Wing Body Research Articles

Performance Improvements of a Regional Aircraft by Riblets and Natural Laminar Flow

The application of riblets on a typical regional turboprop configuration is discussed in this paper. The effect of the riblets is modeled as a singular roughness problem by a proper boundary condition at the wall. The model, already proposed in a previous paper, is briefly described. The drag prediction capabilities are verified by showing some airfoil flow applications. Then a typical wing–body of a regional aircraft is considered. The configuration has been designed to have extended natural laminar flow in cruise conditions. Riblets are applied at flow specifications representative of cruise in combination with the natural laminar flow technology and in climb/descent conditions. A comparison of the two technologies in terms of drag reduction is presented. Their combined application can result in a cruise drag reduction of more than 20%. The resulting fuel savings during a typical operational day are evaluated.

Wing body junctions in ship hydrodynamics

Starting with the 1st of January 2013, all ships greater than 400 gross tons have to comply with design or operational energy efficiency index, in order to reduce the greenhouse emissions. From the naval architect’s point of view, the emission reduction measures can be hydrodynamic, structural, technological and operational. The hydrodynamic measures, which are the first that can be taken into consideration in order to reduce the EEDI, are materialized through the optimization of the hull. The Naval Architect may interfere on the bulbous bow, hydrodynamic shoulders, bulb stern, transom or appendages, the drag being then modified by reducing the wave, viscous pressure or frictional resistance components. Another way to improve the hydrodynamics of a ship is the use of Energy Saving Devices (ESD). These are appendages, mounted on the ship hull, developed to improve the flow near the propeller, which operate in the non-uniform wake field of the ship. The flow mechanism around ESDs comes down to wing-body juncture flow problems and, due to their application to the ship appendage flow, they have recently received much attention in ship hydrodynamics. Despite its simple geometric configuration, the wing-body junction flow is a very complicate flow due to the so-called horseshoe vortex system determined by the adverse pressure gradient induced by the presence of the obstacle and the three-dimensional boundary layer separations around the junction. The horseshoe vortex flow affects the drag, lift and causes a persistent lack of uniformity in the wake and is also considered as one source of the noises, vibration and unsteady inflow for the propeller.

EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BLENDED WING BODY MODEL MICRO AIR VEHICLE USING WIND TUNNEL

An experimental aerodynamic analysis is performed to obtain aerodynamic characteristics and performance of a blended wing-body aircraft (BWB) using Low Speed Wind Tunnel. The BWB design concept is a revolutionary way of understanding the hike of fuel cost, increase in air travelers and environmental concern. Recognizing the potential of the aircraft an experimental analysis is conducted on BWB to understand aerodynamic performance parameters like lift coefficient (CL), drag coefficient (CD) and the Lift-to-Drag (L/D) ratio .The aluminium BWB model is manufactured using CNC machine and is tested in Wind tunnel at different angle of attack varying from 0° to 16° at speed of 12 m/s ,25 m/s and 35 m/s velocity. The present BWB UAV design has achieved an unprecedented capability in terms of sustainability of flight at high angle of attack, low parasite drag coefficient and decent maximum lift coefficient. This study indicates some significant benefits for the BWB relative to the conventional aircraft configuration. KEYWORDS: Blended Wing Body (BWB), Aerodynamics, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Wind Tunnel

Predictive analysis of stitched aerospace structures for advanced aircraft

ABSTRACTIn recent years, the aviation industry has taken a leading role in the integration of composite structures to develop lighter and more fuel efficient aircraft. Among the leading concepts to achieve this goal is the Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure (PRSEUS) concept. The focus of most PRSEUS studies has been on developing an hybrid wing body structure, with only a few discussing the application of PRSEUS to a tube-wing fuselage structure. Additionally, the majority of investigations for PRSEUS have focused on experimental validation of anticipated benefits rather than developing a methodology to capture the behavior of stitched structure analytically. This paper presents an overview of a numerical methodology capable of accurately describing PRSEUS’ construction and how it may be implemented in a barrel fuselage platform resorting to high-fidelity mesoscale modeling techniques. The methodology benefits from fresh user defined strategies developed in a commercially available finite element analysis environment. It further proposes a new approach for improving the ability to predict deformation in stitched composites, allowing for a better understanding of the intricate behavior and subtleties of stitched aerospace structures.

