Novel Aircraft Concepts and Their Effect Upon Structural Definition
Lead Research Organisation:
Queen's University Belfast
Department Name: Sch Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Abstract
Exciting new aircraft (AC) concepts are continually emerging (e.g. Blended Wing Body, High-Lift wings, Electric-Thrust). All have the potential to significantly change the structural requirements of the aircraft, due to their differing cycle usage and modes of operation compared to aircraft of today. The structural definitions of today's AC are based around traditional operational parameters, and it is unclear how aircraft structures will be affected by those used by the new AC concepts.
In many cases it is not clear if changes will occur, and if so what these changes will be. One of the key issues is that new concepts are often proposed without sufficient detail about their proposed usage or sufficient information on their structural definitions. Current design and analysis tools cannot easily be used to model and assess these new designs, and so the industry is largely uninformed about the feasibility or potential benefits offered by the new designs. The consequence is that these unknowns make the adoption of new concepts risky, and they are not developed further, stifling innovation.
This PhD will aim to investigate the impact of these new aircraft concepts, and their usage, on the structural definition of the aircraft. Through literature review, and using novel modelling strategies, the aim is to develop novel modelling methods to determine and deliver a set of requirements and constraints for future aircraft concepts, which can be used to guide an understanding of how new concepts will behave, and to make a rapid assessment of their viability possible.
The research to be conducted aligns with EPSRC's "Engineering Design" research area, concentrating on developing theories, methods and tools for generating, modelling, optimising, simulating and reasoning about complex engineered systems within the aerospace sector. The research will assist in the industrial partner achieving research output P1 as identified by EPSRC - "Introduce the next generation of innovative and disruptive technologies"; enabling exploration of the design space surrounding next generation aircraft, facilitating improvements in the design and understanding of such systems.
In many cases it is not clear if changes will occur, and if so what these changes will be. One of the key issues is that new concepts are often proposed without sufficient detail about their proposed usage or sufficient information on their structural definitions. Current design and analysis tools cannot easily be used to model and assess these new designs, and so the industry is largely uninformed about the feasibility or potential benefits offered by the new designs. The consequence is that these unknowns make the adoption of new concepts risky, and they are not developed further, stifling innovation.
This PhD will aim to investigate the impact of these new aircraft concepts, and their usage, on the structural definition of the aircraft. Through literature review, and using novel modelling strategies, the aim is to develop novel modelling methods to determine and deliver a set of requirements and constraints for future aircraft concepts, which can be used to guide an understanding of how new concepts will behave, and to make a rapid assessment of their viability possible.
The research to be conducted aligns with EPSRC's "Engineering Design" research area, concentrating on developing theories, methods and tools for generating, modelling, optimising, simulating and reasoning about complex engineered systems within the aerospace sector. The research will assist in the industrial partner achieving research output P1 as identified by EPSRC - "Introduce the next generation of innovative and disruptive technologies"; enabling exploration of the design space surrounding next generation aircraft, facilitating improvements in the design and understanding of such systems.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/S513702/1 | 01/10/2018 | 30/09/2023 | |||
| 2114372 | Studentship | EP/S513702/1 | 01/10/2018 | 30/09/2022 | Stephen Colbert |