This concept paper focuses on integrating the Hydraulic Infinite Linear Actuator - Multi Rod (HILA-MR) technology into Variable Camber Continuous Trailing Edge Flap (VCCTEF) systems for Blended Wing Body (BWB) aircraft. HILA-MR is a novel actuator design enabling precise control of multiple flap segments in a VCCTEF via shared pistons. The HILA-MR/VCCTEF system demonstrates significantly lower power requirements compared to traditional simple flap systems and promotes a more optimal use of force and speed potential of hydraulic actuation throughout the flight envelope, reducing power requirements and contributing to overall efficiency and lower fuel burn. The system offers potential for drag reduction, improved efficiency, and reduced weight and volume for actuation and secondary power components in BWB aircraft. The aim of this paper is to give a comprehensive presentation of the HILA-MR system in a VCCTEF application, evaluate different aspects, design issues and benchmark the technology against present solutions.   

The aviation industry is under increasing pressure towards de-carbonization and electrificationof commercial aircraft. However, their range limitations are heavily dependent ontheir expected battery energy storage capacity, and the direct operating costs of this propulsiontechnology are still not well understood. This paper provides a forecast of mission and directoperating costs of two fully electric commuter airplanes resembling the EL19 and the EviationAlice, as well as a hybrid-electric aircraft resembling the Do328HE, operating in Sweden inthe 2030 to 2070 time frame. NASA’s forecast for battery specific energy is used as inputfor aircraft models, allowing for the estimation of the maximum expected range under threescenarios: pessimistic, nominal, and optimistic, along with its respective direct operating costs.Results suggest that fully electric technology could become feasible for short domestic routesin Sweden in 2040, with the hybrid-electric model being able to cover longer routes earlier.Direct operating cost models project lower expenses for electric and hybrid-electric conceptscompared to smaller conventional aircraft, although they still remain more costly to operatethan the larger regional aircraft they plan on replacing. This research stresses the need forrealistic technological forecasting and financial awareness in developing sustainable aircraftconcepts, particularly regarding the commercial viability of electrified flight in Scandinavia.

Aerospace systems are connected with the operational environment and other systems in general. The focus in aerospace product development is consequently shifting from a singular system perspective to a System-of-Systems (SoS) perspective. This increasing complexity gives rise to new levels of uncertainty that must be understood and managed to produce aerospace solutions for an ever-changing future. This paper presents an approach to using architecture frameworks, and ontologies with description logic reasoning capabilities, to break down SoS needs into required capabilities and functions. The intention of this approach is to provide a consistent way of obtaining the functions to be realized in order to meet the overarching capabilities and needs of an SoS. The breakdown with an architecture framework results in an initial design space representation of functions to be performed. The captured knowledge is then represented in an ontology with description logic reasoning capabilities, which provides a more flexible way to expand and process the initial design space representation obtained from the architecture framework. The proposed approach is ultimately tested in a search and rescue case study, partly based on the operations of the Swedish Maritime Administration. The results show that it is possible to break down SoS needs in a consistent way and that ontology with description logic reasoning can be used to process the captured knowledge to both expand and reduce an available design space representation.

System of Systems (SoS) are everywhere, either created and directed by an organization or simply emerging to fulfill a need. SoS consist of many independent Constituent Systems (CS) with their own life cycles and behavior. One of the big challenges with studying SoS is building models to support the analysis of these large complex systems. For existent SoS, it may be tempting to use available models from subsequent levels and connect them in a common framework, rather than creating new models tailored for the SoS analysis. Typically, the already existing models often have a high level of fidelity and have been created from a certain point of view to best fit its purpose. This paper shows that a framework with higher fidelity models on Sub-Systems (SS) level will impact the performance on SoS level but also take longer time to converge and thus need more simulations in order for the results to be trusted. With an holistic approach to the development of SoS, we use hierarchical integration of CS and SS models to provide inputs to the simulation on SoS level. Using maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) as a case study, the mission performance of two aircraft searching for a lost life raft through Agent Based Simulation (ABS). Two cases are compared where one of them has a higher fidelity representation of the sensor model. Through the case study it is possible to investigate the impact of model fidelity on the SS level to the simulation results on SoS level. The two cases simulate the same scenario but still show a difference in mission performance. A convergence analysis show that with the the High Fidelity Models (HFM) the simulation takes slightly longer to converge. This paper is the beginning of a multi-fidelity model library that will be used to explore the impact of model fidelity on all the levels of SoS and from that find general methods for choosing model fidelity when analyzing SoS.

