The growth in air mobility, rising fuel prices and ambitious targets in emission reduction are some of the driving factors behind research towards more efficient aircraft. The purpose of this paper is to assess the application of a blended wing body (BWB) aircraft configuration with turbo-electric distributed propulsion in the military sector and to highlight the potential benefits that could be achieved for long-range and heavy payload applications.
Mission performance has been simulated using a point-mass approach and an engine performance code (TURBOMATCH) for the propulsion system. Payload-range charts were created to compare the performance of a BWB aircraft with various different fuels against the existing Boeing 777-200LR as a baseline.
When using kerosene, an increase in payload of 42 per cent was achieved but the use of liquefied natural gas enabled a 50 per cent payload increase over a design range of 7,500 NM. When liquid hydrogen (LH2) is used, the range may be limited to about 3,000 NM by the volume available for this low-density fuel, but the payload at this range could be increased by 137 per cent to 127,000 kg.
The results presented to estimate the extent to which the efficiency of military operations could be improved by making fewer trips to transport high-density and irregular cargo items and indicate how well the proposed alternatives would compare with present military aircraft. There are no existing NATO aircraft with such extended payload and range capacities. This paper, therefore, explores the potential of BWB aircraft with turbo-electric distributed propulsion as effective military transports.
Assessment of the BWB aircraft for military transport
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology ; 92 , 5 ; 769-776
2020-04-06
8 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Military V/S.T.O.L. Transport aircraft
Engineering Index Backfile | 1966
|American military aircraft -- Cargo transport
Engineering Index Backfile | 1943
British military aircraft -- Cargo-transport
Engineering Index Backfile | 1944
British military aircraft -- Cargo-transport
Engineering Index Backfile | 1943
American military aircraft -- Cargo transport
Engineering Index Backfile | 1944