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Aircraft Design 4 (2001) 193219

Invited paper

Flying wingFproblems and decisions


A.L. Bolsunovsky, N.P. Buzoverya, B.I. Gurevich, V.E. Denisov, A.I. Dunaevsky, L.M. Shkadov*, O.V. Sonin, A.J. Udzhuhu, J.P. Zhurihin
Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI), 1 Zhukovsky str., Zhukovsky, Moscow Region 140160, Russia

Abstract Traditionally, one of the priority directions in TsAGIs research activity is searching for new concepts in the eld of aviation technologies. In the context of these studies basic problems related to the development of advanced large-capacity aircraft of a ying-wing (FW) conguration have been studied at TsAGI since the late-1980s (Byushgens, Aviation in XXI century, Symposium on Aeronautical Technology in XXI Century, Moscow, September1989; Denisov et al., Conceptual design for passenger airplane of very large capacity in ying wing layout, ICAS 96-4.6.1, 1996). In the present paper primary emphasis is placed on the rationale of selecting FW main design solutions, aerodynamic conguration, structural concept as well as on development and analysis of alternative congurations. Consideration is also given to the problem, which is in the opinion of experts the most critical for this airplane type, namely, meeting FAR-25 standards with respect to airplane operation in emergency situations. At present the work on this concept is being conducted under the International Scientic and Technical Center grant No. 548. The project collaborators are AIRBUS INDUSTRIE and Boeing. r 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

1. Introduction One of the approaches to improving the eciency of future airplanes is to increase their passenger capacity. This will make it possible to reduce direct operating costs per passenger (Fig. 1) and to relieve large airports by decreasing the number of ights. However, for conventional airplanes with Cayley concept of separating component functions an increase in dimensions can lead to degradation of weight eciency. The stated feature as well as the requirements of the airplane size dictated by the infrastructure of available airports can signicantly limit maximum passenger capacity of a conventional airplane conguration. At the same time, increase of the airplane dimensions enables an entire payload or its portion to be accommodated in the wing and, thus, a ying-wing (FW) concept will become possible, where the
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +7-95-556-4412; fax: +7-95-556-4481. E-mail address: shkadov@tsagi.rssi.ru (L.M. Shkadov). 1369-8869/01/$ - see front matter r 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. PII: S 1 3 6 9 - 8 8 6 9 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 0 5 - 2

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Fig. 1. Comparative DOC.

component functions are integrated. The length of such an airplane is substantially less than that of a conventional airplane and the span of outboard wings can be reduced in operating on the ground by deecting their tips upward. An increased structure depth of the center section makes it possible to increase the wing span with less weight penalties as compared with conventional airplanes and, thus, to increase the FW lift-to-drag (L=D) ratio. An additional increment of the L=D ratio is provided due to the following factors inherent in the FW conguration:
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higher Reynolds numbers on the wing with chords twice as large as those of the conventional conguration; absence of a horizontal tail with corresponding friction and induced drag penalty; reduced static margin in the longitudinal channel and even small instability at cruise.

It was assumed that the total increase in L=D ratio of the FW conguration could be about 20% as against a conventional layout with load ratio close to the latter. So, there were serious reasons for carrying out comprehensive studies on a large-capacity airplane of ying wing or close to its congurations. The investigations carried out at TsAGI can be arbitrarily divided into three stages:
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The baseline FW conguration was developed at the rst stage. It formed the basis for computational and experimental studies and denition of the requirements of the project. The second stage was dedicated to the development of three candidate concepts covering a variety of possible congurations from updated conventional through intermediate to complete FW congurations. In addition, for the purposes of comparison, a traditional airplane conguration was developed for the same requirements.

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Detailed computational and experimental investigations are to be made at the third stage for the most promising layout.

2. Preliminary studies Using preliminary parametric studies as well as limited experimental investigations and some considerations given below, the baseline conguration for a large-capacity airplane of an FW type was developed (Fig. 2) [1]. It formed the basis for further computational and experimental investigations. The conguration corresponded to the preliminary concept with engines located over the rear center section and ns arranged on wing tips. The conguration dened is a certain compromise and involves such components of conventional designs as reduced nose and possibly rear fuselage sections. The airplane was intended to carry 940 passengers in economy class for 10,000 km range at a cruise Mach number of 0.8. 2.1. Wing conguration 2.1.1. Wing center section The FW concept presupposes considerable dimensions of the wing center section where the passenger cabin is housed. The wing with such a center section may have large front and rear chord extensions. The center-section planform, leading-edge sweep, relative size of the front and rear chord extensions greatly inuence the behavior of moment characteristics at high angles of

Fig. 2. FW baseline conguration.

