The modification of aerofoils with structural morphing in order to enhance aerodynamic efficiency is an active field of research. The required forced and induced displacements are, usually, out the current developments on shape memory alloys, piezoelectric actuators or multi-stable structures for commercial transport aircraft applications. This work aims to present studies for obtaining an optimum rudder structure which morphs to a pre-defined curvature that can sustain aerodynamic and internal loads in a critical certification load case for a commercial transport aircraft. It also includes the feasibility of a morphing rudder based on a zero Poisson skeleton, or close to a zero Poisson ratio panel geometrical configuration that has no transverse deformation when perpendicularly loaded and which is produced with an additive layer manufacturing process.

A novel image-based method is presented in this paper to estimate the poses of commercial aircrafts in a runway end safety area. Based on the fact that similar poses of an aircraft will have similar geometry structures, this method first extracts features to describe the structure of an aircraft's fuselage and aerofoil by RANdom Sample Consensus algorithm (RANSAC), and then uses the central moments to obtain the aircrafts’ pose information. Based on the proposed pose information, a two-step feature matching strategy is further designed to identify an aircraft's particular pose. In order to validate the accuracy of the pose estimation and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, we construct a pose database of two common aircrafts in Asia. The experiments show that the designed low-dimension features can accurately capture the aircraft's pose information and the proposed algorithm can achieve satisfied matching accuracy.

This paper presents performance analysis and design of ducted propellers for lighter-than-air vehicles. High-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations were first performed on a detailed model of the propulsor, and the results were in very good agreement with available experimental data. Additional simulations were performed using a simplified geometry, to quantify the effect of the duct and of the blade twist on the propeller performance. It was shown that the duct is particularly effective at low flight speed and that the blades with relatively high twist have better performance over the flight envelope. Design of the optimal twist distribution and of the duct shape was also attempted by coupling the flow solver with a quasi-Newton optimisation method. Flow gradients were computed by solving the discrete adjoint of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations using a fixed-point iteration scheme or a nested Krylov method with deflated restarting. The results show that the ducted propeller propulsive efficiency can be increased by 2%.

This paper briefly reviews the history and development of compounds, tiltrotors and hingeless rotors. Largely through a quirk of history, the compound has been neglected for over three decades. The mission performance potential of the compound is re-examined based on basic aerodynamic principles and by surveying recent NASA and Army mission design studies. A rational case can be made that the compound is the preferred rotorcraft for intermediate-speed missions and that it can be a worthy complement to the helicopter and tiltrotor. Past US Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate (AFDD) aeromechanics research in aeroelastic stability and prediction methodology is reviewed in support of advancing both conventional and compound rotorcraft. This paper describes ten research and development (R&D) initiatives to revitalise advanced rotorcraft research for both conventional and future compound rotorcraft.

This paper presents the design and optimisation of an aerofoil with active continuous trailing-edge flap (CTEF) investigated as a potential rotorcraft active control device. Several structural cross-section models are developed: high-fidelity NASA STRucture ANalysis (NASTRAN) and University of Michigan/Variational Asymptotic Beam Section Code (UM/VABS) models and a reduced-order analysis model. The validation of the reduced-order model is established by comparing its predictions of CTEF deformations with those of NASTRAN and UM/VABS analyses, which both show good agreement. The 2D aerodynamic characteristics of the CTEF aerofoil are evaluated using XFOIL and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses: FUN3D and Overset Transonic Unsteady Rotor Navier-Stokes (OVERTURNS). XFOIL, coupled with the reduced-order structure model, is adopted for optimisation study. The accuracy of XFOIL in predicting the aerodynamic pressure of the CTEF aerofoil is verified using CFD simulations, which shows sufficient fidelity. The predicted variations of aerodynamic coefficients with a CTEF angle are compared among the aerodynamic analyses. The optimisation process is developed and applied to two bimorph bender configurations: a Macro-Fibre Composite (MFC) solid bender and an MFC stack bender. The solid bender is used to confirm the functioning of the optimisation procedure and to use its optimal layout as a reference to the stack design, the primary design object. A linear tapered shape is found to be the optimum for a MFC solid bender, which generates an average of 63% more CTEF angles than those of an optimal rectangular bender. An optimised MFC stack bender is shown to resemble the shape of the solid bender. A four-ply bimorph is considered the best choice among the stack layouts because of its large output of CTEF angles and relatively less plies required. The CTEF angle produced by the four-ply optimal layout ranges from 7.6° to 5.3° with speeds from 0 to 200m/s at an angle of attack (AoA) of 6°. The reduction in the CTEF angle with AoA is less steep than that with speed, ranging from 6.5° to 5.8° with AoA from 0 to 8° at speed of 166m/s. An average of 14% increase in CTEF angles is achieved through optimisation for the four-ply bimorph.

