No abstract

Recent trends in aircraft design research have resulted in development of many unconventional configurations mostly aimed at improving aerodynamic efficiency. The blended wing body (BWB) is one such configuration that holds potential in this regard. In its current form the BWB although promises a better lift to drag (L/D) ratio it is still not able to function to its maximum capability due to design modifications such as twist and reflexed airfoils to overcome stability problems in the absence of a tail. This work aims to maximize the impact of a BWB. A design approach of morphing the BWB with a conventional aft fuselage is proposed. Such a configuration intends to impart full freedom to the main wing and the blended forward fuselage to contribute in lift

This paper details design, analysis and validation of tandem aircraft with one wing swept forward and the other wing swept backwards. The design objective is to investigate the aerodynamic and stability characteristics of this configuration created with the motive of exploiting the manoeuvring and post stall characteristics of a forward swept wing along with the structural robustness and reliable performance of the conventional aft-swept wing. Parameters such as wing sweep, wing position, anhedral and dihedral were varied to develop a range of designs. This gave considerable information regarding the aerodynamic and stability characteristics which enabled a preliminary design of a military combat aircraft exploiting this configuration. All performance characteristics and parameters of the final design compared with current operational military aircraft give a favourable picture regarding the effectiveness of this design.