Preliminary sizing correlations for the rear-end of transport aircraft

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study of which this work is only the first part, is the development of conceptual design tools to perform an optimized design of the rear fuselage and tail surfaces. The development of a new and extensive database of transport aircraft and an analysis of certain general, rear fuselage and horizontal stabilizer parameters of the aircraft are presented in this paper.

Design/methodology/approach

In addition to the development of a comprehensive high accurate database, linear and non-linear correlations between different parameters of the aircraft have been established. Data were analyzed using comparison criteria between aircraft database based on the mission, the number of engines installed or arrangement of the tail surfaces.

Findings

It has been possible to obtain very relevant, linear and non-linear correlations for critical design parameters to optimize the design of the rear fuselage and horizontal tail.

Research limitations/implications

In the case of the tail cone, the data have not yielded significant correlations. On the other hand, there are some regressions that do not work well in some cases and for which it would be good to further expand the database.

Practical implications

Results obtained greatly improve the existing methods for conceptual design, which usually pay no attention to the rear part of the aircraft. Besides, these new procedures are adapted to different categories of aircraft, allowing greater optimization of the designs.

Originality/value

The novel contribution of this work is focused on the development of a new high-fidelity database and includes many more aircraft than any other work previously released. Also, new correlations, linear and non-linear, additional parameters not considered in previous studies, and differentiated by category of aircraft studies are provided.

Citation

Cuerno-Rejado, C. and Sanchez-Carmona, A. (2016), "Preliminary sizing correlations for the rear-end of transport aircraft", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 88 No. 1, pp. 24-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-04-2014-0051