System-of-Systems Engineering (SoSE) has become a constantly growing field within product development for complex systems. Systems are becoming more and more connected with other systems and the operational environment in general. This takes the development process to new levels of complexity where high degrees of uncertainties are expected due to ever occurring changes in the operational environment, and other external factors such as politics, economy, and technology. This creates a need of being able to understand the influence of changes early in the development process and to facilitate the systems? perseverance. The focus of the development shifts from fulfilling specific requirements, to being able to meet needs and deliver capabilities over time. Additionally, modeling and simulation for complex systems and System-of-Systems (SoS) becomes a valued alternative to the economically prohibited and almost impossible prototype testing. In consideration of this problem, the presented work introduces a method for both modeling and simulation of a SoS. The method uses ontology with description logic reasoning to derive and narrow down a SoS design space which is further analyzed using Agent Based Simulation (ABS). A Search and Rescue (SAR) scenario is used as a case study to test the method. Measures of Effectiveness (MoE), based on the time it takes to find a rescue subject and the cost of doing so, are used to evaluate the SoS performances. The presented method is envisioned to be used early in the development of complex systems and SoS to increase the overall understanding of them.

This paper presents an approach to system-of-systems engineering for product development with the use of ontology. A proposed method for building as well as using ontology to generate and explore system-of-systems design spaces based on identified system-of-system needs is presented. The method is largely built to cover the first levels of related work, where a process for system of systems in the context of product development is introduced. Within this work, it is shown that scenarios for a system-of-systems can be used to identify needs and subsequently the system-of-systems capabilities that fulfils them. The allocation of capabilities to possible constituent systems is used to show the available design space. The proposed method of this paper therefore addresses these initial challenges and provides a framework for approaching the system-of-systems design space creation using ontology. A case study is used to test the method on a fictitious search and rescue scenario based on available resources and information from the Swedish Maritime Administration. The case study shows that a representation of a system-of-systems scenario can be created in an ontology using the method. The ontology provides a representation of the involved entities from the fictitious scenario and their existing relationships. Defined ontology classes containing conditions are used to represent the identified needs for the system-of-systems. The invocation of a description logic reasoner is subsequently used to classify and create an inferred ontology where the available system-of-systems solutions are represented as sub-classes and individuals of the defined classes representing the needs. Finally, several classes representing different possible system-of-systems needs are used to explore the available design space and to identify the most persistent solutions of the case study.

Remotely piloted scaled models not only serve as convenient low-risk flying test-beds but also can provide useful data and increase confidence in an eventual full-scale design. Nevertheless, performing advanced flight tests in a safe and cost-effective manner is often a challenge for organizations with limited resources. A typical scenario is testing within visual line-of-sight at very low altitude, a type of operation that offers major cost advantages at the expense of a reduced available airspace. This paper describes some of the authors' work towards efficient performance evaluation and system identification of fixed-wing, remotely piloted aircraft under these challenging conditions. Results show that certain techniques, manoeuvre automation, and platform-optimised multisine input signals can improve the flight test efficiency and the modelling process. It is also probable that some of the benefits observed here could be extrapolated to flight testing beyond visual line-of-sight or even to full-scale flight testing.

This paper explores the use of Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) in the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) when the requirements include a collaboration in a System of Systems (SoS) environment. In this work, the framework considers models that can capture the mission, stealth, and surveillance performance of each aircraft, while at the same time, a dedicated simulation module assesses the total cooperation effect on a given operational scenario. The resulting mixed continuous and integer variable problem is decomposed with a multi-level architecture, and in particular, it is treated as a fleet allocation problem that includes a nested optimization routine for sizing a “yet-to-be-designed” aircraft. Overall, the models and the framework are evaluated through a series of optimization runs, and the obtained Pareto front is compared with the results from a traditional aircraft mission planning method in order to illustrate the benefits of this SoS approach in the design of UAVs.

This paper reports the current status of a joint Swedish-Brazilian research project aiming at exploring sub scale flight testing. A 13% scale fighter aircraft is used as a test bench for developing methods and procedures for data acquisition. This paper will present an aerodynamic database as a partial result of the collaborative project.

Thispaper presents various techniques and procedures that aim to simplify flighttesting of fixed-wing, remotely-piloted aircraft with the purposes ofperformance evaluation and system identification. These methods have beenspecifically developed for flight within visual line-of-sight, a type ofoperation that limits the available airspace severely but offers major costadvantages considering the current regulations for unmanned flight in mostWestern countries.