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Fig. 3. The investigated wing congurations.

attack. For tailless congurations these characteristics dene to a large extent the feasibility of the airplane. Denition of a rational wing conguration was one of the main tasks in the experimental investigations carried out at the rst stage of the project. For this purpose three aerodynamic models with wing span of about 1.6 m and center section of various shapes were tested in the TsAGIs low-speed wind tunnel. The results of those tests are presented in Fig. 3. Based on the results obtained, the wing congurations with a large front chord extension were excluded from consideration in favor of the wings with an enlarged rear extension, which, in addition to satisfactory moment characteristics, provides sucient inner volumes in the wing center section. A number of contradictory factors aect the center-section span. Decrease of the center-section span is benecial from the standpoints of:
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decreasing wave drag; increasing the high-lift devices span; alleviating lateral and vertical g-loads acting upon passengers in airplane X-rotation; decreasing passenger path in emergency escape. On the other hand, decrease of the center-section span results in:

* * *

reduction of the wing portion with large structural depth and increase of wing weight; large dierence in chords of neighboring sections, leading to a certain increase in induced drag; elongation of the passenger cabin and, as a consequence, widening of the center-of-gravity (CG) range and increase in trim losses.

When analyzing the above contradictory factors, the basic value of the relative center-section % span was taken as Z 0:22: 2.1.2. Outboard-wing parameters The parameters of the main wing trapezoid were selected on the basis of aerodynamic and weight calculations. The absolute wing span was not limited by the 80 m value, because it was

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assumed that the wing tips would be deected at rest and in taxing. The outboard wing span should be sucient to accommodate the control units. The wing panel taper ratio must be greater than that of a conventional airplane to improve the stall characteristics. At rst, ns were mounted on the wing tips to achieve the winglets eect. Later on, it became clear that because of such arrangement the critical utter speed was reduced by more than 200 km/h and the n was located on the fuselage. For the FW conguration an optimal aspect ratio of the main wing trapezoid is somewhat higher than for the conventional conguration owing to the large structural depth of the center-wing section with lower cost to weight. At the rst stage of studies the following main trapezoid parameters were assumed: aspect ratio 10, taper ratio 0.4, leading edge sweep 361. As a whole, it was assumed that the functions and arrangement of the control units on the wing would be identical to those for the FW XB-35 and YB-49 designed by Northrop in the 1940s. Simple hinged aps are installed close to the center-of-gravity position to minimize pitch-down moment, which can be compensated by upward deection of the trimming elevons at the wing tips (Fig. 4). Besides, these tip elevon segments can be constructed as split rudders to provide extra yaw control in the low-speed engine-out condition. A special aerodynamic half-model was tested in wind tunnel to dene the eectiveness of the split aps more precisely. Mid-spanwise segments are used as elevators and high-speed ailerons. Additional elevators are installed on the centersection trailing edge. Slats along the outboard wing occupy the wing leading edge.

Fig. 4. Control units.

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2.2. Static stability margin Investigations into the problems relating to the reliability of a y by-wire control system and ight safety have indicated that the airplane in takeo and landing regimes is able to have the C degree of static stability close to zero (CmL p0), while in cruise ight the instability should be CL limited by Cm p0:03: This restriction requires that the conguration considered previously should be revised. Since, unlike the conventional conguration, it is impossible to achieve a specied stability margin for the FW by selecting a wing position relative to the fuselage, the main way is to select the location of engines on the airplane. The conguration with engines arranged over the wing tailing edge considered early at TsAGI [3] as well as the layout described by Liebeck in Ref. [4] have a high static instability not meeting C the requirement CmL p0:03: Therefore, in the present investigations we considered the conguration shown above (Fig. 4) with engines arranged on pylons under the wing that is typical for conventional conguration airplanes. 2.3. The type and arrangement of the powerplant Various options of engine arrangement and types of powerplants were analyzed, and along with turbofans, propfans were also considered. In this case a cruise Mach number was limited by the value 0.780.80. With the aim of increasing eciency, the engines were located within stagnant ow over the trailing edge of the center-wing section on the pylons. Such an arrangement was considered preferable from the standpoint of reducing noise in the passenger cabin and increasing the passenger safety in failure of rotating elements. It was supposed that the utilization of propfans might appear an important feature and an advantage just of the FW conguration, because it is dicult to locate propfan engines in such a manner on a conventional conguration. To dene the eciency of the propfan powerplant mounted over the rear wing section, computational and experimental investigations were carried out. The experimental facility, which comprised a propeller device and wing section, was specially designed for testing in a large subsonic wind tunnel. The test results proved the availability of favorable interference between the wing and the propeller, which further contributes to the low fuel consumption of the propfans. However on closer examination of the problem it was decided to abandon the propfan powerplant and the engine arrangement over the rear wing in general for a number of reasons:
*

