Conceptual Design and Evaluation of Blended-Wing Body Aircraft

Brown, Malcom; Vos, Roelof

doi:10.2514/6.2018-0522

Cited by 33 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In conclusion, the longer is the cruise segment, the more the BWB is advantageous. This is in line with the previous works [1][2][3] that considered only long and very long range for the BWB: it is on these routes that the BWB is most performing.…”

Section: Operational Mission Performancessupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The classical "tube and wing" configuration has been developed over the past 50 years, and it has still few potential gains: a breakdown at the conceptual level is needed. Among all the possible configurations, the Blended Wing-Body (BWB) [1][2][3] is one of the most promising: the integration of payload, control surfaces and even propulsion into the wing body provides better aerodynamic performances than those of conventional aircrafts. However these advantages are counterbalanced by several drawbacks such as its instability and the more complex architecture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Preliminary Sizing of a Medium Range Blended Wing-Body using a Multidisciplinary Design Analysis Approach

et al. 2018

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The aviation's goal for the next decades is to drastically reduce emissions, but to achieve this goal a breakdown in aircraft design has to be considered. One of the most promising concepts is the Blended Wing- Body, which integrates aerodynamics, propulsion and structure, and has a better aerodynamics efficiency, thanks to the reduction of the wetted surfaces. In this work the feasibility of a short/medium range BWB with 150 passengers (A320 Neo type aircraft, Entry Into Service 2035) is studied, considering different disciplines into the sizing process. The design loop has been reviewed to consider the unconventional concept. Also certification aspects have been taken into account in an off-design analysis. To evaluate the advantages of the proposed concept, it has been compared with an aircraft of the same class, the A320 Neo, resized to match the EIS2035 hypothesis: results show that the BWB is a concept that demonstrates a gain in fuel consumption, especially on longer ranges.

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Section: Operational Mission Performancessupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary Sizing of a Medium Range Blended Wing-Body using a Multidisciplinary Design Analysis Approach

et al. 2018

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“…Mach number of 0.85 at an altitude of 13km). Based on this study, the Flying V is expected to have a lift-to-drag ratio of at least 23.5 in cruise conditions, confirming the predictions of improved aerodynamic efficiency of flying wings over conventional aircraft evidenced by many authors [3][4][5][6][7]. Other, confidential studies have been conducted in collaboration with Airbus to estimate the structural weight of this aircraft in comparison to a tube-and-wing aircraft designed for the same mission.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Experimental Aerodynamic Analysis of a 4.6%-Scale Flying-V Subsonic Transport

Palermo

Vos

2020

AIAA Scitech 2020 Forum

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The experimental investigation into the aerodynamic characteristics of a 4.6%-scale half-model of a flying-wing transport aircraft is detailed. The study is performed in an open-jet wind tunnel where forces and moments are recorded using a 6-axis balance. Two control surfaces in the outboard wing are deflected to measure their effect in terms of lift, drag, and pitching moment up to a Reynolds number of 1 million. The results are subsequently combined with the estimated thrust force using a flight mechanics model of the aircraft in order to predict the most forward and most aft center-of-gravity locations for which the aircraft can be balanced with the control surfaces, while still being statically stable. The results show that the aircraft can attain an untrimmed maximum lift coefficient of 1.02 at an angle of attack of 35 degrees. Furthermore, the pitching moment around the leading-edge of the mean geometric chord is negatively correlated to the angle of attack up to 19 degrees, after which a strong pitch-break is observed, making the aircraft statically unstable. This is associated with a forward shift of the aerodynamic center to a longitudinal position 35%c ahead of the moment reference point which is caused by the formation of strong vortices over the wing surface. The effectiveness of the control surfaces hardly deteriorates with angle of attack and all three control surfaces are shown to be effective up to the maximum lift coefficient. Analysis shows that the center-ofgravity location should reside between [-7.5; 0.5] %c, in power-off conditions, and between [-6; 1] %c, in power-on conditions, from the leading edge of the mean geometric chord to ensure an ultimate static stability margin of 4.4% as well and a minimum landing speed of 20 m/s. Within these ranges, trimmed maximum lift coefficient values of 0.68 and 0.66 can be achieved respectively in power-off and power-on conditions.

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“…In order to outlast competitors or to meet stringer environmental constraints, aircraft designers have always explored potential benefits associated to unconventional configurations 1 . Regarding civil transport, studies that took place in the last decade identified promising solutions such as Blended Wing Body 2 and Strut Braced Wing 3 . More recently, the progress made in the field of electric components and the associated technologies has offered new degrees of freedom when defining the next generations of airplanes 4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%