A virtual engineering approach to the ship-helicopter dynamic interface – a decade of modelling and simulation research at the University of Liverpool

Owen, I.; White, Mark; Padfield, Gareth D.; Hodge, Steven J.

doi:10.1017/aer.2017.102

Cited by 34 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Another category of techniques involves using simulated flight data to determine wear and maintenance needs of an aircraft. For example, Owen [12] uses simulated helicopter landing data to determine the interactions between the aircraft and ship loads during takeoff and landing. Ling [13] used a Bayesian probabilistic model to analyse structural health monitoring data in conjunction with fatigue damage prognosis models.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ensemble approaches for leveraging machine learning models in load estimation

Cheung,

Seabrook,

Valdés

et al. 2023

Aeronaut. j.

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Helicopter component load estimation can be achieved through a variety of machine learning techniques and algorithms. A range of ensemble integration techniques were investigated in order to leverage multiple machine learning models to estimate main rotor yoke loads from flight state and control system parameters. The techniques included simple averaging, weighted averaging and forward selection. Performance of the models was evaluated using four metrics: root mean squared error, correlation coefficient and the interquartile ranges of these two metrics. When compared, every ensemble outperformed the best individual model. The ensembles using forward selection achieved the best performance. The resulting output is more robust, more highly correlated and achieves lower error values as compared to the top individual models. While individual model outputs can vary significantly, confidence in their results can be greatly increased through the use of a diverse set of models and ensemble techniques.

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Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ensemble approaches for leveraging machine learning models in load estimation

Cheung,

Seabrook,

Valdés

et al. 2023

Aeronaut. j.

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“…Moreover, landing at night reduces the visibility and availability of visual reference points and makes it extremely hard for the pilots to understand the ship's movements (Lumsden et al, 1999). In previous studies, airwake has been considered an important factor that is particularly relevant to the last phases of the landing (e.g., Hodge et al, 2012;Lumsden et al, 1999;Owen et al, 2017). In our study, pilots did not explicitly mention airwake; however, they talked about the effects of relative wind (i.e., combination of ship's movement and wind conditions), and the necessity to have information about its speed and direction.…”

Section: Environmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helicopter Pilots’ Tasks, Subjective Workload, and the Role of External Visual Cues During Shipboard Landing

Tušl

Rainieri

Fraboni

et al. 2020

Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making

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Helicopter shipboard landing is a cognitively complex task that is challenging both for pilots and their crew. Effective communication, accurate reading of the flight instruments, as well as monitoring of the external environment are crucial for a successful landing. In particular, the final phases of landing are critical as they imply high workload situations in an unstable environment with restricted space. In the present qualitative study, we interviewed ten helicopter pilots from the Italian Navy using an applied cognitive task analysis approach. We aimed to obtain a detailed description of the landing procedure, and to identify relevant factors that affect pilots’ workload, performance, and safety. Based on the content analysis of the interviews, we have identified six distinct phases of approaching and landing on a ship deck and four categories of factors that may significantly affect pilots’ performance and safety of the landing procedure. Consistent with previous studies, our findings suggest that external visual cueing is vital for a successful landing, in particular during the last phases of landing. Therefore, based on the pilots’ statements, we provide suggestions for possible improvements of external visual cues that have the potential to reduce pilots’ workload and improve the overall safety of landing operations.

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“…Creating unsteady CFD airwakes over a ship the size of the QEC, and for a significant distance downstream of the ship, where the disturbed air can still affect the aircraft, is a significant challenge. While UoL has a wealth of experience in creating CFD airwakes for smaller ships, such as Type 23/45 frigates and destroyers, and Wave Class tankers (Owen et al, 2017;Forrest and Owen, 2010), the significantly larger QEC presents a new challenge and so smallscale experiments have been conducted to compare measured data with the CFD-generated airwakes. The approach taken has been to conduct the experiments at a 1:200 scale and to apply the CFD technique at this scale to replicate the experiment.…”

Section: Qec Airwake Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research at UoL into ship airwakes and their integration with piloted flight simulation over the past decade or more has shown that it is essential to create airwakes using time-accurate CFD techniques, so that irregular timevarying velocity components are applied to the aircraft flight dynamics model providing a realistic experience for the pilot, in terms of handling qualities and workload (Owen et al, 2017). Delayed Detached-Eddy Simulation (DDES) lends itself well to the application of modelling the unsteady flow around bluff bodies such as ships, since DDES combines a Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach to modelling turbulence in the near-wall boundary-layer, whilst resolving turbulent features in separated flow regions using Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) (Spalart et al, 2006); this leads to relatively modest computational requirements compared with pure LES due to relaxation of the near-wall mesh requirements.…”

Section: Qec Airwake Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Modelling and Simulation in the Preparations for Flight Trials Aboard the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers

Kelly

Watson

Hodge

et al. 2018

Conference Proceedings of INEC

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This paper provides a brief overview of how modelling and simulation has been used to inform preparations for First of Class Flight Trials (FOCFT) aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of the United Kingdom’s two new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, from the perspective of a collaborative research programme undertaken by industry and academia to develop high-fidelity simulations of the carrier’s ‘airwake’. Computer modelling of the unsteady air flow over the carrier, and of the aircraft flight dynamics, have been integrated into high-fidelity flight simulators at BAE Systems Warton, and at the University of Liverpool. The Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) carriers have primarily been designed to operate the Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multirole fighter aircraft and will also operate a range of rotary-wing assets. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used to compute the time-varying air flow over and around the 280m long ship, along the F-35B landing approach path and up to 400m astern of the ship. The paper shows a selection of results from the full-scale CFD analysis, and the results from a small-scale experiment that was conducted to provide confidence in the validity of the computed airwakes. The QEC airwakes have been employed by BAE Systems in its fixed-wing flight simulator at Warton, where test pilots have conducted simulated deck landings for a variety of wind over deck conditions, so providing experience for F-35B test pilots and the ship’s Flying Control (FLYCO) crew ahead of FOCFT, which will be conducted later this year. Airwakes have also been implemented in the HELIFLIGHT-R flight simulator at the University of Liverpool, where helicopter landings to the QEC have been simulated using a generic medium-weight maritime-helicopter model. A selection of results from the helicopter flight simulator trials is presented in terms of the workload ratings reported by test pilots, and these are related to the characteristics of the computed airwake at the landing spots tested. The paper demonstrates how modelling and simulation can be used to reduce both the risk and cost of flight trials, by informing the FOCFT planning process, and by highlighting, in advance of the trials, which wind speed and azimuth combinations may require more focus.

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A virtual engineering approach to the ship-helicopter dynamic interface – a decade of modelling and simulation research at the University of Liverpool

Cited by 34 publications

References 14 publications

Ensemble approaches for leveraging machine learning models in load estimation

Ensemble approaches for leveraging machine learning models in load estimation

Helicopter Pilots’ Tasks, Subjective Workload, and the Role of External Visual Cues During Shipboard Landing

The Role of Modelling and Simulation in the Preparations for Flight Trials Aboard the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers

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