Engineering structures are usually designed to minimise weight or some other cost criterion, subject to specified loading and functional conditions being met. The techniques of decision theory may be applied if the cost can be described mathematically in terms of the design variables. In particular, dynamic programming may be applicable to designs for which the parameter values can be derived sequentially. Dynamic programming is here introduced to obtain minimum weight layouts for two types of cantilever structure and comparisons are made with known Michell solutions. The results suggest that other near optimum configurations could be systematically derived under conditions less restrictive than those assumed by the Michell theory.

Elastic buckling design curves are presented for flat isotropic rectangular plates, which are either isolated or form part of a larger continuous plate structure. The design curves illustrate the effect of introducing combinations of elastic rptational restraints to the edges of simply supported isolated plates, which are subject to uniform in-plane compression or shear. Results for infinitely long and/or wide plates, with rectangular bays, are superimposed for comparison.

The time mean flow past a two-dimensional bluff body in a wind-tunnel is modelled by an adaptation of the numerical free-streamline method of Bearman and Fackrell. Provided the base pressure and separation positions are specified in advance, the method allows the calculation of the flow field outside the wake and in particular of the pressures on the wetted surface of the body. Good agreement of the predicted pressures with experimental results is obtained for a flat plate, wedge and circular cylinder at various blockage ratios. In addition to predicting the confined flow, it is shown that a free-air base pressure can be simply deduced from the confined base pressure. With an assumption that the separation positions are unaffected by blockage, this allows the free-air flow field to be calculated. By using an analogy to Roshko’s Strouhal number, which has been found to be invariant under constraint, a free-air Strouhal number can also be deduced.

The flow and heat transfer characteristics over a single dimple and an array of staggered dimples have been investigated using the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach. The objective is to determine how reliably RANS models can predict this type of complex cooling flows. Three classes of low-Reynolds number RANS models have been employed to represent the turbulence. These included a linear Eddy Viscosity Model (EVM), a Non-Linear Model (NLEVM) and a Reynolds Stress transport Model (RSM). Variants of the k-ε model have been used to represent the first two categories. Steady and time-dependent simulations have been carried out at a bulk Reynolds number of around 5,000 with dimple print diameter to channel height ratios of D/H = 1.0, 2.0 and ratios of dimple depth to channel height of δ/H = 0.2, 0.4. The linear EVM and the RSM tested both produce symmetric circulations in the dimples, while the NLEVM produces an asymmetric pattern. The mean velocity profiles predicted numerically are generally in good agreement with the data. The main flow characteristics are reproduced by the RANS models, but some predictive deviations from available data point to the need for further investigations. All models report an overall enhancement in heat transfer levels when using dimples in comparison to those of a plane channel.

An advanced design process applicable to the specification of flight simulator cueing systems is presented in this paper. This process is based on the analysis of the pilot-vehicle control loop by using a pilot model incorporating both visual and vestibular feedback, and the aircraft dynamics. After substituting the model for the simulated aircraft, the analysis tools are used to adjust the washout filter parameters with the goal of restoring pilot control behaviour. This process allows the specification of the motion cueing algorithm. Then, based on flight files representative of the operational flight envelope, the required motion system space is determined. The motion-base geometry is established based on practical limitations, as well as criteria for the stability of the platform with respect to singular conditions. With this process the characteristics of the aircraft, the tasks to be simulated, and the missions themselves are taken into account in defining the simulator motion cueing system.

The drive for increasing flight efficiency is resulting in wing designs that are of higher aspect ratios, lower in weight, increased wingspans and, consequently, require greater attention in the disciplines of aeroelastics and loads. This trend in aircraft design, along with past research experience with flexible aircraft, motivate a review of assumptions in gust models; especially, that of the gust maintaining a uniform spanwise profile. In this paper, the authors investigate the use of spanwise varying 1−cos gust models for loads prediction using a non-linear aeroelastic model of a conventional large transport aircraft. The comparison between a test case using conventional uni-dimensional approach and another, using multidimensional gusts, illustrates the impact of stepping away from traditional discrete tuned gust processes and adding a spanwise varying gust component. A methodology for processing and analysing the loads data arising due to the added dimension is also developed and both envelope and correlated loads are considered. Gust characteristics and resulting load factor are, respectively, considered for comparison between the two models, as both metrics define realistic gust encounters. In this case, it has been shown that spanwise variation of gust profiles leads to lower envelope loads if viewed in terms of conventional gust gradients. However, higher envelope loads are found if the maximum load factors are matched.

