Flight Vehicle Design

AENG 490

Dr. James Scire

September 19, 2023

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Assignment

The Homework 1 questions are posted as a PDF on Canvas.

Homework 1 is due Tuesday, 9/26/2023.
Quiz 1 will be Thursday, 9/28/2023.

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Outline

Example Problem
Sensitivity Analysis
Example Problem

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

3. Determine the Mission Fuel Weight

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

3. Determine the Mission Fuel Weight

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

3. Determine the Mission Fuel Weight

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Table 2.15

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Design Example 1 – Twin-Engine Propeller Airplane

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Sensitivity Calculations

We will return to the design process shortly ...

At this point, however, it is worth noting that some of our
decisions during preliminary sizing are somewhat speculative.
It is therefore important that we are able to estimate the
impact of the chosen parameters on the take-off weight.
In particular, we will calculate how the take-off weight varies
with
Payload weight, WPL
Empty weight, WE
Range, R
Endurance, E
Lift-to-drag ratio, L/D
Specific fuel consumption, cj or cp
Propeller efficiency, ηp

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Sensitivity Calculations

In the subsequent calculations, we will assume that the

parameters for each phase of the mission are independent and
calculate their sensitivities separately.
Coupling, if it does exist, can be modeled by forming the
appropriate linear combinations of the sensitivities.
The sensitivity calculations help us to
Determine which parameters “drive” the design.
Determine which areas of technology change must be pursued
in order to achieve some new mission capability.
Examine how our choices of the more speculative parameters,
like L/D and cj , affect the design.

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Analytical Calculation of Take-off Weight Sensitivities

We begin by combining some of the expressions used earlier,

in order to express the result in analytical form (after some
additional steps).
First,

WE = WTO − WF − WPL − Wtfo − Wcrew

Substituting the expression for the fuel used into the fuel
equation,
WF = (1 − Mff ) WTO + WF,res
If the reserve fuel is given as a fraction of the fuel used Mres ,
we may write

WF,res = Mres (1 − Mff ) WTO

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Analytical Calculation of Take-off Weight Sensitivities

For the trapped fuel and oil, we introduce a multiplier Mtfo

for the take-off gross weight.
Substituting these into the empty weight expression, we have

WE = WTO [1 − (1 + Mres ) (1 − Mff ) − Mtfo ]−(WPL + Wcrew )

We can rewrite this expression as

WE = CWTO − D

where
C = [1 − (1 + Mres ) (1 − Mff ) − Mtfo ]
and
D = (WPL + Wcrew )

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Analytical Calculation of Take-off Weight Sensitivities

The gross take-off weight/empty weight correlations are of the

form
log10 WE = (log10 WTO − A) /B
Substituting for the empty weight, we can write

log10 WTO = B log10 (CWTO − D) + A

This expression implicitly gives WTO as a function of A, B, C,

and D
Here we see the opportunity to directly solve for the take-off
weight, avoiding the overall iterative process in favor of the
numerical solution of this equation.
We can also take derivatives of this expression to determine a
sensitivity coefficient to some parameter y.

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Analytical Calculation of Take-off Weight Sensitivities
Note that
ln x = (log10 x) (ln 10)
so
d log10 x 1 1
=
dx x ln 10
We consider A and B to be fixed constants, while C and D
may each depend on the parameter y.
We take the partial derivative of both sides with respect to y:
 