Rocket motor nozzle flow geometry is considered through its influence on the thrust vector control (TVC) performances. Extensive research is conducted using theoretical and software simulations and compared with experimental results. Cold and hot flow test equipments are used. The main objective of the research is to establish the methodology of flow geometry optimisation on the TVC hardware system. Several geometry parameters are examined in detail and their effects on the system performances are presented. The discovered effects are used as guidelines in the TVC system design process. A numerical method is presented for the determination of dynamic response time upper limit for the TVC system based on the gas flow dynamics performances.

Two methods have been compared for the determination of the inertial properties of a small, fixed-wing un-manned aerial vehicle. The first method uses the standard single degree of freedom pendulum method and the second method implements a novel, potentially easier, 3 degrees of freedom pendulum method, which yields the entire inertia tensor from a single swing test. Both methods are using system identification of the pendulum motion to estimate the inertial properties. Substantial corrections (up to 25%) have to be applied to the experimental results. These corrections are caused by the acceleration of the pendulum being immersed in the surrounding air, also called the added mass effect. It has been found that the methods presented in literature to determine the corrections for full-scale aircraft do not give the correct results for the small-scale un-manned aerial vehicle under consideration. The only feasible, cost-effective method to generate these corrections utilise swing tests with a geometrically similar object of known inertial properties. It has also been found that the corrections are unique with respect to the experimental methods. Several benchmarking methods, including the innovative use of static and dynamic wind-tunnel test data, give high confidence in the results.

The gas dynamic laser is numerically studied using quasi-1D and 2D simulations to investigate the effect of diamond pattern of the supersonic flow field (inhomogeneities in density field) on the laser's performance. The system of governing equations is solved with a finite volume approach using a structured grid in which the AUSM+ scheme is used to calculate the convective fluxes. Vibrational temperature of different modes, population inversion and the small signal gain are studied, and the effect of the divergent nozzle's geometry at the maximum gain is analysed.

This article presents a unified approach to solve steady-state conjugate heat-transfer problem including simultaneously gas, liquid and solid regions in just one 3D domain, distinguished by their particular properties. This approach reduces approximation errors and the time to solve the problem, which characterise iterative methods based on separated domains. The formulation employs RANS equations, realisable k-ε turbulence model and near-wall treatment model. A commercial CFD code solves the pressure-based segregated algorithm combined with spatial discretisation of second order upwind. The problem consists of a convergent-divergent metallic nozzle that contains cooling channels divided in two segments along the wall. The nozzle wall insulates the high-speed hot air flow, dealt as perfect gas, from the two low-speed cold water flows, dealt as compressed liquid, both influenced by transport properties dependent of the local temperature. The verification process uses three meshes with increasing resolutions to demonstrate the independence of the results. The validation process compares the simulation results with experimental data obtained in high-enthalpy wind tunnel, demonstrating good compliance between them. Results for the bulk temperature rise of the water in the second cooling segment of the nozzle showed good agreement with available experimental data. Numerical simulations also provided wall temperature and heat flux for the gas and liquid sides. Besides, distribution of temperature, pressure, density and Mach number were plotted along the nozzle centerline showing a little disturbance downstream the throat. This phenomenon has been better visualised by means of 2D maps of those variables. The analysis of results indicates that the unified approach herein presented can make easier the task of simulating the conjugate convection-conduction heat-transfer in a class of problems related to regeneratively cooled thrust chambers.

In this paper, we present a new force-feedback side-stick which has been developed and integrated into a research flight simulator. The developed 2 Degrees of Freedom (DOF) force-feedback joystick, as a kind of haptic device, provides two-way communication in both position and force, and allows users to interact with the simulation system. It has been designed by considering the main factors in designing a general use force-feedback device. Thus, the design must allow the restitution of aerodynamic forces onto the hand of the pilot. This is an important feature, which gives the pilot the ‘natural feel’ of traditional mechanical aircraft control. In order to provide the force feedback to enhance the realism of the simulation, we added the necessary software using Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) solutions (Microsoft Flight Simulator Software (MSFS)) and built-in data structure and methods. Thus, the main contribution of this paper concerns the design and implementation of an automatic controller based on fuzzy logic systems. It is not simply designing a force-feedback stick for flight simulation: we proposed a novel control principles and more importantly completely new approach to compute in real-time force feedback on the stick based on pilot knowledge that avoids the use of complex aerodynamics equations with unknown parameters. To our best knowledge, this work is the first to propose the integration of fuzzy logic force controller in flight simulation for creating force feedback. Results using the overall simulation are presented and evaluated and interesting sensations have been recorded.

