The effects of atmospheric turbulence on fuel consumption in extended formation flight

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dc.contributor.advisorRedelinghuys, Christiaanen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSanders, Drewan Sen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-11-05T03:50:54Z
dc.date.available2014-11-05T03:50:54Z
dc.date.issued2014en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractExtended formation flight (streamwise separations of between 10 to 40 spans), has been recently proposed as a method for reducing the induced drag of commercial aircraft. However, induced drag savings are not necessarily directly indicative of fuel savings. In a realistic environment, atmospheric turbulence will continuously perturb the formation’s aircraft and their wakes. As a result, each aircraft in the formation will experience fluctuations in aerodynamic loads. For an aircraft to maintain accurately its position within a formation, it must continually adjust its throttle setting. This dynamic throttling may result in inefficient engine operation, thereby detracting from the reductions in induced drag. In this work, a high-fidelity transient engine model, representative of a typical commercial high-bypass turbofan engine, has been incorporated within a simple twin-aircraft formation flight simulator. The aerodynamic interactions between aircraft were modelled using a horseshoe vortex method, specially adapted for extended formations. The aircraft were constrained to longitudinal motion, with altitude fixed. This created a two degree of freedom formation model that is analogous to wind tunnel experimentation. A simple proportional gain controller was used to manipulate the throttle settings, in an attempt to maintain the trail aircraft’s position relative to the leader, in a turbulent atmosphere. It was found that a fuel saving of approximately 25 may be achieved at a practical lateral separation of 1 span, corresponding to a stream-wise separation of 20 ± 0.3 spans, in moderate turbulence levels.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationSanders, D. S. (2014). <i>The effects of atmospheric turbulence on fuel consumption in extended formation flight</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Mechanical Engineering. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9147en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationSanders, Drewan S. <i>"The effects of atmospheric turbulence on fuel consumption in extended formation flight."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9147en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSanders, D. 2014. The effects of atmospheric turbulence on fuel consumption in extended formation flight. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Sanders, Drewan S AB - Extended formation flight (streamwise separations of between 10 to 40 spans), has been recently proposed as a method for reducing the induced drag of commercial aircraft. However, induced drag savings are not necessarily directly indicative of fuel savings. In a realistic environment, atmospheric turbulence will continuously perturb the formation’s aircraft and their wakes. As a result, each aircraft in the formation will experience fluctuations in aerodynamic loads. For an aircraft to maintain accurately its position within a formation, it must continually adjust its throttle setting. This dynamic throttling may result in inefficient engine operation, thereby detracting from the reductions in induced drag. In this work, a high-fidelity transient engine model, representative of a typical commercial high-bypass turbofan engine, has been incorporated within a simple twin-aircraft formation flight simulator. The aerodynamic interactions between aircraft were modelled using a horseshoe vortex method, specially adapted for extended formations. The aircraft were constrained to longitudinal motion, with altitude fixed. This created a two degree of freedom formation model that is analogous to wind tunnel experimentation. A simple proportional gain controller was used to manipulate the throttle settings, in an attempt to maintain the trail aircraft’s position relative to the leader, in a turbulent atmosphere. It was found that a fuel saving of approximately 25 may be achieved at a practical lateral separation of 1 span, corresponding to a stream-wise separation of 20 ± 0.3 spans, in moderate turbulence levels. DA - 2014 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 T1 - The effects of atmospheric turbulence on fuel consumption in extended formation flight TI - The effects of atmospheric turbulence on fuel consumption in extended formation flight UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9147 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/9147
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationSanders DS. The effects of atmospheric turbulence on fuel consumption in extended formation flight. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2014 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9147en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Mechanical Engineeringen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherMedicineen_ZA
dc.titleThe effects of atmospheric turbulence on fuel consumption in extended formation flighten_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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