Body Condition in Birds in Two Landscapes of the Upper Magdalena Valley, Colombia

The body condition (BC) is the sum of factors such as the state of energy reserves, the degree of health and the physiological wear of an individual. Despite its importance and the existence of a wide range of methodologies to measure it, in the Neotropic there are few works that value this variable in contrast to environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to analyze the BC during the years 2012-2013 of 13 bird species in two intervened landscapes in the tropical dry forest, located in the north of Tolima and the southwest of Huila in the region of the upper Magdalena Valley (UVM). The BC of species was assessed using the scaled mass index (SMI), using morphometric data such as wing chord, tarsal length and body mass. Significant differences were found in the SMI between landscapes and climatic seasons in the species Formicivora grisea, Saltator striatipectus, Sporophila schistacea and Basileuterus rufifrons. It was concluded that environmental variables evaluated affect the BC of some species but not the avifauna in general, mainly due to the effect of these variables on the availability of resources, the necessary energy spending to obtain them and the sensitivity of species to environmental changes.

Aerodynamic design of integrated propulsion–airframe configuration of a hybrid wing body aircraft

A hybrid wing body (HWB) concept is being considered by NASA as a potential subsonic transport aircraft that meets aerodynamic, fuel, emission, and noise goals in the time frame beyond 2035. While the concept promises advantages over a conventional wing-and-tube aircraft, it poses unknowns and risks, thus requiring in-depth and broad assessments. Specifically, the configuration entails a tight integration of the airframe and propulsion geometries; the aerodynamic impact has to be carefully evaluated. With the propulsion nacelle installed on the (upper) body, the lift and drag are affected by the mutual interference effects between the airframe and nacelle. The static margin for longitudinal stability is also adversely changed. In the present paper, a design approach is developed in which the integrated geometries of airframe (HWB) and propulsion are accounted for simultaneously in a simple algebraic manner, via parameterization of the planform and airfoils at the design sections of the wing body. This paper presents a design of a 300-passenger aircraft that employs distributed electric fans for the propulsion. The trim condition for stability is achieved through the use of the wing tip twist angle. The geometric shape variables are determined through the adjoint optimization method by minimizing the drag while subjecting them to lift, pitching moment, and geometry constraints. An Euler model-based aerodynamic shape optimization is employed to save the design cost for the evaluation of the static margin and longitudinal stability, while the performance of the optimized configuration is evaluated by the RANS model coupled with a drag decomposition method to assess the true aerodynamic performance. The design results clearly show the influence on the aerodynamic characteristics of the installed nacelle and trimming for stability. A drag minimization with the trim constraint yields a reduction of 10 counts in the drag coefficient from the baseline design N3-X configuration, which is comparable with 2000 lbs more payload on a conventional subsonic civil transport airplane.

Numerical simulation of sonic boom near-field flow over 69-degree delta wing body

Fast and accurate prediction of sonic boom intensity is important in performing design and optimization studies of a supersonic aircraft. The paper presents the computational mesh generation technique for sonic boom prediction in the near field of complex geometry body. Studies are done on a 69-degree delta wing body model used for testing various prediction techniques in the framework of the AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshops.

Computational grid adaptation for the sonic boom near field modeling

This paper discusses the numerical simulation of the 69-Degree Delta Wing Body for computing the sonic boom signature in the near field. For flow field calculation, the commercial CFD flow solver ANSYS Fluent is employed. The computational mesh in the perturbed flow regions was refined two times using the automatic gradient adaptation. The results are in agreement with the results obtained by other researchers.

DECREASE OF SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL AND NOISE INSIDE HYBRID ELECTRIC WING BODY PLANES AND DIRIDGABLES

The analysis of the find Optimal Structure of the Large Aircraft and Airship for decrease of Sound/Noise Pressure Level inside and outside the Cabin Saloon are very actually today for Worldwide Ecology Program. The Method of Aircraft layout from the virtual mass center is given, which allows us to obtain the Aircraft layout from the conditions of Infrastructural Constraints in the terminal configurations of the Modern Air Transportation Infrastructure and IATA/ICAO Regulation. A Method is proposed for the synthesis of new circuit solutions for an Aircraft passenger compartment and may be use to any Diridgables Projections future. A Geometrical representation of the concept of LHA with large passenger capacity made with a Drop-Shaped Fuselage in the Aerodynamic balancing Flying Wing Body Scheme is given.The new Body Plane LHA and Lighter-then-Air (LTA) Vehicles with cover of Solar Electro Systems will be more innovation projections for Worldwide Security Air Transportation with reduce Noise and CO Pollution Level.