to increase the FW competitiveness, a decision was made to increase the cruise Mach number up to M 0:85 (propfans are inecient at this speed); for over-the-wing engine arrangement it is problematic to compensate nose-down moment due to engine thrust without severe losses of lift in takeo regimes; for rear engine arrangement the airplane has an unacceptably high instability in the lateral channel or, in any case, excessively wide scatter of CG positions at dierent variants of airplane loading; for engine arrangement in a row, failure of one of them can cause a successive failure of all others.

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2.4. Structure concept Main features of the FW passenger airplane are associated with the placement of the passenger cabin in the center-wing section and the way of taking up excessive pressure acting upon the cabin walls. Calculations carried out have revealed that rather massive upper and lower panels of the center-wing section are able to carry both pressure and bending loads. Flat highly loaded panels, separating undercarriage bays from the pressure cabin, also take up the undercarriage loads and pressure loads simultaneously without a signicant addition of structural materials (Figs 5 and 6).

Fig. 5. Center-wing section layout.

Fig. 6. Center section, rear part.

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Fig. 7. DOC comparison.

For the nose and rear parts of the center-wing section, where aerodynamic loads are small enough, the main factor dening the thickness of at three layer panels and their weight are aerodynamic constraints on the value of allowable wing surface deformation. A concept of separately taking up the loads with at panels absorbing external loads and cylindrical shells absorbing cabin pressure may appear rational for these zones (Figs 5 and 6). 2.5. Rational airplane size When dening a rational airplane size (passenger capacity), fuel eciency and DOC were used as a gure of merit. It has been revealed that a rational number of passengers can be 750 seats in a three-class layout (950 seats in all-economy layout). With 650700 passengers, the conventional airplane operating costs were obtained close to minimal (Fig. 7). The length of a conventional airplane is about 80 mFa limiting value from the airport standpoints. Based on preliminary estimates it was assumed that the FW airplane of such a passenger capacity could meet FAR-25 with respect to safety and is compatible with existing airport infrastructure. 2.6. Experimental investigations of the baseline conguration On the basis of the preliminary studies an aerodynamic model of an airplane intended for a cruise Mach number of 0.8 was designed and tested in TsAGIs large transonic wind tunnel. The test results validated the possibility of achieving a very high cruise L=D ratio for realistic FW congurations, 2025% higher than that of conventional counterparts. At the same time, favorable lift and moment characteristics at high-angles-of-attack regimes have been demonstrated.

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3. Current investigations 3.1. Denition of requirements Taking into account the results obtained at the preliminary stage together with collaborators from AIRBUS INDUSTRIE new project specications and the level of basic technologies were dened. Main specications: Nominal range Passenger capacity in 3-class layout Cruise Mach number Takeo eld length, ISA, sea level +151C Condition: ACN Standards

13,700 km (7400 n.m.) 750 seats 0.85 3350 m 65 FAR-25

3.1.1. Technology level Although it is unlikely that the airplane will be put into operation until 20152020, that is, the time when the problem of creating a high-capacity aircraft generation following the A3XX may become urgent, it was decided to employ current advanced technologies used for aircraft being designed at present. This approach corresponds to the following technical solutions:
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basic structural materialsFaluminum alloys; limited application of composite materials; low degree of static instability (B3%) at cruise, neutral or stable airplane at takeo and landing; engines which are now under development; current infrastructure of airports.

