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Aircraft design

A CFD / CSD Interaction Methodology for Aircraft Wings

This web page provides access to a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering PhD dissertation, by Manoj K. Bhardwaj, dated 15 September 1997. The thesis describes the development of an aeroelastic coupling procedure which will perform static aeroelastic analysis using any computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural dynamics (CSD) code. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [1.85 Mb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech's Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD).

A Comparative Analysis of Cockpit Display Development Tools

The site provides access to an Air University, Air Force Institute of Technology, Graduate School of Engineering and Management, MSc Thesis, by Captain Matthew J. Gebhardt, USAF, AFIT/GE/ENG/00M-10, dated March 2000. This thesis describes a framework for analyzing cockpit display software development tools and presents a detailed analysis comparing the hand-coding standard, OpenGL, with two of cockpit display software development suites, Virtual Application Prototyping System (VAPS) and Display Editor. Citation and abstract details are provided in HTML format, and the full text is available for downloading as a PDF file. This is one of the collection student research studies available from Air University's Research Web.

A Comparative Analysis of the Cost Estimating Error Risk Associated with Flyaway Costs Versus Individual Components of Aircraft

This is the full text of a thesis by Jonathan D. Ritschel which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) into 2003. A shrinking workforce, unstable budgets, and rapidly changing objectives under stricter time constraints characterize today�s cost analysis and acquisition environment. In concert with this environment, cost analyst positions have rapidly decreased as demonstrated by Aeronautical Systems Centers 54% decline in total authorized slots from 1992 to 2001. The question is how to deal with this �more with less� mentality. The purpose of this research is to investigate and measure the risks associated with taking a macro versus micro approach to aircraft cost estimation. By analyzing the fidelity of a cost estimate developed at the flyaway cost level versus a cost estimate developed at the individual components level, this research provides guidelines for appropriate allocation of cost analyst resources. This objective is accomplished by looking at the cost estimation error risk of recurring costs at level one of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and at level two of the WBS. Results show that there is a statistically significant difference between estimating at the differing WBS levels. However, from a practical standpoint, the difference in dollar terms is too small to be considered significant. As a result, program manager should allocate resources based on other constraints such as time allotted to complete the estimate or required level of visibility into the estimate. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis in pdf format and is provided by the Air University ResearchWeb site.

A comparison of methods used in lifting surface theory

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-R-583, dated June 1971. In this report linearised potential flow used to calculated values of the air forces on oscillating wings for selection of platforms, modes of oscillation, frequencies and airspeeds. Results from a number of different computer programs and methods are compared in the three regimes: subsonic, sonic, and supersonic. No attempt is made to assess which programs are the most accurate. A survey of the different methods is included indicating their main features and how they differ from each other. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents and the full text (9.18 MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

A Computational Design Engine for Multi-Disciplinary Optimisation with Application to a Blended Wing Body Configuration

This technical report (NLR-TP-2003-193) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2004 and was written by M. Laban, P. Arendsen, W.F.J.A. Rouwhorst and W.J. Vankan. A "Computational Design Engine" for multi-disciplinary design and optimisation of aeronautical products, specially tailored to the need s of a multi-model, multi-level, multi-site environment, is described. The system is illustrated with an application to the Breguet range optimisation of a Blended Wing Body configuration. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available as a PDF file.

A Hierarchical Noise Control System Using Adaptable Tuned Vibration Absorbers

This is a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Mechanical Engineering PhD dissertation, by Richard I. Wright, dated April 23, 2003. It describes the development of a novel noise control system using adaptable tuned vibration absorbers (ATVA) to interact with a vibrating host structure in such a way as to reduce radiated acoustic energy. This ATVA noise control system is targeted at applications with tonal disturbances such as propeller aircraft. A two-tier hierarchical control approach is used where a global control algorithm attempts to minimize a global parameter such as radiated acoustic energy by directing the adaptation of subordinate ATVA's. The global control algorithm uses an adaptive simplex search algorithm that requires no initial knowledge of the structure or the ATVA's. Noise control using a single ATVA is first studied on a small simply supported plate. Then, a multiple ATVA system is tested on a large plate structure at several test frequencies where many structural modes participate. The ATVA's are designed, built, and characterized for their adaptable domain and power requirements. A cohesive analytical model of the ATVA is also developed and used to compliment the experimental results. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [7.77 Mb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD)

A History of Suction-Type Laminar-Flow Control with Emphasis on Flight Research

This web site provides access to a NASA Dryden Flight Research Center history series publication, by Albert L. Braslow. It presents a history of suction-type laminar-flow-control research, and in particular describes the contribution made by NACA and NASA in this field. It covers early progress, as well as the principal problems that inhibited the attainment of laminar flow with either passive or active laminar-flow control. It also describes the resurgence of laminar flow control research at NASA after 1975, with a particular emphasis on the flight-research programme. The book concludes with a summary of the status of laminar-flow control technology in the mid-1990s. The full text is available online in HTML format.

A Principal Component Algorithm for Feedforward Active Noise and Vibration Control

This is the full text of a PhD thesis by Randolph H. Cabell, which was presented to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1998. A principal component least mean square (PC-LMS) adaptive algorithm is described that has considerable benefits for large control systems used to implement feedforward control of single frequency disturbances. [Taken from the abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available as three PDF files.

A Recommended Methodology for Quantifying NDE/NDI Based on Aircraft Engine Experience

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-LS-190, dated April 1993. Methods to quantify nondestructive inspection (NDI) reliability and capability have been evolving for over twenty-five years. Initial attempts were qualitative rather than quantitative. With the advent of damage tolerance methodologies, it has become imperative to express more accurately probability of detection for a given inspection method and inspection system. This Lecture Series is aimed at providing a methodology to quantify probability of detection. This methodology includes, but is not limited to, design of experiments, specimen generation and maintenance, statistical analyses, data reduction and presentation, evaluation of inspection results in retirement for cause decisions, and the procedure required to establish a reliable probability based inspection for detecting anomalies in engine parts. The material to be presented is applicable to civil as well as military aircraft and turbine engine manufacturing and maintenance organizations. The lectures will examine the detection capabilities of fluorescent penetrant inspection, eddy current, ultrasonic, and magnetic particle inspection. This Lecture Series incorporates lessons learned in the design of experiments to validate nondestructive evaluation (NDE)/NDI systems and in the interpretation of the results of these experiments. Samples of specimens used in NDE/NDI reliability programs will be available for inspection by attendees. The Lecture Series also includes examples to help with the understanding of design of experiments and the statistical modeling for probability of detection analyses. This Lecture Series, sponsored by the Structures and Materials Panel of AGARD, was implemented by the Consultant and Exchange Program. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (** MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

A SPINEware Based Computational Design Engine for Integrated Multi-Disciplinary Aircraft Design

This technical report (NLR-TP-2002-331) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2002 and was written by W. J. Vankan and M. Laban. This paper deals with the software architecture and the global functionality of the Computational Design Engine (CDE) that is being developed in the MOB project. This CDE comprises a multidisciplinary set of tools for design, analysis and optimisation of blended wing body aircraft. Automatic design evaluation processes, involving complex sequences of analysis computations and data exchange, are available to the user. To guide the user through the complex structure of software tools and data, a user oriented framework, based on the SPINEware middleware system, has been built on top of the functional level implementation of the CDE. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available as a PDF file.

A Study of Transport Airplane Crash-Resistant Fuel Systems : Final Report

This provides access to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, DOT/FAA/AR-01/82, by S.H Robertson, N.B. Johnson, D.S. Hall and I.J. Rimson, dated March 2002. This report presents the results of a study, funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), of transport airplane crash-resistant fuel system (CRFS). The full text of the report is available in PDF format, from the online catalogue of the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Library.

A Tale of no Tail : An Anthology of the Flying Wing

This site is devoted to tailless aircraft from the earliest examples (Etrich, Dunne and others) through the 1930s, 40s and 50s (the era of the Horten Brothers, Lippisch and Northrop) and finally, the present day, where tailless designs have been adapted to the latest in ultra-miniature, pilotless aircraft, commonly known as Micro Air Vehicles (MAV). The site is part of the Lawrence Hargrave Aviation Pioneer site.

A Virtual Environment for Transparent Distributed Computing in Evolutionary Search

This technical report (NLR-TP-2002-209) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2002 and was written by W. J. Vankan, R. Maas and M. ten Dam. Aeronautical design is a typical multi-disciplinary area, where analyses from several different disciplines are essential for a successful design. Design and optimisation in this area quite naturally lead to multi-dimensional design spaces and multiple independent objective functions. Evolutionary Methods (EMs) have proven to be very effective search techniques in multi-objective optimisation (MOO) studies. Multi-disciplinary design and optimisation (MDO) requires effective support of inter-disciplinary collaboration, especially with regard to the large variety of software tools and a heterogeneous ICT infrastructure that are normally used. This paper presents a user-oriented ICT environment for MDO, MOO and EMs. This environment consists of a collection of relevant software tools that have been integrated as well-defined objects ("CORBA wrappers"), and supports easy creation of tool chains and CORBA based network communication. This environment has been applied to several MDO design cases, one of which is a MOO analysis of a blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft configuration. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available as a PDF file.

Advanced Polymeric & Metallic Composite Materials for Space and Aerospace Vehicle Structures and Strength Optimization of Composite Structures and their Certification

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD Lecture Series report, AGARD-LS-204, dated December 1995. This lecture series presents and discusses the sci entific problem of advanced polymer and metallic c omposite materials for aerospace structures, stren gth optimization of composite structures, and thei r certification. Some challenges of using composit e structures, including airframe concept definitio n, are studied. Fiber orientation optimization pri nciples for composite panels and shells are outlin ed. Procedures for certification of assemblies mad e out of composites are dealt with. Certification requirements, including requirements to estimate s tatic and fatigue strengths, are formulated. Desig n conditions for composite structures are analyzed , including development. For individual titles, see N96-23937 through N96-23946. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (33 kB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Advancing UK Aerospace, Defence and Security industries(ADS)

The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) is the internationally recognised trade association for the UK aerospace industry. ADS is the trade organisation advancing UK AeroSpace, Defence, and Security industries with Farnborough International Limited as a wholly-owned subsidiary. ADS also encompasses the British Aviation Group (BAG). It is formed from the merger of the Association of Police and Public Security Suppliers (APPSS), the Defence Manufacturers Association (DMA) and the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC).The site provides information about the Society, its activities, boards and committees, membership and a members capability matrix (PDF). On the home page the latest news and events are listed and there is also access to archives, which can be searched, of press releases and news items. There is a media centre that provides the full text of annual reviews and UK aerospace facts and figures back to 1998 along with frequently asked questions and a glossary where you can suggest terms. Please note, some content and pages within this website are for SBAC website members only and require registration and login to access them.

AEgis Simulation Inc. - ACSL (Advanced Continuous Simulation Language) Software

ACSL (Advanced Continuous Simulation Language) products are owned by AEgis Software. Aerospace and defence applications of ACSL software products include: simulation of fixed and rotary wing flight dynamics; missile simulation, marine propulsion system simulation; and simulation of spacecraft dynamics. The site provides access to a range of information resources including: a product overview, a description of industry applications, and details of ACSL training programmes. The publications section provides access to a collection of papers in the ACSL electronic library. These cover many topic areas such as: aeronautics, aircraft design, aerodynamics, unmanned aircraft, engines, flight simulations, and vehicle dynamics. The full-text papers seem to be available in a variety of formats including HTML and PDF.

AePortal

This service has been produced at the recommendation of the the United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry's Aerospace Innovation and Growth Team (AeGIT) by the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC). This information portal is designed to help UK aerospace companies find their way around the plethora of business support initiatives. New initiatives from organisations which provide direct or indirect business support are tracked along with specific sources of funding. The service is aimed at members of the UK aerospace industry and Government and it is necessary to submit an online form in order to register.

Aerodynamic Engine/Airframe Integration for High Performance Aircraft and Missiles

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-CP-498, dated September 1992. The objective of the symposium was to review the state-of-the-art in aerodynamic engine/airframe integration techniques and to report on the progress which has been achieved during engineering project work in recent years. Because the treatment of this subject requires an interdisciplinary approach, both experimentalists and theoreticians were invited to contribute to the meeting. Six sessions were organized to cover the essential subdisciplines requiring aerodynamic engine/airframe integration during the concept-assessment and design phases for new aerospace vehicles. For individual titles, see N93-13200 through N93-13231. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (** MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Aerodynamic Investigations on a Wing in Ground Effect. Publishable Report on NLR Activities in the Seabus-Hydaer Programme

This technical report (NLR-TP-2002-506) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2002 and was written by W. B. de Wolf. This report highlights the activities of NLR in the Seabus-Hydaer programme, performed under a contract awarded by the European Commission. This programme was to evaluate the feasibility of a large wing-in-ground-effect vehicle to be used for fast transport over sea, cruising at a speed of at least 100 kts and carrying 800 passengers plus 100 cars over a distance of 850 kms. The project was led by Intermarine, a shipbuilding yard in Italy. The concept features hydrodynamic control by hydrofoils rather than aerodynamic control. These control hydrofoils are connected to the wing by vertical water surface piercing struts. Separate V-shaped hydrofoils are used to generate hydrodynamic lift forces to assist in take-off to get the hull out of the water before the air speed is reached for the wing to fully carry the weight of the vehicle. As one of the eleven partners in the project, NLR was responsible for the aerodynamic analysis and the verification by wind tunnel tests. NLR also participated in the overall design activities as member of the Design Review Board that was formed during the project. The report describes the aerodynamic evolution starting with the initial design provided by Intermarine, some results of the aerodynamic calculations, the wind tunnel test and the main results obtained for take-off and cruise conditions. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available as a PDF file.

Aerodynamics and Acoustics of Propellers

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-CP-366, dated February 1985. A state of the art review of the aerodynamic design and testing of modern propellers, acoustic and vibration environmental problems and their solutions, and considerations in the integration of the propeller(s) and airframe is presented. Propellers have recently become a focus of attention after having been neglected for many years. The efficient use of propellers as a propulsion medium up to Mach 0.6 was realized at the expense of high noise and vibration. Since the mid-1970s there have been many developments, including the propfan, with an aerodynamic efficiency of 80% at Mach 0.8 now seriously challenges the fanjet. The advent of the supercritical airfoil is another significant development beginning to influence propeller design. For individual titles see N86-11148 through N86-11176. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (66.77MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Aerodynamics of 3-D aircraft afterbodies

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD Advisory Report, AGARD-AR-318, dated September 1995. This report presents the findings of a study performed by AGARD Working Group 17 into the current understanding of the aerodynamics of complex 3-D aircraft afterbodies and the status of the methods now available to aid in their design optimization. The major part of the report is given over to the results obtained and lessons learned from the application of current CFD procedures to a selection of test cases ranging in complexity from a simple axisymmetric body with jet to a twin jet body complete with wings and empennage. Comprehensive descriptions of the selected test cases with their experimental data bases are appended to the report in the hope that these will continue to serve other researchers in the field. Other sections of the report review the developments made in empirical/semi-empirical procedures and in the experimental techniques applicable to support both future computational developments and aid directly in the task of aircraft design optimization. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (125 MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Aeroelastic Analysis of a Joined-Wing Sensorcraft

This is a full text thesis by Jennifer J. Sitz which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 2004. This study performed an aeroelastic analysis of a joined-wing SensorCraft. The analysis was completed using an aluminum structural model that was splined to an aerodynamic panel model. The force and pressure distributions were examined for the four aerodynamic panels: aft wing, fore wing, joint, and outboard tip. Both distributions provide the expected results (elliptical distribution), with the exception of the fore wing. The fore wing appears to be affected by interference with the joint. The use of control surfaces for lift and roll was analyzed. Control surfaces were effective throughout most of the flight profile, but may not be usable due to radar requirements. The aft wing was examined for use in trimming the vehicle. Also, two gust conditions were examined. In one model, the wing twist was simulated using a series of scheduled control surfaces. Trim results (angle of attack and twist angle) were compared to those of previous studies, including gust conditions. The results are relatively consistent with those calculated in previous studies, with variations due to differences in the aerodynamic modeling. To examine a more physically accurate representation of aft wing twist, it was also modeled by twisting the wing at the root. The twist was then carried through the aft wing by the structure. Trim results were again compared to previous studies. While consistent for angle of attack results, the aft wing twist deflection remained relatively constant throughout the flight profile and requires further study. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University ResearchWeb site.

Aeronautical Applications of Evolutionary Design

This report is part of VKI lecture series on Optimization Methods & Tools for Multicriteria/Multidisciplinary Design, created November 15-19, 2004 by I. Kroo Stanford University, U.S.A. This report describes the use of evolutionary design methods in aeronautics, highlighting the types of problems for which these methods are best suited and detailing some algorithms that have been useful in this domain. Three sample problems exemplify the utility of these methods and suggest numerous future applications for evolution-based design.

Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA)

This is the web site of India's ADA, which is involved in the design and development of the light combat aircraft (LCA), India's multirole supersonic aircraft. The site describes ADA's facilities, activities, services, and products.

AeroSME

AeroSME is a jointly sponsored by AECMA, the European Association of Aerospace Industries and the European Commission. It aims at encouraging and supporting the participation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the EU Framework Programme of Research and Technological Development. AeroSME is also designed to facilitate co-operation among SMEs, between SMEs and large companies, and with other aeronautics related bodies in order to improve SMEs position in the supply chain and networking opportunities. The site contains a database which allows companies to search for partners for EU projects and/or business opportunities. The R&D Project Overview page provides information on the latest EU aeronautical related R&D Research projects. Other sections of the site include news, links, and contact details.

Aerospace Testing International

This is a quarterly magazine published by UK and International Press. Coverage includes news, features and industry interviews on the latest technology and solutions for the aerospace testing community. The editorial encompasses developments for R&D testing, flight testing, production and assembly testing, plus operational in-service testing and inspection sectors. Those involved in the aerospace sector are able to register to receive free copies of the journal.

Aerospaceweb

This site was created and is maintained by a group of aerospace engineers and enthusiasts. It provides information on a range of fields - including aircraft and spacecraft design in the form of a series of detailed articles relating to the development of aerospace technologies. The 'aircraft museum' is a virtual museum giving data on a pictures of a wide variety of military and civil aircraft from around the world. Facilities for computing aerodynamic and atmospheric properties are also available.

AHS International : The Vertical Flight Society

AHS International (formerly the American Helicopter Society) describes itself as, "the professional society for the advancement of vertical flight technology and its useful application throughout the world". The web site provides access to a variety of information resources. There is a listing of the officers and members of the Board of Directors, Technical Council, Technical Committees, Chapters and other commitees. A membership section describes member programmes, services and benefits. Other sections of the site provide information relating to AHS publications (including Vertiflite and the Journal of the American Helicopter Society); AHS Calendar of Events, and the AHS Annual Forum. The site contains an online searchable bibliographic database of AHS articles and other documents. There is also an on-line AHS Membership Directory, which is available to members only.