1 1 ∂WTO B 1 ∂C ∂WTO ∂D
= WTO + C −
WTO ln 10 ∂y CWTO − D ln 10 ∂y ∂y ∂y

We multiply by (WTO ln 10) to yield

 
∂WTO BWTO ∂C ∂WTO ∂D
= WTO + C −
∂y CWTO − D ∂y ∂y ∂y

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Analytical Calculation of Take-off Weight Sensitivities
Distributing
2
BWTO
∂WTO ∂C BWTO ∂WTO BWTO ∂D
= + C −
∂y CWTO − D ∂y CWTO − D ∂y CWTO − D ∂y
Grouping the ∂WTO /∂y terms,
  2
BWTO
∂WTO BCWTO ∂C BWTO ∂D
1− = −
∂y CWTO − D CWTO − D ∂y CWTO − D ∂y
Multiply by CWTO − D,
∂WTO 2 ∂C ∂D
[CWTO − D − BCWTO ] = BWTO − BWTO
∂y ∂y ∂y
Solving for ∂WTO /∂y yields
2 ∂C − BW
BWTO ∂D
∂WTO ∂y TO ∂y
=
∂y C(1 − B)WTO − D

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Sensitivity of the Take-off Weight to the Payload Weight

We have
∂D ∂C
=1 =0
∂WPL ∂WPL
The sensitivity expression becomes
∂WTO −BWTO
=
∂WPL C(1 − B)WTO − D

The sensitivity ∂WTO /∂WPL is called the airplane growth

factor due to payload.

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Sensitivity of Take-off Weight to Empty Weight

Here we take a step back and simply differentiate the

correlation equation, which is repeated here

log10 WTO = A + B log10 WE

We find
1 1 ∂WTO B 1
=
WTO ln 10 ∂WE WE ln 10
Substituting the expression for WE , we can write
∂WTO BWTO
= (log W −A)/B
∂WE 10 10 TO

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Sensitivity of Take-off Weight to Other Parameters

For any parameter y other than the payload weight or crew

weight, ∂D/∂y = 0.
The sensitivity expression is then

BWTO2
∂WTO ∂C
=
∂y C(1 − B)WTO − D ∂y

C can be rewritten as

C = [Mff (1 + Mres ) − Mres − Mtfo ]

For parameters than only affect Mff (including L/D, R, E,

ηp , cp , cj , and V )

∂C ∂Mff
= (1 + Mres )
∂y ∂y

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Sensitivity of Take-off Weight to Other Parameters
Recall that Mff is the product of all of the fuel factors.
Since we assign separate parameters to each phase, only one
fuel factor will be a function of a given parameter y.
Suppose the parameter is associated with Wi+1 /Wi , then
∂Mff Wi ∂(Wi+1 /Wi )
= Mff
∂y Wi+1 ∂y
Note further that the parameters listed above appear in either
the Breguet range equation or endurance equation.
In general, we can write
 
Wi
R̄ = ln
Wi+1
where
Rcj
R̄ =
V (L/D)
for the jet case, for example.
Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design
Sensitivity of Take-off Weight to Other Parameters
For endurance, we have
 
Wi
Ē = ln
Wi+1

where
Ecj
Ē =
(L/D)
again using the example of the jet case.
If we take the partial derivative of R̄ with respect to y, we find

∂ R̄ Wi ∂ (Wi+1 /Wi )
=−
∂y Wi+1 ∂y
so
∂ (Wi+1 /Wi ) Wi+1 ∂ R̄
=−
∂y Wi ∂y

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Sensitivity of Take-off Weight to Other Parameters

Combining the expressions for the range case, we have

BWTO 2  
∂WTO Wi Wi+1 ∂ R̄
= (1 + Mres ) Mff −
∂y C(1 − B)WTO − D Wi+1 Wi ∂y

Canceling the two ratios, we have

2
−BWTO
∂WTO ∂ R̄
= (1 + Mres ) Mff
∂y C(1 − B)WTO − D ∂y
or
∂WTO ∂ R̄
=F
∂y ∂y
where
2
−BWTO
F = (1 + Mres ) Mff
C(1 − B)WTO − D

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Design Example 1 Sensitivities

For the two-engine propeller plane in Example 1, Calculate the

sensitivity of the gross take-off weight to
The payload weight WPL
The empty weight WE
The specified range R
The specific fuel consumption cp
The propeller efficiency ηp
The lift-to-drag ratio L/D

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design