Conceptual design of a fifth generation unmanned strike fighter

Unmanned aircraft have significantly transformed aerial warfare through a combination of new technologies, extended operational capabilities, and reduced risks and costs. Similarly, computational modelling techniques have accelerated the rate of development for aircraft by being able to explore a large number of design options from the earliest design stages, further reducing time, risks, and costs. The near future will see the proliferation of unmanned combat aerial vehicles under a variety of roles such as unmanned tankers, strike aircraft, and even air - to - air fighters. In this paper the GENUS aircraft design framework is used to develop an unmanned weapons carrying platform able to partially match the performance of 5th generation fighters such as the Joint Strike Fighter F-35A. The vision of future joint operations is for a single lead manned fighter to command and designate targets to its various loyal wingmen unmanned aircraft, extending the combat capabilities and significantly multiplying force and air superiority

Blended wing body with boundary layer ingestion conceptual design in a multidisciplinary design analysis optimization environment

This paper introduces the GENUS multidisciplinary concept level aircraft design and analysis environment developed by Cranfield University in recent years and it has been applied to the conceptual design of blended wing body (BWB) aircraft. Analytical disciplines include a variety of low-to-medium fidelity, physics-based and empirical methods, and aerodynamic analysis of high-order panel method. Boundary layer ingestion (BLI), as a special module, has been incorporated into the aerodynamic and propulsion analysis. The results of the Cranfield BW-11 are presented. In the highly-constrained design space, a type of highly fuel- efficient BWB concept can be studied, and the advantages of the BLI concept can also be explored based on this framework

Experimental and Computational Icing Simulation for Large Swept Wings

The overall goal of this research was to improve the experimental and computational simulation capability for icing on large swept wings typical of commercial transports. This research included both ice-accretion and aerodynamic studies using the NASA Common Research Model (CRM) as the reference geometry. For this work, a 65-percent-scale version\u2014CRM65\u2014was used as the full-scale baseline airplane geometry. Ice-accretion testing was conducted in the Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) at the NASA Glenn Research Center using three hybrid swept-wing models representing three different stations along the span of the CRM65 wing. The three-dimensional (3D) ice-accretion geometries obtained from these test campaigns were used to evaluate the results of NASA and ONERA 3D icing simulation tools (LEWICE3D and IGLOO3D)

Innovation Approaches to Development and Ground Testing of Advanced Bimodal Space Power and Propulsion Systems

The last major development effort for nuclear power and propulsion systems ended in 1993. Currently, there is not an initiative at either the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) or the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that requires the development of new nuclear power and propulsion systems. Studies continue to show nuclear technology as a strong technical candidate to lead the way toward human exploration of adjacent planets or provide power for deep space missions, particularly a 15,000 lbf bimodal nuclear system with 115 kW power capability. The development of nuclear technology for space applications would require technology development in some areas and a major flight qualification program. The last major ground test facility considered for nuclear propulsion qualification was the U.S. Air Force/DOE Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Project. Seven years have passed since that effort, and the questions remain the same, how to qualify nuclear power and propulsion systems for future space flight. It can be reasonably assumed that much of the nuclear testing required to qualify a nuclear system for space application will be performed at DOE facilities as demonstrated by the Nuclear Rocket Engine Reactor Experiment (NERVA) and Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (SNTP) programs. The nuclear infrastructure to support testing in this country is aging and getting smaller, though facilities still exist to support many of the technology development needs. By renewing efforts, an innovative approach to qualifying these systems through the use of existing facilities either in the U.S. (DOE's Advance Test Reactor, High Flux Irradiation Facility and the Contained Test Facility) or overseas should be possible