AHS Online Documents Catalog

The web site provides access to a searchable database of articles and other documents, published by AHS International (formerly the American Helicopter Society). The database contains bibliographic details and abstracts of documents derived from the following: AHS Journal, Vertiflite; AHS Annual Forum Proceedings; Specialist conference proceedings; AHS book and report collection.

Aircraft Accidents: Trends in Aerospace Medical Investigation Techniques

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-CP-532, dated September 1992. These proceedings include the Technical Evaluation Report and 58 papers of the Symposium sponsored by the AGARD Aerospace Medical Panel held at the Altin Yunus Hotel, Cesme, Turkey, April 27 - May1 , 1992. Since the commencement of aviation, accidents have occurred for a variety of reasons in both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. As the complexity of aviation systems increased, so did the task of investigating aircraft accidents. At the same time, advanced techniques in aviation and weapon systems have exacerbated greatly the physiological and cognitive demands on aircrews. The result is that aircraft accidents due to material causes have diminished progressively while the percentage of human factor-caused accidents has not. For individual titles, see N93-19654 through N93-19710. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (120.42MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Aircraft Conceptual Design by Collaborative Manual and Automatic Agents

This report (SEN-R9702) was written by K.E. Shahroudi and was published by the National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands (CWI) in 1997. It briefly describes the semi-automatic design optimization setup which was introduced in full detail in a previous paper by the author. A simple multidisciplinary aircraft conceptual design optimization problem is then specified based on Torenbeek (1992). Various modes of in-the-loop user control on the search progress and the search problem then illustrate the potential benefits of allowing the user to interact with a numerical agent at various levels of automation. It is available as full text in a compressed PostScript file (2094 KB, 8 pp) or PDF.

Aircraft Design Information Sources

This compilation of aircraft design information sources has been compiled by W.H. Mason, for use in Aerospace Engineering Design Education at Virginia Tech. It was originally supported by the NASA/USRA Advanced Design Program and the NASA/Navy Control Power Requirements Study. The resources contained in this document are listed under the following headings: Aircraft design bibliographies; Control power requirements bibliographies; A summary of the X series aircraft; Key aircraft museums; Software; Mail order aviation booksellers and other catalogues; Electronic data sources; and pages about educational projects for students.

Aircraft Designs, Inc

Aircraft Designs, Inc comprises a group of aircraft scientists and engineers, including Martin Hollmann, who is the author of a number of books on aircraft design. The site includes brief overviews of conceptual design, flutter analysis, stress analysis, vibration and fatigue analysis, and manufacturing. There are descriptions of projects in which the company has been involved, as well as details of the gyroplanes which the company produces and sells. The site also provides information on other company products including books, software, and short courses.

Aircraft Materials Ltd (Airborne Systems)

This company specialises in the design and manufacture of aerial delivery and safety / survival equipment. The site contains product information and images as well as certificates of approval from various aerospace authorities. There are links to sister companies and the contact information page includes a location map.

Aircraft Optimization for Minimal Environmental Impact

This document is a dissertation submitted to the department of aeronautics and astronautics and the committee on graduate studies of Stanford University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy in 2004 by Nicolas Eugene Antoine. This research explores the feasibility of integrating noise and emissions as optimization objectives at the aircraft conceptual design stage, thereby allowing a quantitative analysis of the trade-offs between environmental performance and operating cost. Beyond meeting regulations and establishing environmental performance trades, the design tool allows the generation of extremely low-noise and low-emissions designs that could, in the future, dramatically decrease the environmental impact of commercial aviation, albeit at the expense of increased operating cost. To these ends, a preliminary design tool was developed that uses a multi-objective genetic algorithm to determine optimal aircraft configurations and to estimate the sensitivities between the conflicting objectives of low noise, low emissions, and operating costs. The design tool incorporates ANOPP, a detailed noise prediction code developed at NASA Langley, and NASA Glenn’s NEPP engine simulator, as well as aircraft design, analysis, and optimization modules developed at Stanford University.

Aircraft Performance Database - Airplane Performance Data For General Aviation Aircraft

This is a database which contains performance data for many general aviation aircraft. The database can be searched by manufacturer and model, or browsed by the Index of Aircraft Manufacturers. The site provides a range of supporting information resources including US weather data, discussion forums, practice FAA tests, listings of aviation books and a link to an indexed, searchable database of Federal Aviation Regulations. There are also links to various aircraft pictures and aviation news.

Aircraft System and Product Development: Teaching the Conceptual Phase

This working paper (ESD-WP-02) was published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineering Systems Division in 2001 and was written by Earll M. Murman, R. John Hansman and John-Paul Clarke. This paper reports the first offering of a graduate level subject covering the conceptual phase of aircraft product development. The output of the conceptual phase is a system level specification that usually serves as input for a traditional undergraduate capstone subject on aircraft design. Of critical importance in the conceptual phase is addressing the business case for the candidate product. the conceptual phase spans a much wider range of topics than the technical issues which dominate preliminary design. These include user needs, investment and business requirements, market analysis, operational issues, exogenous constraints (certification, regulation, political, etc.), as well as engineering and manufacturing requirements.

Aircraft System Design Graduate Curriculum : Lifecycle Focus

This working paper (ESD-WP-2007-11) was published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineering Systems Division in 2007 and was written by Earll Murman and Paul Lagace. Aircraft system design encompasses technical, social and lifecycle topics, and is suitable for graduate studies at the masters level and beyond. Several degree programs in MIT’s School of Engineering offer opportunities for students seeking subjects and degrees in this area. These programs are summarized, and one subject on Aircraft Systems Engineering is introduced as an illustration of content and pedagogy addressing lifecycle topics. Based upon several years of experience of participation in these programs and in offering curriculum, the authors put forward seven observations to stimulate further dialog and progress on this topic. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Airliners.Net : Aircraft Data and History

This section of Airliners.net provides information on a large range of commercial aircrafts currently in use or under development, organised by aircraft name. It contains brief specifications (such as country of origin, powerplants, performance, weights, dimensions, capacity and production), development histories and photographs.

Alternative Control Technologies : Human Factors Issues

This web site provides access to an Educational Note produced by the Research and Technology Organization (RTO), RTO-EN-003, dated October 1998. The material was assembled to support a Lecture Series (Lecturer Series 215) under the sponsorship of the Human Factors and Medicine Panel and the Consultant and Exchange Programme of RTO presented on 7-8 October 1998 in Br�tigny, France, and on 14-15 October 1998 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, USA. The main aim of the lecture Series was to review alternative control technologies such as voice, and head and eye movement commands, and to provide for discussion on their main characteristics, benefits, and limitations. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text of the document (17.5 Mbytes) can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Home Page

The AIAA is a US-based organisation and is a professional society with the aim of progressing engineering and science within aviation, space and defence. This large site provides background information about the AIAA, a calendar of events, information on professional development courses and full text journal articles and technical meeting papers (for subscribers only). In addition there is a searchable database of meeting papers which is available free of charge, details of membership benefits and activities, and educational programmes. The site is searchable.

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Vertical and/or Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) Aircraft Systems Technical Committee

This AIAA technical committee web site provides access to a range of information resources including: a brief summary of the scope of the Committee's interests, a number of "highlights" articles, and a list of helicopter and V/STOL links. The site also provides access to a document produced by the Committee which identifies V/STOL research needs. The areas identified include amongst others: jet induced effects, integrated flight/propulsion control, hot gas ingestion, acoustics, performance and analysis tools, airframe materials and UAV issues. The first fifty years of V/STOL development is described in a paper by Michael Hirschberg of ANSER. Other resources include a section on unrealised V/STOL aircraft and concepts, and a V/STOL history wheel.

An Application of Anti-Optimization in the Process of Validating Aerodynamic Codes

This is a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering PhD dissertation, by Juan R. Cruz, dated April 4, 2003. The primary objectives of the work performed for this dissertation were to develop an approach using anti-optimization in the process of validating aerodynamic analyses through experiments, and to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach. Since this is an applied study, a suitable aerodynamic analysis needing validation and an appropriate corresponding experiment were selected to serve as a testbed for the approach being developed. A combination of two aerodynamic codes integrated into an analysis to predict the maximum lift coefficient of a wing and a related wind tunnel experiment were chosen to exercise and evaluate the proposed approach. An interesting flight domain for the validation of this analysis is the combination of Mach and Reynolds numbers encountered by airplanes operating within the atmosphere of Mars. Thus, secondary objectives of the dissertation were assist in the validation of an analysis in the flight regime used by airplanes designed to fly in the Martian atmosphere, and to generate an aerodynamics database in this flight regime. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [4.86 Mb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD)

Analyses of Fatigue Crack Growth Databases for Use in a Damage Tolerance Approach for Aircraft Propellers and Rotorcraft

This technical report (DOT/FAA/AR-07/49) was published by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Aviation Research and Development in November 2007 and was written by James C. Newman, Jr. A large portion of the fatigue crack growth threshold data in this report is inappropriate due to the load reduction test procedure that was used to generate these data. The author, in collaboration with National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) personnel, is developing new test procedures to generate threshold data under steady-state constant-amplitude loading conditions without any load history effects. The new test method involves using compression precracking to generate a crack at a V-notch and then to test the specimen under constant-amplitude loading. A large test program on the development of these fatigue crack growth databases, for use in damage-tolerant analyses for aircraft propellers and rotorcraft components, was conducted at NASA LaRC under a Memorandum of Agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Some materials tested and analyzed herein were 7050-T7451 and 7075-T7351 aluminum alloys and D6AC and 4340 steels. Only the steels were tested as part of the FAA program. The 7075 alloy was tested at the NASA Johnson Space Center, and the 7050 and 7075 alloys were tested at NASA LaRC. This test program was conducted to generate more accurate representations of fatigue crack growth rate behavior in the near-threshold regime and approaching fracture under a wide range of constant stress ratio (R = Pmin/Pmax) conditions. The objective of the proposed research grant was to analyze the test data on selected propeller and rotorcraft materials to develop the effective stress-intensity factor range against crack growth rate relationship for use in damage tolerance analyses. The resulting relationships can then be used in the strip-yield model in NASGRO (Stripy), AFGROW, or used to generate the stress-intensity factor range against crack growth rate curves for use in NASGRO, AFGROW, or any other life-prediction code requiring linear elastic fracture mechanics procedures. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Ansys

This is the web site of ANSYS, a company which designs, develops, markets and globally supports engineering simulation solutions used to predict how product designs will behave in manufacturing and real-world environments. It offers solutions in multiphysics, mechanics, fluid dynamics, electromagnetics, robust design and meshing processes to a number of industries, including aerospace and government/defence. The site describes services to each industry and provides detailed information about its products.

Approximate Modelling and Multi Objective Optimisation in Aeronautic Design

This technical report (NLR-TP-2002-386) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2002 and was written by W. J. Vankan and R. Mass. An investigation of efficient approximation methods for computationally expensive objective functions in aeronautic multi-disciplinary design and multi objective optimisation is presented. Several approximation methods based on curve fitting using polynomials and artificial neural networks are considered. A comparison of these approximation methods in terms of the achieved quality and accuracy and the required computational cost is presented. The approximation models have been successfully applied in a preliminary design and multi objective optimisation study of a blended wing body aircraft. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available as a PDF file.

Approximation Models for Multi-Disciplinary System Design - Application in a Design Study of Power Optimised Aircraft

This technical report (NLR-TP-2003-369) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2003 and was written by W.J. Vankan, J. Kos and W.F. Lammen. In aeronautic system design, numerical simulation and optimisation of design objectives are commonly used. Aeronautic systems can be quite complex and are usually part of one or more "higher level" systems. To analyse the behaviour of the integrated system, the system model may be composed of subsystem or component models from suppliers. To enable such a composition, usually integration requirements are agreed such as language requirements, model format requirements, visibility requirements, hardware requirements, and computational requirements. For the various cases in which models satisfying all integration requirements are not available, approximate representations based on system data sets can be used as effective and efficient alternatives. In the present study several methods are investigated and evaluated for approximate representation of steady-state system behaviour that is given in the form of data sets. Approximation methods based on polynomial functions, splines, kriging models and neural networks are considered. A software tool for easy application and quality assessment of the different approximation models has been developed and will be briefly presented. As an example, the application of the approximation methodology in a simplified aircraft cabin system model is presented. In this simplified system model the cabin airflow is included as an approximate representation based on CFD simulations. It is shown that in this way multi-disciplinary design evaluations of integrated system models can be efficiently performed. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available as a PDF file.

Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute (AIAI)

This research institute is based at the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. It aims to apply research on artificial intelligence for use in industrial, commercial and government areas. It includes details of research projects, courses, staff, publications and events.

Assessment of lift augmentation devices

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-LS-43, dated February 1971. This publication contains edited versions of the lecture notes and complementary discussions from the AGARD - VKI Lecture Series on “Assessment of Lift Augmentation Devices”, at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics during the week 20-24 April 1970. The lecture series was designed to provide an up-to-date account of special aerodynamic problems and applications of lift-augmentation devices; including appraisals of the present state of knowledge, novel aerodynamic advances, experimental and theoretical treatments, applications for transport and combat aircraft, important areas for research and development. It was primarily intended for aeronautical engineers with a need to acquire a more adequate background on lift-augmentation devices. But short discussions were held after most of the lectures, together with a final Discussion Seminar, to take advantage of participants with specialised knowledge’ as appropriate. The Course was well supported as regards both the number of attendees (about 100) and their technical quality. The organisation was carried out under the auspices and with the support of AGARD, in collaboration with the von Karman Institute who had the responsibility for the general administration and local organisation. A special tribute must be paid to the lecture staff, for the quality of their presentations, the valuable analysis contained in their lecture notes provided for distribution during the Course, and their cooperative participation in discussions. Our thanks also go to the official and private organisations through whose courtesy it was possible to offer such technical experts as lecturers. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents and the full text (32.73MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Association of European Research Establishments in Aeronautics (EREA)

EREA is a non-profit association comprising a number of leading european aerospace research organisations. Founded in October 1994 EREA's mission is is to provide European industry and authorities as well as governments with a cost effective high quality aeronautics technology base through joint research programmes and through the harmonised use of resources, facilities and personnel exchange. The site contains mainly descriptive information covering the Association's founding, history and development, its mission, objectives and vision, organisation and capabilities. Other sections of the site provide news and spin-offs, including brief examples of how aeronautical research disseminates technology to other sectors.

AugustaWestland Company

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, today represents a global leader in an industry sector, which is amongst the most competitive internationally. AgustaWestland is unique in the marketplace with its unrivalled capability in design, technical innovation, manufacturing, training and customer support. AgustaWestland is more than just a helicopter manufacturer; it is a provider of solutions to meet customer needs. AgustaWestland is proud of its heritage and tradition of yesterday, effective in serving the customers' needs of today, and ready to confirm and strengthen its position as the global leader in the rotorcraft industry. There is also products, training, photo gallery and history of the company available.

Autogyros

This is a personal web site, which nevertheless includes a useful essay that describes autogyros and how they work, gives a brief history of their development, explains their differences with other aircraft, and explains why they were never accepted. It then explains some modern autogyro concepts. The paper is available in two versions, with and without jpeg graphics. The author notes that the paper was written in 1996, and therefore some of the references to the present and future may be outdated. The site also contains a set of links to other web sites related to autogyros and rotorcraft.

BAE Systems

BAE Systems comprises British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems. The site gives an overview of the company and its activities, in particular, a 'virtual news room' provides details including breaking news. The investor relations area of the site gives a range of financial indicators including share prices and a five year summary. Overview information on current programmes including the Eurofighter, Hawk, Gripen, Nimrod and Future Offensive Air Systems (FOAS) is provided. Information on the complete range of products is available, as are press releases, recruitement, an image library and movie clips.

Basic Principles of Flight Test Instrumentation Engineering

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-AG-160 Vol.1, dated April 1974. This report describes the a careful consideration that was taken into account for the design of flight test instrumentation system in aircrafts. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (181KB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc

This is the web site of Bell Helicopter Textron, a company which designs and manufactures rotorcraft. The site provides company information including employment opportunities, press releases and news, and company history. Some information about their products is available, including product brochures for many of the models. These include craft in the following categories - commercial, military, tiltrotors, specialty and pre-owned. Product information for the commercial helicopters is particularly detailed and includes product data books and technical specifications books.

Blended Wing Body : Design Challenges for the 21st Century

This provides access to the text and slides of a presentation made by Al Bowers, who is a Senior Aerodynamicist at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The presentation was prepared for a The Wing is The Thing (TWITT) meeting, held at Dryden on September 16th 2000. The text is available in HTML format and the slides actual slides (jpgs) range in size from 49k to 104k, the average being about 60k. This presentation available from The Wing is The Thing web site.

Boeing

The Boeing Company is the largest aerospace company in the world. It manufactures commercial aeroplanes and military aircraft. This large site contains the full text of all press releases and statements since 1997, and from Boeing and McDonnell Douglas since before the merger in 1997. A lot of detailed financial information is available, including financial reports and the Investor Relations Newsletter. Product, news and market information are also available for commercial and military aeroplanes, business jets, rotorcraft, space systems, and electronics and information systems.

CAFE Foundation

The US CAFE (Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency) Foundation is a non-profit educational foundation that measures personal aircraft performance using innovative flight testing techniques. The Foundation has teamed up with NASA to hold a personal air vehicle (PAV) challenge in 2007 with a $250,000 prize. One section of the site is devoted to PAVs, including an FAQ, details of the latest NASA studies, and information on the enabling technologies that are required to make PAVs a reality. Elsewhere on the site an archive of CAFE's research and publications is available - they do ask that if an article is downloaded and found useful a donation to CAFE is made. Several aircraft performance reports (APRs) are also available in full in PDF format.

Challenges in the Better, Faster, Cheaper Era of Aeronatuical Design, Engineering and Manufacturing

This working paper (ESD-2000-03) was published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineering Systems Division in 2000 and was written by Earll. M. Murman, Myles Walton, and Eric Rebentisch. 'Better, Faster, Cheaper' BFC emerged in the 1990's as a new paradigm for aerospace products. In this paper, we examine some of the underlying reasons for BFC and offer some thoughts to help frame the thinking and action of aerospace industry professionals in this new era. Examination of literature on industrial innovation indicates that aeronautical products have evolved to a 'dominant design' and entered the 'specific phase' of their product life cycle. Innovation in this phase centres on: incremental product improvement, especially for productivity and quality; process technology; technological innovations that offer superior substitutes The first two of these are aligned with BFC objectives. [Taken from abstract]. This is in PDF format, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Chris Heintz Design College

This web site brings together a number of full text articles that deal with various aspects of light aircraft design. Fourteen of the articles were published in the Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) Light Plane World or Experimenter publications. The topics covered include: light aircraft materials and their properties; flight and performance testing; riveted joints; airfoils; pitch, stability and control; control surfaces; determining weight and balance; and STOL aircraft design. The author, Chris Heintz, is resonsible for the design of a range of kit aircraft for the Zenith Aircraft Company.

