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Aerospace
Special Issues
Multidisciplinary Design of Aircraft and UAV with Novel Airframe Architectures
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Multidisciplinary Design of Aircraft and UAV with Novel Airframe Architectures

A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Aeronautics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 May 2023) | Viewed by 17094

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Vittorio Cipolla

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Università di Pisa, 56126 Pisa PI, Italy
Interests: aero-structural design; operational/environmental assessment methodologies; conventional and hybrid-electric propulsion systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Today, aeronautic research is driven toward solutions capable to reduce the environmental impact of air transport and seize the new opportunities offered by the digital transformation. The introduction of innovative propulsion technologies and architectures (e.g., distributed propulsion, hybrid power trains, BLI propulsion), sustainable drop-in and non-drop-in fuels (e.g., batteries, fuel cells, hydrogen, SAF), as well as the creation of new fields of applications for manned and unmanned vehicles (e.g., urban air mobility, hypersonic transport), allows expanding the aircraft design space beyond the boundaries of the conventional airframe architectures. Multidisciplinary design (MD) approaches are fundamental to explore such design space in order to achieve feasible design solutions and assess the operational and environmental benefits of the considered architectures. The goal of this Special Issue is to bring together the state of the art of multidisciplinary design methodologies and those application fields of the highest interest for research in aeronautics.

Dr. Vittorio Cipolla
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • multidisciplinary design
  • aircraft
  • UAVs
  • novel architectures

