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Aircraft Modeling and Simulation

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Mechanical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2021) | Viewed by 25582

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Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Canada Research Chair Holder (Level 1) in Aircraft Modeling and Simulation Technologies, Director of the Laboratory of Applied Research in Active Controls, Avionics and AeroServoElasticity LARCASE, ÉTS, Montréal, QC H3C-1K3, Canada
Interests: aircraft modeling; aircraft simulation; aerodynamics; aeroelasticity; aircraft controls; green aircraft; morphing aircraft; research flight simulators; flight trajectories optimization; wind tunnel tests; flight tests; unmanned aerial systems

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Guest Editor
Military Technical Academy ''Ferdinand I'', Bucharest, Romania
Interests: aerospace engineering; avionics; signal processing; data fusion; smart sensors and actuators

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Guest Editor
School of Science, Engineering & Environment, University of Salford, Salford, UK
Interests: aerodynamics; computational fluid dynamics; morphing aircraft; aerodynamic shape optimization

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Guest Editor
Research Group for Aviation, Centre for Applied Research on Education, Amsterdam University of Applied Science, Amstelcampus, Weesperzijde 190, 1097 DZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Interests: avionics; trajectory optimization; metaheuristic algorithms; graph search; control systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

New airplane and unmanned aerial system modeling, simulation, and design technologies are very important in Aerospace Engineering. The best methodologies should be selected in order to avoid the use of a high number of expensive experimental data (and, thus, to minimize fuel consumption). These methodologies should be applied to an aircraft in order to validate its safety, with the aim of certifying it for production. Experimental data are usually provided by use of wind tunnel and flight tests.

This Special Issue serves the need to promote research and development on aircraft modeling and simulation technologies while addressing their validation with a minimum number of experimental data. Contributions are sought in disciplines related to green aircraft technologies research and development (including morphing aspects), such as aerodynamics, aeroelasticity, and active controls, and the interactions of such disciplines. Another topic might be flight trajectory optimization for “green” aircraft, which would involve minimum fuel consumption requirements.

Finally, we invite contributions on topics that include, but are not limited to, various state-of-the-art aircraft modeling and simulation technologies.

Prof. Dr. Ruxandra Mihaela Botez
Dr. Teodor Lucian Grigorie
Dr. Oliviu Sugar-Gabor
Dr. Alejandro Murrieta-Mendoza
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • aircraft modeling
  • aircraft simulation
  • aerodynamics
  • aeroelasticity
  • aircraft controls
  • green aircraft
  • morphing aircraft
  • research flight simulator
  • flight trajectories optimization
  • wind tunnel tests
  • flight tests
  • unmanned aerial systems

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 194 KiB  
Editorial
Editorial for the Special Issue “Aircraft Modeling and Simulation”
by Ruxandra Mihaela Botez
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(3), 1234; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12031234 - 25 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1421
Abstract
New airplane and unmanned aerial system modeling, simulation, and design methodologies are very important in aerospace engineering [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aircraft Modeling and Simulation)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