Also dened were critical technologies making the greatest impact on the feasibility of an FW concept:
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aerodynamic conguration; airframe/engine interference; systems providing stability, controllability and ight safety; center-wing section structure; aeroelasticity and utter; passenger cabin arrangement meeting FAR-25 with respect to emergency passenger escape; compatibility with airport infrastructures.

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3.2. Development of alternative congurations At the preliminary stage the emphasis was placed on searching for main design approaches, dening critical technologies as well as on the test verication of aerodynamic performance of the accepted layouts. At the same time the developed baseline conguration was, in some sense, of a conceptual nature because design problems associated with meeting the airport requirements and the FAR-25 standards relating to the airplane operation had not been examined in detail. At this stage, great attention was paid to the following aspects:
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number, location and structure of emergency exits; waterline position in ditching; possible charts of embarkment and deployment in standard and emergency situation; level of comfort in passenger cabins; arrangement of service compartments (galleys, coat rooms, crew berths, etc.); cabin oor inclination at cruise; arrangement and service of cargo bays; landing gear wheel base and track; airplane turn on taxiways; aireld pavement loads from undercarriage; engine arrangement; operational CG range at dierent modes of airplane loading, positioning and capacity of fuel tanks, fuel usage sequence; stretched versions possibility; possibility of cargo and combi versions.

To investigate the design problem more thoroughly, a decision was made to consider a wide range of possible congurations, from updated conventional through some hybrid layouts to a pure FW. Besides, for comparison purposes a conventional conguration for 750 seats was also developed. Four developed congurations are as follows: Conguration 1. Conventional conguration: It is a classical conguration with a traditional tail (Figs. 8 and 9). The passengers are accommodated in the fuselage at two levels. Conguration 2. Hybrid layout (IWB): This conguration has been evolved out of the baseline layout (Fig. 2). It is an integral conguration combining a shortened fuselage and a wing with enlarged center section. We call such hybrid scheme the integrated wingbody (IWB) scheme [3]. About 40% of the total passengers are accommodated in the center-wing section. The rest of the passengers are placed on two decks in the fuselage. The general view of the IWB conguration is shown in Figs. 10 and 11. The arrangement is presented in Fig. 12. The main features are as follows:
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integration of the wing/fuselage structure; least relative center-wing thickness with large absolute structural depth; availability of windows in the rst-class and business-class cabins; distribution of emergency exits over two levels (upper and main passenger cabins), which simplies their arrangement; stretched versions possibility.

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Fig. 8. Conventional conguration general view.

Conguration 3. Lifting-body conguration: The conguration has a center-wing-fuselage of large width, where the passengers are accommodated at one level, while the lower deck houses the service and cargo compartments (Figs 1315). The main features are as follows:
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absence of the upper passenger cabin deck, which signicantly simplies the airplane maintenance; large volumes of containers in a cargo version; shift of the galleys to the lower deck which makes it possible to serve them and make passenger embarkment and deployment simultaneously; short undercarriage legs yet enabling takeo without angle-of-attack limitations; large control surface on the trailing edge of the shaped center-wing-fuselage, the eectiveness of which does not depend signicantly on structure elasticity.

Conguration 4. Pure ying wing: This conguration corresponds most closely to the denition ying wing. Here all the passengers are accommodated in an enlarged wide center section at one level (Figs 1618). The main features are as follows:
*

absence of the upper passenger cabin deck, which signicantly simplies the airplane maintenance; smooth concatenation of wing consoles and center section.

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Fig. 9. Conventional conguration layout.

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Fig. 10. Hybrid conguration general view.

Fig. 11. Hybrid conguration perspective view.

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Fig. 12. Hybrid conguration layout.

3.3. Comparison of alternative variants of airplane The studies carried out previously made it possible to reveal the FW peculiarities, to elaborate the requirements of an advanced airplane of high passenger capacity and to develop a number of alternative layouts. For further detailed analysis it is reasonable to choose the most advanced conguration with the best characteristics among the layouts under consideration. The layouts were compared on the basis of the following technical and operating data:
* *

aerodynamic eciency; weight eciency;

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Fig. 13. Lifting fuselage conguration general view.

Fig. 14. Lifting fuselage conguration perspective view.

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Fig. 15. Lifting fuselage conguration layout.

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Fig. 16. Flying-wing conguration general view.

Fig. 17. Flying-wing conguration perspective view.

