Conceptual Design of a 200 Passenger Blended Wing Body Aircraft

The Blended Wing Body (BWB) aircraft is based on the flying wing concept. For this aircraft the literature has reported performance improvements compared to conventional aircraft. However, most BWB studies have focused on large aircraft and it is not sure whether the gains are the same for smaller aircraft. The main objective of this work is to perform the conceptual design of a 200 passengers BWB and compare its performance against an equivalent conventional A320 aircraft in terms of payload and range. Moreover, an emphasis will be placed on obtaining a stable aircraft, with the analysis of static and dynamic stability. The design of BWB was carried out under the platform called Computerized Environment for Aircraft Synthesis and Integrated Optimization Methods (CEASIOM). This design platform, suitable for conventional aircraft design, has been modified and additional tools have been integrated in order to achieve the aerodynamic analysis, performance and stability of the BWB aircraft.

Design and Internal Flow Analysis of a Ducted Contra-Rotating Axial Flow Fan

This paper presents the design procedure of a ducted contra-rotating axial flow fan and investigates the flow behavior inside it using ANSYS CFX-15 flow solver. This study investigates parameters such as pressure ratio, inlet mass flow rate and efficiency in different operating points. This system consists of two rotors with an outer diameter of 434 mm and an inner diameter of 260 mm which rotate contrary to each other with independent nominal rotational speeds of 1300 rpm. Blades’ maximum thickness and rotational speeds of each rotor will be altered as well as the axial distance between the two rotors to investigate their effect on the overall performance of the system. Designed to deliver a total pressure ratio of 1.005 and a mass flow rate of 1.8 kg/s at nominal rotational speeds, this system proves to be much more efficient compared to the conventional rotor-stator fans. NACA-65 airfoils are used in this analysis with the necessary adjustments at each section. Inverse design method is used for the first rotor and geometrical constraints are employed for the second one to have an axial inlet and outlet flow without using any inlet or outlet guide vanes. Using free vortex swirl distribution method, characteristic parameters and the necessary data for 3D generation of this model are obtained. The appropriate grid is generated using ATM method in ANSYS TurboGrid and the model is simulated in CFX-15 flow solver by employing k-ε turbulence model in the steady state condition. Both design algorithm and simulation analysis confirm the high anticipated efficiency for this system. The accuracy of the design algorithm will be explored and the most optimum operating points in different rotational speed ratios and axial distances will be identified. By altering the outlet static pressure of the system, the characteristic map is obtained.

Multi-Objective and Multi-Point Aerodynamic Optimization of Transonic Fan Blades

A multi-objective and multi-point optimization methodology is developed for aerodynamic design of transonic fan blades. The optimization method aims to increase design efficiency, near stall efficiency and stall margin while maintaining the required design pressure ratio and high speed choke margin. Numerical analyses are performed by solving three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations combined with shear stress turbulence model. A multi-level blade parameterization is employed to modify the blade geometry. The proposed method is applied to redesign NASA rotor 67. First, an optimization case with considering two operating conditions at peak efficiency and near stall is performed to demonstrate the relation between near stall efficiency and stall margin. An investigation on Pareto optimal solutions of this optimization shows that the stall margin is increased with improving near stall efficiency. Then, in order to maintain the required choke margin, an operating point at high speed choked flow is added to the optimization process. A final optimized design is selected by considering the interaction of design requirements at all three operating points. The new design presents higher efficiency and stall margin without any reduction in the chocking mass flow rate.

Structural Analysis of Variable Stiffness Laminated Plates Using First-Order Shear Deformation Theory

Constant and variable stiffness strategies have been developed to design a composite laminate. With the former, each layer is designed with straight fibers that have the highest stiffness and strength in the fiber direction. With the latter, on the other hand, the stiffness can change within each layer by placing the fibers along a curvilinear fiber path. A variable stiffness design results in improved structural performance, as well as opens up opportunities to search for trade-off among structural properties. During the manufacture of a variable stiffness design with Automated Fiber Placement, certain defects in the form of gaps and overlaps could appear within the laminate and affect the laminate performance. In this study, we use the first-order shear deformation theory to assess the effect of transverse shear stresses on the critical buckling load, free and forced vibration of a variable stiffness laminate with embedded defects, an issue so far rarely examined in literature. The governing differential equations for the static analysis are first derived. A semi-analytic solution is then obtained using the hybrid Fourier-Galerkin method and the numeric time integration technique. The eigenvalue analysis is also conducted to determine the fundamental frequency and critical buckling load of the plate. It is found that the behavior of a variable stiffness plate is much more affected by the shear stresses than a constant stiffness plate. Ignoring the effect of transverse shear stresses results in 34% error in the predicted buckling load of a variable stiffness laminate with overlaps and a length-to-thickness ratio of 10.

Analysis of Complex Structures Coupling Variable Kinematics One-Dimensional Models

One-dimensional models are widely used in mechanical design. Classical models, Euler-Bernoulli or Timoshenko, ensure a low computational cost but are limited by their assumptions, many refined models were proposed to overcome these limitations and extend one-dimensional models at the analysis of complex geometries or advanced materials. In this work a new approach is proposed to couple different kinematic models. A new finite element is introduced in order to connect one-dimensional elements with different displacement fields. The model is derived in the frameworks of the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), therefore the formulation can be written in terms of fundamental nuclei. The results show that the use variable kinematic models allows the computational costs to be reduced without reduce the accuracy, moreover, refined-one dimensional models can be used in the analysis of complex structures.

