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Aerodynamic and Stability Analysis of Blended Wing Body Aircraft

Received: 17 May 2016     Accepted: 12 June 2016     Published: 23 June 2016
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Abstract

The main purpose of the paper is to study the aerodynamic and stability characteristics of a blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft. This paper presents the estimation and selection of aircraft design parameters, planform design, reflex airfoils, and conduct thorough stability investigation of the aircraft. A conceptual design of BWB aircraft has been done and the design was analyzed and refined to achieve static stability. The CFD analysis of the BWB aircraft was done at three different values of angle-of-attack (AOA) and thus the stall AOA was determined from the computational results. The dynamic stability of the aircraft has been studied under five modes namely- short period, phugoid, Dutch-roll, roll and spiral. The static stability has been achieved with a wide positive value of static margin. Results also show that the aircraft is dynamically stable for longitudinal and lateral modes when subjected to disturbances in respective conditions. The BWB aircraft fulfils the criteria of Class I Category B aircraft and shows flight level 1 characteristics in all stability modes.

Published in International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications (Volume 4, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijmea.20160404.12
Page(s) 143-151
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Blended-Wing-Body Aircraft, Reflex Airfoils, Static Stability, Dynamic Stability, Stability Modes

References
[1] Bullard, D. (1997-2008). Horten Biography. Retrieved October 2015, from Douglas Bullard Website: http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Horten_Nurflugels/Horten_Biography/horten_biography.html
[2] NASA. (2015). NASA Website. Retrieved August 2015, from http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/Features/global_observer_wing_tests.html
[3] Liebeck, R. H., Page, M. A., & Rawdon, B. K. (1998). Blended Wing Body Subsonic Commercial Transport. AIAA Paper 98-0438.
[4] Qin, N., Vavelle, A., Le Moigne, A., Hackett, K., &Weinerfelt, P. (2002). Aerodynamic Studies for Blended Wing Body Aircraft. AIAA.
[5] Roman, D., Gilmore, R., & Wakayama, S. (2003). Aerodynamics of High-subsonic Blended Wing Body Configuration. AIAA Paper.
[6] Qin, N., &Weinerfelt, P. (2004). Aerodynamic Considerations of Blended Wing Body Aircraft. Progess in Aerospace Sciences, 40, 321-343.
[7] Ikeda, T., & Bil, C. (2006). Aerodynamic Performance of a Blended Wing-Body Configuration Aircraft. Proceedings of the ICAS (pp. 1-10). Edinburgh: ICAS.
[8] University of Greenwich. (2015). University of Greenwich. Retrieved August 2003-2015, from https://fseg.gre.ac.uk/fire/VELA.html
[9] Scholz, D. (2007). A Student Project of a Blended Wing Body Aircraft-From Conceptual Design to Flight Testing. EWADE 2007- 8th European Workshop on Aircraft Design Education. Samara: Samara State Aviation University.
[10] Ciampa, P. D., Zill, T., Pfeiffer, T. & Nagel, B. (2011). A Functional Shape Parametrization of Approach for Preliminary Optimization of Unconventional Aircraft. CEAS.
[11] Zill, T., Ciampa, P. & Nagel, B. (2012). Multidisciplinary Design Optimization in a Collaborative Distributed Aircraft Design System. In 50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting.
[12] The Boeing Company. (2016). Technology: The Boeing Company. [Online] Available at: http://www.boeing.com/features/2013/04/bds-x48c-04-24-13.page [Accessed 8 June 2016].
[13] Raymer, D. P. (2006). Aircraft design: A Conceptual Approach (4th Edition ed.). Virginia: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc.
[14] Nicolai, L. M., & Carichner, G. E. (2010). Fundamentals of Aircraft and Airship Design, Volume 1 – Aircraft Design . California: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
[15] Siegmann, H. (1988-2015). Aerodesign. Retrieved August 2015, from Hartmut Siegmann Website: http://www.aerodesign.de/index.htm
[16] Nelson, R. C. (1998). In Flight Stability and Automatic Control. New York/San Francisco: WCB/McGraw-Hill.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sanjiv Paudel, Shailendra Rana, Saugat Ghimire, Kshitiz Kumar Subedi, Sudip Bhattrai. (2016). Aerodynamic and Stability Analysis of Blended Wing Body Aircraft. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications, 4(4), 143-151. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20160404.12

