Flying-V Family Design W.J
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Flying-V Family Design W.J. Oosterom Delft University of Technology Flying-V Family Design by W.J. Oosterom to obtain the degree of Master of Science at the Delft University of Technology. to be defended publicly on Friday April 9, 2021 at 8:45 AM. Student number: 4463250 Project duration: August 24, 2020 – April 9, 2021 Thesis committee: Dr. ir. R. Vos, TU Delft, supervisor Dr. ir. G. la Rocca, TU Delft Dr. ing. S.G.P.Castro, TU Delft An electronic version of this thesis is available at http://repository.tudelft.nl/. Abstract The Flying-V is a novel aircraft configuration that promises a large improvement in fuel burn performance compared to conventional aircraft, integrating the passenger cabin and cargo volume into the lifting surface. The Flying-V is a V-shaped flying wing with an oval cabin and engines over the trailing edge. The aircraft does not have high-lift devices, and fins and elevons provide stability and control. The Flying-V has been studied on several aspects such as aerodynamics and structures, confirming its large potential fuel burn reduction. This study focuses on the feasibility of developing a family of Flying-V aircraft, which is a crucial step in passenger aircraft development offering multiple aircraft variants at limited development and production cost. The ability to design a family of Flying-V aircraft can be a large advantage with respect to blended wing body designs, of which earlier research suggests that developing a family is difficult due to its lack of a constant cross-section. On a higher level, this research is one of the few focusing on family design of an unconventional aircraft configuration in the conceptual design phase. The Flying-V family is optimised for minimal fuel burn, ensuring commonality in terms of common vari- ables and common components between family members. Fuel burn is calculated using fuel fractions and the Breguet range equation. A vortex-lattice method is employed to study the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft, enhanced with a viscous module to estimate its lift-to-drag ratio. The weight of the aircraft is estimated using empirical relations, a semi-analytical oval fuselage weight estimation method and a quasi- analytical conventional aircraft wing weight estimation method. The fuel burn model is validated using the reference aircraft family, resulting in a fuel burn within 0.9% of the data provided by the aircraft manufacturer. Feasibility of the Flying-V family design is ensured by including a range of top-level aircraft requirements on payload, range, cruise speed and altitude, low-speed performance, stability and control and airport regu- lations. The complete model is built within a ParaPy framework, which is a Knowledge-Based Engineering environment programmed in Python. Optimisation of the Flying-V aircraft family is performed using an it- erative procedure, optimising variables that describe the planform and cross-section of the aircraft. The only unique variable for each aircraft variant is the length of the untapered part of the cabin, maximising com- monality in the aircraft family. The optimised Flying-V (FV) family consists of three aircraft with a passenger capacity of 293, 328 and 361 for the FV-800, FV-900 and FV-1000 respectively. The design ranges of the Flying-V family members at max- imum passenger capacity are 11.2 103 km, 14.8 103 km and 15.4 103 km. The range of the FV-800 is smaller ¢ ¢ ¢ than the other two aircraft family members because no requirement was imposed on this range, determining the range implicitly from the available fuel volume resulting from optimisation of a two-member aircraft fam- ily. The optimised design suggests a 20% and 22% lower fuel burn than the modelled reference aircraft family for the FV-900 and FV-1000 on the design mission, proving the feasibility in terms of fuel burn of a Flying-V aircraft family. The penalty in fuel burn compared to individually optimised aircraft is 8.9%, 7.1% and 4.2% for the FV-800, FV-900 and FV-1000 respectively. The takeoff mass of the Flying-V family members is 185 103 ¢ kg, 234 103 kg and 266 103 kg respectively. With respect to the modelled A350 family, this is a reduction of ¢ ¢ 17% and 15% for the -900 and -1000 variant. The approach speed of the FV-900 and FV-1000 is estimated at 136 and 137 kts, much lower than the specified approach speed of the reference aircraft of 140 and 147 kts. Besides constraints on payload and commonality, driving requirements in Flying-V family design are the shift in centre of gravity during flight, the wingspan and the fuel tank volume. Feasibility of the design is ensured by drawing a floor plan of the aircraft fitting its payload and furnishing. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis on the obtained design vector confirms its optimality. iii Preface Dear reader, This thesis has been written in light of the final graduation project of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology. It has been exciting to work on this research on family design of the Flying-V.During my study, I have always had an interest in novel aircraft configurations, of which the Flying-V is the flagship of the aerospace department at Delft University of Technology. Aircraft family design has been a very interesting subject, integrating a variety of disciplines into one complex design problem. It was interesting to find how little is known about aircraft family design, especially for unconventional aircraft configurations, despite its rather large importance as a potential make-or-break factor for any aircraft configuration. This research is one of the few focusing on family design of an unconventional aircraft configuration in the conceptual design phase, and might be the start of more research into this interesting and crucial aspect of aircraft design. Please note that the front page image is an adapted version of a figure by Delft University of Technology1. I would like to thank Dr. Roelof Vos for his great support during the project, quickly understanding any challenges encountered and regularly meeting to discuss progress and difficulties. I have always enjoyed our meetings, both personally and intellectually. Lastly, I would like to thank my roommates. De Roos van Suyd has been a very motivating working place, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. W.J. Oosterom Delft, March 2021 1https://www.tudelft.nl/lr/flying-v/ [cited on 23-9-2020] v Contents Abstract iii List of Figures ix List of Tables xi Nomenclature xiii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Research Objective and Questions................................1 1.2 Outline..............................................2 2 Background 3 2.1 Flying Wing Principle.......................................3 2.2 Evolution of the Flying-V.....................................5 2.2.1 Initial Design........................................5 2.2.2 Aerodynamic Design....................................6 2.2.3 Structural Design and Weight Estimation.........................7 2.2.4 Engine Placement.....................................7 2.2.5 Recent Developments...................................8 2.3 Product Family Design and Commonality.............................8 2.3.1 Product Family Design...................................8 2.3.2 The Concept of Commonality...............................9 2.3.3 The Importance of Commonality............................. 10 2.3.4 Commonality Metrics................................... 11 2.4 Aircraft Family Design Methods.................................. 11 2.5 Design of Modern Conventional Passenger Aircraft Families................... 13 2.5.1 Airbus A350........................................ 13 2.5.2 Boeing 787......................................... 15 3 Experimental Setup 17 3.1 ParaPy Framework........................................ 17 3.2 Top-level Aircraft Requirements.................................. 17 3.2.1 Payload and Range..................................... 17 3.2.2 Airport Requirements................................... 19 3.2.3 Stability and Control.................................... 20 3.2.4 Noise, Emissions and Operator Requirements....................... 20 3.3 Parametrisation and Family Design Principle........................... 21 3.3.1 Flying-V Parametrisation.................................. 21 3.3.2 Reference Aircraft Parametrisation............................. 21 3.3.3 Family Design Principle.................................. 22 3.4 Optimisation Architecture.................................... 24 4 Single Aircraft Performance Analysis 29 4.1 Fuel Burn Analysis........................................ 29 4.1.1 Engine Model....................................... 29 4.1.2 Mission and Flight Profile................................. 29 4.1.3 Fuel Burn Model...................................... 30 4.2 Aerodynamic Analysis....................................... 31 4.2.1 Aerodynamic Model Selection............................... 32 4.2.2 Aerodynamic Analysis Procedure............................. 34 vii viii Contents 4.3 Weight Estimation Method.................................... 36 4.3.1 Weight Estimation Method Setup............................. 36 4.3.2 Fuselage and Inner Wing Weight Estimation........................ 38 4.3.3 Outer Wing, Non-Structural and Payload Weight Estimation................ 46 4.3.4 Centre of Gravity, Landing Gear Positioning and Engine Placement............ 48 4.3.5 Modelled Weight to Actual Weight............................. 48 4.4 Reference Aircraft......................................... 49 5 Verification and Validation 51 5.1 Aerodynamic Analysis......................................