Dynamics of 3D Micropolar Gyroelastic Beams

This paper is devoted to the dynamic modeling of micropolar gyroelastic beams and explores some of the modeling and analysis issues related to them. The simplified micropolar beam torsion and bending theories are used to derive the governing dynamic equations of micropolar gyroelastic beams from Hamilton’s principle. Then these equations are solved numerically by utilizing the finite element method and are used to study the spectral and modal behaviour of micropolar gyroelastic beams.

Evaluation of a Parallel Agglomeration Multigrid Finite-Volume Algorithm, Named Galatea-I, for the Simulation of Incompressible Flows on 3D Hybrid Unstructured Grids

In this study an academic Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code, named Galatea-I, is described, which employs the Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations along with the artificial compressibility method and the SST (Shear Stress Transport) turbulence model for the prediction of incompressible viscous flows. For the representation of the computational domain unstructured hybrid grids are utilized, composed of tetrahedral, prismatic and pyramidical elements, while for its discretization a node-centered finite-volume scheme is implemented. Galatea-I is enhanced with a parallelization method, which employs spatial domain decomposition, while the data exchange between processors/processes is performed with the use of the Message Passing Interface (MPI) protocol. In addition, a parallel agglomeration multigrid methodology has been incorporated to improve further its computational performance. The proposed code is validated against steady-state flow benchmark test cases, concerning laminar flow over a cubic cavity and a cylindrical surface, as well as turbulent flow over a rectangular wing with a NACA0012 airfoil. The obtained results, compared with these of corresponding reference solvers, reveal Galatea-I’s potential for simulation of inviscid, viscous laminar and turbulent incompressible flows.

Effects of UV Light and Moisture Absorption on the Impact Resistance of Three Different Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Composites

The purpose of this research was to determine the influence of material properties on the impact response of a laminate, whereby specimens were fabricated and cured under a vacuum and high temperature using three types of pre-impregnated (prepreg), carbon fibers, namely unidirectional fiber, plain weave woven fiber, and non-crimp fiber (NCF). Each carbon fiber panel, usually known for its low-impact properties, of 16 plies underwent impact testing using a low-velocity impactor and visual damage inspection by C-scan in order to measure the damage area and depth, before and after impact testing. These panels were treated with UV exposure and moisture conditioning for 20 days each. Water contact angles were taken into consideration to determine the hydrophobicity and hydrophillicity of the respective prepreg materials. Experimental results and damage analysis showed that UV exposure and moisture conditioning showcased the variation in impact response and behavior, such as load-carrying capacity, absorbed energy, and impact energy of the carbon fiber panels. This study illustrates that non-crimp carbon fiber laminates were far more superior relative to load capacity than woven and unidirectional laminates, with the NCF-AS laminate exhibiting the highest load capacity of 17,244 lb/in (pre-UV) with only 0.89% decrease after UV exposure. This same laminate also had a 1.54% decrease in sustaining impact and 31.4% increase in wettability of the panel. Moreover, the study shows how symmetric and asymmetric stacking sequences affect the impact behavior of non-crimp fiber laminates. These results may be useful for expanding the capacity of carbon fiber, lowering costs, and growing new markets, thus turning carbon fiber into a viable commercial product.

Thermostructural Analyses Supporting the Design of the HYPROB Heat Sink Subscale Breadboard

Today’s rocket engines regeneratively cooled using high energy cryogenic propellants (e.g. LOX and LH2, LOX and LCH4) play a major role due to the high combustion enthalpy (10–13.4 kJ/kg) and the high specific impulse of these propellants. In the frame of the HYPROB/Bread project, whose main goal is to design build and test a 30 kN regeneratively cooled thrust chamber, a breadboard has been conceived in order to: • investigate the behavior of the injector that will be employed in the full scale final demonstrator, • to obtain a first estimate of the heat flux on the combustion chamber for models validation, • to implement a “battleship” chamber for a first verification of the stability of the combustion The breadboard is called HS (Heat Sink) and it is made of CuCrZr (Copper Chromium Zirconium alloy), Inconel 718 and TZM (Titanium Zirconium Molybdenum alloy). The aim of the present paper is to illustrate the thermostructural design conducted on the breadboard by means of a Finite Element Method code taking into account the viscoplastic behavior of the adopted materials. An optimization process has been carried out in order to keep the structural integrity of the breadboard maximizing the life cycles of the component. Heat fluxes generated by combustion gases have been evaluated by means of CFD quick analyses, while convection and radiation with the external environment have not been considered in order to be as conservative as possible from a thermostructural point of view. Transient thermal analyses and static structural analyses have been performed by means of ANSYS code adopting an axisymmetric model of the chamber. These analyses have demonstrated that the Breadboard can withstand the design goal of 3 thermo-mechanical cycles with a safety factor equal to 4 considering a firing time equal to 3 seconds.