Topology optimisation is a useful tool for the design of aircraft structures. This work details how the new moving iso-surface threshold (MIST) topology optimisation method works and how it can be applied to aircraft structural design. This method has been coupled with commercial finite element analysis software in a simple manner without requiring the modification of the commercial software source code. In this way the user is able to take advantage of the finite element analysis tools such as automatic mesh generation and efficient solving. The extension of the method to 3D designs is also presented. The topology results of a 2D leading-edge rib for stiffness, stress and morphing objectives and a 3D wing skin stringer for stress design demonstrate the functionality of this method.

In this paper, the multi-body dynamic model of an asymmetric variable sweep wing morphing UAV is built based on Kane’s method. This model describes the UAV’s transient behaviour during morphing process and the dynamic characteristic of the variable sweep wings. An integrated design of trajectory tracking control via constrained backstepping method is presented then. The idea of aircraft roll control through asymmetric wing sweep angle changes rather than traditional aileron is explored and used in the fight control design. The control of variable sweep wings is designed as well based on the presented dynamic model. Command filters are used in the backstepping design procedure to accommodate magnitude, rate and bandwidth constraints on virtual states and actuator signals. Stability of the closed-loop system can be proved in the sense of Lyapunov. Simulation of tracking a desired trajectory which contains two manoeuvres demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed protocol and the morphing wing roll controller.

To reduce aircraft emissions to the atmosphere, the fuel burn from aircraft has to be reduced. For long flights, the cruise is the phase where the most significant reduction can be obtained. A new horizontal profile optimisation methodology to achieve lower emissions is described in this article. The impact of wind during a flight can reduce the flight time, either by taking advantage of tailwinds or by avoiding headwinds. A set of alternative trajectories are evaluated to determine the quickest flight time, and therefore, the lowest fuel burn. To determine the expected amount of fuel reduction, the performance databases used on actual FMS devices, were used. These databases represent the flight performance of commercial aircraft.

Generally, pylon-mounted external stores significantly affect the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft due to their flexibility. Therefore, many investigations upon the dynamic and aeroelastic characteristics of an aircraft wing with external stores have been done over the last few decades Recently, a study was carried out regarding the aeroelastic effects on wings by the engine placement For severe operation conditions, classical linear theory with a small amount of amplitude vibration may not be an appropriate analysis. Nonlinear vibration analysis will be required, especially when the amplitude of the vibration is larger than the wing thickness. Chia performed static, dynamic, and post-buckling analyses of various isotropic and composite plates for that purpose. Dumir and Bhaskar derived finite element formulations to analyse the nonlinear vibration of beams and plates. Moreover, the variational-asymptotic plate formulation and the accompanying equations for the global analysis for the plates have been studied. That approach accounted every possible geometrical non-linearity associated with large displacement and small strain.

Model scale tests of modern ‘open rotor’ propulsor concepts that have potential for significant fuel burn reduction for aircraft applications were completed at NASA Glenn Research Center. The recent test campaign was a collaboration between NASA, FAA, and General Electric (GE). GE was the primary industrial partner, but other organisations were involved such as Boeing and Airbus who provided additional hardware for fuselage simulations. The open rotor is a modern version of the UnDucted Fan (UDF®) that was flight tested in the late 1980s through a partnership between NASA and GE. The UDF® was memorable for its scimitar shaped propeller blades and its unique noise signature. Design methods of the time were not able to optimise for both high aerodynamic efficiency and low noise simultaneously. Contemporary CFD/CAA based design methods can produce open rotor blade designs that maintain efficiency with acceptable acoustic signatures. Tests of two generations of new open rotor designs were conducted in the 9’ × 15’ Low Speed Wind Tunnel and the 8’ × 6’ Supersonic Wind Tunnel starting in late 2009 and completed in early 2012. Aerodynamic performance and acoustic data were obtained for take-off, approach and cruise conditions in isolated and semi-installed configurations. Additional detailed flow diagnostic measurements and acoustic measurements, including canonical shielding configurations, were obtained by NASA. NASA and GE conducted joint systems analysis to evaluate the performance of the new blade designs on a Boeing 737 class aircraft. The program demonstrated a 2-3% improvement in overall net efficiency relative to the best efficiency designs of the 1980s while nominally achieving 15-17 EPNdB noise margin to Chapter 4 (at a Technology Readiness Level of 5) for a notional aircraft system defined by NASA.

