Chinanews.com, Xi'an, January 30th (Reporter Alina) The reporter learned from Northwestern Polytechnical University on the 30th that a few days ago, the scale-down test aircraft developed by the school successfully flew a large passenger aircraft with wing-body fusion.
As a basic flight test for the flight verification of a series of key design technologies, this test carried out subjects such as the takeoff and landing of the test aircraft, passing through the field, and the autonomous flight of the planned route, and completed the expected flight plan.
According to reports, the flight test was organized and implemented by the domestic wing-body fusion civil aircraft technology research team led by NPU, which is a key step in the wing-body fusion civil aircraft technology research from concept research to technical verification.
The shape of the wing-body fusion civil aircraft has a wide and flat fuselage, which is very streamlined. The transition between the fuselage and the wings is smooth without obvious boundaries. The cabin is located under the slightly bulging fuselage.
This kind of aircraft with wings and fuselage integrated is called wing-body fusion aircraft, which is the development direction of civil aircraft in the future.
At present, the international conventional civil aviation aircraft is composed of a cylindrical fuselage, wings, empennage, and engine.
After decades of development, this traditional layout with a clear boundary between the wing and the fuselage has reached its aerodynamic efficiency close to the limit, and the environmental indicators such as fuel consumption, noise, and harmful gas emissions of the aircraft cannot be further reduced.
In order to promote the technological transformation of civil aircraft, after years of exploration, the international aviation community has discovered that this wing-body fusion civil aircraft with highly integrated wings and fuselages has the advantages of high aerodynamic efficiency, light structure weight, large loading space, energy saving, and environmental protection. It is one of the revolutionary technologies to meet the development requirements of future civil aircraft, and it is the priority direction for the development of the next generation of wide-body passenger aircraft in the world.
Since the late 1990s, the domestic wing-body fusion civil aircraft research team led by Northwestern Polytechnical University has brought together the advantages of domestic aviation institutes and related universities. It is one of the earliest domestic and international research teams in this field. After many years The team has achieved a series of internationally leading research results.
Xigong University has made a major breakthrough in the research of wing-body fusion civil aircraft technology.
Photo courtesy of Northwestern Polytechnical University
"Concept schemes lead to research on key technologies, and key technology research supports the evolution of mature schemes. This is the development route established by our team when conducting research on wing-body fusion civil aircraft technology." Former head of the wing-body fusion civil aircraft technology research team, NPU Aviation Professor Zhang Binggan said.
The team continues to pay attention to and track international technology trends, aiming at foreign technology bottlenecks, seeking breakthroughs, independent innovation, and exploring new technological approaches. It is the first to propose the new concept of "rear body lengthened wing-body fusion layout" in the world, and focuses on high-speed flight and low-speed take-off and landing The three core technical problems of performance coordination, cabin comfort and emergency evacuation compatibility, and the matching of boost and trim capabilities have been overcome and breakthroughs have been made, forming an internationally leading NPU-BWB-300 wing-body fusion civil aircraft technology concept with comprehensive performance Program.
After a series of key technology verifications such as large-scale wind tunnel tests, numerical simulations, and scaled-down flights, the team has overcome and mastered a series of key design technologies such as overall design, aerodynamics, aircraft-engine matching, and flight control. Significant progress has been made in technologies such as the special structure of the airframe and noise suppression.
Xigong University has made a major breakthrough in the research of wing-body fusion civil aircraft technology.
Photo courtesy of Northwestern Polytechnical University
The wing-body fusion civil aircraft concept plan formed by the team adopts a single-row 16-seat design, providing passengers with a spacious and comfortable seating environment.
Professor Li Dong, the leader of the team, said: "Compared with the current design of a row of 24-30 seats in foreign countries, the wing-body fusion civil aircraft designed by our team, when the aircraft turns and flies, the passengers sitting on the outside will experience less overload. The experience is more comfortable." At the same time, 8 hatches are evenly arranged on both sides of the fuselage, which well meets the requirements of the 90-second golden escape standard.
From the proposal of the concept of wing-body fusion layout civil aircraft, to the research of core technologies, and then to breakthroughs in key technologies, the research team with NPU as the core has adhered to the development concept of independent innovation for more than ten years, down-to-earth, rigorous and pragmatic, and the pursuit of excellence.
After long-term research, the comprehensive performance of the wing-body fusion civil aircraft concept designed by the team has reached the international leading level, reaching or approaching the development goal of NASA's "new second generation" wide-body airliner.
Against the backdrop of the dual carbon targets, energy conservation and emission reduction has become a top priority for the development of China's air transport industry.
How to reduce the aircraft's carbon emissions or even achieve zero emissions is the goal that the team has always pursued in the research of wing-body fusion civil aircraft technology.
At present, the team has carried out research on new energy wing-body fusion civil aircraft technology, and has completed the preliminary design of the hydrogen energy wing-body fusion civil aircraft concept scheme.
In the next step, the team will further verify and improve the overall comprehensive design technology of wing-body fusion civil aircraft, overcome key technologies such as structure and noise reduction, focus on the development direction of new energy aircraft technology, and overcome the layout design technology of piggyback/backpack/distributed engines , to provide technical reserves for the development of electric/hydrogen powered wing-body fusion civil aircraft.
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