Blended Wing Body Aircraft (BWB)

Seminar on

Presented by: NAGARJUN B S

MVJ College department of Aeronautics

1MJ08AE032

Contents
Introduction * BWB Definition * Blended Wing Body Concept * History Of BWB * Square-Cube-Law

Boeing BWB 450

* Basic configuration and nomenclature * BWB-450 Specifications What Does the Future Hold for the BWB? Projects * BWB Projects Preliminary sizing Aero disciplines * Aerodynamics * Flight Mechanics * Structures BWB advantages compared to today's advanced aircraft

Introduction to BWB aircraft configuration

BWB Definition
The Blended Wing Body aircraft is a blend of the tail aft and the flying wing configurations: A wide lift producing centre body housing the payload blends into conventional outer wings.

1) Conventional Configuration: "Tube and Wing" or "Tail Aft" 2) Blended Wing Body Aircraft (BWB) 3) Hybrid Flying Wing 4) Flying Wing

What is a Blended wing body concept ?

Blended Wing Body, or BWB, designates an alternative airframe design which incorporates design features from both a futuristic fuselage and flying wing design. The purported advantages of the BWB approach are efficient high-lift wings and a wide airfoilshaped body. This enables the entire craft to contribute to lift generation with the result of potentially increased fuel economy. The airplane concept blends the fuselage, wing, and the engines into a single lifting surface, allowing the aerodynamic efficiency to be maximized

How is it different from flying wing Aircraft

Flying wing Aircraft are defined as having two separate bodies and only a single wing, though there may be structures protruding from the wing.

Blended wing/body aircraft have a flattened and airfoil shaped body, which produces most of the lift, the wings contributing the balance.

History of BWB

Early aircraft - circa 1926 - exhibiting BWB design principles was the Stout Batwing. The designer William Bushnell Stout, toured the US promoting his aircraft of the future which did not have a traditional fuselage Successful applications of this configuration are the H-09 and latter H-0229 developed by the Horton brothers for Nazis during 1942. Latter Northrop started NIM in 1942 then latter XB-35 bomber that flew first in 1946. the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is a design which falls between classic flying wing and the BWB concept, First flight in 1989.

STOUT BATWING

B-2 BOMBER

XB-35 BOMBER

1946 XB-35 bomber

STOUT BATWING 1926

H09 1939

YB-49 1949

B-2 bomber 1989

X-47A (UCAV) 2003

X-48 B 2007

Square-Cube-Law
When a physical object maintains the same density and is scaled up, its mass is increased by the cube of the multiplier while its surface area only increases by the square of said multiplier. This would mean that when the larger version of the object is accelerated at the same rate as the original, more pressure would be exerted on the surface of the larger object.

Basic configuration and nomenclature of Boeing BWB 450

BWB-450 specifications
Seating capacity Design Range No: of engines 478 passengers in three class interior arrangement 7750 nautical miles The BWB-450 uses three upper surface pylon mounted turbofan engines, located at the trailing edge of the wing, for propulsion 3 UEET direct drive turbofan engines (Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology) A recent Boeing optimization study1 indicated that a cruise Mach number of 0.90 is optimal for a range of 7,750 nm. 823,000 lb 0.85 mach (560 mph)

Type of engines Cruise mach no: Maximum gross weight Cruise speed

What Does the Future Hold for the BWB?

Cont..

 BWB shows a significant advantage over a conventional aircraft in terms of performance and weight It is mainly used in military applications. Boeing and the US military are designing the BWB to be used as an advanced tactical transport and as an air refuel tanker . The BWB has a large fuselage and can carry massive amounts of fuel. Also, it can provide two permanent refueling boom stations, rather than one as in the KC-135, KC-10 or KC-767.

A Boeing BWB tanker with pylonmounted engines

Other BWB projects 5th Framework Program

of the European Commission: VELA and MOB
Very Efficient Large Aircraft (VELA) from 1999 to 2002

VELA 1

VELA 2

6th Framework Program of the European Commission: NACRE with PDA (VELA follow on)

Vela 3 (2003-2006)

Preliminary sizing
VELA 3
Assumptions: OEW / MTOW = 0,5 SFC = 1.6 mg/(Ns) approach speed = 165 kt Reserves:
Given: range: MTOW: Wing Area: Wing Loading: mass of pax and luggage: payload: 7650 NM 700000 kg 2052 m 341 kg/m (very low for pass. transp. due to low lift coeff.) 95.0 kg per pax 71250 kg LOFTIN: 0,52 (T/W!) A380: 0,49 BWB structural benefits? normal technology level assumed 200 NM to alternate, 30 min. holding, 5% trip fuel allowance

Preliminary sizing
VELA 3

Preliminary sizing
VELA 3
Sizing Results: lift coefficient landing: 0.86 (higher than HAW wind tunnel results) L/D during 2. segment: 15.2 (higher than conv. due to small lift coefficient and small drag) L/D during missed approach: 11.0 (normal, because landing gear drag dominates, FAR!) L/Dmax : 20.9 (lower than BWB estimate) V / Vmd = 1.0 => L/D = L/Dmax (normal: V / Vmd = 1.0 ... 1.316) lift coefficient cruise: 0.31 trust to weight ratio: 0.28 (value is slightly high for 4-engined A/C, reason: TOFL and CL) Initial Cruise Altitude (ICA): 37800 ft (= 11.7 km) MLW: 469000 kg OEW: 350000 kg Fuel: 279000 kg (VELA 3: 282800 kg) Thrust: 481 kN (for each of the four engines)

Aero disciplines: Aerodynamics

AC20.30: CFD with FLUENT VELA 3
lift coefficient

angle of attack,

Aero disciplines: Aerodynamics

AC20.30: CFD with FLUENT VELA 3
Stalls can easily be handled Usable lift up to AOA of 12 At 22 AOA: wings are stalled body continues to produce lift but control surfaces do not deliver control power

path lines

Aero disciplines: Aerodynamics

AC20.30: CFD with FLUENT VELA 3

Aero disciplines: Aerodynamics

AC20.30: CFD with FLUENT VELA 3 lift to drag ratio, L/D

angle of attack,

Aero disciplines: FlightMechanics

Aero disciplines: FlightMechanics

Static Longitudinal Stability for VELA Configurations

Aero disciplines: Structures

Aero disciplines: Structures

VELA 2 - Basic Structural Layout

BWB advantages compared to today's advanced aircraft

better L/D reduction in emissions reduction in noise

10 to 15% better yes only with engines on top (reduction in noise to 42db below stage 4) yes, more than 750 pax per A/C (probably no problems with wake turbulence) 20% less

increase of airport capacity

Fuel burnt when compared to conventional aircraft reduction in fuel consumption

yes, due to L/D

Team members studying the Blended-WingBody (BWB) design

McDonnell Douglas, Stanford University, The University of Southern California, Clark Atlanta University, The University of Florida,

NASA Langley and Lewis Research Centers.

Boeing Phantom Works Air Force Research Laboratory NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center Institute of Aircraft Design and Lightweight Structures, TU Braunschweig

THANK YOU