Comparative mixing of a Mach 2 elliptical free jet from a convergent-divergent elliptic nozzle with an aspect ratio of 2:1 in the presence of adverse and marginally favourable pressure gradients has been studied experimentally. It is found that the mixing of the elliptical jet is higher than that for the equivalent circular jet at all the levels of expansion. The decay of elliptic jet is significantly higher than the equivalent circular jet in all three zones of the jet field – the core, characteristic decay and fully developed regions. The reason for the faster decay of the elliptic jet is found to be the continuous variation in the size of the mixing-promoting vortices shed from the nozzle exit owing to its azimuthal asymmetry. The evolution of the jet and its axis-switching phenomenon has been studied using iso-pitot pressure contours taken at different axial locations in the plane normal to the jet axis. As expected, the elliptic jet spreads faster along the minor axis plane than the major axis plane, leading to axis-switching at all the levels of expansion studied. The axis-switching of the elliptic jet shifts upstream with increase in nozzle pressure ratio (NPR) from 4 to 5; from 5 to 7, it shifts downstream. But at marginally under-expanded condition of NPR 8, the axis-switching is found to shift slightly upstream. The occurrence of axis-switching in the elliptic jet indicates enhanced near-field mixing, compared to the equivalent circular jet. The shadowgraph pictures of the jet reveal that the waves prevailing in the elliptic jet are significantly weaker than those in the circular jet.

Composite materials have been increasingly used in aircraft structures. However, these composite structures are susceptible to damage from external low-velocity impacts. In this paper, an impact identification algorithm is proposed to estimate the impact location and force time history simultaneously. A localisation method based on basis vectors is proposed, and the impact force time history is reconstructed by simplified transfer functions. The basis vector stands for the relationship between the impact location and the sensor signals, and the transfer function shows the relationship of the sensor signal and the force time history. An experiment is conducted on a flat glass fibre-epoxy matrix composite plate to verify the developed algorithm using only four sensors. The soft impactor and hard impactor are two typical impactors for impact events; therefore, the impact experiment is performed by the rubber and the steel impactors, respectively. The experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm is feasible for the identification of impact events on plate-like composite structures.

Since the introduction of hexapod-type motion systems for flight simulation in the 1970s, Motion Drive Algorithm tuning has been primarily based on the subjective judgement of experienced pilots. This subjective method is often not transparent and often leads to ambiguous process of adjustment of the tuning parameters. Consequently, there are large variations in the motion cueing characteristics of flight training devices, a variability that subsequently raises questions regarding the value of motion cueing for pilot training itself. The third revision of ICAO 9625 Manual of Criteria for the Qualification of Flight Simulation Training Devices offered the opportunity to take a closer look at simulator motion cueing requirements in general. This led to the concept of the objective motion cueing test (OMCT), which was reported in 2006. After the method was evaluated on three research flight simulators, the results were published in 2007, demonstrating a larger spread in dynamic behaviour of cueing algorithms than expected. After discussions with the simulator industry regarding the form and methodology of the OMCT, an evaluation of the test in cooperation with the industry started in 2011. This led to the final form of the OMCT and cueing parameter criterion for the in-flight mode of transport aircraft. This paper describes the OMCT, the evaluation results and the criterion.

Aircraft manufacturers often consider producing multiple derivatives of aircraft to satisfy various market demands and technical changes while keeping development costs and time to a minimum. Many approaches have been proposed for carrying out derivative design. However, these approaches consider both the baseline design and derivatives together at the conceptual design stage using the entire set of design variables with an assumed set of expected requirements. These frozen requirements on derivative design cannot consider new demands from market changes. In this paper, a method is proposed that uses design optimisation for conceptual design of derivatives for existing aircraft that consider requirement changes. Furthermore, the Possibility-Based Design Optimisation (PBDO) method was implemented to consider uncertainty in the aircraft operation phase. The altitude range of aircraft operation was defined as an uncertain parameter to prevent violation of constraints in the entire operating envelope of the aircraft. The PBDO method yields a more conservative design than those obtained with deterministic design optimisation.

In this paper, the proposed derivative design process was applied to the Expedition 350, a small piston engine powered aircraft produced by Found Aircraft, Canada. A derivative that changes the normally aspirated engine to a turbocharged engine for high-altitude operation was considered. An optimum configuration with the new engine was obtained while enhancing performance and stability characteristics. The proposed derivative design process can be implemented on the derivative design of other aircraft.