Cockpit Automation and Mode Confusion : The Use of Auditory Inputs for Error Mitigation

The site provides access to an Air University Air Command and Staff College Research Report, by Major Charles F. Spencer, Jr., USAF, AU/ACSC/167/2000-04, dated April 2000. format. Based on current levels of cockpit automation, classifications of mode confusion, and clinical knowledge concerning human cognitive and attentive processes, the report examines whether an audible attention step might help mitigate unrecognized mode error. The Software-Hardware-Environment-Liveware model provides a framework for the analysis of government and academic research concerning pilot automation experiences and use, cognitive models, information and decision processing, and the auditory attention channel. The text of the report can be accessed in PDF format.

Collectives and Complex System Design

This report is part of VKI lecture series on Optimization Methods & Tools for Multicriteria/Multidisciplinary Design, created November 15-19, 2004 by I. Kroo Stanford University, U.S.A. This paper deals with two aspects of collective design: the application of optimization in the design of collectives, and the use of collectives for engineering design itself, in which multiple individuals or teams design parts of a large-scale system. A collective is a group of self-motivated agents that maximize system performance through the pursuit of local objectives. Examples are drawn from aeronautical engineering, where well-developed models in the many relevant disciplines may be used to analyze and optimize the complete system. The design of aircraft, involving many individuals or organizations, and the formation flight of geese, for example, share many similar features. In each case, individuals must decide on a course of action that must benefit the system as a whole, despite the requirement that they act locally and cannot immediately ascertain the effect of their actions on the entire system. Examples demonstrate how multi-level distributed optimization can be used to achieve optimal system performance while focusing on local degrees of freedom and how a similar approach leads to the optimal V-shaped flock of geese, even when individual birds seek only to maximize their own local goals. Additional applications of these ideas show how collectives may provide new engineering solutions to problems in aerospace design.

Comparing Probabilistic and Fuzzy Set Approaches for Designing in the Presence of Uncertainty

This web site provides access to a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering PhD dissertation, by Quihong Chen, dated 8 August 2000. The dissertation presents a comparison of the theoretical foundations of probability and possibility theories. Two design problems are formulated to demonstrate the strength and weakness of probabilistic and fuzzy set methods. The author concludes that when there is little information available about uncertainties, a hybrid method should be used to ensure a safe design. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [691.22 Kb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD).

Competence Management with EuroSim Centred CACE Working Environments

This technical report (NLR-TP-1998-249) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 1998 and was written by A.A. ten Dam and R.J.P. Groothuizen. There is a growing need to handle large aerospace projects in a systematic manner: transfer of knowledge between people on a case by case manner is a time-consuming and costly process. Computer based simulation is recognised as one of the tools that can support production cycles leading to shorter development times. Usually aerospace projects are executed in international teams where companies are responsible for specific subsystems. Nowadays, it has become essential that co-operating engineers and managers can use computer networks where software tools and software models can be accessed easily. With simulation comes the opportunity to reuse existing knowledge and the need to preserve newly acquired knowledge in a structured way. The necessity for working environments in which the computer network can be used as one virtual computer is apparent. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Component Based Software Development at NLR - Assembling Aerospace Applications

This technical report (NLR-TP-1999-142) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 1999 and was written by E. Kesseler and E.H. Baalbergen. The classical approach to the production of software is to write a tailored solution dedicated to each application. For each new application the production process starts from scratch. This approach is becoming increasingly infeasible due to the commerical realities of unaffordable costs combined with an unaffordable time-to-market. Furthermore experience has shown that in general this labour intensive approach can not guarantee the application's quality, i.e. that the application perfoms its intended functions correctly. Re-use has been seen as a solution to some of these problems for a long time. Due to problems related with finding which modules to re-use, ambiguitites in the documentation of the module's behaviour combined with an unspecified and hence unknown reliability of the module, re-use has not achieved the success expected from it. Component based development is the latest attempt to improve the software production process on all of the three items mentioned. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Computers Take Flight

This web site provides access to a NASA Dryden Flight Research Center history series publication, NASA SP-4303, by James E. Tomayko. This describes the history of the F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire Project. This produced the first digital fly-by-wire aircraft to operate without a mechanical backup system. The full text of the publication is available online in HTML format.

Cool Web Sites for Aircraft Designers

This web page is provided by a recognised authority on aerospace vehicle design, Daniel P. Raymer, and brings together a collection of links to aircraft design Web sites under the following headings: Aircraft Images, Museums, & Links; Technical & Professional Societies; Aerospace & CAD Companies; Government Organizations; Universities With Aircraft Design; Resources for Designers; and Misc. & Other Stuff.

Cranfield Aerospace Ltd

CAe became a commercial business in 1997 having been formed from the successful commercialisation of new products and services from Cranfield's centre of excellence during the 80's and 90's. CAe has become a world class supplier of products and services in its own right specialising in:

• Specialised conversion of military and civil aircraft.
• Turnkey services for flight evaluation and testing.
• Integration and supply of flight controls for manned and unmanned aircraft.
• Motion cue systems for flight simulation and training.
• Customised high speed data acquisition and analysis.
• Runway and helideck friction surveys.
• Evaluation of dynamic mechanical environments.

Cranfield University Aerospace

Cranfield has been at the forefront of the development of aerospace technology for 60 years and is one of the largest academic centres in western Europe for strategic applied research, development and design. Cranfield University Aerospace brings together the University’s aerospace capabilities from all its five Schools into areas of strategic importance for its clients, within the aerospace and aviation markets. It consists of the following technology areas: flow control and prediction, computer integrated design, air transport management, human factors, avionics and simulation, structures and materials, air vehicle technology, flight test and dynamics and astronautics and space engineering. The site details Cranfield University Aerospace's capabilities, courses and current projects.

Creativity Design and Business Performance

This is UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Economics Paper No. 15, published in November 2005. This report sets out the current state of knowledge on the economics of creativity and design and their role in driving business performance and productivity. It reviews the existing economic and management literature on creativity and design, and draws on five specifically commissioned papers by experts in the field. The report seeks to answer five key questions: What are the economics of creativity and design in a business context; What are the UK’s strengths and weaknesses in creativity and design; How can creativity and design enhance value and productivity in firms; How can businesses develop and use creativity and design; and, What role can Government play in fostering creativity and design? The text of the paper is available in PDF format (1,077 KB).

Critical Technologies for Hypersonic Vehicle Development

This is a NATO Research and Technology Organization (RTO) Educational Note, RTO-EN-AVT-116, Paris, December 2005. The material in this publication was assembled to support a Lecture Series under the sponsorship of the Applied Vehicle Technology Panel (AVT) held at the von Kármán Institute, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium, 14-18 May 2004. This RTO/VKI Lecture Series was focused on critical technologies in hypersonic vehicle development, including ground test, numerical simulation and flight test. The introduction comprised a historical overview on hypersonic vehicle development as well as a thorough review of ongoing vehicle development and flight-testing programs. To provide sufficient background information, lectures were presented on compressible flows of perfect and imperfect gases, with special attention given to shock-wave boundary-layer interactions, laminar to turbulent transition, and high temperature gas properties. Advancements in computational modeling capabilities for hypersonic vehicle design were addressed, and the ongoing need for validation data, as well as a consistent validation methodology, where highlighted. Specific critical technology areas, including trajectory aerothermal environment definition, system trade studies, propulsion systems, aerodynamic control laws, flight instrumentation, thermal protection systems and flight experiments were all addressed in separate lectures given by international experts. In all of the presentations the needs of future hypersonic flight vehicle development programs were addressed. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, individual papers and the full text of the document (41.5 Mb) can be accessed online in PDF format

CS-25 : Large Aeroplanes

This EASA Airworthiness Certification Specification CS-25 for Large Aeroplanes dated 17 October 2003 is available in full-text PDF. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is tasked with the regulation of civil aviation safety in the states of the European Union. Its mission is to promote the highest common standards of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation for a safe and sustainable aviation system and the CSs concentrate on the fields of aircraft design, manufacture, aircraft operation and maintenance and the licensing of aviation personnel. These regulations that were often loosely referred to as "design requirements" or "airworthiness codes" have essentially remained unchanged in technical content in the transition from Joint Airwothiness Requirements (JARs) to EASA Certification Specifications (CSs). However the advisory material that was contained in a series of advisory circulars (ACJs), is now placed in Part 2 of the CSs as Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC). Amendments may also be available for this document at the main Certification Sepcifications page of the EASA website.

Dan Raymer's Aircraft Design and RDS Site

This web site has been produced by Daniel P. Raymer, a recognised authority in aerospace vehicle design and configuration layout. He is also President of the design and consulting company, Conceptual Research Corporation. The web site provides information on the company, the RDS suite of aircraft design software, and a selection of recommended reading for aircraft design. There is a collection of conceptual design layout drawings, sketches, and model photos of examples of the earliest stages of aircraft design. The site also provides information on short courses, as well as a selection of materials aimed specifically at students including aerospace acronyms and abbreviations and downloadable programs for aircraft design and sizing.

DARcorporation

Design, Analysis and Research Corporation (DARcorporation) was founded by Dr. Jan Roskam in 1991 with three main objectives. It is involved in the creation of aircraft design software, and has develped many PC/Windows based computer programs, including the Advanced Aircraft Analysis (AAA) program. It also provides consulting services in the general area of aircraft configuration design and analysis, stability and control and estimation of airplane models for flight simulators and aircraft technical analysis. It also markets and distributes textbooks on the above areas, and these can be ordered from the site. The site provides a range of information resources including: company information, details of the company's software products, textbooks and other publications, and software training workshops.

DaVinci Technologies

DaVinci Technologies aims to develop state-of-the-art computer-based engineering analysis tools for aviation enthusiasts, without engineering backgrounds, through user-friendly, affordable, graphically-oriented software packages. This web site provides product information on AirPlanePDQ, a software package for light aircraft design along with other tools such as airfoil optimizer and X-Plane, a flight simulator. There is news about customer projects and reviews of the software also available on the site along with an online ordering facility.

Delft Aerospace

This is the web site of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University. It describes the various educational programmes on offer along with supporting course information. There is also information on the various research groups, facilities, support services, student organisations as well as the Delft Aerospace Alumni Society. Other sections of the site include news and events, and a database of staff contact information.

Delphion Patent Search Form

This site allows you to search for United States patents, European patents and patent applications, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application data from the World Intellectual Property Office, the Patent Abstracts of Japan and INPADOC data. The service can be searched in several different ways, including patent number, US classification and Boolean keyword search. It is possible to view to the bibliographic information of granted US patents free of charge, all other services are payable. You will need to register to use this service, which is free of charge.

Department of Aeronautics at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine

The Web Site provides information on all major activities which are carried out by the Department, including teaching programmes, research and Departmental facilities, as well as the Departmental Staff. It contains information about the eight research groups - the Biomedical Flows Group, the Bluff Bodies and Vortex Flow Group, the Hypersonics Research Group, the Turbulence Mixing and Flow Control Group, the Spectral/hp Element Methods Group, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Group, the Turbulent Flow Modelling Group and the Flow Control Group. There are also links through to information about the Centre for Composite Materials within the department and the Honda Wind Tunnel. Details of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, short courses and research seminars are also provided.

Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech

The Department Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech makes use of the World Wide Web to distribute and provide teaching materials. These materials are catalogued by course. The site provides access to teaching materials, including lecture notes, tutorials, assignments, and homework for a range of courses. There are also Java and Javascript programs, self-taught units, course texts, manuals, homeworks and handouts in HTML, PostScript and PDF formats, and computer programs. The site also contains descriptive information about the Department's research activities including its facilities, research interests and research groups.

Departure 2093

The airline Finnair has undertaken a study on what they think the world of aviation will be like 85 years from now. This web site is part of the study. It is divided into 5 sections in which experts from different fields envision the future of air travel. There is also a gallery of future fleet images and descriptions and a discussion forum which encourages debate about the issues raised on the site.

Design and Fabrication of a Head Injury Criteria-Compliant Bulkhead : Final Report

This provides access to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, DOT/FAA/AR-02/98, by Hamid Lankarani, dated December 2002. The certification of aircraft requires engineers to demonstrate that a head strike into any one of several cabin furnishings complies with the head injury criteria (HIC) requirements specified in 14 CFR 23.562 and 14 CFR 25.562. The full text of the report is available in PDF format, from the online catalogue of the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Library.

Design in the New Millennium : Advanced Engineering Environments Phase 2

This web site provides access to a report prepared by the National Research Council's Committee on Advanced Engineering Environments, Washington, DC, National Academy Press, 2000. This is the second of a two part study on Advanced Engineering Environments. It focusses on the long term potential of AEE technologies and systems. AEEs are expected to effectively combine advanced networked computer systems with modelling and simulation technologies, to enable global collaboration between integrated working teams comprising researchers, designers, manufacturers, suppliers and customers. The study was sponsored by NASA, and the Committee was asked to look in particular at NASA and the aerospace industry. Bibliographic and abstract information is available in HTML format, and access to the full text is provided online in both HTML and Open Book formats.

Design Loads for Future Aircraft

This site provides access to a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) Technical Report, RTO-TR-045, published in February 2002. The report addresses the requirements for design loads on the structure of future NATO aircraft imposed by regular flight and manoeuvring. Load critical flight manoeuvres and external loads such as those caused by turbulence are considered, as are aspects such as metal and composite structures and operational aspects. Some actual failure cases are analysed. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text of the document (4.21 Mbytes) can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library. Last updated: 02/07/2002.

Development and Applications of Finite Elements in Time Domain

This web page provides access to a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering PhD dissertation, by Sungho Park, dated 4 December 1996. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [3.59 Mb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD)

Development of a Component Head Injury Criteria (HIC) Tester for Aircraft Seat Certification�Phase I : Final Report

This provides access to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, DOT/FAA/AR-02/99, by Hamid Lankarani, dated November 2002. The research addresses the development of an alternate component testing method for the evaluation of HIC without consuming a seat during each test. The full text of the report is available in PDF format, from the online catalogue of the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Library.

Development of Different Novel Loop Heat Pipes within the ISTC-1360 Project

This technical report (NLR-TP-2003-231) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2003 and was written by A.A.M. Delil, Yu. F. Maydanik and C. Gerhart. The International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) Project 1360 was carried out by the Russian Institute of Thermal Physics, in collaboration with the National Aerospace Laboratory NLR in the Netherlands, the US Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Korean Aerospace Institute (KARI). The main project task was to demonstrate the possibilities of a variety of Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) design configurations, to considerably extend LHP application ranges both in 0-g environment (space equipment) and in 1-g conditions at different orientations with respect to the gravity vector. The development concerns two miniature LHPs, a reversible LHP and a ramified (multiple-evaporator-condenser) LHP. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available as a PDF file.

Distributed Multidisciplinary Design and Collaborative Optimization

This report is part of VKI lecture series on Optimization Methods & Tools for Multicriteria/Multidisciplinary Design, created November 15-19, 2004 by I. Kroo Stanford University, U.S.A. This paper describe some recent ideas for distributed design and their application to large-scale aerospace systems. In this type of multidisciplinary optimization, design tasks are decomposed into domain-specific subproblems, and coordinated to achieve an optimal system. Focusing on collaborative optimization, one form of design decomposition, the notes detail the methods, summarize recent results, and suggest new variants of these approaches that improve performance.

DLR Publications

The DLR is the German space agency. It plans Germany's space activities, carries out space-flight programmes and activities and represents its space community's interests. This service provides the facility to search its publications in both German and English. It is possible to search by keyword and/or author, restrict by department within the DLR, document type, or by year back to 1990. Bibliographic information only is available.

DoD Index of Specifications and Standards (DODISS)

The DoD Index of Specifications and Standards (DODISS) lists the unclassified Federal and Military specifications, standards, and related standardization documents, and those non- government standards adopted for DoD use. Users may now link directly to full text DoD Specifications and Standards located on the Defense Automated Printing Service (DAPS), eAccess database. Full text documents available in Portable Document Format, (PDF) may be downloaded by clicking on the title in your DoDISS search results. The title acts as a link to the corresponding full text document. Please note that certain specifications and standards canceled prior to 1986 may not be available.

Dryden Aircraft Movie Collection

This collection contains short digitized video clips of many of the unique research aircraft flown at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center from the 1940s to the present. No copyright protection is asserted for these movies. The movies can be viewed with Quicktime. The films are listed in alphabetical order according to aircraft name and the research programme they are associated with is given.

Dryden Technical Reports Server (DTRS)

This service is available to search as part of the NASA Technical Reports Server, or on its own from this site. It is possible to search for and view details of reports, and view the full text of reports in PDF format from this service. Reports are available back to 1947 and up to the present day.

Efficient Methods for Structural Analysis of Built-Up Wings

This web site provides access to a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering PhD dissertation, by Youhua Liu, dated 28 April 2000. The thesis describes the development and testing of a number of methods for studying the static and free-vibration problems of built-up wing structures composed of skins, spars, and ribs. These include Equivalent Plate Analysis, EPA with indirect application of Neural Networks (called an Equivalent Skin Analysis), as well as Sensitivity Techniques. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [6.69 Mb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD).

Enhancements to EuroSim

This technical report (NLR-TP-2002-613) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2002 and was written by R. H. de Vries, J. Keijzer, F. van Lieshout, A. A. ten Dam and J. M. Moelands. EuroSim(r) (European Real-Time Operations Simulator) is a simulation tool for use by multi-disciplinary teams. EuroSim(r) is designed to meet the needs of hard-real-time simulations but can also perform non-real-time and faster-than-real-time simulations. EuroSim(r) provides the means to create and manage knowledge for complex systems and enables users to transfer this knowledge throughout the full project life-cycle. EuroSim(r) is applicable for multi-user simulation solutions for engineering, training and operational purposes. In this report the enhancements to EuroSim are presented. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available as a PDF file.

Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology

The Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) Programme is concerned with developing the potential of advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for use in Earth and atmospheric science research and miniaturization of instruments and sensors that can be carried by the aircrafts. There are descriptions of various vehicles used in the programme including Altus, Centurion, D-2, Helios, Pathfinder, Perseus A, Perseus B and Proteus.There are also links to current and past research projects. This web site is the product of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS)

EADS is one of the largest aerospace companies in Europe and was formed from a merger between French Aerospatiale Matra S.A. (Paris), the Spanish Construcciones Aeron�uticas S.A. (CASA, Madrid) and the German DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (Dasa, Munich). EADS covers the areas of Airbus, aeronautics (military aircraft, helicopters, regional aircraft), military transport aircraft, defence and security systems and space. This site provides product information and specifications, a photo gallery, press releases, employment and financial information plus the latest stock quotes. The site is also available in German, French and Spanish.

European Aeronautics Science Network (EASN)

This is a three year funded project which aims to bring the European universities with aeronautics activities into an integrated network, operating in parallel with industry and the national research establishments. EASN has a Steering Committee representing partners to oversee the activities of the network, as well as a number of Interest Groups (IGs) addressing various thematic issues. There are 10 interest areas covering Flight Physics, Aerostructures, Propulsion, Aircraft Avionics Systems and Equipment, Flight Mechanics, Integrated Design and Validation, Air Traffic Management, Airports, Human Factors, and Innovative Concepts and Scenarios. Within these areas several Interest Groups have been established for Advanced Combustion Chambers, Ageing Aircraft, Crashworthiness and Structural Impact, Emission Minimizing Flight Operations, Fault Tolerant Systems, Increased Exploitation of Composites, Manufacturing Processes and Technologies of Aero-Engines, Risk Analysis Based LCE in Aeronautics, Surface Engineering Treatments, Vortical Structures and IG Innovative Contacts and Scenarios. The central element is an open, Internet based network that will enable communication between groups and will provide access to a database. The Network Database contains Information on the university institutes with their aerospace competence profiles, companies and organisations in the aerospace supply chain, research establishments and information on national aeronautics research programmes. The web site describes the network members and provides details of each of the regional contact points. It identifies R&T areas and Interest Groups and the Universities who are engaged in research activities in these areas. The site also provides news and a list of related links.

European Workshop on Aircraft Design Education (EWADE)

The European Workshops on Aircraft Design Education are a forum for academic staff active in aircraft design education at European universities. The site provides presentations and pictures from previous conference back to 2000.

Experimental and analytical methods for the determination of connected-pipe ramjet and ducted rocket internal performance

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-AR-323, dated July 1994. Connected-pipe, subsonic combustion ramjet and ducted rocket performance determination procedures used by the NATO countries have been reviewed and evaluated. A working document has been produced which provides recommended methods for reporting test results and delineates the parameters that are required to be measured. Explanations and detailed numerical examples are presented covering the determination of both theoretical and experimental performances, the use of air heaters and uncertainty and error analysis. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (11.19MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Experimental data base for computer program assessment: Report of the Fluid Dynamics Panel Working Group 04

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-AR-138, dated January 1979. The acquisition of highly reliable wind tunnel test data for aircraft design was investigated. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (16.7MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Extreme value analysis and its application to c.g. vertical accelerations measured on transport airplanes of type C-130

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-R-579, dated March 1971. The interpretation of cumulative frequency distributions of measured flight loads can be increased significantly by an additional extreme value analysis. This method not only leads to a higher reliability in fatigue design but may be used also for a prediction of extreme loading conditions and for a description of the effect of airplane and flight parameters on loads, as is demonstrated for c.g. vertical accelerations and gust velocities measured on airplanes o f / t ype C-130. This report is a sequel to a paper presented by Dr.O.Buxbaum on 5th November 1970 at the 31st'meeting of the Structures and Materials Panel in Tdnsberg, Norway. In this paper, Dr.Bauxbaum, whose contribution to the study of statistics related to atmospheric turbulence has been particularly fruitful, attacks a problem of considerable importance to both civilian and military aeronautical industry: the prediction of the extreme loads which a structure must be able to withstand. The application of the model proposed by Dr.Buxbaum to measurements obtained on the C-130 aircraft provides an excellent confirmation of the method. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents and the full text (7.86MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

FanWing : A Revolution in Flight Technology

This site is from FanWing Ltd, a company that specialises in designing fan wings. These lift and thrust a plane by employing a wing with a cross-flow fan at the leading edge. The quietness and stability of the flight achieved lends its application to remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), ultar/microlight weight aircrafts, surveillance, local taxi services and freight haulage. The site provides background information to the technology and includes pictures, photographs and video and audio footage (requiring Windows Media Player) of several flying models.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Designee and Delegation Information

This Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) website is a resource for FAA delegates who can examine aircraft designs, production quality and airworthiness on behalf of the FAA prior to certification. A background and history of the FAA designee program is available along with types of designees and their roles and responsibilities. A number of handbooks, application forms, instructions, guidance manuals, regulations are available in pdf full-text. Also available is information on training courses and seminars, news, frequently asked questions and statistics.

Flexible MEMS Skin Technology for Distributed Fluidic Sensing

This is a California Institute of Technology PhD dissertation, by Xong Yu, dated 1 January 2002. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [10.23 Mb]. A novel flexible skin technology, which is compatible with MEMS and ICs processes, was developed in the Caltech Micromachining Lab for the distributed fluidic sensing. With this technology, a flexible shear-stress sensor skin was fabricated and successfully implemented on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The flow separation detection along the leading edge of UAV was demonstrated in both wind tunnel and the real flight test. The complete UAV sensing/computing/controlling system, including microsensors, microelectronics, and microactuators, was also demonstrated in wind tunnel and ready for the flight test. This technology was further explored by making an underwater shear-stress sensor skin for applications such as flow pattern measurement of radio controlled submarines, and the study of the safety and arming mechanisms of next generation smart torpedoes. This title is part of California Institute of Technology's Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Collection

Flexible Twist for Pitch Control in a High Altitude Long Endurance Aircraft with Nonlinear Response

This is the full text of a thesis written by Vanessa Bond which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in December 2008. Information dominance is the key motivator for employing high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) aircraft to provide continuous coverage in the theaters of operation A joined-wing configuration of such a craft gives the advantage of a platform for higher resolution sensors. Design challenges emerge with structural flexibility that arise from a long-endurance aircraft design. The goal was to demonstrate that scaling the nonlinear response of a full-scale finite element model of a high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) aircraft was possible if the model was aeroelastically and nonlinearly scaled. A straight-forward method of scaling the first three natural vibration frequencies and mode shapes, and the first buckling eigenvalue was attempted. In addition to analytical scaling several experiments were accomplished to understand and overcome design challenges of HALE aircraft. One such challenge is combated by eliminating pitch control surfaces and replacing them with an aft-wing twist concept. This design was physically realized through wind tunnel measurement of forces, moments and pressures on a subscale experimental model proving that pitch control with aft-wing twist is feasible. Another challenge is predicting the nonlinear response of long-endurance aircraft. This was addressed by experimental validation of modeling nonlinear response on a subscale experimental model. The validation accomplished during this experiment on a subscale model will reduce technical risk for full-scale development of such pioneering craft. Nonlinearities can be attributed to follower forces, which were found to be a significant influence in HALE aircraft. [Taken from Abstract]. This is in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Fluent Inc

Fluent offers software for computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Customers include the aerospace and turbomachinery industries for applications such as aerodynamics, anti icing systems and propulsion systems including combustors, compressors, turbines, blade cooling, fans, disk cavities, and seals. This large site provides detailed information about Fluent's products (including downloadable brochures), which fall into four categories - preprocessors, general purpose, application focused and educational software. Details of the applications of the software, consultancy services, the company itself and technical support services are also provided. Several full text journal articles are available which show how customers are using Fluent's products.

Foresight Defence, Aerospace and Systems Panel

The aim of the UK Government's Foresight Programme is to improve collaboration between government, industry and academia in order to increase national wealth and quality of life. Defence, Aerospace and Systems was one of 13 sectoral panels created in the first round of the programme to consider possible future trends and opportunities. Although no longer current the web site brings together a range of information resouces including details of Panel and Task Force members. A number of Panel reports and other publications produced between 1999 and 2002 are available online.

Future fuels for aviation

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-AR-93 , dated January 1976. The fuel supply outlook within the NATO nations is considered. Hydrocarbon fuels, alternate fuels as well as specification changes for fuels and changes in aircraft design and operation are discussed. Recommendations for future programs are included. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (7.10MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Hanley Innovations

This is a US company that provides aerodynamics and airfoil analysis software. The site provides software that can be downloaded for a fee in the following areas - airfoil analysis, wing analysis and scientific graphing. The site also provides a download of an electronic book entitled "Aerodynamics in plain English". Several full text articles are available in HTML format. A free newsletter is offered upon registration which gives updates on new products, upgrades, news and discounts.

High-Lift System Aerodynamics

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-CP-515, dated September 1993. This report includes the 32 technical papers developed for the High-Lift System Aerodynamics Symposium along with an edited transcript of the Round Table Discussion and a Symposium Evaluation Report. The symposium objectives were to address (1) how the most appropriate high-lift system can be selected; (2) how an efficient design can be produced; and (3) the experimental and analysis techniques which are necessary to explore and enhance the performance of a high-lift system. Thus, although the aerodynamics of high-lift systems was the dominant theme, the very pertinent aspects of weight, simplicity, reliability, and structural and mechanical integrity were an integral part of the Symposium, and were treated in the papers presented. In this sense, this Symposium has attempted to take a broader view of the high-lift system than has been taken by similar conferences in the past. For individual titles, see N94-18416 through N94-18447. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (120.20MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

ICT Environment for Multi-Disciplinary Design and Multi Objective Optimisation A Case Study

This technical report (NLR-TP-2002-385) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2002 and was written by W. J. Vankan, R. Maas and M. ten Dam. This paper presents an ICT environment for multi-disciplinary design and multi objective optimisation in which a set of software tools is available for evaluation and approximation of objective functions and for proper control of several optimisation algorithms for multi objective optimisation. The ICT environment provides easy access to the relevant resources in the computer network via a Java based user interface, which can be executed stand-alone or as a Java applet based web client. As an example of application of this environment, some results of a multi objective optimisation study of a blended-wing-body aircraft configuration are shown. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available as a PDF file.

Identification of dynamic systems. Volume 3: Applications to aircraft. Part 2: Nonlinear analysis and manoeuvre design

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-AG-300-VOL-3-PT-2, dated May 1994. This AGARDograph is a sequel to the previous AGARDographs published in the AGARD Flight Test Techniques Series, Volume 2 on 'Identification of Dynamic Systems' and Volume 3 on 'Identification of Dynamic Systems - Applications to Aircraft - Part 1: The Output Error Approach' both written by R.E. Maine and K.W. Iliff. The intention of the present document is to cover some of those areas which were either absent or only briefly mentioned in those volumes. These areas are Flight Path Reconstruction, Nonlinear Model Identification, Optimal Input Design and Flight Test Instrumentation. The present approach to identification is rather different from that presented in the earlier AGARDographs in the sense that the identification problem is decomposed into a state estimation and a parameter identification part. This approach is referred to as the Two-Step Method (TSM), although one will find other names like Estimation Before Modelling (EBM) in the literature. It will be shown in the present AGARDograph that this approach has significant practical advantages over methods which no attempt is made to decompose the joint parameter-state estimation problem. The two-step method is generally applicable to flight vehicles such as fixed wing aircraft and rotorcraft which are equipped with state of the art inertial reference systems. The theoretical developments in the present AGARDograph will be illustrated with examples of a flight test program with the De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft, the experimental aircraft of the Delft University of Technology which has been used for almost two decades to test new ideas in the science of aircraft parameter identification. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (29.37MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Identifying and Mitigating the Risks of Cockpit Automation

The site provides access to an Air University Air Command and Staff College Research Report, by Major Wesley A. Olson, USAF, AU/ACSC/138/2000-04, dated April 2000. This paper provides a brief summary of the direct costs associated with automation. It is intended to provide a framework for designers, managers, and pilots in implementing measures to mitigate these costs. The focus is on automation issues arising from studies of transport aircraft. The text of the paper can be accessed in PDF format, and is one of the Student Research Studies available from Air University's Research Web.

Innovation in Flight

This document presents the research of the NASA Langley research center on revolutionary advanced concepts for aeronautics. It is intended to be a companion to previous books by the author: NASA SP-2000-4519, Partners in Freedom and NASA SP-2003-4529, Concept to Reality that are both written by the same author, Joseph R. Chambers. The objective of this publication is to discuss the importance of innovation and the role of revolutionary advanced concepts within the aeronautics research community, and to provide information on typical advanced research projects conducted by Langley and its partners on topics that have not yet been applied by the military or civil aviation industry to production aircraft. This document is provided in pdf format in 189 pages.

Integrated Airframe Design Technology

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD Report, AGARD-R-814, dated October 1996. It was sponsored by the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development. The report explains; Integrated airframe design embraces the concept of bringing together all of the aspects of airframe design, including various disciplines such as structures, materials, aerodynamics, propulsion, systems, controls, and manufacturing from conceptual design all the way through to the final product and its repair and maintenance. The results of this AGARD Workshop on Integrated Airframe Design emphasized that the recent and future advances in high-performance computer hardware and software systems provide the opportunity to create a process that will allow these disciplines to rapidly interact with one another. For individual titles, see N97-15843 through N97-15856. Bibliographic details and an abstract are available in HTML format and the full text (65 Mb) is available in PDF format from the RTO's web site.

Integrated Airframe Design Technology

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-R-794 , dated December 1993. Integrated airframe design embraces the concept of bringing together all of the aspects of airframe design, including various disciplines such as structures, materials, aerodynamics, controls, and manufacturing, from conceptual design all the way through manufacturing. It also includes the sub-disciplines which are involved in each discipline and the interactions these have with one another. Moreover, an IAD process also affects the organizational structure of the personnel. In order to provide a broad-based approach to evaluating and identifying future research and development directions required to provide IAD technology, the First Integrated Airframe Design Technology Workshop, sponsored by AGARD, was held in Antalya, Turkey on 19-20 Apr. 1993. This document summarizes the output of that Workshop. For individual titles, see N94-24314 through N94-24327. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (46.29MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Integrated Management of Design Processes and Data: The CACE Environment Prototype

This technical report (NLR-TP-1998-599) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 1998 and was written by J.B.R.M. Spee and D.J.A. Bijwaard. The drive for efficiency improvement in industry has implications for control engineering also. A process-oriented viewpoint is adopted, highlighting the need for integrated management of design processes and data. The concepts of a design process management system are explained: it has services to support design teams in concurrent design tasks, following a defined flow of activities, using predifined tools on a data repository. The CACE Environment Prototype is presented as an example application in the domain of aircraft control engineering. Most important to efficiency improvement is the automated consistency control of all information in the framework. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Integrated vehicle management systems

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD Advisory Report, AGARD-AR-343, dated April 1996. It was sponsored by the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development. Major trends in technology, weapon system performance goals and affordability for aerospace systems are occurring simultaneously. For avionic systems this performance and affordability can be achieved by functional and physical integration. 'Functionally' integrated subsystems to achieve higher performance has been greatly aided by advances in computer technology. The desire to minimize costs for these systems has been accomplished through a 'physical' integration concept based upon common modules tied through a high speed backplane. The concept, called integrated avionics, has been used on new aircraft such as the US Air Force F-22 fighter and the Boeing 777 commercial transport. Vehicle management systems provide the management of crucial flight functions and systems for advanced aerospace vehicles. These systems must have high integrity, safety, and overall fault tolerance. Low cost modular avionics are unproven for such fault tolerant systems. This becomes a key issue for investigation. This report deals with the key problems in fault tolerance for modular computer based systems. New techniques, only recently applied, provide exciting possibilities to reduce avionics costs and maintain high integrity and safety. These techniques and more are discussed in this report sponsored by the Mission Systems Panel of the AGARD. Bibliographic details and an abstract are available in HTML format and the full text (21.3 Mb) is available in PDF format from the RTO's web site.

Integrating Automated Multi-Disciplinary Optimization in Preliminary Design of Non-Traditional Aircraft

The site provides access to an Air University Air Force Institute of Technology MSc Thesis, by First Lieutenant Mehmet Fidanci, TUAF, AFIT/GSE/ENY/00M-1, dated March 2000. The thesis describes the development of a parametrically driven conceptual model for the analysis and optimisation of non-traditional designs such as blended wing aircraft. It focuses on a single parametric design model for transforming a conventional transport into a blended wing design. Citation details and an abstract are available in HTML format. The full text can be accessed in PDF format (2,112,676 bytes). The document is part of the Air University Research Database.

International Society of Allied Weight Engineers

The International Society of Allied Weight Engineers is a not-for-profit organisation, with a membership consisting of engineers associated with shipbuilding, land transportation and other allied industries and technologies. One of its primary goals is to promote recognition of mass properties engineering as a specialized discipline within the spectrum of professional engineering. The Site contains background information on SAWE and its chapter organisations. The site provides a complete listing of SAWE technical papers (ordering information - no full text), and details of SAWE recommended practices and relevant military standards (some full text.) The SAWE Newsletter is available online, and there is an archive of past issues. Other documents include the SAWE Operations Manual and table of contents of a textbook, Introduction to Aircraft Weight Engineering

International Vertical and/or Short Take-Off and Landing Aircraft (V/STOL) Historical Society

The site brings together links to V/STOL related web resources that have been created by, or feature significant contributions, from IVHS members. The V/STOL Encyclopedia Series include a number of presentations: German V/STOL Concepts in the Twentieth Century (fighters, rotorcraft, and transports), and French V/STOL Rotorcraft and Propellercraft. The site describes and where possible provides links to relevant V/STOL publications including: VTOL UAV's 'Come of Age: US Navy Begins Development of VTUAV' by Michael W. McKee, Ph.D., American Helicopter Society, Vertiflite, Summer 2000; and 'Bell Designs Are Accelerating at Full Tilt', by Michael Hirschberg, American Helicopter Society, Vertiflite, Fall 1999.

Internet for Aeronautical Engineering

Produced by information specialists at Cranfield University, this is part of the Intute Virtual Training Suite (VTS), an initiative designed to teach Internet information skills to the UK Higher Education community. However, the free tutorial is potentially useful to everybody who wishes to improve their subject knowledge of aerospace and defence on the Internet. It takes the form of a "teach yourself" tutorial and includes quizzes and exercises for learners to test their knowledge. It has four main components - a 'Tour' of useful high quality Web sites, 'Discover' gives tips on how to improve searching skills, 'Judge' emphasises the need for critical evaluation of information on the Internet and 'Success' offers practical examples of people using the Internet successfully.