The current drive towards reducing the environmental impact of aircraft necessitates the ability to evaluate techniques for promoting natural laminar flow in a large scale wind tunnel facility. A test was undertaken on the M2355 variable sweep model to obtain temperature sensitive paint (TSP) and hot-film data from which the transition locations at a range of sweep angles and flow conditions could be identified. The TSP technique has been shown to be a reliable method for determining transition on suitably treated wind tunnel models. Pressure data were also acquired and interpolated to provide the input to the laminar boundary layer code, BL2D, the output from which was used in the linear stability analysis code, CoDS, to calculate the N-factor for the ARA TWT (Transonic Wind Tunnel) facility. Two sets of N-factors were calculated, firstly using incompressible analysis with stationary crossflow and secondly using compressible analysis with travelling crossflow. In both analyses the Tollmien-Schlichting and crossflow cases were calculated together, rather than separating the cases before running the analysis. The resulting N-factors indicate a degree of scatter typical for experimental data. The N-factor based on incompressible theory for crossflow was found to be approximately 7 and for Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S), approximately 11. The results of the wind tunnel test and the analysis carried out are considered to be the first steps towards establishing a methodology for performance testing, in atmospheric tunnels such as the TWT, for aircraft designed to have significant regions of laminar flow. The project has also provided a body of experimental test data which will be valuable for future research into development and validation of laminar flow methods.

Collision-avoidance is a safety-critical requirement to operate UAVs in non-segregated airspaces. In case of communication problems between a UAV and the corresponding pilot-in-command, a technology is required onboard the UAV to implement a capability to detect and avoid collision-hazards even autonomously. After an introduction to the problem of developing a so-called sense-and-avoid system and its avoid-function, this work presents a solution in terms of algorithms to implement the above capability. To detect and resolve potential mid-air conflicts, a geometric deterministic approach has been utilised: an intruder is modeled trough a moving-ellipsoid and a four-dimensional approach in the time-space domain provides the solution. The approach makes use of kinematics information to detect potential conflicts and to provide actions for conflict resolution, such as speed-changes in intensity and/or direction. The proposed solution also enables the UAV to meet the applicable vertical and horizontal minima of separation and to comply with real-time constraints.

This paper presents a novel analysis approach by considering multiple crack interaction in achieving FAA certification for durability and damage tolerance of exterior attachment installations on an aircraft fuselage according to FAA policy on Certification by Analysis-Supported-by-Test (CAST). Durability and damage tolerance evaluation of an aircraft component requires assessment of damage initiation and fatigue crack propagations under service loading, which consists of complex loading types, paths and variable amplitudes. Both simulation and service experience showed that multiple cracks developed in the fuselage skin and doublers that are made of wrought aluminum alloys. Progressive failure analysis (PFA) tool was used to simulate the fatigue damage initiation life using a scale-down stress-life property. A virtual crack closure technique (VCCT) was implemented to evaluate fatigue crack growth with interactions between cracks from different parts in a component, which preserves conservativeness. The fatigue crack growth data is obtained uniquely from an analytical extension of fatigue crack growth data of thin aluminum sheet. Fatigue crack growth analysis showed that only a few initiated cracks propagated steadily before a crack became visible under inspection, which was validated by comparison to service history. Eventually one crack became dominate in the fracturing process thereby setting an inspection time. Analysis also showed that fatigue damage state in the components at the designed operational life will not exceed the static safety requirements. Therefore, FAA accepted the damage tolerance analysis and the aircraft retained certification with no need for repair.

Wave drag reduction is important for the aerodynamic performance optimisation of supersonic cruise aircrafts, such as the supersonic civil transport and the supersonic cruise missile. In this paper a method of the supersonic wing-body wave drag optimisation, the wave drag co-optimisation based on far-field composite elements (CoFCE), is proposed based on class-shape-transformation (CST) parameterisation. Wave drag optimisation cases of a supersonic civil transport wing-body are presented, including the optimisation results and computation cost analyses. It is suggested that the supersonic wing-body wave drag can be significantly reduced by the proposed method with relatively small numbers of design parameter. In the optimisation case presented in this paper a 45% wave drag reduction is achieved. The wave drag optimised configuration also achieved significant lift to drag ratio improvements in small angles-of-attack supersonic cruise flight conditions.

This paper presents optimal operating modes for the factors to maximise the detection capability of a given SHM technology in service environment. Firstly, an orthogonal experiment was performed to determine the importance ranking of the influence factors. Through the test, it is found that operating temperatures for SHM hardware and excitation frequencies for PZT actuator were the most critical factors. Then, numerical model of Lamb waves generated and received by PZT sensors were presented to predict the distribution of response signal amplitudes under changing temperature. Verification tests were carried out on a glass fibre reinforced composite plate at different temperatures. The comparison between the analytical prediction and test results was presented and temperature-dependent optimal frequencies for PZT actuators were obtained. Finally, SHM experiments of full-scale horizontal composite structures are presented. The detection capability of the SHM technology applications of aircrafts in real world is verified by the experimental results.