Recent progress of electric systems has raised attention towards hybrid-electric and full-electric aircraft. Nevertheless, the current low battery energy density limits the application of these propulsive architectures to large transport aircraft. In the context of the general aviation category, full-electric aircraft for the so-called Urban Air Mobility scenario are gaining increasing interest. These air taxis, […]
A new paper published in Thin-Walled Structures (Elsevier): “Multi-scale deterministic optimisation of blended composite structures: case study of a box-wing”
This work presents a multi-scale design methodology for the deterministic optimisation of thin-walled composite structures integrating a global–local approach for the assessment of the buckling strength and a dedicated strategy to recover blended stacking sequences. The methodology is based on the multi-scale two-level optimisation strategy for anisotropic materials and structures. In the first step, focused […]
A new paper published in Aerospace (MDPI): “A Physics-Based Multidisciplinary Approach for the Preliminary Design and Performance Analysis of a Medium Range Aircraft with Box-Wing Architecture” (Open Access)
The introduction of disruptive innovations in the transport aviation sector is becoming increasingly necessary. This is because there are many very demanding challenges that the transport aviation system will have to face in the years ahead. In particular, the reduction in pollutant emissions from air transport, and its impact on climate change, clearly must […]
A new paper published in Journal of Air Transport Management (Elsevier): “Aircraft turnaround time estimation in early design phases: Simulation tools development and application to the case of box-wing architecture”
This work deals with the problem of estimating the turnaround time in the early stages of aircraft design. The turnaround time has a significant impact in terms of marketability and value creation potential of an aircraft and, for this reason, it should be considered as an important driver of fuselage and cabin design decisions. Estimating […]
A new paper published in Aerospace Science and Technology (Elsevier): “A DoE-based approach for the implementation of structural surrogate models in the early stage design of box-wing aircraft”
One of the possible ways to face the challenge of reducing the environmental impact of aviation, without limiting the growth of air transport, is the introduction of more efficient, radically different aircraft architectures. Among these, the box-wing one represents a promising solution, at least in the case of its application to short-to-medium haul aircraft, […]