Introduction to Flight Test Engineering

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARDograph, AGARD-AG-300 Volume 14, dated September 1995. This is the Introductory Volume to the Flight Test Techniques Series. It is a general introduction to the various activities and aspects of Flight Test Engineering that must be considered when planning, conducting, and reporting a flight test program. Its main intent is to provide a broad overview to the novice engineer or to other people who have a need to interface with specialists within the flight test community. The first two Sections provide some insight into the question of why flight test and give a short history of flight test engineering. Sections 3 through 10 deal with the preparation for flight testing. They provide guidance on the preliminary factors that must be considered; the composition of the test team; the logistic support requirements; the instrumentation and data processing requirements; the flight test plan; the associated preliminary ground tests; and last, but by no means least, discuss safety aspects. Sections 11 through 27 describe the various types of flight tests that are usually conducted during the development and certification of a new or modified aircraft type. Each Section offers a brief introduction to the topic under consideration, and the nature and the objectives of the tests to be conducted. It lists the test instrumentation (and, where appropriate, other test equipment and facilities) required, describes the test maneuvers to be executed, and indicates the way in which the test data is selected, analyzed, and presented. The various activities that should take place between test flights are presented next. Items that are covered are: who to debrief; what type of reports to send where; types of data analysis required for next flight; review of test data to make a comparison to predicted data and some courses of action if there is not good agreement; and comments on selecting the next test flight. The activities that must take place upon completion of the test program are presented. The types of reports and briefings that should take place and a discussion of some of the uses of the flight test data are covered. A brief forecast is presented of where present trends may be leading. This AGARDograph was sponsored by the Flight Vehicle Integration Panel of AGARD. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (993 Kb)of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Landings: Federal Aviation Regulations

This is an information resource provided by the Landings aviation directory service. It provides online access to most of the FARs. They are in HTML format with one file per paragraph. They contain hyperlinks between paragraphs and sections, making cross-references possible. There is now a search capability for the FARs. Please note this is not an official FAA server, so the FARs provided here are not the official FARs. You cannot rely on them being accurate.

Lawrence Hargrave : Australian Aviation Pioneer

The site is intended to highlight the work and legacy of a number of Australian aviation pioneers including Lawrence Hargrave, John and Reginald Duigan, and Keith Meggs. It is the work of two academics from Monash University. The site contains biograhical notes, an extensive bibliography, a gallery of images, timelines, and a listing of Hargrave's papers, some of which are available online. A number of technologies of current interest are also highlighted including tailless aircraft (flying wings) and Micro Air Vehicles. The MAV pages in particular provide a very extensive set of links to related web resources. These cover the following topics: Bird and Insect Flight Ornithopters; Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) and related projects; Blimps and Other Flying Objects; Miniature Engines; and Minature Robotics. The site also provides an anthology of aviation pioneers.

Lean Aerospace Engineering

This working paper (ESD-WP-2008-01) published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineering Division is William Littlewood Memorial Lecture presented by Earll M. Murman at the 46th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in January 2008. Littlewood Lecture Outline• Introduction to Lean Thinking• Lean Thinking and Aerospace• Lean Engineering framework• Tailoring Lean Engineering• Lean Engineering challenges. Hypothesis: The application of Lean Thinking principles, practices and tools to engineering can lead to superior aerospace product development results and happier more satisfied engineers. [Taken from abstract].

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is a diversified technology company involved in business areas that span aeronautics, space, systems integration, and technology services. The web site provides access to a range of information resources including: details of products, services and companies accessible via an A-Z list, background information including lines of business, history, news and media, photo and image galleries, list of suppliers and customers and an investor relations area.

Micro Aerial Vehicle Development Group : University of Notre Dame

This is the home page of this group, which is comprised of postgraduate and undergraduate students who are working towards designing useable micro aerial vehicles (MAVs). The site provides images and video clips (requiring Windows Media Player or Mac Quick Time), a description of the research carried out, including links to several full text conference papers, and information on the Group's entry to the annual Micro Aerial Vehicle Competition hosted by the University of Florida. A bibliography is also provided.

MIL-HDBK-5H : Metallic Materials and Elements for Aerospace Vehicle Structures

MIL-HDBK-5H, dated 1 December 1998 is a key military handbook provided by the US Government Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration. It is intended primarily as a source of design allowables, which are those strength properties of metallic materials and elements (primarily fasteners) that are widely used in the design of aerospace structures. It contains information and data for other properties and characteristics, such as fracture toughness strength, fatigue strength, creep strength, rupture strength, fatigue-crack propagation rate, and resistance to stress corrosion cracking. It also features some of the more commonly used methods and formulas by which the strengths of various structural elements or components are calculated. This particular online version has been produced by materials information specialists, Granta Designs. The text of the handbook is available as a series of PDF files. Please note that in May 2004 the United States Department of Defense issued a notice of cancellation for MIL-HDBK-5. Future acquisitions may refer to DOT/FAA/AR-MMPDS-01, Metallic Materials Properties Development and Standardization (MMPDS) but users are cautioned to evaluate this document for their particular application before using it as a replacement document.

Modeling, Design and Energy management of fuel cell systems for aircrafts

This is the full text of a Georgia Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering PhD thesis by Bradley, Thomas Heenan, dated December 2008. Fuel cell powered aircraft have been of long term interest to the aviation community because of their potential for improved performance and environmental compatibility. Only recently have improvements in the technological readiness of fuel cell powerplants enabled the first aviation applications of fuel cell technology. Based on the results of conceptual design studies and a few technology demonstration projects, there has emerged a widespread understanding of the importance of fuel cell powerplants for near-term and future aviation applications. Despite this, many aspects of the performance, design and construction of robust and optimized fuel cell powered aircraft have not been fully explored. This goal of this research then is to develop an improved understanding of the performance, design characteristics, design tradeoffs and viability of fuel cell powerplants for aviation applications. To accomplish these goals, new modeling, design, and experimental tools are developed, validated and applied to the design of fuel cell powered unmanned aerial vehicles. First, a general sub-system model of fuel cell powerplant performance, mass and geometry is derived from experimental and theoretical investigations of a fuel cell powerplant that is developed in hardware. These validated fuel cell subsystem models are then incorporated into a computer-based, application-integrated, parametric, and optimizeable design environment that allows for the concurrent design of the aircraft and fuel cell powerplant. These tools and methods are then applied to the analysis and design of fuel cell powered aircraft in a series of case studies and design experiments. Based on the results of the integrated fuel cell system and aircraft analyses, we gain a new understanding of the interaction between powerplant and application for fuel cell aircraft. Specifically, the system-level design criteria of fuel cell powerplants for aircraft can be derived. Optimal sub-system configurations of the fuel cell powerplant specific to the aircraft application are determined. Finally, optimal energy management strategies and flight paths for fuel cell and battery hybridized fuel cell aircraft are derived. The results of a series of design studies are validated using hardware in the loop testing of fuel cell propulsion systems and field testing of a series of fuel cell powered demonstrator aircraft.[taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available in PDF format via the Georgia Institute of technology

Multi-Attribute Value Assessment Method for the Early Product Development Phase With Application to the Business Airplane Industry

Thjis gives access to a Ph.D. disseration written by Troy Downen and submitted to the Engineering Systems Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in February 2005. The early phase of product development, sometimes referred to as the fuzzy front-end, is critical to the success of enterprises and plays a dominant role in the formation and execution of corporate strategy. In addition, it has been argued that the concept of consumer value is central to effective product development. In this research, a new product value assessment method is established for the fuzzy front-end of business airplane development. Existing value assessment techniques used in the business aviation industry are found to poorly balance the theoretical rigor of the method with the ease of use and accuracy required by practitioners in early product development. A recently-developed multi-attribute value method, based on Taguchi’s loss function approach to quality assessment, is modified and extended in this study and applied for the first time to the domain of business aviation. A comprehensive 40-year historical product database is developed for use in testing and evaluating the method, referred to as the Relative Value Index (RVI), enabling the scope of value method appraisal to be expanded to an industrywide examination over a significant time span. A top-down approach is developed for calibrating value models to empirical market data via attribute weighting factors. Sensitivity analyses and Monte Carlo simulations are developed to test the RVI method’s robustness and the reliability of the results, enabling a rigorous definition of the determinants of product competition in this industry. This methodology is a useful advance in the methods to extract objective findings from historical industry market activities. The RVI approach is used to develop evidence in support of a ratio theory of product price and value differentiation in the business airplane market. The method is also used to extract quantitative evidence indicating the existence of enterprise-related attributes for consumer value in products. Marking the first independent review of the loss function-based value method, this study finds that the Relative Value Index is superior to existing value methods at retaining simplicity of implementation and minimal data requirements while maintaining a firm grounding in economics and consumer choice theory. The method is shown to be useful for estimation, though robustness of the results is not certain when used in this manner, and may also be extended to the analysis of large-scale engineering systems and their value to society. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is availabkle in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat is required in order to read it.

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Strut-Braced Wing Transonic Transport

This is the full text of a paper (AIAA 2000-0420) presented at the 38th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, held on 10th - 13th January 2000 in Reno, Nevada. It is written by a team of authors from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and the University of Florida. The paper published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) suggests an alternative wing configuration for a transonic airliner. It is in PDF format.

Nanotechnology Aerospace Applications

This is a NATO Research and Technology Organization (RTO) Educational Note, RTO-EN-AVT-129, Paris, December 2005. The material in this publication was assembled to support a Lecture Series under the sponsorship of the Applied Vehicle Technology Panel (AVT) presented on 9-10 May 2005 in Monterey, USA; 12-13 May 2005 in Montreal, Canada; 30-31 May 2005 in Ankara, Turkey; and 2-3 June 2005 in Brussels, Belgium. The Educational Notes contain the abstracts and the lecture material of ten presentations, which provide a general introduction into nanotechnologies with selected topics, such as nanotechnology fabrication, characterization, applications (lifestyle, defence, and aerospace), and commercialisation. The lectures show that nanotechnology is an enabling technology that will impact electronics and computing, materials and manufacturing, health, medicine, energy, transportation, and other areas. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, individual papers and the full text of the document (54.0 Mbytes) can be accessed online in PDF format.

NASA : Improving Flight

This site is part of the larger 'Life on Earth' NASA site which aims to show how NASA is contributing to research to understand and protect the planet. The improving flight part of the site provides more information on work being undertaken to advance military and civilian aircraft.

NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division

Based at NASA Ames Research Center, the NAS Systems Division is part of the Information Sciences and Technology Directorate. The Division's mission is to develop, demonstrate, and deliver high perfomance computing capabilites to support NASA projects and missions. The NAS Division is leading the effort to build and test NASA?s Information Power Grid (lPG), a network of high performance computers, data storage devices, scientific instruments, and advanced user interfaces. The web site provides an introduction and overview of NAS activities including: mission and goals; research and technology; projects; resources; organisational structure; collaborators; history of achievement; feature stories and press releases. Gridpoints, the Division's quarterly published in-house journal, can be accessed online in PDF format. The papers and reports section provides full text access to technical reports, grant reports and conference papers produced by NAS staff. A selection of software programmes for visualizing computational fluid dynamics and other data are available for downloading. The site also offers sample datasets that represent simulations computed by researchers on systems at the NAS facility including: Multi-Component wing; Space Shuttle Launch Vehicle; Delta wing at 40 degrees angle of attack; Ring galaxies; Blunt fin; Tapered cylinder; Flat plate; Impinging jet; Liquid oxygen post; Substructures in turbulent spots; and Plot3D tutorial data (wingbodytail). The site contains a media resources section which includes press releases, feature stories, fact sheets, and a multimedia Library of high-resolution photos, graphics, and video clips.

NASA Langley Research Center - Multimedia Repository

This web site provides access to NASA Langley Research Center's library of digital images. The objective of the service is to facilitate online access to digitised photographs, computer-generated images and other digital sources such as movies and videos. All of the images are in JPEG format.Thumbnail (~96x96), Small (~544x480); Medium (~1280x1024) (if available); and Large (~3072x2432) (if available). The repository can be browsed or searched. Browse headings include aircraft, devices, education, events, laboratories, people, projects, space transportation, wind tunnels and new multimedia. The site also contains a Frequently Asked Questions, and a comments/question section.

NASA Quest : Aerospace Section

This is an educational Web site aimed at teachers, children and space enthusiasts with the intention of "bringing NASA people, space and science to classrooms through the Internet". It contains biographies of people who work for NASA in an aerospace context, a calendar of events, news, facts and statistics, FAQs and images/video clips. Primarily interactive, there are Web chats and discussion areas. The Quest Project is a service of the Education Program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and is located at Ames Research Center.

National Aerospace Technology Strategy Implementation Report

The United Kingdom's The Aerospace Innovation and Growth Team (AeGIT) report on the Future of the UK Aerospace Industry, (Executive Summary (Vol A), Overview Report (Vol B)) published in July 2003, recommended the establishment of a National Aerospace Technology Strategy (NATS) as a partnership between Government, Industry and Academia. This follow-up report, published in August 2004, defines the background, process and structures necessary for the implementation of the AeGiT's strategy. The Implementation Report recommends the establishment of Aerospace Innovation Networks to carry out focused research followed by validation carried out through Aerospace Technology Validation Programmes, all of which involve industry, university and research establishment partners supported through balanced and coordinated industry and government funding. Furthermore, the report outlines the organisational structure required to carry forward the Technology work programme, this being done through an Aerospace Technology Steering Group interacting with the R&T Sub Group of the National Defence Industry Council. The full text of the report is available for downloading from the AeIGT website

Nondestructive Evaluation of Aircraft Composites Using Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy

This is the full text of a thesis written by Christopher Stoik which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in December 2008. Terahertz (THz) time domain spectroscopy (TDS) was assessed as a nondestructive evaluation technique for aircraft composites. Material properties of glass fiber composite were measured using both transmission and reflection configuration. The interaction of THz with a glass fiber composite was then analyzed, including the effects of scattering, absorption, and the index of refraction, as well as effective medium approximations. THz TDS, in both transmission and reflection configuration, was used to study composite damage, including voids, delaminations, mechanical damage, and heat damage. Measurement of the material properties on samples with localized heat damage showed that burning did not change the refractive index or absorption coefficient noticeably; however, material blistering was detected. Voids were located by THz TDS transmission and reflection imaging using amplitude and phase techniques. The depth of delaminations was measured via the timing of Fabry-Perot reflections after the mail pulse. Evidence of bending stress damage and simulated hidden cracks was also detected with terahertz imaging.[Taken from Abstract]. This is in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Nonplanar Wing Concepts For Increased Aircraft Efficiency

This report is part of VKI lecture series on Innovative Configurations and Advanced Concepts for Future Civil Aircraft, created in June 6-10, 2005 by I. Kroo Stanford University, U.S.A. This report deals with nonplanar wings which offer the possibility of reduced drag compared with planar wings of the same span and lift. However, aircraft are not compared on the basis of drag with fixed span and lift, making the integration and assessment of nonplanar wing concepts complex. This paper deals with some of these issues. A brief review of several concepts from winglets to ring wings is followed by a more detailed look at recent ideas and their application to future transport aircraft. Results suggest that potential efficiency gains may be significant, although non-aerodynamic and off-design characteristics are critical in determining the utility of these concepts for transport aircraft.

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Northrop Grumman Corporation, headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., is a leading designer, systems integrator and manufacturer of military surveillance and combat aircraft, defence electronics and systems, airspace management and information systems, marine propulsion, precision weapons and commercial and military aerostructures.

Nurflugel Page

This is a personal interest page devoted to flying wing designs. The site provides links to information on designs by Alexander Lippisch; Walter Horten; Northrop, and Charles Fauvel. There is a section on lifting bodies. A number of full-text technical papers are available including: Reimer Horten's 'Toward the theory of flying wings'; and Jack Northrop's 'The development of all-wing aircraft', 35th Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture, dated May 29, 1947. In addition to full-text papers, the site also contains a list of recommended books. There is also a link to the new H-3000 flying wing design.

Opportunities for Systems Engineering to Contribute to Durability and Damage Tolerance of Hybrid Structures for Airframes

This gives access to a Rand Organization technical report written by Jean R. Gebman and published in 2008. The structures making up airframes must be durable and damage tolerant, and the means of ensuring that they are have long been well defined for structures made of metal. But a host of new hybrid materials, some of which contain no metal, are now being used, and these can present new damage mechanisms that engineers must address. The Air Force has established a general approach to airframe durability and damage tolerance. The author examines that approach and considers ways it will need to adapt for the new materials. Given the variety of materials, processes, and end uses involved, the engineering effort will necessarily involve multiple specialties. In these circumstances, the tailoring process could benefit from the efforts of systems engineers. The report addresses both technical and programmatic concerns and identifies opportunities for materials and structural engineers to collaborate with systems engineers. Finally, it offers a framework for collaboration. [Taken from abstract]. The full report is available in PDf format so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Optimum Spanloads Incorporating Wing Structural Considerations And Formation Flying

This web site provides access to a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering MSc thesis, by Sergio Iglesias, dated 10 November 2000. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [467.65 Kb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD).

Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emmisions Reduction : PARTNER

PARTNER (the Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction) is a leading aviation cooperative research organization comprising of 10 universities and 50 advisory boards, and a Centre of Excellence sponsored by FAA/NASA/Transport Canada. PARTNER fosters breakthrough technological, operational, policy, and workforce advances for the betterment of mobility, economy, national security, and the environment. The organization's operational headquarters is at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Members of the advisory boards include aerospace manufacturers, airlines, airports, national, state and local government, professional and trade associations, non-governmental organizations and community groups, united in the desire to foster collaboration and consensus among some of the best minds in aviation to jointly advance environmental performance, efficiency, safety and security. The website provides information of the members of the advisory board and collaborating universities, news and events, full-text reports and theses and information on projects.

Pattern Search Ranking and Selection Algorithms for Mixed-Variable Optimization of Stochastic Systems

This is the full text of a thesis by Todd A. Sriver which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 2004. A new class of algorithms is introduced and analyzed for bound and linearly constrained optimization problems with stochastic objective functions and a mixture of design variable types. The generalized pattern search (GPS) class of algorithms is extended to a new problem setting in which objective function evaluations require sampling from a model of a stochastic system. The approach combines GPS with ranking and selection (R&S) statistical procedures to select new iterates. The derivative-free algorithms require only black-box simulation responses andare applicable over domains withmixedvariables (continuous, discrete numeric, and discrete categorical)to include bound and linear constraints on the continuous variables. A convergence analysis for the general class of algorithms establishes almost sure convergence of an iteration subsequence to stationary points appropriately defined in the mixed-variable domain. Additionally, specific algorithm instances are implemented that provide computational enhancements to the basic algorithm. Implementation alternatives include the use of modern R&S procedures designed to provide efficientsamplingstrategies andthe use of surrogate functions that augment the search by approximating the unknown objective function with nonparametric response surfaces. In a computational evaluation, six variants of the algorithm are tested along with four competing methods on 26 standardized test problems. The numerical results validate the use of advanced implementations as a means to improve algorithm performance. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University ResearchWeb site.