Molecular cloning, expression profiling and RNA interference of a vitellogenin gene from Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

In this study, the Harmonia axyridis vitellogenin gene 2 (HmVg2) sequence was identified from transcriptomic databases of female adult H. axyridis and cloned into pMD18-T vector. The HmVg2 gene was 5460 bp in length, and formed with an open reading frame (ORF) of 5 361 nucleotides (GenBank accession no. KY794939). The putative molecular weight of the primary HmVg2 protein was 203.459 kDa and the predicted isoelectric point (pI) was 8.59. HmVg2 contained a signal peptide, vitellogenin N-terminal (vitellogenin-N) domain, domain of unknown function 1943 (DUF1934) domain and von Willebrand factor type D (VWD) domain. The developmental expression profiling showed that HmVg2 was extremely highly expressed in female insects, but was expressed at lower levels in male insects. In female insects, HmVg2 was mainly expressed in the wing and fat body. The double-stranded RNA-HmVg2/-GFP was injected into H. axyridis, and qRT-PCR results showed that the HmVg2 gene was specifically silenced. The eggs laid during the first five days and the hatching rate of eggs was lower than controls after dsHmVg2 injection. This investigation demonstrated that the HmVg2 gene plays an important role in H. axyridis reproduction and enriches the function of the insect vitellogenin gene.

Modeling Migratory Flight in the Spruce Budworm: Temperature Constraints

We describe an individual-based model of spruce budworm moth migration founded on the premise that flight liftoff, altitude, and duration are constrained by the relationships between wing size, body weight, wingbeat frequency, and air temperature. We parameterized this model with observations from moths captured in traps or observed migrating under field conditions. We further documented the effects of prior defoliation on the size and weight (including fecundity) of migrating moths. Our simulations under idealized nocturnal conditions with a stable atmospheric boundary layer suggest that the ability of gravid female moths to migrate is conditional on the progression of egg-laying. The model also predicts that the altitude at which moths migrate varies with the temperature profile in the boundary layer and with time during the evening and night. Model results have implications for the degree to which long-distance dispersal by spruce budworm might influence population dynamics in locations distant from outbreak sources, including how atmospheric phenomena such as wind convergence might influence these processes. To simulate actual migration flights en masse, the proposed model will need to be linked to regional maps of insect populations, a phenology model, and weather model outputs of both large- and small-scale atmospheric conditions.

The influence of different aerodynamic setups on enhancing a sports car's braking

This paper presents an analysis of several different aerodynamic setups that can be utilized to improve the braking performance of a sports car. The coefficients of aerodynamic forces and the flow properties of a targa top car body were investigated with the use of wind tunnel data as well as the results of CFD calculations. The influence of a car body's rear wing utilized as an air brake was presented at a low angle of attack and at a high angle of attack. The balance of the car body was investigated and it was shown how the load on the front and rear axles of the car can be affected by an air brake placed in different locations. An alternative method for the increase of the download force was also studied which included the use of small movable elements that are easy to hide within the silhouette of the car body. Due to the increase of the car's drag coefficient by 0.58 and the decrease of the lift coefficient by 1.1, the braking distance can be reduced up to 31%, depending on the vehicle's speed and driving conditions, which proves that active aerodynamics utilized in braking mode can contribute to the improvement of driving safety.

Flow Control over a Nonslender Delta Wing by Microsecond Dielectric Barrier Discharge Actuation

The behaviors of a pulsed microsecond dielectric barrier discharge in quiescent air are diagnosed by schlieren image and particle image velocimetry. Some localized pressure waves are induced by the discharge, propagating at a speed of about . A fairly weak vortex is also induced, with a maximum velocity of about . Wind tunnel experiments are conducted on a wing–body combination with a 47 deg swept wing. Three actuator arrangements are tested by force measurements. For the full leading-edge actuation, obvious changes of the normal forces can be achieved at high angles of attack before stall, when the actuator works at the optimum reduced frequency of . However, the stall angle is not delayed under the actuation. For front-half actuation at the leading edge, the obvious control effect is obtained at large angles of attack (22–30 deg), while for rear-half actuation, the normal force gets a relatively modest increase at a broad range of attack angles (10–34 deg). The flow pattern obtained by particle image velocimetry shows that the actuation frequency mainly determines the number of chordwise vortices coexisting along the shear layer. It is hard to engender the reattachment vortex over the wing under high-frequency actuations (such as ).