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    ACS Style

    Sanjiv Paudel; Shailendra Rana; Saugat Ghimire; Kshitiz Kumar Subedi; Sudip Bhattrai. Aerodynamic and Stability Analysis of Blended Wing Body Aircraft. Int. J. Mech. Eng. Appl. 2016, 4(4), 143-151. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmea.20160404.12

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    AMA Style

    Sanjiv Paudel, Shailendra Rana, Saugat Ghimire, Kshitiz Kumar Subedi, Sudip Bhattrai. Aerodynamic and Stability Analysis of Blended Wing Body Aircraft. Int J Mech Eng Appl. 2016;4(4):143-151. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmea.20160404.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijmea.20160404.12,
      author = {Sanjiv Paudel and Shailendra Rana and Saugat Ghimire and Kshitiz Kumar Subedi and Sudip Bhattrai},
      title = {Aerodynamic and Stability Analysis of Blended Wing Body Aircraft},
      journal = {International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications},
      volume = {4},
      number = {4},
      pages = {143-151},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijmea.20160404.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20160404.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijmea.20160404.12},
      abstract = {The main purpose of the paper is to study the aerodynamic and stability characteristics of a blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft. This paper presents the estimation and selection of aircraft design parameters, planform design, reflex airfoils, and conduct thorough stability investigation of the aircraft. A conceptual design of BWB aircraft has been done and the design was analyzed and refined to achieve static stability. The CFD analysis of the BWB aircraft was done at three different values of angle-of-attack (AOA) and thus the stall AOA was determined from the computational results. The dynamic stability of the aircraft has been studied under five modes namely- short period, phugoid, Dutch-roll, roll and spiral. The static stability has been achieved with a wide positive value of static margin. Results also show that the aircraft is dynamically stable for longitudinal and lateral modes when subjected to disturbances in respective conditions. The BWB aircraft fulfils the criteria of Class I Category B aircraft and shows flight level 1 characteristics in all stability modes.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Aerodynamic and Stability Analysis of Blended Wing Body Aircraft
    AU  - Sanjiv Paudel
    AU  - Shailendra Rana
    AU  - Saugat Ghimire
    AU  - Kshitiz Kumar Subedi
    AU  - Sudip Bhattrai
    Y1  - 2016/06/23
    PY  - 2016
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20160404.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijmea.20160404.12
    T2  - International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications
    JF  - International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications
    JO  - International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications
    SP  - 143
    EP  - 151
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-0248
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20160404.12
    AB  - The main purpose of the paper is to study the aerodynamic and stability characteristics of a blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft. This paper presents the estimation and selection of aircraft design parameters, planform design, reflex airfoils, and conduct thorough stability investigation of the aircraft. A conceptual design of BWB aircraft has been done and the design was analyzed and refined to achieve static stability. The CFD analysis of the BWB aircraft was done at three different values of angle-of-attack (AOA) and thus the stall AOA was determined from the computational results. The dynamic stability of the aircraft has been studied under five modes namely- short period, phugoid, Dutch-roll, roll and spiral. The static stability has been achieved with a wide positive value of static margin. Results also show that the aircraft is dynamically stable for longitudinal and lateral modes when subjected to disturbances in respective conditions. The BWB aircraft fulfils the criteria of Class I Category B aircraft and shows flight level 1 characteristics in all stability modes.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering-Central Campus, Tribhuvan University, Lalitpur, Nepal

  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering-Central Campus, Tribhuvan University, Lalitpur, Nepal

  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering-Central Campus, Tribhuvan University, Lalitpur, Nepal

  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering-Central Campus, Tribhuvan University, Lalitpur, Nepal

  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering-Central Campus, Tribhuvan University, Lalitpur, Nepal

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