Browsing by Author "Bragado-Aldana, Estela"

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    Assessment of structurally-constrained spanloads for span-extended wing design
    (AIAA, 2024-01-04) Bragado-Aldana, Estela; Riaz, Atif
    High aspect ratio wings are receiving increased attention as a promising solution in pursuit of reducing aviation's environmental impact. To address the challenging trade-off between induced drag and weight, this paper presents an overview of the evaluation of the synthesis of wing aerodynamic and structural requirements for the design of high aspect ratio wings. This is done as a means to improve overall vehicle performance and enlighten the relevant complexities of the design process. A physics-based framework for the conceptual design stage has been composed to produce a set-based design space for the analysis of aircraft with high aspect ratio wings under prescribed aero-structural requirements, integrating state-of-the-art computational models and in-house developed methodologies to create a multi-disciplinary and multi-fidelity design environment. This enables to conduct comparative performance analyses of the proposed concepts relative to a conventional airliner. The impact of such a design approach is assessed at a mission performance level, yielding up to a 30% reduction in structural weight growth with span extension and increasing range-to-weight capabilities by 5%.
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    On wings with non-elliptic lift distributions
    (ICAS, 2021-09-10) Bragado-Aldana, Estela; Lone, Mudassir; Riaz, Atif
    Non-elliptic lift distributions were originally conceived by Prandtl as a solution for wings having optimal aerodynamic and structural efficiency. Since 1933, many researchers have expanded on this theory to confirm that it explicitly facilitates the trade-off between induced drag and weight, and have unveiled other potential benefits such as proverse yaw. This theory is seen as a promising alternative to redefine the underlying principles of conceptual wing design in the search for a step increase in efficiency. Given the recent revival of this approach, in this paper the authors present a concise review of its theoretical basis, the developments carried out in this area and their relevance to the future of aviation.