Observations on the wing-beats of pigeons, based on cinematograph films taken by the author; with conclusions regarding the characteristics of the wing and its lift in the various phases of the beat.

Donnell type stability equations for thin circular orthotropic conical shells are presented and solved for external pressure loading. The solution is likewise applied to stiffened conical shells by consideration of equivalent orthotropic shells. Typical cases are computed and compared with corresponding isotropic shells. Correlation with equivalent cylindrical shells then yields a simple approximate stability analysis for orthotropic or ring-stiffened conical shells under hydrostatic pressure.

The present work is concerned with the aerodynamics of the turbulent boundary-layer flow over yawed rectangular cavities with the focus on the steady and unsteady pressures generated by the interaction. Cavities with a planform aspect ratio of 4-85 and streamwise length to depth ratios from 1 to 3 were studied experimentally in a low-speed wind tunnel.

The results indicated three main types of cavity flows. The shear layer bridges the cavity for small angles between mean flow direction and minor cavity axis. The flow field remains almost two-dimensional with little change in drag coefficient. Strong instabilities, associated with a rise in drag coefficient, are found when the cavity is yawed to greater angles. An aerodynamic feedback mechanism depending on interactions between the separated shear layer and the cavity fluid is suggested as the mechanism responsible for the generated oscillations. The influence of the cavity depth is, hereby, found to be fundamental as it determines the degree to which interactions between the separated shear layer and the cavity base occur. As a result both the magnitude and the frequency of the instabilities are a function of the cavity depth. When rotating to higher angles a greater portion of the shear layer reattaches to the cavity base which leads to a loss of flow organisation and a significant increase in drag.

A three dimensional Navier-Stokes solver is presented for calculating the hovering rotor flowfield using Osher's approximate Riemann solver. The Navier-Stokes equations are recast in the attached blade relative system using relative flow velocities as variables. Multiblock techniques are used to obtain a structured grid around the blade. A modified MUSCL scheme is proposed to alleviate the inaccuracy in the discretisation of the relative variable formulation. The calculations are performed for a two-bladed model rotor on C-H, O-O and C-H cylindrical grid topologies respectively. Computational solutions show reasonably good agreement with the experimental data for different lifting cases. The difficulty and suitability of different grid topologies for capturing the tip vortex is illustrated. The differences between Euler and Navier-Stokes solutions and between wake modelling and wake capturing approaches are also revealed. The results indicate that the relative velocity approach can give reasonable results for hovering rotor flowfields if due care is taken in minimising possible numerical errors.

A theory is presented describing the flow close to the surface of a circular cone at incidence to a supersonic stream, which reconciles the first order theory of Stone (on which the widely used M.I.T. Cone Tables are based) with the physically necessary condition that the entropy on the cone surface be constant.

However, the results of this “vortical layer” solution appear to invalidate the method used in Ref. 1 to apply a boundary condition at the cone surface, and so to cast doubt on the results obtained by this theory.

This paper describes the plasma jet which has recently been put into operation in tha Department of Aeronautics. A brief outline of the apparatus and its equipment is given, and methods are described for obtaining data from the high temperature gas stream. Finally some results of a recent test programme are outlined.

The general problem of the flow through screens has been widely studied, but certain difficulties have arisen in the comparison of screens of various solidities. A theoretical treatment and some experimental work on the flow through screens of low solidity are described below.

A number of results derived by the author in earlier reports on the flow of air around blunt bodies moving at high speed are here collected in a unified analysis. The theory predicts in a satisfactory way the shock shape and detachment distance for two blunt bodies, a flat disc and a sphere. It is shown that the density ratio across a normal shock is a useful parameter, combining the effects of both the free stream Mach number and the ratio of specific heats.

This paper describes the development of a wind turbulence criterion for the safe operation of helicopters to offshore installations. The development of the criterion was recommended following a review of the environmental effects around offshore platform helidecks.