Multi-objective optimization of a wing fence on an unmanned aerial vehicle using surrogate-derived gradients

In this paper, the multi-objective, multifidelity optimization of a wing fence on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) near stall is presented. The UAV under consideration is characterized by a blended wing body (BWB), which increases its efficiency, and a tailless design, which leads to a swept wing to ensure longitudinal static stability. The consequence is a possible appearance of a nose-up moment, loss of lift initiating at the tips, and reduced controllability during landing, commonly referred to as tip stall. A possible solution to counter this phenomenon is wing fences: planes placed on top of the wing aligned with the flow and developed from the idea of stopping the transverse component of the boundary layer flow. These are optimized to obtain the design that would fence off the appearance of a pitch-up moment at high angles of attack, without a significant loss of lift and controllability. This brings forth a constrained multi-objective optimization problem. The evaluations are performed through unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulations. However, since controllability cannot be directly assessed through computational fluid dynamics (CFD), surrogate-derived gradients are used. An efficient global optimization framework is developed employing surrogate modeling, namely regressive co-Kriging, updated using a multi-objective formulation of the expected improvement. The result is a wing fence design that extends the flight envelope of the aircraft, obtained with a feasible computational budget.

Topology optimization of the internal structure of an aircraft wing subjected to self-weight load

ABSTRACTA topology optimization design framework for structures including self-weight loads is presented. The proposed methodology applied to lifting structures aims to eliminate numerical instabilities due to the weight load while improving the overall solution quality. In this model, a power-law function is used to update the element density in the determination of the self-weight. The algorithm is tested and verified for a two-dimensional benchmark problem subjected to self-weight loads and a point force. Results show that the proposed method improves the discreteness of the design of structures subjected to lifting surface loads. Following the verification step, the proposed method is used to optimize the internal structure of an aircraft wing. The aerodynamic load is computed assuming a rigid wing body, and the loading condition is completed with the structure self-weight. Results show that, in this particular example, the self-weight load has a negligible influence on the optimal design.

Externally blown elevon applied for the longitudinal control of blended wing body transport with podded engines

Limited longitudinal control authority due to the absence of a horizontal tail and short lever arm is a critical challenge for blended-wing-body (BWB) aircrafts, especially during take-off and landing conditions. To address this issue, an extended external blown elevon is promoted as an alternative. The control capability of this new type of elevon is studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. A parameter study is performed on the extended position. The control authority of the blown elevon is more efficient than that of the conventional plain elevon under different flight conditions because of the lengthened lever arm, flow-separation suppression and jet-blowing effects. The effects of a one-engine inoperative (OEI) condition on the control capability is also evaluated. The results indicate that the blown elevon can alleviate the directional moment caused by OEI. It is concluded that the external blown elevon can be a potential option for longitudinal control in practical BWB design.

Trait-based functional dietary analysis provides a better insight into the foraging ecology of bats.

The degree of trophic specialization determines the ability of predators to cope with changing foraging conditions, but in predators that prey on hundreds of species it is challenging to assess, especially when prey identity varies among predator individuals and across space and time. Here, we test the hypothesis that a bat species foraging on flying insects like moths will show ample flexibility in trophic niche, and this irrespective of phylogenetic relationships among moths, so as to cope with a high diversity of prey types that vary across seasons. We predict that individual bats will show functional dietary differences consistent with energetic requirements and hunting skills. We used DNA metabarcoding to determine the diet of 126 Mediterranean horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus euryale) from two different sites during three seasons. Simultaneously, we measured moth availability and characterized the traits of 290 moth taxa. Next, we explored the relationship between phylogeny and traits of all consumed and available moth taxa. Finally, we assessed the relationship between individual traits of bats and traits related to prey profitability, for which we used the RLQ and fourth-corner statistical techniques. Seasonality was the main factor explaining the functional dietary variation in adult bats, with moths consumed irrespective of their phylogenetic relationships. While adults consumed moths with a broad range in wing loading, body mass and echolocation detection ability, juveniles consumed slower, smaller and lighter moths, which suggests that young individuals may undergo some fitness gain and/or psychomotor learning process during which they would acquire more effective foraging skills. Our approach revealed a degree of functional flexibility in the trophic niche previously unknown for an insectivorous bat. Rhinolophus euryale consumed a wide variety of moth taxa differing in profitability throughout seasons and between ontogenetic stages. We showed the validity of trait-based approaches to gain new insights in the trophic specialization of predators consuming hundreds of species of prey.

