Study on the vibrational comfort of aircraft in formation flight
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
ISSN: 0002-2667
Article publication date: 23 July 2020
Issue publication date: 21 August 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the passenger comfort changes due to the wake turbulence impact from the formation flight (FF) leading aircraft, which can be a showstopper for the real application of FF to airliners.
Design/methodology/approach
Taking advantage of the overall aircraft design and optimization framework, as well as the module for FF assessment, the comfort level has been quantified for aircraft in solo flight and in FF according to ISO 2631–1 specifications concerning vibration total value.
Findings
The results showed that atmospheric turbulence intensity is the dominant factor in determining the passenger ride quality in comparison to the impact of formation wake flow. According to the preliminary results of this study, passengers seated away from the aircraft mass center encounter larger discomfort. In comparison to mass center, seats away from mass center also experience slightly stronger discomfort due to FF. The current simulation results show that FF is feasible without remarkably degrading passenger comfort level, which agrees well with the flight test results.
Practical implications
As passenger comfort is crucial for civil transport application of FF, the study carried out within this manuscript can give a preliminary indication to the showstopper of FF real-world application.
Originality/value
The proposed strategy can provide quantitative values for judging the possible drawbacks of FF, i.e. passenger comfort issues as mentioned in the literature. On the other hand, the aircraft level study based on reliable data and methods can give important insight for this interesting topic and further help the real-world application of FF for commercial aircraft. In addition, it can serve as preliminary studies for further design and operation modifications for aircraft in FF.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The preliminary work of this manuscript has been carried out when the author was working at Institute of Aerospace Systems, RWTH Aachen University. As such, the contribution of all colleagues and students involved in the development of the multidisciplinary integrated conceptual aircraft design optimization software is greatly appreciated.
Citation
Liu, Y. (2020), "Study on the vibrational comfort of aircraft in formation flight", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 92 No. 8, pp. 1307-1316. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-12-2018-0311
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited