TY - JOUR

T1 - A Structural Design Concept for a Multi-Shell Blended Wing Body with Laminar Flow Control

AU - Bishara, Majeed

AU - Horst, Peter

AU - Madhusoodanan, Hinesh

AU - Brod, Martin

AU - Daum, Benedikt

AU - Rolfes, Raimund

N1 - Funding information: Acknowledgments: The authors would like to acknowledge the support of ir. Eelco Jansen and would like to express their gratitude for his comments. The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (Grant No. VWZN3177) for funding the research project “Energy System Transformation in Aviation” in the initiative “Niedersächsisches Vorab”.

PY - 2018/2

Y1 - 2018/2

N2 - Static and fatigue analyses are presented for a new blended wing body (BWB) fuselage concept considering laminar flow control (LFC) by boundary layer suction in order to reduce the aerodynamic drag. BWB aircraft design concepts profit from a structurally beneficial distribution of lift and weight and allow a better utilization of interior space over conventional layouts. A structurally efficient design concept for the pressurized BWB cabin is a vaulted layout that is, however, aerodynamically disadvantageous. A suitable remedy is a multi-shell design concept with a separate outer skin. The synergetic combination of such a multi-shell BWB fuselage with a LFC via perforation of the outer skin to attain a drag reduction appears promising. In this work, two relevant structural design aspects are considered. First, a numerical model for a ribbed double-shell design of a fuselage segment is analyzed. Second, fatigue aspects of the perforation in the outer skin are investigated. A design making use of controlled fiber orientation is proposed for the perforated skin. The fatigue behavior is compared to perforation methods with conventional fiber topologies and to configurations without perforations.

AB - Static and fatigue analyses are presented for a new blended wing body (BWB) fuselage concept considering laminar flow control (LFC) by boundary layer suction in order to reduce the aerodynamic drag. BWB aircraft design concepts profit from a structurally beneficial distribution of lift and weight and allow a better utilization of interior space over conventional layouts. A structurally efficient design concept for the pressurized BWB cabin is a vaulted layout that is, however, aerodynamically disadvantageous. A suitable remedy is a multi-shell design concept with a separate outer skin. The synergetic combination of such a multi-shell BWB fuselage with a LFC via perforation of the outer skin to attain a drag reduction appears promising. In this work, two relevant structural design aspects are considered. First, a numerical model for a ribbed double-shell design of a fuselage segment is analyzed. Second, fatigue aspects of the perforation in the outer skin are investigated. A design making use of controlled fiber orientation is proposed for the perforated skin. The fatigue behavior is compared to perforation methods with conventional fiber topologies and to configurations without perforations.

KW - Blended wing body

KW - Controlled fiber placement

KW - Damage model

KW - Degradation

KW - Fatigue

KW - Fiber-reinforced plastics

KW - Multi-bubble fuselage

KW - Structural analysis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054847139&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/en11020383

DO - 10.3390/en11020383

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85054847139

VL - 11

JO - ENERGIES

JF - ENERGIES

SN - 1996-1073

IS - 2

M1 - 383

ER -