Aircraft damage modelling was conducted on a Boeing 747 to examine the effects of asymmetric horizontal stabiliser loss on the flight dynamics of a commercial Fly-by-Wire (FBW) aircraft. Robustness of the control system is investigated by analysing how characteristic eigenvalues move as a result of damage and comparison to the non-FBW aircraft is made. Furthermore, the extent of stabiliser loss that the system can successfully handle without loss of stability and acceptable performance is identified. The presented analysis of the results gives insightful knowledge to aid in the design of an improved FBW system with increased damage tolerance. A handling qualities evaluation is presented to provide an understanding of how the pilot perceives the damaged aircraft. The results of the study show that a generic FBW system improves robustness such that the aircraft is stable with 50% horizontal stabiliser loss. With 50% damage, the aircraft is controllable but unsafe to fly and may be unable to effectively complete its mission task.

In this paper, sliding mode control and disturbance observer are used to design a new continuous composite guidance law with terminal angle constraint. The robustness and finite-time convergence of the proposed guidance law is established using the Lyapunov stability theory. For performance improvement, a nonlinear disturbance observer, which can be viewed as a ‘patch’ for the original guidance law, is designed to estimate the target manoeuvre. Theoretical analysis and simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Circular Cir 337 is the first step towards ICAO establishing an Aeroplane CO2 Emissions Standard to form part of Annex 16, Volume III to the Chicago Convention. It describes itself as ‘a work in progress’. This paper reviews Cir 337 against the background of flight physics, the published literature on aircraft fuel burn and CO2 emissions and the current practices of the aircraft and engine manufacturers and the airline operators. We have taken, as our starting point, the aim of ICAO to reduce the fuel used per revenue tonne-kilometre performed and argue that the Breguet range equation, which captures all the relevant flight physics, should be the basis of the metric system underpinning the standard. Our overall conclusion is that Cir 337 provides an excellent basis for the initial regulation of aviation's CO2 emissions and, further in the future, for developing measures to increase the fuel efficiency of the operational side of civil aviation. Our main criticism of the circular in its current form is that it does not address the ICAO goal of reducing fuel used per revenue tonne-kilometre performed and makes no reference to payload. This defect could be eliminated simply by omission of the exponent 0.24 of the Reference Geometric Factor (RGF) in the formula for the metric given in Chapter 2 (paragraph 2.2) of the circular. Retaining the RGF to the power unity in the metric and multiplying it by an appropriate value of the effective floor loading would convert it to what the 37th Assembly of ICAO called for – a statement of fuel used per revenue tonne-kilometre performed. Finally, correlating the amended metric against design range, as determined from the measured specific air range and the key certificated masses, provides a sound scientific basis for an initial regulation to cap passenger aircraft emissions.

Fatigue life is a random variable. Thus, the reliability of a conservative fatigue life prediction for a component in the helicopter dynamic system needs to be substantiated. A standard analytical substantiation method uses averaged manoeuvre loads instead of seeing manoeuvre loads as a random variable whose distribution is estimated with limited precision. This simplification may lead to inaccuracies. A new simulation-based method is developed to conservatively predict fatigue life, while also accounting for the full random distribution and uncertainty of manoeuvre loads. Both methods fully account for uncertain fatigue strength but assume that the mission profile is known or can at least be conservatively estimated. Simulations under synthetic but realistic engineering conditions demonstrate that both methods may be used for accurate substantiation of conservative fatigue life predictions. The simulations also demonstrate that, under the tested conditions, uncertainties from manoeuvre loads may be neglected in fatigue life substantiations as the resulting error is not significant with respect to uncertainties in component fatigue strength.

This paper presents a multi-disciplinary analysis methodology for a box-wing aircraft configuration optimised for a given mission scenario. This conceptual design methodology and associated toolchain combines well-established vortex lattice analysis and a newly developed structural analysis tool called WingMASS, allowing the design space to be explored from a combined aerodynamics and structural design perspective. For a given mission scenario, the method optimises a box-wing configuration and compares it with an equivalent conventional configuration. This study shows that, for a given mission, a box-wing configuration can lead to a fuel burn reduction of up to 5% by optimising aspect ratio, horizontal and vertical wing separation.

Experiments and computations have been made to obtain the details of the flow field over a slender body at high angles of attack at a freestream velocity of 17 m/s corresponding to a Reynolds number of 2.9×104 based on the base diameter. Experiments indicated that the existence of side force at higher angles of attack is mainly due to the presence of asymmetric vortices in the leeward side. A rectangular cross-section circular ring placed at an axial distance of 3.5 times the base diameter reduced the side force at all the angles of attack. Investigations were made to obtain the effect of the height of the ring at an angle-of-attack of 50° where the side force experienced is relatively large. A ring placed at a distance of 3.5 times the base diameter alters the initial vortices and hence helps in substantial reduction of the side force. Studies with rings of different heights indicate that a ring having a height of 3% of the local diameter reduced the side force at almost all the angles of attack for the present flow conditions and provided the least disturbance to the lift and drag of the body.