Abstract
Despite previous versions, there are no current supersonic passenger transport aircraft. Much aircraft research is focused on hypersonic flight and the new technologies therein and is therefore unlikely to add to commercial versions anytime soon. This study re-examines conceptual sizing of a supersonic transport aircraft based on extant supersonic designs in order to ignite research into whether a commercially-viable design might exist. Key metrics are developed using distances between likely airport network nodes, an assumed number of passengers, and a reduction in transport time to one-third of current journeys. The study uses multiple response regression of known designs to develop key performance formulae, which are then optimized to set performance values so as to estimate an initial aircraft size, including an expected value analysis to guide the next conceptual design iteration. Twenty years ago a NASA Langley Research optimization system was used to examine non-linear regression of supersonic aircraft designs and to optimize such a design around similar performance criteria. In contrast, this work is the first supersonic transport aircraft sizing to use commercially-available Excel add-on software and standard design-for-sixsigma analysis techniques; notably for the sensitivity analyses to guide the next design iteration.
Highlights
Current airliner technology features large-capacity, turbine-powered aircraft travelling at subsonic speeds in order to travel relatively large distances as quickly as these aircraft can
Much of the major aircraft research is into hypersonic flight and the technological benefits that ensue if this can be achieved
What is more likely to realize reduced intercontinental airline times in the short-term is if some aircraft research is devoted to revisiting supersonic aircraft design, using proven technologies focused on optimizing commercial viability
Summary
Current airliner technology features large-capacity, turbine-powered aircraft travelling at subsonic speeds in order to travel relatively large distances as quickly as these aircraft can. What is more likely to realize reduced intercontinental airline times in the short-term is if some aircraft research is devoted to revisiting supersonic aircraft design, using proven technologies focused on optimizing commercial viability. Such multidiscipline aircraft design optimization was seminally characterised in 1997 [3] and research at that time using the NASA Langley Research Center [4] sought to minimize the gross take-off weight of a supersonic transport aircraft designed to carry 305 passengers at a cruise speed of Mach 2.4 for a range of 5,000 nautical miles (nm). The analyse packages used in this research were DOE PRO XLTM and Quantum XLTM, both of which are Excel add-ons copyrighted by Air Academy Associates, LLC, and SigmaZone.com
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