Airframe Design for Silent Fuel-Efficient Aircraft

The noise goal of the Silent Aircraft Initiative, a collaborative effort between the University of Cambridge and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, demanded an airframe design with noise as a prime design variable and a design philosophy that cut across multiple disciplines. This paper discusses a novel design methodology synthesizing first-principles analysis and high-fidelity simulations, and it presents the conceptual design of an aircraft with a calculated noise level of 62 dBA at the airport perimeter. This is near the background noise in a well-populated area, making the aircraft imperceptible to the human ear on takeoff and landing. The all-lifting airframe of the conceptual aircraft design also has the potential for improved fuel efficiency, as compared with existing commercial aircraft. A key enabling technology in this conceptual design is the aerodynamic shaping of the airframe centerbody. Design requirements and challenges are identified, and the resulting aerodynamic design is discussed in depth. The paper concludes with suggestions for continued research on enabling technologies for quiet commercial aircraft.

[1]  Tom Hynes,et al.  Stability in blended wing body type aircraft with centerbody leading edge , 2009 .

[2]  Michaela Herr,et al.  Experimental investigations in low-noise trailing-edge design , 2004 .

[3]  David P. Lockard,et al.  The Airframe Noise Reduction Challenge , 2004 .

[4]  G. M. Lilley,et al.  THE PREDICTION OF AIRFRAME NOISE AND COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENT , 2001 .

[5]  Anurag Agarwal,et al.  A Ray Tracing Approach to Calculate Acoustic Shielding by the Silent Aircraft Airframe , 2006 .

[6]  Daniel Crichton,et al.  Engine And Installation Configurations For A Silent Aircraft , 2005 .

[7]  Cesare A. Hall,et al.  Engine Design Studies for a Silent Aircraft , 2007 .

[8]  Tom Hynes,et al.  Stability of Hybrid-Wing-Body-Type Aircraft with Centerbody Leading-Edge Carving , 2010 .

[9]  Tom Hynes,et al.  Performance of a Boundary Layer Ingesting (BLI) propulsion system , 2007 .

[10]  Wr Graham,et al.  Aeroacoustic Comparison of Airfoil Leading Edge High-Lift Geometries and Supports , 2007 .

[11]  Tom G. Reynolds,et al.  Development of Approach Procedures for Silent Aircraft , 2007 .

[12]  Pieter Sijtsma,et al.  Landing gear for a 'silent' aircraft , 2007 .

[13]  Ryan Tam.  Regional catalytic economic impacts and noise-damage costs of aviation growth , 2012 .

[14]  Cesare A. Hall,et al.  Challenges in the silent aircraft engine design , 2007 .

[15]  Armando Vavalle,et al.  Aerodynamic considerations of blended wing body aircraft , 2004 .

[16]  Ilan Kroo,et al.  Subsonic wing planform design using multidisciplinary optimization , 1995 .

[17]  J. Middel,et al.  Fuel efficiency of commercial aircraft Fuel efficiency of commercial aircraft Fuel efficiency of commercial aircraft Fuel efficiency of commercial aircraft An overview of historical and future trends , 2005 .

[18]  Zoltán S. Spakovszky,et al.  Preliminary Evaluation of Noise Reduction Approaches for a Functionally Silent Aircraft , 2006 .

[19]  S Thomas,et al.  A Dynamical Model and Controller for the Silent Aircraft: The Effect of Maneuvering on Noise , 2007 .

[20]  Daniel P. Raymer,et al.  Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach , 1989 .

[21]  James I. Hileman,et al.  Design and operation for ultra low noise take -off , 2007 .

[22]  Ann P. Dowling,et al.  Optimization of Traditional and Blown Liners for a Silent Aircraft , 2006 .

[23]  Kiril Dimitrov Sakaliyski.  Aeroacoustics of perforated drag plates for quiet transport aircraft , 2007 .

[24]  I. Waitz,et al.  Assessment of Silent Aircraft-Enabled Regional Development and Airline Economics in the UK , 2007 .

[25]  Sean Wakayama,et al.  BLENDED-WING-BODY OPTIMIZATION PROBLEM SETUP , 2000 .

[26]  Anya R. Jones,et al.  Multidisciplinary optimization of aircraft design and takeoff operations for low noise , 2007 .

[27]  R. H. Liebeck,et al.  Design of the Blended Wing Body Subsonic Transport , 2002 .

[28]  Andreas Schäfer,et al.  Historical and future trends in aircraft performance, cost, and emissions , 2001 .

[29]  Wr Graham,et al.  Aeroacoustic study of airfoil leading edge high-lift devices , 2006 .

[30]  Karen Willcox,et al.  Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization of the Silent Aircraft , 2006 .

[31]  James I. Hileman,et al.  Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Three-Dimensional Design for a "Silent" Aircraft , 2006 .

[32]  James I. Hileman,et al.  Payload Fuel Energy Efficiency as a Metric for Aviation Environmental Performance , 2008 .

[33]  M. Giles,et al.  Viscous-inviscid analysis of transonic and low Reynolds number airfoils , 1986 .