Selection of reference genes for Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) feeding on different diets

Abstract The selection of a stable reference gene is vital to gene expression studies and to improving the accuracy of RT-qPCR data. With the deep research on the artificial feed of the Harmonia axyridis, there is an increasing need to evaluate the effects of feed on insects at the molecular level. To identify a reference gene to assess the expression of related genes in Harmonia axyridis (Pallas), ensure the reliability of target gene expression analysis using real-time PCR. Especially for H. axyridis were fed Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) or an artificial diet. In this study, the expression profiles of nine candidate reference genes, including 28SrRNA, 18SrRNA, RPS23, EF1, Actin, ATPase, GAPDH, UBI, RPL13 from different H. axyridis tissues (head, thorax, wing, leg, ovary, and fat body) were investigated. The stability of the nine candidate genes was assessed using geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper and RefFinder software, and a comprehensive analysis showed that EF1 is a suitable reference gene for eating different diets of different organizations from H. axyridis. 28SrRNA, 18SrRNA, and RPS23 can also be used as reference genes, but Actin, ATPase, RPL13 are not suitable as an internal reference gene.

How future aircraft can benefit from a steerable main landing gear for crosswind operations

Many unconventional configurations for future aircraft, such as aircraft with very high aspect ratio wings or blended wing bodies, suffer from adverse flying characteristics for crosswind operations. Although the reasons for such undesirable behavior are different, coming from either tight geometric limitations, such as small bank angle allowances close to ground, or unfavorable flying qualities in the lateral motion, the consequences are challenging characteristics for take-off or landing under crosswind. In the presented study, a crosswind landing assistance system that makes use of a steerable main landing gear was designed and demonstrated in simulator trials. With such a system, the so-called de-crab maneuver is obsolete and the aircraft can touch down in crabbed motion. During roll-out on ground, the de-crab is performed automatically and the aircraft is kept on the runway centerline. A special concept for manual steering during this automatic de-crab on ground is introduced in the paper. The system is demonstrated in an A320 full-flight simulator with airline pilots, showing a good performance of the system and satisfactory pilot acceptance. The simulation results also show that the side forces acting on the landing gears could be reduced significantly with steerable main landing gears. This raises the hope that with such a system, the landing gear could possibly be designed lighter, saving at least some of the additional weight and cost for the necessary steering actuators of the main landing gear.

A comparison of complete mitochondrial DNA sequences of Mnais costalis Selys, 1869 (Odonata: Calopterygidae) from three different populations (one allopatric and two sympatric)

In Japan, two closely-related damselflies, Mnais costalis Selys, 1869 (Odonata: Calopterygidae) and M. pruinosa Selys-Longchamps (Odonata: Calopterygidae), 1853, coexist, and they exhibit geographic variations in wing color, body size, and habitat preference. In this study, we analyzed the complete mitochondrial genome of M. costalis from Saga Prefecture, Japan (sympatric populations that exhibit wing color polymorphism), and compared the genome with M. costalis that exhibit monomorphic orange wing color. The mitochondrial genome of M. costalis from Saga Prefecture was identified as a circular molecule of 15,488 bp, similar to that found in other M. costalis populations. It was predicted to contain 13 protein-coding (PCG), 22 tRNA, and two rRNA genes, along with one A + T-rich control region. Among the PCGs, ATP8 and ATP6, ATP6 and COIII, ND4 and ND4L, and ND6 and Cytb shared seven, one, seven, and one nucleotides, respectively. The initiation codon ATG was found in eight genes, ATC in four, and ATT in one, while the termination codons TAA, TAG, TA, and T were observed in seven, one, two, and three genes, respectively. All the tRNA genes possessed a cloverleaf secondary structure, except for tRNA-His that lacks the TΨC loop. The average AT content of mitochondrial genome was 66.06%. From a phylogenetic analysis, the loss of wing color polymorphism in monomorphic sympatric populations is likely to occur with the coexistence of two Mnais species.