Project Goals
The main objectives of ACFA 2020 are to provide robust as well as adaptive multi-channel control architectures for
loads alleviation and improvement of ride comfort and handling qualities on BWB type aircrafts, as well as the design
of a new ultra efficient 450 passenger BWB type aircraft. The objective of the designed controllers is an ambitious
improvement of ride comfort and handling qualities, as well as load reduction on BWB type aircraft. Due to the
unconventional placement of control surfaces, BWB type aircrafts require multi-channel control architectures for
manoeuvres as well as for active rigid body and vibration control. This is regarded as technology step compared to
state-of-the-art single-channel controllers generally used for conventional aircraft configurations. Moreover promising
algorithms such as adaptive feed-forward control and neural network control for active control of BWB type aircrafts
will be investigated in ACFA 2020. These multi-channel algorithms will be applied to the large flying wing aircraft
designed in the VELA and NACRE project as well as to a newly designed ultra efficient 450 passenger aircraft.
For this 450 passenger aircraft design a flying wing and an ultra wide body fuselage aircraft with carry-through wing
box will be compared and the configuration which promises highest efficiency with respect to fuel burn will be retained
for a more detailed design. Based on the attained loads reduction due to the developed active control systems, the structure
of this new 450 passenger aircraft will be resized with the goal of an ambitious weight saving for further improvement of fuel
efficiency.
The BWB configuration also offers a great potential for the minimization of noise signature through integration of the engine over the rear fuselage or in the airframe and also due to the generally higher wing area/weight ratio, which allows for a simplified high-lift system. The structural weight of BWB type aircrafts can be further minimized thanks to the effect of active MIMO control developed in ACFA 2020. Therefore ACFA 2020 strongly contributes to meet the ACARE 2020 goals.
The BWB configuration also offers a great potential for the minimization of noise signature through integration of the engine over the rear fuselage or in the airframe and also due to the generally higher wing area/weight ratio, which allows for a simplified high-lift system. The structural weight of BWB type aircrafts can be further minimized thanks to the effect of active MIMO control developed in ACFA 2020. Therefore ACFA 2020 strongly contributes to meet the ACARE 2020 goals.