HALE Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Part II: Solar-Powered Flying-Wing Aircraft

Colas, Dorian; Roberts, Nicholas; Suryakumar, Vishvas S.

doi:10.2514/6.2018-3029

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Previous SR-HALE aircraft conceptual design and/or optimization studies include those performed by Cestino [3], Baldock and Mokhtarzadeh-Dehghan [4], Nickol et al [5], Burton and Hoburg [6], Burton et al [7], and Colas et al [8,9]. Cestino performed a detailed preliminary design and analysis of a blended wing body SR-HALE configuration [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While SR-HALE aircraft did not perform well compared to other HAPS concepts in that study (yearround flight was found to be infeasible, even with large technological advances), more recent optimizations have found the SR-HALE concept to be feasible. These studies include those performed by Burton et al [6,7] and Colas et al [8,9]. Burton and Hoburg used geometric programming to perform optimizations of SR-HALE aircraft which took just a few seconds each [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gradient-Based Optimization of Solar-Regenerative High-Altitude Long-Endurance Aircraft

McDonnell

Ning

2020

Journal of Aircraft

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In this paper we use gradient-based optimization to minimize the mass of a solar-regenerative high-altitude longendurance (SR-HALE) flying-wing aircraft while accounting for nonlinear aeroelastic effects. We design the aircraft to fly year round at 35°latitude at 18 km above sea level and subject the aircraft to energy capture, energy storage, material failure, local buckling, stall, longitudinal stability, and coupled flight and aeroelastic stability constraints. The optimized aircraft has an aspect ratio of 27.8, a surface area of 99.1 m 2 , and a mass of 508.8 kg. Our results suggest that thick airfoils provide greater structural efficiency than increased carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) ply thicknesses. We also perform several parameter sweeps to determine sensitivity to altitude, latitude, battery specific energy, solar efficiency, avionics and payload power requirements, and minimum design velocity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gradient-Based Optimization of Solar-Regenerative High-Altitude Long-Endurance Aircraft

McDonnell

Ning

2020

Journal of Aircraft

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“…Despite its importance, there seems to be no consensus regarding what configuration solar aircraft should have among researchers and companies. Among the designs that researchers have investigated are braced wing [1], blended wing body [2], unswept flying wing [3,4], swept flying wing [5], and conventional aircraft configurations with varying numbers of tails [6][7][8]. Among the designs which have been or are currently being pursued by various companies are unswept flying aircraft (AeroVironment's Helios and Hawk30), swept flying wing aircraft (Facebook's Aquila), configurations with varying numbers of tails (Airbus's Zephyr and Aurora's Odysseus), and reconfigurable configurations made up of multiple independent sections (Aurora's Vulture).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior investigations into the impact of solar aircraft configuration choices in the context of the entire solar aircraft design problem have been performed by Nickol et al [3,4], Burton et al [8], and Colas et al [5,6]. Nickol et al investigated unswept flying wing solar aircraft, trussed-wing unswept flying wing solar aircraft, joined-wing solar aircraft, and unswept flying wing solar aircraft with auxiliary sun-tracking solar panels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Examination into the Defining Characteristics of Flexible Solar Aircraft Configurations through Optimization

McDonnell

Ning

2019

AIAA Aviation 2019 Forum

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This paper examines the defining characteristics of various solar aircraft configurations through gradient-based multidisciplinary design optimization. We first present a general gradient-based solar aircraft optimization framework which accounts for nonlinear aeroelastic effects resulting from structural flexibility. We then apply this framework to several discrete SR-HALE aircraft geometric, structural, and propulsion system configuration choices to determine the defining characteristics of each configuration choice.

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Preliminary design and technology forecast synthesis for solar-powered high altitude aircraft

Mukhachev

Padalitsa

Ivanov

2022

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G:

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High altitude long endurance solar aircraft is a very attractive platform for applications ranging from remote sensing to telecommunication. In contrast to conventional aircraft, the operation of solar-powered one is highly dependent on available solar enengy, which imposes strong constraints on total takeoff mass, and, thus, energy balance becomes dependent on the season and latitude of planned operations. Despite tremendous success in many projects from Helios to Zephyr, energy balance at high altitudes is still not favorable in a range of latitudes and seasons. In this study, a design space for a solar-powered aircraft mission, constrained by its energy balance is explored. It is found that the tradeoff that should be made between seasonal and spatial capabilities for continuous flight of a solar-powered aircraft. The influence of key technologies on solar aircraft perpetual flight capabilities in different regions and seasons is identified. To do that, solar cell efficiency and energy storage specific energy are considered as design parameters in range of available forecasts. In the end, available technology forecasts are synthesized on the precision agriculture case to show which technological level is required to make 6 moths mission possible.

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HALE Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Part II: Solar-Powered Flying-Wing Aircraft

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

Gradient-Based Optimization of Solar-Regenerative High-Altitude Long-Endurance Aircraft

Gradient-Based Optimization of Solar-Regenerative High-Altitude Long-Endurance Aircraft

An Examination into the Defining Characteristics of Flexible Solar Aircraft Configurations through Optimization

Preliminary design and technology forecast synthesis for solar-powered high altitude aircraft

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