Preliminary Design of a Blended Wing Body Configuration using the Design Tool PrADO

This conference paper was written by C. Osterheld, W. Heinze and P. Horst from the Institute of Aircraft Design and Lightweight Structures (IFL) at the Technical University Carolo-Wilhelmina at Brunswick. It was given at the CEAS Conference on Multidisciplinary Aircraft Design and Optimisation, held at K�ln on 25th-26th June 2001. New, unconventional aircraft configuations liked the blended wing body (BWB) are expected to significantly improve the economic efficiency of future air transport. In order to investigate potential improvements and to predict major design challenges of this new class of aircraft, the modelling and analysis capabilities of the in-house aircraft design tool of IFL, PrADO, have been adapted to the BWB requirements. Therefore a parametric geometry model was defined and implemented for geometric sizing and to supply input for physics-based analyses methods (FEM, aerodynamic panel method, drag and weight prediction). In this paper the methods used and the modelling and analysis capabilities of the improved, BWB-specific PrADO system are described. This paper is provided in PDF format.

Probabilistic Design Methodology for Composite Aircraft Structures

This provides access to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, DOT/FAA/AR-99/2, by M.W. Long and J.D. Narciso, dated June 1999. The report describes the evolution of probabilistic analysis, and the basic theory is discussed and explained via examples. Aerospace industry applications are discussed. It concludes with an assessment of potential benefits and concerns. The full text of the report is available in PDF format, from the online catalogue of the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Library.

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G : Journal of Aerospace Engineering

Published six times a year, the Journal of Aerospace Engineering is a forum for the communication of ideas and methods presently in use at the forefront of technology in the field of aerospace engineering. It contains papers on both theoretical and practical aspects of all types of civil and military aircraft and spacecraft and their support systems. The scope is wide, covering research, design, development, production, operation, servicing and repair, components and auxiliary equipment, safety and reliability. The site provides contents information for the journal. If you wish to view full text check with your library to see if they have a subscription.

Progress Through Partnership : 12 - Defence and Aerospace

This web site provides access to one of a series of reports published as part of the first UK Technology Foresight programme, in March 1995. The Defence and Aerospace Panel report describes the strategic issues and priorities which emerged from an extensive programme of analysis and consultation. The report presents a series of furture market scenarios, along with a set of key technical priorities and recommendations. The sectors covered in the report include: defence, civil aerospace, and space. The full text is available in HTML format.

Propagating and Mitigating Uncertainty in the Design of Complex Multidisciplinary Systems

This is a California Institute of Technology, Department of Engineering and Applied Science PhD dissertation, by Daniel P. Thunnissen, defended 9 December, 2004. This thesis proposes a formal method to propagate and mitigate uncertainty in the design of complex multidisciplinary systems. Specifically, applying the proposed method produces a rigorous foundation for determining design margins. The method comprises five distinct steps: identifying tradable parameters; generating analysis models; classifying and addressing uncertainties; quantifying interaction uncertainty; and determining margins, analyzing the design, and trading parameters. As an example, the proposed method is applied to the preliminary design of a spacecraft attitude determination and control system. In particular, the design of the attitude control system on the Mars Exploration Rover spacecraft cruise stage is used. Use of the proposed method for the example presented yields significant differences between the calculated design margins and the values assumed by the Mars Exploration Rover project. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [3.08 Mb]. This title is part of California Institute of Technology's Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Collection

Propulsion and energetics panel working group 14 on suitable averaging techniques in nonuniform internal flows

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-AR-182, dated June 1982. Numerous investigations were made into how the average properties across a nonuniform or unsteady flow to characterize it for the purpose of one dimensional performance of a gas turbine powerplant. Collection and review of existing practice or proposal for averaging nonuniform and or unsteady flows; identification of averaging techniques to calculate heat, power, thrust, and efficiency; qualification where applicable of uncertainty levels of different averaging methods, recommendation of methods for adoption, and recommendation of further research activities to resolve uncertainties were studied. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (4.47MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Qualitative Knowledge Construction for Engineering Systems : Extending the Design Structure Matrix Methodology in Scope and Procedure

This is the full text of a thesis written by Jason E. Bartolomei which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio in June 2007. This thesis presents a new modeling framework and research methodology for the study of engineering systems. The thesis begins with a formal conceptualization of Engineering Systems based upon a synthesis of various literatures. Using this conceptualization, a new modeling framework is presented called the Engineering Systems Matrix (ESM). The ESM is an improvement to existing system-level modeling frameworks, such as the Design Structure Matrix (DSM), by providing a dynamic, end-to-end representation of an engineering system. In support of this contribution, a new research methodology is presented called Qualitative Knowledge Construction (QKC). QKC can be thought of as a Bayesian-type approach to grounded theory. The methodology integrates qualitative social science with quantitative methods by developing a procedure for translating textual reports of observations, interview transcripts, system documentation, and figures into coded data represented in the ESM. The thesis develops the ESM framework and the QKC methodology in the context of - a real world engineering system, a US Air Force miniature uninhabited air vehicle (MAV) product development system. [Taken from abstract]. This is in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Quest for Performance : The Evolution of Modern Aircraft

This provides access to a NASA History Office publication, NASA SP-468, by Laurence K. Loftin, Jr, NASA Scientific and Technical Information Branch, Washington, D.C. 1985. It traces the technical development of the airplane since World War I. It describes significant aircraft that incorporated important technical innovations and served to shape the future course of aeronautical development, as well as aircraft that represented the state of the art of aeronautical technology in a particular time frame or that were very popular and produced in great numbers. Primary emphasis has been placed on aircraft originating in the United States. The discussion is related primarily to aircraft configuration evolution and associated aerodynamic characteristics and, to a lesser extent, to developments in aircraft construction and propulsion. The material is presented in a manner designed to appeal to the nontechnical reader who is interested in the evolution of the airplane, as well as to students of aeronautical engineering or others with an aeronautical background. The full text is available in HTML format.

R&D Intensive Businesses in the UK

This is UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Economics Paper No. 11, published in March 2005. The UK Government?s ten-year framework for investment in science and innovation, published in 2004, set a challenging target for a step-change in levels of Research and Development (R&D) in the British economy. This paper is part of the DTI's evolving assessment of the UK's science, technology and innovation performance. It forms part of a broader annual assessment by the Government of the UK?s performance across the full range of outputs and attributes of the UK?s science and innovation system. The paper shows that along with pharmaceuticals, the aerospace industry is one of most R&D intensive sectors within UK manufacturing. The text of the paper is available in PDF format (288 KB).

Rapra Polymer Bulletin : Aerospace Applications

This Polymer Bulletin is a current awareness service from the Polymer Library, the world's largest database dedicated to polymer literature. Each time the abstracts database is updated with new records (approx. every two weeks) you will be sent a bulletin alerting you to any items that relate to aerospace applications. This is a service that requires an annual subscription of £250.

Recent Advances in Long Range and Long Endurance Operation of Aircraft

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-CP-547, dated November 1993. Over the past few years, the use of aircraft in long range and/or long endurance operations has proved to be a successful use of military resources. Technologies which improve the range and endurance of aircraft have seen considerable advances over the past ten years. Aircraft design for these features has matured considerably while the procedure of air-to-air refuelling has made global deployment and 24+ hour operations a reality. This Symposium attempted to summarize the latest technological advances in the various fields which in a combined manner define the range and endurance of airborne vehicles, i.e.: airframe design technologies, including aerodynamic structures; propulsion technology; the human factors problems associated with these types of missions; and air-to-air refuelling technologies and procedures. For individual titles, see N94-36322 through N94-36347. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (77.16MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Reducing Conception Times and Promoting the Use of Distributed Resources in Space System Design

This technical report (NLR-TP-2000-257) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2000 and was written by J. Kos and A.A. ten Dam. Know-how and know-why of an enterprise is embodied in application programs, data, documents, and personal skills. Time and budget constraints, and an increased multidisciplinary approach result in the necessity to accommodate simulation programs and simulation tools. To be competitive, these programs and tools must be made available with minimal overhead. For this, NLR has made a number of working environments (depending on the application) to combine know-how, know-why and tools to support teams in realising project goals on time and on budget. Each working environment hides the distributed NLR computer infrastructure, which contains several servers that are located at two sites with a distance of 100 km, for the users. The present paper highlights the use of the ISMuS (Information System for Multi-body Systems Simulation) working environment for space system design and development. Special attention is paid to ISMuS? features for knowledge transfer using distributed resources through which conception times are reduced. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Requirements for Aircraft On Board Weight and Balance System - Society of Allied Weight Engineers Recommended Practice 1

The purpose of the Society of Allied Weight Engineers (SAWE) Recommended Practice 1, is to provide criteria for aircraft on board weight and balance systems. It was prepared by the SAWE Government/Industry Workshop on Air Vehicle Operations, 13 May 1980, and was issued in March 1982. This is a PDF format document. A MS Word 95 format version is also available from the SAWE Recommended Practices web site.

Review of Damage Tolerance for Composite Sandwich Airframe Structures : Final Report

This provides access to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, DOT/FAA/AR-99/49, by J. Tomblin and others, dated August 1999. The report presents a review of previous damage tolerance investigations. It includes a compilation of damage tolerance certification procedures; a survey of past and current airframe industry sandwich constructions; and recommendations for future research. The full text of the report is available in PDF format from the online catalogue of the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Library.

Russian Aviation Museum

This is a personal interest page concerned with Russian aircraft and engine design. It currently contains information on over 1300 designs. The Catalog Room provides a range of access points including by: designation function; designer bureau; old and odd names; list of engines; by year; and by NATO designation. Each entry typically contains an illustration as well as brief description and specifications. The site also contains a list of recommended further reading and an extensive set of links.

Saab Group

The Saab Group is an international company specialising in aviation, space and defence. The site describes the companies business units, and provides investor information, key financial statistics, details of job opportunities. A searchable database of all products produced by the Saab Group is available. This includes the Gripen fighter, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and the Saab 340 and 2000 family of commercial aircraft. There is also a publications database which provides access to the annual report, brochures and the in-house magazine. Documents are available in PDF format. In addition, there is a history of the Saab company, contact details, information on the press releases, as well as an image and a movie bank.

Scaled Composites LLC

Scaled Composites is an aerospace and specialty composites development company located in Mojave, California. Founded in 1982 by Burt Rutan, Scaled has a broad experience in air vehicle design, tooling, and manufacturing, specialty composite structure design, analysis and fabrication, and developmental flight test. The site provides brief descriptions about the company's products, expertise, and activities, including tilt-rotor and tilt-body UAV designs. The site also includes notices of career opportunities. There is also a link to short description on the areas of expertise namely: Conceptual Design; Aerodynamic Design; Structural Analysis and Design; Tooling; Fabrication; Structural Testing; and Flight Testing.

Scoping Aerospace. Tracking Federal Procurement and R&D Spending in the Aerospace Sector

This technical report (TR-263-OSD) was published by The RAND Corporation in 2005 and was written by Thor Hogan, Donna Fossum, Dana J. Johnson and Lawrence S. Painter. Assesses the scope of external federal spending in the aerospace industry from 1993 to 2003 by tracking all government aerospace procurement and research and development (R&D) expenditures from 1993 to 2003. The report finds evidence of a clear downward trend in federal aerospace procurement and R&D expenditures during the decade. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Sear Craft Wing In Ground Effect (WIG) Technology and Design

This site provides information about WIG vehicles including explaining how they work, history and technology development and design requirements. The site describes work carried out by Seair in the areas of experimental aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, computational prediction and simulations, and also conceptual design studies for commercial and recreational WIG craft.

Secure Meta-Computing in an Extended Enterprise

This technical report (NLR-TP-2002-281) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2002 and was written by B. C. Schultheiss, L. C. J. van Rijn and C. Kamphuis. A shared design environment enables companies in an Extended Enterprise to view available data and applications, and to easily access them. A key factor for such a design environment is security, obeying the business rules of companies. The solution for such a design environment presented in this paper applies a security approach based upon the developments in the EU project ENHANCE, and SPINEware to facilitate the implementation of the meta-computing environment. A workflow from the EU project ASICA is used to illustrate the usage of such an environment. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available as a PDF file.

Short Turn-Around, Parallel CFD to Predict Three-Dimensional High-Lift Flows Around a Transport Aircraft Powered by Ultra-High By-Pass Ratio Turbofan Engines

This technical report (NLR-TP-2000-429) was published by NLR (the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands) in 2000 and was written by J.E.J. Maseland. The use of new highly efficient engines with very- or ultra-high by-pass ratios will be of major importance for the development of new modified transport aircraft since they offer drastic reductions in fuel consumption, noise and emissions. The larger diameter of these engines in combination with requirements concerning ground clearance, landing gear height and weight leads to the necessity of a very close coupling with the wing. This is especially true for twin power-plant configurations. The resulting engine-airframe interference can lead to large maximum lift penalties for configurations with high-lift devices deployed and engines running at maximum take-off power. The investigation of integrated high-lift capabilities is still based on wind tunnel testing and full scale flight testing since the corresponding flow problems are prime examples of complexity both in terms of geometry and flow physics. The demand for support from accurate flow simulations by short-turn-around computer codes is self evident since CFD methods offer the promise of providing comprehensive analysis of maximum lift phenomena witin the constraints of short time scales and reduced costs. Unstructured grid methods in combination with parallel computers are ideally suited to model highly complex geometries, have the potential to model detailed flow characteristics when adaptive grid strategies are incorporated and allow for sufficiently short computing times. The present work demonstrates the feasibility of short-turn-around CFD to analyse the complex flow field around a complete twin-engine transport aircraft configured for take-off.

Signature Technology Laboratory (STL)

This is part of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)and specialises in computer modelling and simulation capabilities in multi-spectral signature control, mainly for the field of aircraft and weapons systems designs. The laboratory carries out research which serves the Department of Defense, but also which is applicable to commercial and medical areas amongst others. The major areas of research are listed on the web site, and within those details of current research and projects. The main research groups are as follows:- electromagnetic materials and structures; electromagnetic apertures and scattering; optical and infrared physics and phenomenology; secure information systems.

Simulating the Distribution of Halon 1301 in an Aircraft Engine Nacelle With HFC-125

This provides access to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) technical note, DOT/FAA/AR-TN99/64, by Douglas Ingerson, dated August 1999. This technical note describes a procedure for utilizing an ozone-friendly simulant during fire suppression system development and certification testing. The full text of the report is available in PDF format from the online catalogue of the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Library.

Simulation AGARD conference proceedings

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-CP-79, dated January 1971. A review is given on the state of the art of simulation. After short discussion definitions of the term "simulator", the analytical treatment of the simulation problem is explained along general guidelines. Use is made in this connection of the modern (linearised) control theory approach. Some typical examples of fixed-based, moving-based and in-flight simulators are given. Additionally, the tasks which can be tackled by simulators are also discussed in one of the chapters. Considerable efforts is spent for ground simulators with respect to the simulation of the environmental factors, so called cues. The motion, visual and psychological cues, methods of their simulation and their influence on the quality of the simulation is also analysed. Evaluating simulation results can only partly be done by quantitative measurements. The pilot opinion rating is considered of high importance and discussed on one of the chapters. Finally, this report deals with differences between simulation on the ground and in the air, as well as with a danger to thoughtlessly use simulation as a data production facility. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents and the full text (29.1MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Simulation in Support of Flight Testing

This report is dated September 2000 and was sponsored by the SCI-005 Task Group of the Flight Test Technology Team which is part of the Systems Concepts and Integration Panel (SCI) of the Research and Technology Organisation (RTO). It was authored by Dennis O. Hines and has the report number RTO-AG-300, AC/323(SCI)TP/27, Volume 19. The report discusses how simulation can be used in flight testing of fixed-wing aircraft. The full text of this report can be viewed either by FTP, or in PDF format.

Small gas turbines for helicopters and surface transport

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-LS-46, dated May 1971. This Lecture Series is sponsored by the Propulsion and Energetics Panel and the Consultant and Exchange Program. In view of the increasing interest in Small Gas Turbines for the propulsion of surface vehicles, it was felt appropriate by AGARD Propulsion and Energetics Panel to set up a team of selected experts from various NATO nations to present a series of lectures on this subject. After a survey of the field of application for Small Gas Turbines, to replace reciprocating engines for helicopters and surface vehicles propulsion, the present state-of-the-art will be reviewed together with problems related to reliability, life time, pollution regulation, weight and volume according to various applications. Conventional and advanced cycles (cycle of Nernst cycle with heat exchange) will be compared. A description of components (compressors, combustion chamber, turbines, nozzles, shafts with various configurations) will be followed by a review of industrial and technological problems. The use of Small Gas Turbines for power generation, auxiliary stand by or emergency power plant is then presented. The last paper will be a Survey of Future Possible Developments and performance improvements (mixed diesel and turbines - use of high temperature materials). A round table discussion with the participation of all the speakers will conclude the Lecture Series which will be presented in four different NATO nations (France, UK, Canada and USA) from 21 June to 2 July 1971. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents and the full text (36.91MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Smart Structures and Materials: Implications for Military Aircraft of New Generation

This is Research and Technology Organization(RTO) AGARD Lecture Series, AGARD-LS-205, dated October 1996. It is sponsored by the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development of AGARD. Smart materials and structures technology is the integration of sensing and actuation elements into a structure or even more ambitiously into a material, with sensor and actuator being linked by a controller. Materials actually favored for integration include optical fibers and piezoelectric materials with respect to sensors, piezoelectric and electrostrictive materials, shape memory alloys or electro-rheological fluids with respect to actuators and microprocessors, neural networks, fuzzy logic and various types of signal processing with respect to control. The first part of the lecture series is mainly focussed on understanding the fundamentals of smart materials and structures technology and achieving the capability to judge the use of that technology with respect to individual applications. Presentations related to sensor and actuator materials, mechanics of smart structures, control and data processing, as well as structural integration of sensors, actuators, and generally electronics are therefore the focus of this part. In a second part, applications of smart structures technology are considered with respect to aircraft. Topics to be covered include monitoring the health/damage of aircraft structures or components, conceptual design of an adaptive wing, and electromagnetic antennae and their structural integration. For individual titles, see N97-11476 through N97-11487. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Smart Structures for Aircraft and Spacecraft

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-CP-531, dated April 1993. An overview of the state-of-the-art of 'Smart Structures' technology as well as detailed descriptions of specific applications is presented. This technology offers extremely attractive advantages in the design, development, and operation of aerospace structures. For individual titles, see N94-11318 through N94-11347. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (117.93MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is a membership organisation of engineers, business executives, educators, and students from more than 97 countries. The SAE aims to facilitate the sharing of information and exchange of ideas in order to advance the engineering of mobility systems. The interest and activities of the SAE cover all forms of self-propelled vehicles including automobiles, trucks and buses, off-highway equipment, aircraft, aerospace vehicles, marine, rail, and transit systems. The site provides access to a range of information including: membership details, forthcoming events, conferences and expositions, committee structure, standards development, continuing education, career resources and online job listing, and discussion forums. SAE publications are described and there is a database of SAE technical papers, which is searchable by keyword and paper number.