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 11000 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Performance Boundaries of a Small Reconfigurable Multi-Mission UAV through Multidisciplinary Analysis
by Dioser Santos, Jeremy Rogers, Armando De Rezende and Victor Maldonado
Aerospace 2023, 10(8), 684; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10080684 - 31 Jul 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2265
Abstract
The performance of a small reconfigurable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is evaluated, combining a multidisciplinary approach in the computational analysis of additive manufactured structures, fluid dynamics, and experiments. Reconfigurable UAVs promise cost savings and efficiency, without sacrificing performance, while demonstrating versatility to fulfill [...] Read more.
The performance of a small reconfigurable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is evaluated, combining a multidisciplinary approach in the computational analysis of additive manufactured structures, fluid dynamics, and experiments. Reconfigurable UAVs promise cost savings and efficiency, without sacrificing performance, while demonstrating versatility to fulfill different mission profiles. The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in UAV design produces higher accuracy aerodynamic data, which is particularly important for complex aircraft concepts such as blended wing bodies. To address challenges relating to anisotropic materials, the Tsai–Wu failure criterion is applied to the structural analysis, using CFD solutions as load inputs. Aerodynamic performance results show the low-speed variant attains an endurance of 1 h, 48 min, whereas its high-speed counterpart is 29 min at a 66.7% higher cruise speed. Each variant serves different aspects of small UAS deployment, with low speed envisioned for high-endurance surveying, and high speed for long-range or time-critical missions such as delivery. The experimental and simulation results suggest room for design iteration, in wing area and geometry adjustments. Structural simulations demonstrated the need for airframe improvements to the low-speed configuration. This paper highlights the potential of reconfigurable UAVs to be useful across multiple industries, advocating for further research and design improvements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multidisciplinary Design of Aircraft and UAV with Novel Airframe Architectures)
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21 pages, 7895 KiB  
Article
MDAO and Aeroelastic Analyses of Small Solar-Powered UAVs with Box-Wing and Tandem-Wing Architectures
by Vittorio Cipolla, Andri Dine, Andrea Viti and Vincenzo Binante
Aerospace 2023, 10(2), 105; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10020105 - 20 Jan 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2556
Abstract
The market of solar-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for defence purposes and drone services is expected to grow by a factor of more than 2 in the next decade. From an aircraft design perspective, the main challenge is the scalability of the proposed [...] Read more.
The market of solar-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for defence purposes and drone services is expected to grow by a factor of more than 2 in the next decade. From an aircraft design perspective, the main challenge is the scalability of the proposed architectures, which is needed to increase the payload capabilities. Beside some successful examples of wing-tail UAVs, some newcomers are developing prototypes with tandem-wing architectures, hence enlarging the possible design. The present paper aims to introduce a further step in this direction, taking also the box-wing architecture into account to show how the presence of wing tip joiners can provide benefits from the aeroelastic point of view. UAVs with take-off mass within 25 kg are considered and the main tools adopted are presented. These are an in-house developed Multi-Disciplinary Analysis and Optimization (MDAO) code called SD2020 and the open source aeroelastic code ASWING, both presented together with an assessment of their accuracy by means of higher fidelity numerical results. SD2020 results are presented for the case of small box-wing solar UAVs optimized to achieve the longest endurance, focusing on the strategy implemented to achieve feasible solutions under an assigned set of constraints. Further results are presented for comparable box-wing and tandem-wing UAVs from both the aerodynamic and aeroelastic standpoints. Whereas the aerodynamic advantages introduced by the box-wing are marginal, significant advantages result from the aeroelastic analyses which indicate that, if the joiners are removed from the box-wing configuration, safety margin from flutter speed is halved and the bending-torsion divergence occurs at relatively low speed values. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multidisciplinary Design of Aircraft and UAV with Novel Airframe Architectures)
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17 pages, 4863 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Distributed Propulsion on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Blended-Wing-Body Aircraft
by Wenyuan Zhao, Yanlai Zhang, Peng Tang and Jianghao Wu
Aerospace 2022, 9(11), 704; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace9110704 - 10 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2805
Abstract
Motivated by outstanding aerodynamic performance and limited emissions, the blend-wing-body (BWB) aircraft equipped with a distributed propulsion (DP) system has become a possible layout for civil aircraft in the next generation. Due to the strong aero-propulsive interference (API) between the DP system and [...] Read more.
Motivated by outstanding aerodynamic performance and limited emissions, the blend-wing-body (BWB) aircraft equipped with a distributed propulsion (DP) system has become a possible layout for civil aircraft in the next generation. Due to the strong aero-propulsive interference (API) between the DP system and the airframe, the conventional integration of pressure and friction stress over the surface may fail to evaluate the aerodynamic power consumption of this layout. Here, the aero-propulsive integrated power balance approach is used alternatively to obtain the aerodynamic power consumption through flow data. We demonstrate that the API effects can enlarge both the lift and aerodynamic power consumption of this layout. The increase in power consumption is attributed to the enhanced viscous dissipation rate within the boundary layer. Wind tunnel experiments further demonstrate that the operation of the DP system can improve the stall characteristics. Our findings encourage limiting the inflow speed of the DP system to alleviate the enhancement in viscous dissipation rate and thus reduce the power consumption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multidisciplinary Design of Aircraft and UAV with Novel Airframe Architectures)
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17 pages, 2762 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Mass and Aerodynamic Efficiency of a High Aspect Ratio Wing for Prospective Passenger Aircraft
by Anatolii Kretov and Dmytro Tiniakov
Aerospace 2022, 9(9), 497; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace9090497 - 7 Sep 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 7375
Abstract
The application of the wings with a high aspect ratio for future-oriented transport category aircraft is being considered. Such a solution makes it possible to increase fuel efficiency by reducing induced drag. This goal is achieved by increasing the wingspan, when the wings [...] Read more.
The application of the wings with a high aspect ratio for future-oriented transport category aircraft is being considered. Such a solution makes it possible to increase fuel efficiency by reducing induced drag. This goal is achieved by increasing the wingspan, when the wings made of composite materials are used. The wings of an increased span complicate the arrangement of the aircraft in the existing infrastructure of airports. To eliminate this drawback, the application of folding wingtips was considered. The effect of such a folding device on the mass of the airplane was estimated. The approach to estimating the mass of composite structures with folding wingtips has been proposed. A conceptual assessment of the Boeing 737 and A-320 aircraft with higher aspect ratio composite wings was performed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multidisciplinary Design of Aircraft and UAV with Novel Airframe Architectures)
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