22 pages, 7376 KiB  
Article
A Rational Numerical Method for Simulation of Drop-Impact Dynamics of Oleo-Pneumatic Landing Gear
by Rosario Pecora
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 4136; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11094136 - 30 Apr 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 8822
Abstract
Oleo-pneumatic landing gear is a complex mechanical system conceived to efficiently absorb and dissipate an aircraft’s kinetic energy at touchdown, thus reducing the impact load and acceleration transmitted to the airframe. Due to its significant influence on ground loads, this system is generally [...] Read more.
Oleo-pneumatic landing gear is a complex mechanical system conceived to efficiently absorb and dissipate an aircraft’s kinetic energy at touchdown, thus reducing the impact load and acceleration transmitted to the airframe. Due to its significant influence on ground loads, this system is generally designed in parallel with the main structural components of the aircraft, such as the fuselage and wings. Robust numerical models for simulating landing gear impact dynamics are essential from the preliminary design stage in order to properly assess aircraft configuration and structural arrangements. Finite element (FE) analysis is a viable solution for supporting the design. However, regarding the oleo-pneumatic struts, FE-based simulation may become unpractical, since detailed models are required to obtain reliable results. Moreover, FE models could not be very versatile for accommodating the many design updates that usually occur at the beginning of the landing gear project or during the layout optimization process. In this work, a numerical method for simulating oleo-pneumatic landing gear drop dynamics is presented. To effectively support both the preliminary and advanced design of landing gear units, the proposed simulation approach rationally balances the level of sophistication of the adopted model with the need for accurate results. Although based on a formulation assuming only four state variables for the description of landing gear dynamics, the approach successfully accounts for all the relevant forces that arise during the drop and their influence on landing gear motion. A set of intercommunicating routines was implemented in MATLAB® environment to integrate the dynamic impact equations, starting from user-defined initial conditions and general parameters related to the geometric and structural configuration of the landing gear. The tool was then used to simulate a drop test of a reference landing gear, and the obtained results were successfully validated against available experimental data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aircraft Modeling and Simulation)
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14 pages, 10522 KiB  
Article
Specific Modeling Issues on an Adaptive Winglet Skeleton
by Salvatore Ameduri, Ignazio Dimino, Antonio Concilio, Umberto Mercurio and Lorenzo Pellone
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(8), 3565; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11083565 - 15 Apr 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2075
Abstract
Morphing aeronautical systems may be used for a number of aims, ranging from improving performance in specific flight conditions, to keeping the optimal efficiency over a certain parameters domain instead of confining it to a single point, extending the flight envelope, and so [...] Read more.
Morphing aeronautical systems may be used for a number of aims, ranging from improving performance in specific flight conditions, to keeping the optimal efficiency over a certain parameters domain instead of confining it to a single point, extending the flight envelope, and so on. An almost trivial statement is that traditional skeleton architectures cannot be held as a structure modified from being rigid to deformable. That passage is not simple, as a structure that is able to be modified shall be designed and constructed to face those new requirements. What is not marginal, is that the new configurations can lead to some peculiar problems for both the morphing and the standard, supporting, elements. In their own nature, in fact, adaptive systems are designed to contain all the parts within the original geometry, without any “external adjoint”, such as nacelles or others. Stress and strain distribution may vary a lot with respect to usual structures and some particular modifications are required. Sometimes, it happens that the structural behavior does not match with the common experience and some specific adjustment shall be done to overcome the problem. What is reported in this paper is a study concerning the adaptation of the structural architecture, used to host a winglet morphing system, to make it accomplish the original requirements, i.e., allow the deformation values to be under the safety threshold. When facing that problem, an uncommon behavior of the finite element (FE) solver has been met: the safety factors appear to be tremendously dependent on the mesh size, so as to raise serious questions about the actual expected value, relevant for the most severe load conditions. On the other side, such singularities are more and more confined into single points (or single lines), as the mesh refines, so to evidence somehow the numerical effect behind those results. On the other side, standard engineering local methods to reduce the abovementioned strain peaks seem to work very well in re-distributing the stress and strain excesses to the whole system domain. The work does not intend to give an answer to the presented problem, being instead focused on describing its possible causes and its evident effects. Further work is necessary to detect the original source of such inconsistencies, and propose and test operative solutions. That will be the subject of the next steps of the ongoing research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aircraft Modeling and Simulation)
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21 pages, 1999 KiB  
Article
Several Cases for the Validation of Turbulence Models Implementation