Society of Experimental Test Pilots

The mission statement of The Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP), is to be the recognized world leader in promoting safety, communication and education in the design and flight test of aerospace vehicles and their related systems, and, to maintain a viable professional and prestigious international society for all test pilots and aerospace corporations. The SETP site provides access to a range of information resources including: a brief history of the Society, coverage of Section activities, and details of forthcoming events and employment opportunities. The site also provides access to the SETP's quarterly journal, Cockpit Magazine (for members only).

Society of Flight Test Engineers

The Society of Flight Test Engineers (SFTE) is a fraternity of engineers, whose principal professional interest is the flight testing of aircraft and missiles. The objective of the Society is the advancement of flight test engineering throughout the aircraft industry by providing technical and fraternal communication among individuals, both domestic and international, in the allied engineering fields of test operations, analysis, instrumentation and data systems. The SFTE web site provides a range of information resources incliding: a calender of events, links to SFTE Chapters, job announcements, workshops and details of the SFTE Technical Council. The current issue of the Society's newsletter, SFTE Flight Test News, is available for downloading. A database containing citations and abstracts of SFTE symposium papers can be browsed or searched, and papers can be ordered online.

Software Service History Handbook : Final Report

This provides access to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, DOT/FAA/AR-01/116, by Uma D. Ferrell and Thomas K. Ferrell, dated January 2002. This handbook is intended to aid industry and the Federal Aviation Administration in the formulation and evaluation of product service history data for certification credit. It provides a discussion of the major issues associated with product service history and provides an approach for methodically evaluating service history data. The full text of the report is available in PDF format, from the online catalogue of the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Library.

Stability in Aerospace Systems

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-R-789, dated February 1993. This volume contains the 18 unclassified papers presented at the Guidance and Control Panel Workshop. The presented papers cover topics under the following headings: fundamental aspects of stability with examples; basic theoretical aspects and chaos; and applications of aerospace techniques. For individual titles, see N94-11490 through N94-11504. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (53.52MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Standard Atmosphere Computations

Produced by the Aircraft Aerodynamics and Design Group at Stanford University, this database uses JavaScript to compute properties related to the 1976 standard atmosphere up to 230,000 ft. Data can be calculated in imperial or metric units. The computations require Netscape 2.0 or later.

Standard Coordinate Systems for Reporting the Mass Properties of Flight Vehicles - Society of Allied Weight Engineers Recommended Practice 6

The intent of Society of Allied Weight Engineers (SAWE) Recommended practice 6A, is to reduce errors and costs associated with improperly defined coordinate axis systems. The standard is intended to assist mass properties engineeers in their discussions with flight dynamics engineers and others at an early stage of flight vehicle design. The document was prepared by the SAWE Government-Industy Workshop. It was issued in 1995, and revised in September 1999. This is a PDF document.

Statistical Testing of Aircraft Materials for Transport Airplane Rotor Burst Fragment Shielding

This technical report (DOT/FAA/AR-06/9) was published by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Aviation Research in June 2006 and was written by Sean Kelley and George Johnson. Fragment barrier systems are being examined and developed for commercial airplanes to prevent accidents as a result of an engine rotor burst failure. To use this system, it is necessary to understand how the existing aircraft materials behave under ballistic impact. The material response of 0.063, 0.125, and 0.25-in-thick 2024 aluminum, 0.25-in-thick Makrolon® polycarbonate, and sandwich composite panels were investigated under ballistic impact. Failure modes were evaluated and ballistic limits obtained for each set of targets. The testing was done in the UC Berkeley Ballistics Laboratory using a gas gun, and a powder gun setup with a 1/2-inch diameter chrome steel spherical projectile. This report documents the testing and analysis of the UC Berkeley ballistic testing. The testing yielded excellent results on aluminum but more data is needed for titanium, composites, and polycarbonate materials. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Steady and Transient Performance Prediction of Gas Turbine Engines

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-LS-183, dated May 1992. Aero-thermodynamic performance prediction methods for gas turbine engines with respect to steady and transient operation are discussed. This includes advanced cycle calculation methods, also taking into account variable cycle engine types. A very important objective is the consideration of installation effects, i.e., Reynolds number and inlet distortions, as well as advanced control concepts for increasing engine surge margins. In addition to these topics, individual papers include practical considerations in designing the engine cycle, dynamic simulation, inlet distortion effects in aircraft propulsion system integration, 'smart' engines, and performance and health monitoring models. For individual titles, see N92-28459 through N92-28467. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (8.30MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Strain gauge measurements on aircraft, volume 7

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-AG-160-VOL-7, dated April 1976. Various subjects related to the application of strain gauges to aircraft structures were presented. These include: (1) introductory discussion, (2) physical properties of strain gauges, (3) measurement of resistance changes in strain guages, (4) error estimation for strain gauges with metallic measuring grids, (5) types of strain guages, (6) applications of strain gauges for static and dynamic short and long term measurements under normal conditions, (7) strain gauges for special applications, (8) use of strain gauges under extreme environmental conditions, (9) instrumentation of two VAK 191 B aircraft with flight load measuring systems. For individual titles, see N76-25581 through N76-25589. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (7.41MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Structural design applications of mathematical programming techniques

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-AG-149, dated February 1971. The Structures and Materials Panel of the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) comprises scientists , engineers and technical administrators from government, universities and industry, who are concerned with the advancement of aerospace research and development and with the provision of data necessary for the design and fabrication of the vehicles and equipment which NATO requires. The panel provides a mechanism for discussion, the exchange of information and for conducting co-operative theoretical and experimental studies in selected areas. This volume describes the present state of development of the use of mathematical programming techniques in the optimum design of aerospace and similar structures. Although optimization with respect to cost is considered when possible, the main emphasis is on the minimization of weight, due to the overwhelming importance of this parameter in aerospace applications, and also due to the fact that it is one of the few merit functions that can be defined with reasonable precision. The use of mathematical modelling techniques in the selection of materials is also discussed to the limited extent meaningful at the present time. This report is divided into four main sections. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents and the full text (16.19MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Structural Stability of a Joined-Wing Sensorcraft

This is the full text of a thesis by Brandon\J.Adams USN, which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio in June 2007. This thesis employed a multi-disciplinary design approach to determine the structural stability of the Boeing Joined-Wing SensorCraft. Specifically, this thesis sought to characterize the free vibration modes, ensure a buckling safe design and determine the influence of the geometric and aeroelastic nonlinearities associated with this joined-wing design. The clamped free vibration modes were developed for a wind tunnel model and were compared to the free-free vibration modes, several differences were found. Linear static analyses were performed on numerous maneuver loads and gust conditions to determine the critical loading condition. The SensorCraft was then redesigned for the critical load case to be both panel and global buckling safe. The multi-disciplinary design process which incorporated both geometric nonlinearities and aeroelastic follower-force effects was then performed for the pre-gust trim and critical gust conditions. The resulting analysis showed that the deformations that resulted from the aerodynamic forces were not substantial enough to fully characterize the follower force effect. Furthermore this thesis demonstrates that the geometric and aeroelastic nonlinearities are not significant. However, for a fully optimized design incorporation of these coupled nonlinearities is critical. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format and is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)'s Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET).

Structurally Integrated Antennas on a Joined-Wing Aircraft

This is the full text of a thesis by Ben P. Smallwood which was presented to the Air Force Insitute of Technology (AFIT) in 2003. This research is a foundational study of conformal, load-bearing antenna arrays embedded into the wing structure of a joined-wing aircraft. It is a multidisciplinary effort that touches on the aerodynamic, structural, and electromagnetic design considerations that stem from this unique type of sensor integration. The antenna performance, Finite Element Model (FEM), and control surface effectiveness are investigated. The theory describing an ensemble of dipole antenna elements that conform to the shape of a section of the joined wing is developed. The far field, free space radiation pattern of the sensor is then analyzed for a wing that is deflected due to typical aerodynamic loading. This pattern is compared to the same antenna when the wing is not deformed. A FEM of the antenna elements is created and incorporated into the full FEM of the joined-wing aircraft allowing its structural impact to be realized. Based on the positioning of these large sensor arrays, control surfaces are placed and examined to achieve the proper handling capabilities necessary for this type of aircraft. The results of this study show that wing deflections due to typical aerodynamic loads produce significant disturbances to the radiation pattern of a conformal antenna when end-fire phasing is applied. Active compensation for wing deformation will have to be applied to correct the beam steering. The basic array theory provides a useful tool for analyzing the radiation pattern of an array that conforms to the surface of an undeformed wing. On wings deformed due to typical aerodynamic loads, the main beam elevation pointing angle varies considerably between the basic array theory and NEC-Win Plus+TM solutions. Also, the reversal speed of an outboard aileron is determined. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available in PDF format and is provided by thre Air University ResearchWeb site.

Study of Skirtless Hovercraft Design

This is the full text of a thesis by Edward A. Kelleher which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology in 2004. Three proposed skirtless hovercraft designs were analyzed via computational fluid dynamics to ascertain their lift generation capabilities. The three designs were adaptations from William Walter�s hybricraft primer and his patent for a fan driven lift generation device. Each design featured Coanda nozzles, or nozzles that utilize the Coanda effect, to redirect air flow to aid in the generation of an air curtain around a central air flow. The designs also utilized a Coanda wing as a lifting body to aid in lift generation. Each design was set at a height above ground of one foot and a radius of two feet. The craft was assumed to be axisymmetric around a central axis for a perfectly circular craft, much like a flying saucer. The craft can be divided into several parts, the core, the nozzles, the plenum chamber (for designs 2 and 3), and the wing. Flow is generated from rotor blades situated one foot above the top of the core of the craft. The nozzles are located at the edges of the craft below the wing. In designs two and three the plenum chamber is the region between the core and the wing. For each design three cases were performed where t was increased for each case. This resulted in a total of nine cases, three cases for three designs. For each case the ratio of nozzle thickness to the radius of the curved plate, t/R, was set to 0.344 and t was increased while R was calculated to maintain the ratio. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis captured the pressure data and the lift forces were calculated using a pressure differential analysis. Analysis proved that the hybricraft designs could produce positive lift. While the first design did not produce positive lift, the second and third designs managed to generate enough lift to support a craft of a maximum of 52810.24 kg. The max amount of lift produced was 5388.8 N, while the minimum positive lift generated was 3642.9 N. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University ResearchWeb site.

Subsystem Design in Aircraft Power Distribution Systems using Optimization

This web site provides access to a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD dissertation, by Sriram Chandrasekaran, dated 23 May 2000. The dissertation is concerned with aspects of design optimisation of subsystems within an aicraft power distribution system. It covers the formulation of an optimisation problem; and includes a detailed study of pizoelectric actuators. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [1.27 Mb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD).

Supersonic Aircraft Optimization for Minimizing Drag and Sonic Boom

This is a dissertation for the degree of doctor of philoshophy written by Martin K. Chan submitted to the department of Aeronautics and Astrophysics of Stanford University in 2003. This thesis describe a design tool incorporating classical sonic boom theory, computational fluid dynamics and a multi-objective genetic algorithm. This tool was developed for low-boom supersonic aircraft optimization. Both sonic boom and drag were optimized simultaneously and a Pareto optimal set of designs ranging from minimum boom to minimum drag was obtained for each optimization. Since sonic boom was optimized directly, the method had broader applicability than the traditional inverse method. A high-order three-dimensional panel method was used for sonic boom prediction. The traditional linear source model was fast but did not account for wing-body aerodynamic interaction. Euler solutions were expensive for computing sonic booms because a large number of grid points were needed to accurately predict the pressure signature away from the aircraft. For the Mach number and configurations of interest, the panel code showed good agreement with Euler but at a fraction of the cost. A loudness metric was shown to have advantages over initial overpressure and peak overpressure for measuring shaped sonic booms. However, optimization results obtained using calculated loudness raised concerns about the robustness of the solution to atmospheric disturbance. Peak overpressure minimization also produced reasonable sonic boom signatures and appeared more robust to atmospheric uncertainties, but the resulting loudness was not as good. Better convergence was also observed with peak overpressure. Two supersonic business jets were optimized. One was a conventional configuration; the other was a natural laminar flow configuration. Optimization results obtained using loudness and peak overpressure were compared. A non-axisymmetric fuselage was optimized and found to reduce the inviscid drag by 9 to 30 percent at the same sonic boom loudness. This PhD thesis is available free in PDF format (17Mb).

Sustainable Aviation

A comprehensive programme for long-term reductions in aviation�s impact on the environment has been launched by Britain�s leading airlines, airports, aerospace manufacturers and air navigation service providers. This pioneering initiative, unique in global aviation, commits UK companies to a joint strategy aimed at delivering radical cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, nitrogen oxide emissions and aircraft noise over the next 15 years. The �Sustainable Aviation� strategy sets up mechanisms for monitoring and regular reporting of progress towards a range of specific objectives which include: improving fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions by 50 per cent per seat kilometre by 2020 compared with 2000 levels; improving air quality by reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by 80 per cent over the same period; lowering the perceived external noise of new aircraft by 50 per cent by 2020 compared with their 2000 equivalents; establishing a common system for the reporting of total CO2 emissions and fleet fuel efficiency by the end of 2005, and pressing for aviation�s inclusion in the EU emissions trading scheme at the earliest possible date; new airport plans for community-related noise limitations, including landing and take-off restrictions where necessary. A summary of the Sustainable Aviation initiative strategy document is available in PDF format.

Swedish Defence Research Agency

The Agency (Totalf?arets forskningsinstitut - FOI) was formed on 1 January 2001 through an amalgamation of the Swedish Defence Research Establishment (FOA) and the Aeronautical Research Institute (FFA). The site provides an overview of the organisational structure, including the Division of Aeronautics, FFA, which is made up of the core of the former Aeronautical Research Institute. There is a searchable and browsable database of FOI reports. For browsing purposes the reports are sorted by department. The text of the reports are avialable in PDF format.

Symposium on Unsteady Aerodynamics for Aeroelastic Analyses of Interfering Surfaces, part 1

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-CP-80-PT-1, dated April 1971. A Symposium on Unsteady Aerodynamics for Aeroelastic Analyses of Interfering Surfaces was organized by the Structures and Materials Panel of AGARD. The papers given on this occasion have been collected in the two volumes. One of the major concerns of the Structures and Materials Panel is the development of analytical and practical methods for predicting, preventing and controlling aeroelastic problems affecting both aircraft and aerospace-craft. Whether flutter, gust response, or alleviation and mode stabilization system designs are concerned, the development of safe and efficient methods depends on the ability to predict unsteady aerodynamic forces accurately. As early as 1964, a Working Group created within The Structures and Materials Panel for the purpose of studying these forces, defined a small number of wing planforms to be used as standard models for comparing aerodynamic force prediction methods on the basis of data on vibration modes, excitation frequencies and Mach numbers. In view of the tremendous utility of such a scheme, the Panel decided in 1968 to extend this programme to include the interaction of more complex aerofoils such as T-tails or wing horizontal tail combinations. Several planforms, as well as some parameters, have been recently selected to be used as standards for comparisons. Consequently, the objectives and themes of the Symposium have been set as follows: (a) Present and discuss the latest contributions to methods for predicting unsteady aerodynamic forces in the interactions of lifting surfaces. (b) Determine the merits and limitations of various methods (c) Present applications and numerical values which can be employed to evaluate the new methods proposed. (d) Formulate suggestions about future developments and requirements. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents and the full text (23.23MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

T-Wing Tail-Sitter UAV

The web site provides information relating to current UAV activity named as T-Wing in the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Sydney. The T-Wing is a tail-sitter technology demonstrator UAV that is being jointly developed by the University of Sydney and an Australian company, Sonacom Pty Ltd. This site provides images, video clips and a number of full text papers (in pdf format), relating to T-Wing.

Technical evaluation report on AGARD Specialists' Meeting on Aerodynamic Interference

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-AR-34, dated May 1971. The AGARD Fluid Dynamics Panel organised a three-day Specialists' Meeting on "Aerodynamic Interference" that was held at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory. This meeting was intended to provide a forum for the discussion of theories and experiments to explain the existing comprehension of aerodynamic interference; and to provide some guidelines and design rules to improve the flight characteristics of military and commercial aircraft and weapons. The speed regimes were restricted to subsonic, transonic and supersonic mach numbers. The objectives of this report is to assess current state-of-the art of the analytical and test techniques concerned with junction flows (in terms of that which was preached and that which should have been recited, perhaps), to outline their advantages and disadvantages and to Indicate any relevant omissions. In particular, it should strive to show the practical applications of the work presented with the view of immediate help to the aircraft designer. It was considered that the report should be candid and forthright to stimulate discussion, accepting, of course, that an element of the author's personal bias would be involved. The report is split essentially into three parts: following a synopsis, an attempt is made to give a constructive review of the papers presented, subsequent to which some clear-cut conclusions are drawn. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents and the full text (6.13MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Technical University of Berlin : Aircraft Design and Aerostructures Group

The Group is part of the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Technical University of Berlin. The site describes the work of the constituent groups; Aircraft Design and Aerostructures, and provides links to their respective web sites. A list of staff and a short description of their role within the Group is provided. There are descriptions of current and past research projects. Current research activities include: Noise reduced aircraft designs by fuselage embedded engines; HeiDAS - Hot Steam Balloon Alternative Buoyancy Concepts; Crasworthiness; Aeroelastic and structural optimization of full flexible wing structures; and Lower Deck Seating Concepts. Past projects include; CAPDA - Computer Aided Preliminary Design of Aircraft (Commercial Transport Aircraft Design, Multidisciplinary Design Optimisation, Numerical Methods in Aircraft Conceptual Design), VisualCAPDA (Graphical User Interface Development ), and HYLTEC, HYbrid Laminar Flow TEChnology. The CAPDA sections feature selections of downloadable reports illustrating program development (pdf format, mostly German language).

