Significance of modifications for development of passenger airplanes

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to analyze the design experience of creation of passenger airplane families. Methods of taking into account future modifications for family creation during the design of the basic airplane are proposed. Design/methodology/approach -Trend analysis of airplane data was based on available statistics and previous research results by using a systematic approach. Proposed methods are based on practical experience and aircraft design theory. Findings -The paper provides the results of analysis of creation of passenger airplane families. It suggests that reserves should be allocated during design of the first family member to ensure successful creation of other members. A method based on aircraft fleet optimization is suggested for determining these reserves.Research limitations/implications -The field of research connected to aircraft fleet creation methods still remains largely unexplored. The paper presents a systematic general concept, which the researchers are encouraged to develop further (e.g. for aircraft of different types and purpose than presented in the paper). Practical implications -The paper proposes transferring from "point optimization" of aircraft during early design stages to inclusion of reserves into the project, which would be used for aircraft family creation. Originality/value -The paper studies the problem of taking into account the necessity for airplane family creation during the early stages of airplane design and offers an approach to its solution. It could be of interest to aircraft design specialists.

Evolvability and design reuse in civil jet transport aircraft

“…For example, Raymer [26, p. 853] points out that the undercarriage of new aircraft is often designed with an increase of 25% in gross weight in mind. Zhuravlev and Zhuravlev [27] have also written specifically about reserves to facilitate creating derivative passenger aircraft. They state that reserves in wing area and undercarriage length are particularly 'reasonable', because it is exceedingly difficult to change these [p. 175].…”

“…Reserves in undercarriage legs allow lengthening of the fuselage (recreated and modified from Zhuravlev and Zhuravlev[27]). …”

Set-Based Approach to Passenger Aircraft Family Design

“…all the three members of the Airbus A350 family (baseline variant A350-900, short-variant A350-800, and long-variant A350-1000) were launched together in 2006. Researchers have presented methods for sequential development of aircraft families by introducing reserves into the baseline aircraft and using change propagation to develop new variants [17][18] [19]. Willcox and Wakayama [1] compared the two approaches in the context of a design study of a Blended…”

“…17 shows a screen shot of the AirCADia software, displaying the performance parameters of the aircraft family set AF in the parallel coordinates plot, where a single polyline represents an aircraft family of three members. The numbers 1, 2, and 3 at the end of the parameters names represent the long, baseline, and short variants, respectively.…”