by Michael D. Polewski and Paul G. A. Cizmas
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(8), 3377; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11083377 - 9 Apr 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2674
Abstract
This paper presents several test cases that were used to validate the implementation of two turbulence models in the UNS3D code, an in-house code. The two turbulence models used were the Shear Stress Transport model and the Spalart–Allmaras model. These turbulence models were [...] Read more.
This paper presents several test cases that were used to validate the implementation of two turbulence models in the UNS3D code, an in-house code. The two turbulence models used were the Shear Stress Transport model and the Spalart–Allmaras model. These turbulence models were explored using the numerical results generated by three computational fluid dynamics codes: NASA’s FUN3D and CFL3D, and UNS3D. Four cases were considered: a flat plate case, an airfoil near-wake, a backward-facing step, and a turbine cascade known as the Eleventh Standard Configuration. The numerical results were compared among themselves and against experimental data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aircraft Modeling and Simulation)
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34 pages, 13382 KiB  
Article
Aerodynamic Design Optimization of a Morphing Leading Edge and Trailing Edge Airfoil–Application on the UAS-S45
by Musavir Bashir, Simon Longtin-Martel, Ruxandra Mihaela Botez and Tony Wong
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1664; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041664 - 12 Feb 2021
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 6326
Abstract
This work presents an aerodynamic optimization method for a Droop Nose Leading Edge (DNLE) and Morphing Trailing Edge (MTE) of a UAS-S45 root airfoil by using Bezier-PARSEC parameterization. The method is performed using a hybrid optimization technique based on a Particle Swarm Optimization [...] Read more.
This work presents an aerodynamic optimization method for a Droop Nose Leading Edge (DNLE) and Morphing Trailing Edge (MTE) of a UAS-S45 root airfoil by using Bezier-PARSEC parameterization. The method is performed using a hybrid optimization technique based on a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm combined with a Pattern Search algorithm. This is needed to provide an efficient exploitation of the potential configurations obtained by the PSO algorithm. The drag minimization and the endurance maximization were investigated for these configurations individually as two single-objective optimization functions. The aerodynamic calculations in the optimization framework were performed using the XFOIL solver with flow transition estimation criteria, and these results were next validated with a Computational Fluid Dynamics solver using the Transition γReθ Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model. The optimization was conducted at different flight conditions. Both the DNLE and MTE optimized airfoils showed a significant improvement in the overall aerodynamic performance, and MTE airfoils increased the efficiency of CL3/2/CD by 10.25%, indicating better endurance performance. Therefore, both DNLE and MTE configurations show promising results in enhancing the aerodynamic efficiency of the UAS-S45 airfoil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aircraft Modeling and Simulation)
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20 pages, 13239 KiB  
Article
Design and Validation of Disturbance Rejection Dynamic Inverse Control for a Tailless Aircraft in Wind Tunnel
by Bowen Nie, Zhitao Liu, Tianhao Guo, Litao Fan, Hongxu Ma and Olivier Sename
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1407; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041407 - 4 Feb 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2627
Abstract
This paper focuses on the design of a disturbance rejection controller for a tailless aircraft based on the technique of nonlinear dynamic inversion (NDI). The tailless aircraft model mounted on a three degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) dynamic rig in the wind tunnel is modeled as [...] Read more.
This paper focuses on the design of a disturbance rejection controller for a tailless aircraft based on the technique of nonlinear dynamic inversion (NDI). The tailless aircraft model mounted on a three degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) dynamic rig in the wind tunnel is modeled as a nonlinear affine system subject to mismatched disturbances. First of all, a baseline NDI attitude controller is designed for sufficient stability and good reference tracking performance of the nominal system. Then, a nonlinear disturbance observer (NDO) is supplemented to the baseline NDI controller to estimate the lumped disturbances for compensation, including unmodeled dynamics, parameter uncertainties, and external disturbances. Mathematical analysis demonstrates the convergence of the employed NDO and the resulting closed-loop system. Furthermore, an anti-windup modification is applied to the NDO for control performance preserving in the presence of actuator saturation. Subsequently, the designed control schemes are preliminarily validated and compared via simulations. The baseline NDI controller demonstrates satisfactory attitude tracking performance in the case of nominal simulation; the NDO augmented NDI controller presents significantly improved ability of disturbance rejection when compared with the baseline NDI controller in the case of robust simulation; the anti-windup modified scheme, rather than the baseline NDI controller nor the NDO augmented NDI controller, can preserve the closed-loop performance in the case of actuator saturation. Finally, the baseline NDI scheme and the NDO augmented NDI scheme are implemented and further validated in the wind tunnel flight tests, which demonstrate that the experimental results are in good agreement with that of the simulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aircraft Modeling and Simulation)
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