The characterization and application of materials

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-LS-51, dated May 1971. This is a lecture series edited by the Structures and Materials Panel and the Consultant and Exchange Programme of AGARD. The Lecture Series will begin with a discussion of the systems approach to the selection and application of materials, to be given by Dr Robert Maddin. The second in the series will be given by Dr Walter S.Owen and will be primarily concerned with the characterization, selection and use of high strength steels. The third lecture will be given by Dr Joseph Pask and will be concerned with the characterization, selection and uses of ceramic materials. The fourth in the series will be given by Professor Wippler and will cover the characterization, selection and use of polymeric materials. Dr Kelly will present the fifth lecture which will deal with characterization, selection and use of composite materials. The last lecture will cover two fields of special interest to aerospace: aluminium alloys and titanium, their characterization and selection aspects. This lecture will be divided into two parts and will be presented by Mr Syre for the titanium, and by Mr Tigeot for the aluminium alloys part of the paper. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents and the full text (25.52 MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

The Composite Materials Handbook

The site is maintained by the MIL-17 organisation in order to disseminate and share information on composite materials. The site is primarily concerned with supporting the use of MIL-HDBK-17. This handbook is jointly produced by the Department of Defence and the Federal Aviation Administration. It documents engineering methodologies for the development of standardised, statistically-based material property data for polymer matrix composites. It also provides selected guidance on materials selection, materials specification, material processing, design, analysis, quality control, and repair of typical polymer matrix composite materials. The site describes the content of the volumes, a user's forum, links to related documents, and instructions on how to obtain copies of the handbook. Please note that the text of MIL-HDBK-17/1-5 are available online from the Assist-Quick Search web site.

The Design, Qualification and Maintenance of Vibration-Free Landing Gear

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD Report, AGARD-R-800, dated March 1996. It was sponsored by the Structures and Materials Panel of AGARD. The focus is on the various vibrational and stability problems (e.g. shimmy, antiskid ind uced vibrations) that must be considered in the early design phase of landing gear systems, especially problems which are related to vibrations of the combined structural system formed by the landing gear, its tires and the flexible aircraft structure. The intention was to indicate the impact of (combined) landing gear/aircraft vibration problems on aircraft design and to discuss the state-of-the- art technology in this area and to define possible future steps of development. For individual titles, see N96-25148 through N96-25156. Bibliographic details and an abstract are available in HTML format and the full text is available in PDF format (43.3 Mb)from the RTO's web site.

The Empirical Economics of Standards

This is UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Economics Paper No. 12, published in June 2005. The document presents the results of an investigation of the role and impact of standardisation on economic performance, especially on growth, productivity and innovation. The overall programme consisted of three projects: Benchmark estimates of the impact of public standards upon technological change using UK data; Standards and the international transmission of technology; and Do Standards Enable or Constrain Innovation? The text of the paper is available in PDF format (970 KB).

The Flight of Flexible Aircraft in Turbulence: State-of-the-Art in the Description and Modelling of Atmospheric Turbulence

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-R-734, dated December 1987. The flight of flexible aircraft in turbulence was studied. Presentations given at the first of two workshops on the subject are provided. Topics covered here are: (1) Measurements of turbulence by specially equipped aircraft, and (2) Data collection and reduction of incremental accelerations observed in commercial flights. For individual titles, see N88-29726 through N88-29734. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (36.03MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage

This web site was created in order to help answer the question of what airfoil or airfoils were used in the wing design of a particular aircraft. The entries are listed under three sections: Conventional aircraft; Canard and three surface aircraft, and, Helicopters, tilt rotors and autogyros. This list is titled as "Incomplete", as there are many aircraft that are still not included.

The Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Distributed Propulsion Blended-Wing-Body Aircraft

This web site provides access to a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering PhD dissertation, by Yan-Yee Andy Ko, dated April 14 2003. The thesis examines the multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) of a distributed propulsion blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft. The BWB is a hybrid shape resembling a flying wing, placing the payload in the inboard sections of the wing. The distributed propulsion concept involves replacing a small number of large engines with many smaller engines. An MDO framework was developed, integrating all the distributed propulsion effects modeled. Using a gradient based optimization algorithm, the distributed propulsion BWB aircraft was optimized and compared with a similarly optimized conventional BWB design. Both designs are for an 800 passenger, 0.85 cruise Mach number and 7000 nmi mission. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [22.45 Mb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD).

The Role of Constraints and Vehicle Concepts in Transport Design : A Comparison of Cantilever and Strut-Braced Wing Airplane Concepts

This web site provides access to a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering MSc thesis, by Yan-Yee Andy Ko, dated 26 April 2000. The thesis examines the multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) of a strut-braced wing (SBW) aircraft compared to similarly designed cantilever wing aircraft. Four different configurations are considered, and the effects of design constraints investigated. It was found that in all four cases the aircraft range proved the most crucial constraint. The SBW designs were found to be less sensitive to constraints. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [11.91 Mb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD).

The Silent Aircraft Initiative

The Cambridge-MIT Institute's 'Silent' Aircraft Initiative (SIA) was launched in November 2003 with the objective of discovering ways to reduce aircraft noise dramatically, to the point where it would be virtually unnoticeable to people outside the airport perimeter. The site provides further information about aircraft noise including an explanation as to why they are noisy, how humans perceive sound, details of the concept design of an ultra low noise, fuel efficient aircraft (SAX 40), more information about low noise approaches, and future challenges. There is a listing of publications by members of the team and the full text of press releases.

The Status of Lean Thinking in UK Lean Aerospace Initiative (UK-LAI) Supply Chains : a Survey

This study was carried out as part of the UK Lean Aerospace Initative (UK-LAI) programme by Alan Harrison, Jane Pavitt and Jennifer Alexander of Cranfield University's School of Management, in January 2002. It presents some of the results of a survey, undertaken in the summer of 2001, to ascertain the types of supply chain practices and behaviours in the UK aerospace industry, while at the same time identifying the link between supply chain strategy and corporate strategy of individual organisations. It also aims to identify where the UK aerospace industry sits in terms of development of lean supply chains. The text is available in PDF format.

The WIG Page

The site provides an introduction to Wing In-Ground effect (WIG) technology, including: history and development, aerodynamics, design concepts, take-off assistance, and applications. A list is provided of WIG craft and projects, and the descriptions include images and brief technical data. There is also a list of companies and other organisations involved in WIG activities. A searchable database of WIG craft and projects is also available. The site contains a listing of related books, conferences, television programmes and features an extensive searchable database of article and paper references. There is an annual membership charge to access the members area which contains additional features and information. The site is edited by Edwin van Opstal, and is sponsored by SE-Technology.

Toward Mach 2 : The Douglas D-558 program

This web site provides access to a NASA Dryden Flight Research Centre history series publication, edited by J. D. Hunley. The publication is based on the proceedings of a symposium on the D-558 programme, held at Dryden, February 4, 1998. The publication includes an appendix containing brief technical specifications of the D-558 aircraft, as well as links to a number of other related documents. The full text is available online in HTML format.

Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) Database

The Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) Database is the world's largest and most comprehensive bibliographic resource on transportation information. TRIS is produced and maintained by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) at the National Academies of Sciences. TRIS contains over 640,000 records of published and ongoing research on all modes and disciplines in the field of transportation. Each year over 25,000 new records are added to TRIS. Other features to note about the resource include the following: selected links to full text or sources of full text; links to the IRRD database for further coverage of international transportation; and searching by author, title, and subject.

Turbomachinery Design Using CFD

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD-LS-195, dated May 1994. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has become a major design tool for designers of turbomachinery. The progress in this area is fast, and the use of 3-D methods is becoming increasingly applicable to the design process. This Lecture Series will include: (1) Computational methods for preliminary design and geometry definitions; (2) Methods for computing through-flows, blade-to-blade flows and geometry generation; (3) Optimization strategies; (4) Designing in three dimensions; (5) Code validation, mesh influence on solution accuracy; (6) Turbulence and transition modelling; (7) Comparison of time averaged flow solvers and 3-D unsteady CFD codes; (8) Industrial use of CFD and the points of view of the designers. For individual titles, see N95-14128 through N95-14136. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text (66.39MB) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Two-Level Optimization of Composite Wing Structures Based on Panel Genetic Optimization

This web site provides access to a University of Florida, PhD dissertation, by Boyang Liu, dated 2001. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The title page, contents and the full text of the document are accessible online in PDF format. This title is part of the University of Florida's Electronic Theses and Dissertations Project.

U.S. Department of Commerce : Office of Aerospace and Automotive Industries : Aerospace Team

The Aerospace Team is part of the International Trade Administration, a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It's role is to monitor the implementation of trade agreements that are specific to the aerospace industry; identify constraints on the trade performance of the U.S. aerospace industry and recommend ways to neutralise such constraints; monitor and describe the economic and technological health of the aerospace industry in the U.S. as well as worldwide; and provide advice, counsel and support for the international marketing efforts of aerospace firms. The site contains brings together information relating to and provides links to the following: aerospace trade associations, U.S. aerospace industry statistics, aerospace industry publications, and U.S. aerospace company websites. The site also includes news stories, and links to several studies on different aspects of the US aerospace industry. The site also provides access to Aerospace and Defense e-Market Express, an alerting service for market research, trade leads and event information that the U.S. Department of Commerce receives from U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world. Through the Aerospace and Defense e-Market Express, U.S. firms can electronically submit requests for aerospace and defense market research. There is no fee to receive these reports. The only requirement is that requesters must be providers of products or services that involve at least 51% US originated content.

UIUC Applied Aerodynamics Group

This is the web site of the Department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It contains a range of information resources including information on low-speed airfoil tests for model aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and small wind turbines. There is a listing of current research activities and personnel in the Group. A link is provided to the UIUC Airfoil Data Site, which contains airfoil coordinates (for over 1550 airfoils) and performance data. The performance data is mostly for low Reynolds number applications. A link is also provided to The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage (563 kB), which is compiled and maintained by Dave Lednicer. The guide includes a listing of what airfoils have been used on over 4000 aircraftA link to the Aircraft Dynamics Model page provides access to 20 aircraft models for use with the open source FlightGear flight simulator.

UK Aerospace Industry : Government Response to the Committee's Fifteenth Report of Session 2004-05

This is a UK House of Commons Trade and Industry Committe, seventh special report of session 2005-06, published 19th July 2005. It follows the publication of the Committee's Fifteenth Report of session 2004-05 on 5 April 2005 and the receipt of the Government's response on 11 July 2005, which is included as an appendix to this special report. The report notes that the Government accepts the Trade and Industry committee report as a fair and balanced assessment of the competitiveness issues facing the UK Aerospace Industry. It also makes some specific points and recommendations under the following headings: technology transfer, study of emerging competitors, repayable launch investments to equipment makers, study of European subsidies, research and development funding, National Aerospace Technology Strategy, and the Aerospace Innovation and Growth Team (AeIGT). The text of the report is available in PDF and HTML formats.

UK Aerospace Industry Survey 2005

This document primarily contains 2004 data derived from the UK aerospace industry survey undertaken by the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) in 2005. Data has been collected not only from SBAC member companies but also other aerospace companies (eg consortia, joint ventures, nonmembers and airline maintenance companies) both in the UK and the rest of the world. The survey shows growth in the UK industry with orders increasing by 28 per cent to ?22.6 billion and industry productivity rising by 7.8 per cent. The full text of the document is available in PDF format from the SBAC's web site.

Unconventional Configurations for Efficient Supersonic Flight

This report is part of VKI lecture series on Innovative Configurations and Advanced Concepts for Future Civil Aircraft, created in June 6-10, 2005 by I. Kroo Stanford University, U.S.A. The report deals with Alternative configurations for more efficient supersonic aircraft which are suggested by consideration of the sources of drag at high speeds. Results of studies described in this paper indicate that supersonic aircraft with much higher efficiencies than previously achieved are possible with reduced Mach number. The paper focuses on two promising candidate solutions: oblique wings and configurations with supersonic laminar flow. In this paper they review some of the fundamental issues for potential efficient supersonic aircraft and describe recent work by researchers at NASA, Stanford University, and industry on unconventional configurations that may provide significant improvements in high speed efficiency.

University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies : Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Laboratory

This home page describes the work of the Laboratory, whose vision is a multidisciplinary design optimization environment for aircraft design using computational tools. The site gives details of current research projects, links to the full text of selected publications and presentations by staff of the Laboratory and provides a guide to the complex-step derivative approximation.

Using the GPS to Collect Trajectory Data for Ejection Seat Design, Validation, and Testing

This is the full text of a thesis by Brian R. Tredway which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 2002. The dynamic characteristics of an aircraft ejection seat are a crucial concern when evaluating aircraft ejection systems and their ability to separate aircrew members safely from disabled aircraft. Every ejection seat model undergoes real-time dynamic tests to determine potential injury to aircrew members during ejection. Ejection seat tests are conducted at high-speed test tracks. The test track facilities provide the required telemetry and high-speed photography to monitor and validate the aircraft escape system performance. Ejection seat test and evaluation requires very accurate position and velocity determination during each test run to determine the relative positions between the aircraft, ejection seat, manikin, and the ground. Current test and evaluation systems rely on expensive video camera systems to determine the position and velocity profiles. This research presents the design and test results from a new GPS-based system capable of monitoring all major ejection-test components. Small, low-power, lightweight GPS receivers, capable of handling high accelerations, are mounted on the manikin and/or ejection seat to obtain the position and velocity during the ejection sequence. The research goal is to augment the camera system with a differential GPS-based measurement system capable of providing accuracy that meets or exceeds the current video systems accuracy. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University ResearchWeb site.

Valuation of Design Adaptability in Aerospace Systems

This the full text of a Georgia Institute of Technology, Department of Aerospace Engineering PhD thesis by Fernandez, Martin, Ismael, dated April 2008. As more information is brought into early stages of the design, more pressure is put on engineers to produce a reliable, high quality, and financially sustainable product. Unfortunately, requirements established at the beginning of a new project, and the environment that surrounds it, continue to change in some unpredictable ways. The risk of designing a system that may become obsolete during early stages of production is currently tackled by the use of robust design simulations, a method that allows to simultaneously explore a plethora of design alternatives and requirements with the intention of accounting for uncertain factors in the future. Whereas this design technique has proven to be quite an improvement in design methods, under certain conditions, it fails to consider the intrinsic value embedded in the system when certain design features are activated. This thesis introduces the concepts of adaptability and real options to manage risk foreseen in the face of uncertainty at early design stages. The method described herein allows decision-makers to foresee the financial impact of their decisions at the design level, as well as the exposure to risk. This thesis contains two relevant examples regarding the decision of introducing new technologies. First, the case study of Southwest Airlines, and the decision it took to retrofit blended winglets technology in its already delivered Boeing 737-700, is introduced to validate the proposed technique. In the second example, the manufacturer evaluates whether technologies should be included in a new aircraft engine design, left out, or offered as an option to retrofit in the future. This case demonstrates the benefits of each of these actions and the monetary value of offering retrofitting options as upgrades to the airlines when the value of the technology fluctuates considerably. The results obtained in both exercises show the benefits of real options analysis during the design process of aerospace systems. These include: a better management of design features over time, a better picture of uncertainty around future technology economics, a good understanding of adaptability value over time, and a consistent risk reduction with respect to alternatives in which flexibility was not embedded.[taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available in PDF format via the Georgia Institute of technology

Vibration Analysis of Cracked Composite Bending-torsion Beams for Damage Diagnosis

This is a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Mechanical Engineering PhD dissertation, by Kaihong Wang, dated , November 29, 2004. It describes the development of an analytical model of cracked composite beams vibrating in coupled bending-torsion. Based on the crack model, the aeroelastic characteristics of an unswept composite wing with an edge crack are investigated. The cracked composite wing is modelled by a cracked composite cantilever and the inertia coupling terms are included in the model. An approximate solution on critical flutter and divergence speeds is obtained by Galerkin�s method in which the fundamental mode shapes of the cracked wing model in free vibration are used. model-based crack detection (size and location) by changes in natural frequencies is addressed. The Cawley-Adams criterion is implemented and a new strategy in grouping frequencies is proposed to reduce the probability of measurement errors. Finally, sensitivity of natural frequencies to model parameter uncertainties is investigated. Uncertainties are modeled by information-gap theory and represented with a collection of nested sets. Five model parameters that may have larger uncertainties are selected in the analysis, and the frequency sensitivities to uncertainties in the five model parameters are compared in terms of two immunity functions. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [1.88 Mb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD)

Virginia Polytechnic Institute : Multidisciplinary Analysis and Design Center for Advanced Vehicles

The Centre was established to perform research that is relevant to the needs of the US industry and to foster collaboration between the university, government and industry. In October 1994, it was chosen by NASA headquarters as one of the five university centers to establish a fellowship program to develop a graduate program in multidisciplinary analysis and design. The site provides access to a range of information including: details of faculty, industry and student members; a description of the NASA MAD Fellowship Programme; and Center courses. There is a section devoted to research reports and papers written by Center personnel. Some of these are available in full text. A selection of the topics covered by the papers include: computational fluid dynamics in multidisciplinary design optimization and angle of attack of flexible wings using nonlinear aerodynamics.

Westland Helicopters Limited

Westland Helicopters is an AugustaWestland Company, and is the second largest helicopter company in the world. The product range includes EH101 (civil, naval, search and rescue, and utility), Super Lynx and Battlefield Lynx, and WAH-64 Apache. The site has technical specifications, customer support details and pictures, plus details of upgrades and modifications. There is also information about the latest press releases and careers with GKN Westland. There is also a news archive, picture gallery, history of the company and a paper on the principles of Rotary Flight available.

Wright Air Development Center Digital Collection

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has been a major centre of aeronautical and aeorspace design and development for many years. The purpose of this site is to document various aspects of the Wright Air Development Center (WADC) period in this long history. The site, which is hosted by the Galvin Library at Illinois Institue of Technology, provides access to a range of information resources. The history section includes a timeline of important events; image gallery, an overview of WADC's association with Illinois Institute of Technology; and features on the Center's involvement in both the "space race" and the Roswell incident. The reference shelf contains a linked bibliography of historical sources relating to the Wright Air Development Center. Some of these publications, such as, Birthplace, Home and Future of Aerospace... The Evolution of Aeronautical Development at the Aeronautical Systems Center, are available in full text (pdf format). The Digital Collection provides access to WADC technical report information. The collection can be browsed by report number, date, author or corporate author. Many of the reports are available in full text. A full bibliography of reports is also available in pdf, MS Excel, or interactive (requires Internet Explorer v. 4.01 and Microsoft Office Web Components) formats.

X-15 Research Results With a Selected Bibliography

This web site provides access to a NASA Dryden Flight Research Center history series publication, NASA SP-60, by Wendell H. Stillwell, 1964. This covers the history of the X-15 between 1959 and 1964, and was written halfway through the programme. It includes a chronology and bibliography. The full text is available online in HTML format.

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