Currently, criteria exist for ambient temperature and for vertical wind component in the vicinity of helidecks, but a questionnaire-based survey of helicopter pilots revealed that the principal safety hazard and source of highest workload is turbulence around offshore installations. The new turbulence criterion will plug a long-standing gap in the guidance on offshore helideck design.

The paper describes how the criterion has been developed using piloted flight simulation in a research flight simulator together with data from wind tunnel tests on offshore platforms. Initial validation has been successfully performed, and extended to include correlation with the large database of helicopter operational flight data records being collected through the UK North Sea Helicopter Operations Monitoring Programme (HOMP).

The turbulence criterion will be used, together with existing criteria on vertical wind component and temperature, in the assessment of new offshore installation designs, or proposed modifications to existing designs, to determine wind conditions where turbulence is likely to be excessive for safe helicopter operations. These will be used to estimate helideck operability and thereby inform the installation topsides design process, and will provide input to the setting and maintenance of helicopter operational limitations for individual installations.

The work will lead to improved safety through better prediction of safe operating envelopes and helideck operability at the design stage. In addition, development of the work is expected to enable the wind environment around offshore installations to be mapped and monitored in-service using helicopter flight data records.

The new turbulence criterion has been included in updated guidance on helideck design, and offshore installation designers are now required to inform helicopter operators about wind conditions which result in violations of the turbulence criterion on their offshore installations (as is currently the case for the temperature and vertical wind component criteria).

This study focuses on the co-operative salvo attack problem of multiple missiles against a stationary target under jointly connected switching topologies subject to time-varying communication delays. By carefully exploring certain features of the typical pure proportional navigation guidance law, a two-stage distributed guidance scheme is proposed without any information on time-to-go in this study to realise the simultaneous attack of multiple missiles. In the first guidance stage, a co-operative guidance law is proposed using local neighbouring communications only to achieve consensus on range-to-go and heading error to provide favourable initial conditions for the latter phase, in which switching topologies and time-varying communication delays are taken into account when obtaining sufficient conditions of consensus in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Then, missiles disconnect from each other and are guided individually by the typical pure proportional navigation guidance law with the same navigation gain to realise salvo attack in the second guidance phase. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to clearly validate the theoretical results.

The subject of this paper is the effect of a disturbance to the turbulence structure of the flow on the reading of a Preston tube used to measure wall shear stress. Two kinds of disturbance have been studied experimentally, one caused by reattachment and the other by an abrupt change in wall roughness. The apparent wall shear stress measured by the Preston tube both in channel and boundary layer flows with these kinds of disturbance has been compared with the wall shear stress measured by a sublayer fence. The results give an idea of the magnitude of the error that is likely to arise when the Preston tube is used in a flow with disturbed turbulence structure.

This paper reviews some current problems in unsteady aerodynamics and discusses some future challenges. The emphasis is on problems associated with separated flows, such as buffeting and limit cycle oscillations. Suggestions are made to indicate how experimental facilities (such as cryogenic windtunnels) and computational fluid dynamics might be exploited to address these questions.

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.

Accurate navigation is required in many Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) applications. In recent years, GNSS Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has been recognised as an efficient approach for providing precise positioning services. In contrast to the widely used Real-Time Kinematic (RTK), PPP is independent of reference stations, which greatly broadens its scope of application. However, the accuracy and reliability of PPP can be significantly decreased by poor GNSS satellite geometry and outage. In response, a real-time four-constellation GNSS PPP is applied to improve the geometry in this work, and PPP is tightly coupled with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to smooth the position and velocity output, thus improving the robustness of the navigation solution. Experimental flight tests are carried out using a UAV in an open-sky area, and GNSS-challenged environments are simulated. The results show that the four-constellation GNSS PPP/IMU integration reduces the Root-Mean-Square (RMS) Three-Dimensional (3D) positioning and velocity error by 76.4% and 67.1%, respectively, in open sky with respect to the one-GNSS PPP. Under scenarios where GNSS measurements are insufficient, the coupled system can still provide continuous solutions. Moreover, the coupled PPP/IMU system can also maintain the convergence of PPP during GNSS-challenged periods and can greatly shorten the re-convergence period of PPP when the UAV returns to the open sky.