Conceptual design of a nonplanar wing airliner

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to compare three closed non-planar wing configurations with a reference conventional wing-plus-horizontal tail aircraft, considering structural aspects, weights and aerodynamic characteristics, as well as operational issues, such as cruise performance. Design/methodology/approach A vortex lattice code is used and coupled with an in-house code for structural beam calculation subroutine to evaluate the configurations as a function of the four main parameters identified in the study. Findings The study concludes that the non-planar wing configurations have better performances than a conventional aircraft. Moreover, the joined-wing configuration seems to be better than the others, including the box-wing configuration, achieving an increase of 17 per cent in the range for maximum payload compared to the reference aircraft and a 3 per cent reduction of maximum take-off weight. Research limitations/implications In the study, characteristic tools for a conceptual design are used, and, thus, absolute results should be considered with caution. Nonetheless, as all the cases are studied in the same way, there is a good precision in comparative or relative results. Practical implications The work shows that the non-planar wing configurations can be used as an alternative to the conventional aircraft to meet the objectives for the future of the aviation industry. Social implications Non-planar wing configurations are able to reduce fuel consumption. Their use could lead to reductions in pollutant emissions and the impact on the environment of commercial aviation. Originality/value This study considers aerodynamic and structural aspects at the same time, as well as several non-planar wing configurations, making possible to obtain a more realistic comparison between them.

Design Process and Environmental Impact of Unconventional Tail Airliners

“…There are numerous studies that consider changes in airplane configuration and their impacts on performances. These novel configurations would result in a drastic change in the appearance of the airplane, for instance, joined-wing, flying wing, blended wing body or box-wing [14][15][16][17][18][19]. However, despite the potential benefits presented by these configurations, it is not foreseeable that manufacturers would launch these aircraft to market due to the drastic change they entail and their intrinsic complexity.…”

Composite stiffened panel sizing for conceptual tail design

“…These methods need to be easy to apply and design-sensitive, however the designer must use a validated weight prediction tool. Furthermore, these quasi-analytical procedures can be adapted to novel aircraft configuration, such as joined-wing aircraft (Burt, 1962; Garcia-Benitez et al , 2016). In spite of this, these configurations are usually studied through more complex methods (Fairchild, 1982).…”

“…Precisely in this field of unconventional aircraft configuration a quasi-analytical method which takes into account composite materials is desirable, since statistical methods for predicting weight are not directly applicable. These unconventional aircraft configurations are studied because they can suppose reductions in environmental pollution in commercial transport aviation (Garcia-Benitez et al , 2016; Sanchez-Carmona et al , 2017). Unmanned aircraft also use these novel configurations, because the fact of not transporting people allows more possibilities to the designer (Cuerno-Rejado et al , 2016).…”

Estudio de configuraciones no convencionales de los estabilizadores para aviones de transporte aéreo comercial

“…Existen numerosos estudios que contemplan el cambio de configuración del avión y las consecuencias que tendría en las actuaciones de este. Estas configuraciones novedosas suponen un cambio drástico en el aspecto del avión, como pueden ser las configuraciones joined-wing, ala volante, blended wing body o box-wing (Kroo 2005;Sharma 2015;Frota et al 2010;Torenbeek 2013;Garcia-Benitez, Cuerno-Rejado y Gomez-Blanco 2016). En la Figura 1-1 se incluye un ejemplo de un blended wing body, en concreto el X-48B desarrollado por la NASA.…”