AERODYNAMIC DESIGN CHALLENGES OF THE BLENDED-WING-BODY SUBSONIC TRANSPORT

The aerodynamic design of a Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) aircraft is substantially more complicated than that of a conventional wing. This paper provides an overview of unique design problems faced by the BWB wing designer, discusses the applicability of Navier-Stokes analysis, and summarizes the progress made to date. BACKGROUND Development of the Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) concept began with a NASA sponsored study to create a new, more efficient, configuration for subsonic transport aircraft. The initial BWB approach to the challenge sought to improve the aerodynamics by increasing wetted aspect ratio (b2/Swet). For the payload-range specification of 800 passengers and 7000 nautical miles, the BWBconcept evolved from the streamlined-disk plus wing sketch shown in Figure 1, where it is compared with a conventional "tube and wing" configuration.