.     

Multi-objective optimization of aircraft design for emission and cost reductions

Pollutant gases emitted from the civil jet are doing more and more harm to the environ- ment with the rapid development of the global commercial aviation transport. Low environmental impact has become a new requirement for aircraft design. In this paper, estimation method for emis- sion in aircraft conceptual design stage is improved based on the International Civil Aviation Orga- nization （ICAO） aircraft engine emissions databank and the polynomial curve fitting methods. The greenhouse gas emission （CO2 equivalent） per seat per kilometer is proposed to measure the emis- sions. An approximate sensitive analysis and a multi-objective optimization of aircraft design for tradeoff between greenhouse effect and direct operating cost （DOC） are performed with five geom- etry variables of wing configuration and two flight operational parameters. The results indicate that reducing the cruise altitude and Mach number may result in a decrease of the greenhouse effect but an increase of DOC. And the two flight operational parameters have more effects on the emissions than the wing configuration. The Pareto-optimal front shows that a decrease of 29.8% in DOC is attained at the expense of an increase of 10.8% in greenhouse gases.     

A method of multi-objective reliability tolerance design for electronic circuits

Tolerance design plays an important role in reliability design for electronic circuits. The traditional method only focuses on the consistency of output response. It is not able to meet the needs of increasing development of electronic products. This paper researches the state of related fields and proposes a method of multi-objective reliability tolerance design. The characteristics of output response and operating stresses on critical components are both defined as design objectives. Critical components and their operating stresses are determined by failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) and fault tree analysis (FTA). Sensitivity analysis is carried out to determine sensitive parameters that affect the design objectives significantly. Monte Carlo and worst-case analysis are utilized to explore the tolerance levels of sensitive parameters. Design of experiment and regression analysis are applied in this method. The optimal tolerance levels are selected in accord with a quality-cost model to improve consistency of output response and reduce failure rates of critical components synchronously. The application in light-emitting diode (LED) drivers indicates details and potential. It shows that the proposed method provides a more effective way to improve performance and reliability of electronic circuits.     

Structural mass prediction in conceptual design of blended-wing-body aircraft

The Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) is an unconventional configuration of aircraft and considered as a potential configuration for future commercial aircraft. One of the difficulties in conceptual design of a BWB aircraft is structural mass prediction due to its unique structural feature. This paper presents a structural mass prediction method for conceptual design of BWB aircraft using a structure analysis and optimization method combined with empirical calibrations. The total BWB structural mass is divided into the ideal load-carrying structural mass, non-ideal mass, and secondary structural mass. Structural finite element analysis and optimization are used to predict the ideal primary structural mass, while the non-ideal mass and secondary structural mass are estimated by empirical methods. A BWB commercial aircraft is used to demonstrate the procedure of the BWB structural mass prediction method. The predicted mass of structural components of the BWB aircraft is presented, and the ratios of the structural component mass to the Maximum TakeOff Mass (MTOM) are discussed. It is found that the ratio of the fuselage mass to the MTOM for the BWB aircraft is much higher than that for a conventional commercial aircraft, and the ratio of the wing mass to the MTOM for the BWB aircraft is slightly lower than that for a conventional aircraft.     

Multipoint optimization on fuel efficiency in conceptual design of wide-body aircraft

Aircraft conceptual design optimizations that maximize the performance at a design condition (single-point) may result in designs with unsatisfying off-design performance. To further improve aircraft efficiency under actual flight operations, there is a need to consider multiple flight conditions (multipoint) in aircraft conceptual design and optimization. A new strategy for multipoint optimizations in aircraft conceptual design is proposed in this paper. A wide-body aircraft is taken as an example for both single-point and multipoint optimizations with the objective of maximizing the specific hourly productivity. Boeing 787-8 flight data was used in the multipoint optimization to reflect the true objective function. The results show that the optimal design from the multipoint optimization has a 7.72% total specific hourly productivity increase of entire flight missions compared with that of the baseline aircraft, while the increase in the total specific hourly productivity from the single-point optimal design is only 5.73%. The differences between the results of single-point and multipoint optimizations indicate that there is a good option to further improve aircraft efficiency by considering actual flight conditions in aircraft conceptual design and optimization.     

