2026· Materials Research Proceedings· Vol 69, pp. 522-527· 0 citations
Abstract
Abstract. To ensure economic access to space, re-using rocket boosters can be one key-element. In comparison to expendable boosters, reusable boosters need to perform additional flight maneuvers, resulting in different airspace demand. As a safety measure for air traffic, airspaces in which spacecraft operate are temporarily closed. Such airspace closures pose an additional challenge for planning flights and airspace capacities. The influence of different booster recovery methods on the airspace closure dimensions are investigated in a collaborative study between TU Braunschweig and DLR SART. Further, the effects of such closures on air traffic are analyzed. As a first proof of concept, this paper applies the developed methodology to quantify airspace closures and associated costs per affected aircraft for two scenarios. While demonstrating the capabilities of the methodology, its limitations and intended improvements are stated and discussed.
Abstract. This paper outlines a comparative analysis of acquisition, operation & maintenance and overall mission costs carried out on three test cases, where existing flying machines currently flying operational missions (specifically, a multi-copter UAV, a fixed-wing UAV and a manned helicopter) are compared to a novelly designed unmanned airship. The analysis was carried out designing a specific airship for each mission by employing a well-proven technique implemented in the Morning Star suite at Politecnico di Milano. Furthermore, costs are evaluated through estimation relationships accounting for the specific features of an airship, in a fashion suggested by cost estimation methods available for fixed-wing aircraft. The results allow for interesting comparisons, and show where a small-scale unmanned LTA may reduce the cost associated to procurement and operation compared to other flying platforms, while successfully capturing the same mission target as current solutions.
C. Riboldi· Materials Research Proceedin...· 0 citations
Against the backdrop of accelerating urbanization and diversifying social demands, aerospace technology has extensively permeated numerous fields such as logistics and transportation, emergency and disaster relief, environmental monitoring, and urban transportation. Its application scope is expanding from traditional reconnaissance and surveillance to complex scenarios like material transportation, manned operations, and precision maintenance. Within this trend, high-payload, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), and high-safety aircraft have become key equipment for enhancing operational efficiency across multiple sectors. Among these, high-payload ducted fan aircraft, with their high safety, excellent low-speed performance, and outstanding VTOL capability, demonstrate unique advantages in tall building fire suppression, power lines and towers maintenance, and personal flight experiences. This paper first outlines the diversified application prospects of aerospace technology, then focuses on high-payload ducted fan aircraft. It discusses the technical requirements specific to such aircraft in the aforementioned key scenarios and analyzes the critical technical bottlenecks hindering their broader application, along with potential viable solutions.
Bin Lou, Zhuoyuan Li, Yuansong Zhang et al.· SAE technical paper series· 0 citations
The National Transport Safety Board found that Wheels-Up Landing was the second highest defining event for aircraft accidents from 2008 to 2022. The increasing push for sustainable propulsion and accompanying novel airframe architectures present new integration and safety challenges for aircraft design and development, among which is the structural integrity and crashworthiness of the aircraft under such extreme events. This paper examines the regulations and design requirements governing aircraft emergency Wheels-Up Landing scenarios, emphasising their implications for aircraft safety and structural integrity. It consolidates standards from aviation authorities, such as the FAA and EASA, which identify and define key requirements relating to occupant safety and fire prevention and protection during such events. The paper then considers the Wheels-Up Landing scenario and its design requirements within the context of future novel aircraft employing sustainable propulsion systems, from higher bypass turbofan to electric- and hydrogen-based technologies. The unique characteristics and challenges of these emerging propulsion technologies are described, highlighting how alternative structural configurations, weight distributions and powerplant architectures may influence the aircraft response under a Wheels-Up Landing event. Finally, an exploration of predictive modelling strategies and methods currently used in Wheels-Up Landing analysis was conducted. While reviewing the breadth of accurate, high-fidelity modelling methods targeting fuselage impact, it also highlighted the gap in both considering the increasingly relevant and frequent powerplant impact scenarios, and the provision of lightweight modelling approaches necessary to rapidly and adequately address the emergency Wheels-Up Landing response early in the aircraft design process.
Jesse Wallace, D. Quinn, Declan C. Nolan et al.· Aerospace· 0 citations
This article surveys how simulation has been used to study special operations in non-segregated airspace, where civil, military and unmanned aircraft increasingly share the same volume. The operations of interest include the handling of non-cooperative unmanned aircraft, counter-UAS activity, military flights transiting civil airspace, and cooperative maneuvers such as air-to-air refueling. How this mixed traffic behaves, the workload it imposes on controllers, and the value of any new procedure or decision-aiding tool are empirical questions that cannot be answered safely, affordably, or repeatably in live flight. The discussion is organized around four threads: the role of simulation as a research instrument; the fast-time and real-time human-in-the-loop paradigms, together with the platforms that embody them (FACET, BlueSky, ESCAPE, en-route digital twins); the conflict-detection, conflict-resolution and detect-and-avoid methods that have been developed and validated computationally; and the human-factors evidence from controller-in-the-loop experiments. Drawing these threads together, the article argues that a dedicated, high-fidelity simulation capability is not a convenience but a precondition for safely integrating special operations into shared airspace, and it identifies where the literature remains thin, most notably the scarcity of platforms purpose-built for special operations and for non-cooperative traffic.
Ana-Maria Bordei, C. Nae· Romanian Journal of Technica...· 0 citations
This paper discusses the development of a fully nonlinear flight dynamics model of a hover-capable Air-Launched Uncrewed Aerial System (ALUAS) in order to (1) understand the dynamics, controllability, and airloads during complicated maneuvers and (2) gain insights from simulation to inform the design and operation of future ALUASs. Prior studies conducted wind tunnel tests on full-scale models to measure the airloads on the propeller, isolated fuselage, and full aircraft. The flight dynamics model, once corrected with the test data, was used to simulate maneuvers including hover-to-cruise transition, cruise-to-hover transition, ground launch, air launch from a moving helicopter, and air launch with asymmetric wing unfolding. These simulations demonstrate the capability of the vehicle to perform complicated maneuvers to meet various mission objectives in challenging environments.
Reuben-Wayne Stewart, Jack Dooher, Moble Benedict· Aerospace· 0 citations
Characterizing the highly complex aero-propulsive interaction in distributed electric propulsion (DEP) aircraft may require automated flight-testing procedures with dedicated maneuvers, which introduce specific safety challenges. This paper investigates an accident involving a distributed electric propulsion research demonstrator, named SwitchMaster, during an automated flight-test mission for aerodynamic model identification. The event occurred during a scheduled pitch excitation maneuver and resulted in a loss of control followed by ground impact. The investigation is based on flight logs, telemetry analysis, and structured accident investigation methods, including the ICAO ADREP taxonomy and the Swiss Cheese Model. The results show that the accident resulted from a combination of open-loop control surface fixation, insufficient real-time safety barriers, ineffective maneuver interruption, and delayed recovery authority. Variable wind speeds and asymmetric trim acquisition are considered possible contributing factors to the aircraft drift from equilibrium conditions. This paper concludes with safety recommendations, software improvements and lessons learnt to enhance the reliability of automated flight testing for DEP aircraft.
Giorgio Filippoli, B. M. Perri, Niko Terzaroli et al.· Safety· 0 citations