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Fig. 18. Flying-wing conguration layout.

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fuel eciency; operational characteristics: cabin oor slope at cruise; maximum distance to emergency exits;

A.L. Bolsunovsky et al. / Aircraft Design 4 (2001) 193219 Table 1 Some geometric parameters of alternative congurations Conventional Wing span (m) Airplane length (m) Airplane height (m) Aria of basic trapeze (m2) Wing planform area (m2) Wing trapezoid aspect ratio Wing aspect ratio Airplane wetted area (m2) 84 78 26.5 833 867 8.5 8.17 4100 IWB 100 61.7 22.6 1089 1588 9.2 6.3 4080 Lifting body 100 51 14.5 1083 1670 9.23 6.0 4040 FW

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100 50 15.7 1020 1651 9.8 6.06 3860

Fig. 19. Aerodynamic eciency.

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availability of windows in passenger cabins; number of cargo containers; operating CG range; stretching capability.

Some geometric parameters of alternative congurations are presented in Table 1. As it is seen in Fig. 19, the congurations No. 2, 3, 4 (IWB layout, lifting body conguration and pure FW) have actually equal aerodynamic eciency at M 0:8: However, due to small relative center-wing section thickness, the IWB layout has less wave drag and, as a consequence, higher L=D-ratio at cruise M 0:85:

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Fig. 20. Gross takeo weight comparison.

Fig. 21. Empty operated weight per one passenger comparison.

3.3.1. Weight eciency Minimum takeo weight of the airplane (Fig. 20) and operating empty weight per one passenger (Fig. 21) may be used as the criteria of airplane weight eciency and price. It follows from Figs 20 and 21 that the IWB and FW congurations are superior in these criteria. Due to high aerodynamic and weight eciency the IWB conguration is superior to other congurations in fuel consumption per one passenger-kilometer (Fig. 22). 3.3.2. Operating and other characteristics Generalizing the results of the investigations carried out, it may be concluded that all but one of the congurations considered could meet the requirements of FAR-25. The FW conguration (see Figs 1618) with two engines out of four mounted on the rear of the center-wing section is

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Fig. 22. Fuel consumption per one passenger comparison.

Table 2 Comparison of operating and other characteristics Conventional Cabin oor slope (degree) Maximum distance to emergency exit (m) All exits work 50% exits work Windows availability in passenger cabins First class Business class Tourist class Number of LD-3 cargo containers Center of gravity range (%) Possibility of the modications creation 1 11 16.6 IWB 4 11 22 Lifting body 4.5 13.2 25 FW 4.5 11.5 28

+ + + 42 +

+ + 7 40 32 7

+ 7 43 37

32 30

unacceptable due to impermissibly high instability in takeo and landing regimes. Besides, the emergency exits of this conguration are located lower down the waterline (Table 2). For further investigations, in accordance with the criteria adopted, the IWB conguration (Figs 1012) was selected, which:
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includes all the peculiarities related to a conguration of an FW type; is the most thoroughly developed as a logical successor of the baseline layout (Fig. 2), enabling the use of experimental results of the preliminary studies; has many common features with a conventional aircraft in operation and production and satisfactorily solves the emergency evacuation problem; is superior in technical and economic criteria.

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4. IWB scheme characteristics 4.1. Basic data of the scheme Basic data of the scheme are presented in Table 3. The relative dimensions of the normal and IWB schemes are shown in Fig. 23. 4.2. Center-of-gravity range On the basis of studying possible variants of the control system it was decided to assume static instability of o3% MAC in the longitudinal channel at cruise. The corresponding L=D-ratio decrease will be no more than 0.5 as compared to the absolute value, which is realized at a very high instability level of about 1214%. In takeo and landing regimes the airplane must be neutral or statically stable. The allowable CG range for the conguration chosen and the control unit characteristics adopted should not exceed 66.5% of MAC in takeo and landing regimes. It should be noted that the MAC is related to the total wing area with the center-wing section and exceeds more than twice the MAC of a conventional airplane, so the pointed cg range corresponds to the CG range of 1215% for conventional conguration. But even if the stated notion is taken into account, the allowable CG range will be lower for FW than for current conventional airplanes. The CG range was computed for all stages of ight for the following variants of the airplane loading:
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maximum number of passengers in three classes+luggage; maximum number of passengers in three classes+maximum cargo; maximum loading of aircraft (one-class layout of cabin with increased passenger density+ maximum cargo); 25% of passengers in the rst half of compartments of each class; 25% of passengers in the rear half of compartments of each class; ferry version.

