Abstract
Hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) on transport aircraft is one of many promising fuel reduction technologies. However, due to high sensitivities of HLFC toward operational boundary conditions, estimations of its overall benefit are usually afflicted with large uncertainties. Among the critical environmental factors is the degradation of laminarity when flying through clouds at high altitudes. This paper provides an assessment on operational and economical effectiveness of HLFC aircraft with a detailed inclusion of the cloud encounter effect in three steps. First the expected time in cloud (TIC) in a real route network with cloud data given by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast is analyzed, yielding an average TIC of 10%. Subsequently, HLFC fuel efficiency with and without considering the cloud effect on mid- to long-range aircraft is dealt with. Results show an average drop of fuel benefit from 12.8 to 12.0% due to clouds. The effectiveness of lateral route optimization to reduce the impact of clouds is investigated in the last analysis. Outcomes show that these mitigation strategies are economically beneficial for few cases only. The overall picture confirms that cloud encounter must not be neglected when assessing aircraft with HLFC.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
