This paper presents an experimental investigation of the evolution of the leading-edge vortex and spanwise flow generated by an insect-like flapping-wing at a Reynolds number relevant to flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FMAVs) (Re = ~15,000). Experiments were accomplished with a first-of-its-kind flapping-wing apparatus. Dense pseudo-volumetric particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements from 18% – 117% span were taken at 12 azimuthal positions throughout a flapping half cycle. Results revealed the formation of a primary leading-edge vortex (LEV) which saw an increase in size and spanwise flow (towards the tip) through its core as the wing swept from rest to the mid-stroke position where signs of vortex breakdown were observed. Beyond mid-stroke, spanwise flow decreased and the tip vortex grew in size and exhibited a reversal in its axial direction. At the end of the flapping half cycle, the primary LEV was still present over the wing surface, suggesting that the LEV remains attached to the wing throughout the entire flapping half cycle.

This paper presents a new algorithm that predicts the quantity of fuel burned by an aircraft flying at a constant speed and altitude. It considers the continuous fuel burn rate variation with time caused by the gross weight (and centre of gravity position) modification due to the fuel burn process itself. The algorithm was developed for use by the Flight Management System (FMS) and employs the same aircraft performance data as the existing FMS fuel burn prediction algorithms. The new fuel burn method was developed for aircraft models that use the centre of gravity position as well as for models that do not consider the centre of gravity position. This algorithm was developed for normal flight conditions. Algorithm performances were evaluated for two aircraft models: one for models that use an aircraft’s centre of gravity position – a more complex and computing intensive method, and one for those that do not use the centre of gravity position. The validation data were generated based on the information produced on a CMC Electronics – Esterline FMS platform that used identical aircraft models and performance data for identical flight conditions.

An experimental investigation was carried out to study the flow development of a jet issuing from a 2:1 rectangular nozzle with mixing tabs using two-component hotwire anemometry. A pair of tabs of trapezoidal configuration (with 2% total blockage area) is placed on the minor-axis side of the rectangular nozzle and tested for two tab inclination angles of 135° and 45°, with respect to the flow direction. Tests were conducted for a nominal jet exit velocity of 20m/sec corresponding to a Reynolds number based on nozzle equivalent diameter of 5·013 × 104. Relative to the plain jet, the jet with tabs show significant reduction in jet-core length (by 67%) followed by a faster decay in jet centreline velocity (U/Ue). This is also accompanied by a significant upstream shift in peak centreline turbulence intensity (u’/Ue). The presence of tabs is observed to inhibit the jet growth along the minor-axis plane thereby introducing large distortion in the jet cross-sectional development that ultimately leads to jet-core bifurcation along its major-axis. While a mushroom-like flow structure develops behind the tab with 135° inclination, the flow structure behind a 45° inclined tab rather takes the shape of the tab itself. The former flow development is seen to enhance the jet growth more along the minor-axis while the latter improves the jet growth more along the major-axis plane. From application point of view, since both tab inclinations result in more or less similar jet characteristics, a 135° inclined tab would be preferable over a 45° inclined tab from the view of improved jet mixing.

Because of the huge volume and inflated membrane structure of stratosphere airship, the deformation of stratosphere airship is very sensitive to the change of environment conditions such as wind, temperature and so on. The influence of deformation on manipulation and control is very remarkable. So, during the course of building flight dynamic model of the flexible airship, the added-mass matrix of deformation is very important part in the state equations of dynamic models. For obtaining the accurate added-mass matrix of different flexible airship, we proposed an approach that can calculate the added-mass matrix of a flexible airship with arbitrary geometry shape by the panel method. Through the comparison of results of computation and theory for ellipsoid of revolution and the flexible Skyship-500 airship, the proposed method can calculate the added-mass matrix for arbitrary geometric shape very accurately.

This paper presents an overview of an advanced, conceptual wing-box weight estimation and sizing model for transport aircraft. The model is based on linear thin-walled beam theory, where the wing-box is modelled as a simple, swept tapered multi-element beam. It consists of three coupled modules, namely sizing, aeroelastic analysis, and weight prediction. The sizing module performs generic wing-box sizing using a multi-element strategy. Three design cases are considered for each wing-box element. The aeroelastic analysis module accounts for static aeroelastic requirements and estimates their impact on the wing-box sizing. The weight prediction module estimates the wing-box weight based on the sizing process, including static aeroelastic requirements. The breakdown of the models into modules increases its flexibility for future enhancements to cover complex wing geometries and advanced aerospace materials. The model has been validated using five different transport aircraft. It has shown to be sufficiently robust, yielding an error bandwidth of ±3%, an average error estimate of -0·2%, and a standard error estimate of 1·5%.

The minimum pressure drag of blunt forebodies in hypersonic flow is investigated using Newton’s Impact Theory. It is shown how the minimum drag shape varies with the body slenderness and the amount of blunting. As the blunting increases the drag approaches that of the minimum drag axisymmetric body.