Exploration and implementation of commonality valuation method in commercial aircraft family design

Commercial aircraft family design can reduce development costs, shorten development cycles, and expand the market coverage of aircraft. Commercial aircraft family development has become one of the most important features of modern aircraft design. This paper explores the effects of commonality on different aircraft models in a commercial aircraft family. The existing product commonality indexes are summarized and their limitations in the application to aircraft design are discussed. Then a new component commonality index is proposed based on the component decomposition structure. A model for calculating the aircraft program value is established,which considers development costs, manufacturing costs, sale price, operation costs and residual costs. The effects of aircraft commonality on time and economic costs of both development and manufacturing, and on sale price, are analyzed and quantified. The commonality evaluation strategy is obtained, which features comprehensive consideration of the aircraft program value and time costs. The break-even analysis of aircraft is proceeded on the basis of costs and price data. By using a real option method, the strategy considers the uncertainty of the aircraft program and the flexibility of the manufacturer. This strategy proves to be rational and applicable to aircraft design based on the calculation of three examples and the analysis of parameter sensitivity.     

大型客机机翼前缘缝翼气动及其机构一体化设计

前缘缝翼系统设计是一个涉及多目标、多学科综合的问题。针对这一复杂问题,首先解决了前缘缝翼支撑与驱动机构设计的诸多难点,然后利用CATIA二次开发技术,建立了一套气动和机构一体化设计平台,将前缘缝翼气动设计和机构设计有机地结合起来。大型客机前缘缝翼气动机构一体化设计子平台的功能是向用户提供前缘缝翼以及支撑与驱动机构设计参数的输入;然后驱动CATIA自动生成前缘缝翼起飞着陆状态的气动外形;在此基础上自动生成支撑与驱动机构零件,装配并仿真;最后通过高效的气动评估方法来评估前缘缝翼在机构引导下得到的起飞着陆性能是否满足总体设计要求。     

飞行器外形多目标多学科综合优化设计方法研究

从多目标多学科综合设计的角度出发，探讨了飞行器外形优化设计方法。建立了针对飞行器外形设计的气动与隐身一体化优化设计模型；采用Pareto遗传算法，建立了多目标优化设计方法；并针对具体算例进行气动外形与隐身特性的综合优化设计，将所得优化设计结果，与初始外形相比较，可以看出，优化后气动和隐身性能都有较大提高，实际结果表明本文提出的方法具有可行性和适用性。     

Neural Network aided PMSM multi-objective design and optimization for more-electric aircraft applications

This study uses the Neural Network(NN) technique to optimize design of surfacemounted Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors(PMSMs) for More-Electric Aircraft(MEA)applications. The key role of NN is to provide dedicated correction factors for the analytical PMSM mass and loss estimation within the entire design space. Based on that, a globally optimal design can be quickly obtained. Matching the analytical estimation with Finite-Element Analysis(FEA) is the main research target of training the NN. ...     

Process of establishing design requirements and selecting alternative configurations for conceptual design of a VLA

In this study, a process for establishing design requirements and selecting alternative con-figurations for the conceptual phase of aircraft design has been proposed. The proposed process uses system-engineering-based requirement-analysis techniques such as objective tree, analytic hier-archy process, and quality function deployment to establish logical and quantitative standards. Moreover, in order to perform a logical selection of alternative aircraft configurations, it uses advanced decision-making methods such as morphological matrix and technique for order prefer-ence by similarity to the ideal solution. In addition, a preliminary sizing tool has been developed to check the feasibility of the established performance requirements and to evaluate the flight perfor-mance of the selected configurations. The present process has been applied for a two-seater very light aircraft (VLA), resulting in a set of tentative design requirements and two families of VLA configurations: a high-wing configuration and a low-wing configuration. The resulting set of design requirements consists of three categories: customer requirements, certification requirements, and performance requirements. The performance requirements include two mission requirements for the flight range and the endurance by reflecting the customer requirements. The flight performances of the two configuration families were evaluated using the sizing tool developed and the low-wing configuration with conventional tails was selected as the best baseline configuration for the VLA.