Trends and Drivers in Aerospace

Dr. Shreekant Agrawal

ASEI 30th Annual ConventionDearborn, MichiganSeptember 19, 2015

Approved for public release; NG15-1793, 9/2/15

Trends and Drivers

• Lighter, more fuel-efficient

• More stringent certification levels for noise and emissions

• Cost pressure

• Unmanned air vehicles

• Increasing system software

• Vehicle-to-vehicle communication

• Data handling

• Greening

• Safety, reliability, and security

• Increasing competition

• Co-opetition

• Aerospace engineering education2

Approved for public release; NG15-1793, 9/2/15

UAV Articles from Popular Science

• FAA Warns Of Increased Drone Sightings

• Google Is Testing Drones Under NASA's Supervision

• Weed Delivery Service Will Fly Drugs To Customers Via Drone

• Police In Georgia May Be Getting Flying Saucer Drones To Hunt Criminals

• Military Drone Looks For Missing School Teacher

• Researchers Successfully Transport Blood By Drone

• Watch A Drone Gently Deliver A Package

• Uber Delivers Ice Cream By Drone In Shenzhen

• Switzerland Has Started Testing Mail Delivery Drones

• NASA Is Testing A Drone For Mars3

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System Software

• Software writer must know every aspect of the hardware

• Software must be bug-free

• Increased communication with ground controls

• For UAV, software does what a pilot does for MAV

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Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication

• Each vehicle must know the exact coordinates of other vehicles to avoid collision (sense and avoid)

• Swarming drones for surveillance, targeting, and dropping payloads

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Data Handling

• Sifting a vast amount of data to make it useful

• Integrating the vast amount of data from each vehicle with that from other vehicles

• Streamlining and delivering to allow for effective decision-making

• US DOD initiative of “big data” handling

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Greening

• Volatility in oil prices

• Greater fuel efficiency

• Alternative fuel options

• Reducing carbon emissions (CO2, NO, NO2)– Fuel consumed by the U.S. commercial air carriers and the military

releases more than 250 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere each year

• Reducing noise

• NASA ERA, FAA CLEEN, DOD ADVENT / HEETE, etc., programs to reduce fuel burn, carbon emissions, and noise

• NASA ERA – simultaneous reduction of noise, emission, and fuel burn as the focus

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Aerospace Engineering Education

• Growing interest in aerospace among students

• Third-most popular field for engineering students

• 38,000 new aerospace engineering jobs in 2014; 4,000 jobs filled by students

• A large percentage in programming

• Aerospace education expanded from hardware-based science, engineering, and technology to systems and systems of systems-based engineering

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Technologies

• Composite for light-weight and stronger materials

• Improved methods for aerodynamic drag reduction

• Noise, SFC, and emission reduction technologies

• Highly-integrated propulsion/airframe concepts

• Air Transportation System

• Nanotechnology

• 3-D printing or additive manufacturing

• Survivability

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Composite Materials

• Composite = combine the properties of one set of materials with those of another

• High-strength fibers + Durable epoxy resins = Durable structural material

• Lightweight alternative to heavy metals

• Composites have high specific stiffness and low density

• Multi-functional composites = bear load but also carry out other functions (e.g., resistance to lightning protection, various types of sensors, camera, etc.)

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Air Transportation System

• Enable aircraft to move more efficiently through the national airspace system

• Satellite-based navigation, surveillance, and networking

• Wake vortex alleviation technologies to permit closer spacings

• Collaboration between industries and government agencies

• NextGen – Air traffic control system transformation– Maintain/improve safety while increasing its capacity and reducing delays

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Noise Reduction

• Contain objectionable noise within airport boundaries

• Airframe noise– Shaping

– Material

• Innovative shielding of engine noise from the airframe

• New flight procedures such as optimized profile descents– Continuous descending approaches, without leveling off periodically

– Steeper glide path angles

• Shaping for low-boom for supersonic flights over land

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Fuel Burn Reduction

• Minimize aircraft operating costs and environmental impact

• Goal: reduce fuel burn by at least 50% in 2025 relative to 1998

• Combination of airframe, engine, and integrated vehicle efficiency improvements

– Highly integrated airframe configurations

– Advanced composite structures

– Aerodynamic drag reduction technologies; flow control concepts

– Alternative engine cycles

– Alternative fuels

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What Can We Expect in Future?

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Approved for public release; NG15-1793, 9/2/15