Table 3 Basic data of IWB scheme Wing span in ight and on runway (m) Wing span at rest and in taxiing (m) Airplane length (m) Height (m) Capacity, 3-class, pax. Max. capacity (economy class), pax. Maximum takeo weight (t) Maximum landing weight (t) Operating empty weight (t) Maximum payload (t) Fuel capacity (t) Typical fuel per ight (including fuel reserve) (t) Range (n.m.) Cruise Mach number Takeo eld length (SL, ISA+10) (m) 100 79 62 22.6 750 975 572 437 301 114 280 199 7650 0.85 3350

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Fig. 23. External dimensions of IWB and conventional conguration comparison.

The computations carried out have revealed that with fuel transfer taken into consideration the resulting CG positions are within the allowable range at all stages of ight. The important factor enabling CG requirements to be met is the lesser length of the FW cabin and cargo bay as compared with conventional congurations. In selecting design solutions providing a required CG range, the eect of aeroelasticity on the position of aerodynamic center must be thoroughly considered (Fig. 24). The CG control is fullled mainly by assigning the order of fuel utilization and (or) fuel transfer. A suciently large volume of outer wing box and the availability of the small fuel tanks in the center-wing section make it possible to solve this problem properly. 4.3. Cabin oor slope at cruise The oor of the passenger cabin of a conventional airplane at cruise is close to a horizontal position. Such a oor inclination is provided by wing settings relative to fuselage of 341. For FW concept with positive pitch-moment decit a large incidence of the layout is favorable from the standpoint of high L=D-ratio. Wing-fuselage inclination results in an inadmissible reduction of the passenger cabin, and cannot be actually more than 11. Thus, the cabin oor inclination will be high enough B33.51 at cruise. During ight this circumstance may present some problems in moving food trolleys whose

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Fig. 24. Variation of the center of gravity.

weight is up to 100 kg. In the considered variant of the airplane the food trolleys are arranged in the front part of the passenger cabin in order to push the loaded trolleys down. 4.4. Emergency evacuation In Figs 2527 the emergency exits for passenger evacuation on ground and water are shown. According to FAR-25-800, the emergency evacuation during the airplane landing on ground requires that no more than 50% of exits should be used. In this case it is customary to use the exits arranged along one side of the airplane. The FW airplane passenger cabin is signicantly wider than that of a conventional airplane and this may increase the distance to the exit. Thus, the maximum distance from the farthest row of seats to the exit does not exceed 16.5 m (see Fig. 25)

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Fig. 25. Emergency exits in IWB conguration.

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Fig. 26. Emergency evacuations on land (IWB conguration).

Fig. 27. Emergency evacuations on water (IWB conguration).

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for conventional airplanes, while for the FW under consideration this distance amounts to 22 m. In order to not allow the increase of time for emergency escape, the following design solutions are used. The number of three-seat blocks making the exit dicult is brought down to a minimum. The seat-block pitch is increased and as a main solution the aisle width is increased almost one and a half times (from 0.506 to 0.72 m). Such an increased width corresponds to a new standard for advanced airplanes being in consideration at present. 5. Conclusion A number of investigations on dening the conguration and possible characteristics of an FW type airplane with super high passenger capacity were conducted. The level of technologies used in the project corresponded to the near-term perspective. The outcomes conrmed preliminary suppositions on the possibility of achieving higher technical and economical characteristics of FW conguration airplane as compared with conventional airplanes. In the authors opinion, the hybrid layout (or integrated wingbody scheme) which represents an intermediate link between a pure FW and a conventional airplane is the best competitive concept. The IWB scheme retains a primary advantage of FWFhigh L=D-ratio (L=DB24.5 at M 0:85) and at the same time could meet all main paragraphs of FAR-25. References
[1] Byushgens GS. Aviation in XXI century. Symposium on Aeronautical Technology in XXI Century, Moscow, September 1989. [3] Denisov VE, Bolsunovsky AL, Buzoverya NP, Gurevich BI. Recent investigations of the very large passenger Blended-WingBody aircraft. ICAS 98-4.10.3, 1998.

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