Abstract

Verde is an environmentally responsible commercial transport seating 150 dual-class passengers, designed in response to the 2008-2009 Request for Proposal from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design Competition. While the airline industry faces increasing pressures from the cost of fuel and the responsibility of environmental impact, the next generation of this aircraft class must operate more efficiently and address those environmental needs. Therefore, all design decisions for Verde focused first on reducing fuel burn, second on reducing emissions, then noise, and finally on maintaining flyaway cost, airport integration, and passenger comfort. The final design utilizes several green technologies such as an unducted fan engine cycle, biofuel, and use of advanced yet reusable materials to achieve these goals. Much of the design process focused on trying to increase the main wing aspect ratio which required the need to balance structural weight, aerodynamic performance benefits, and airport integration. This fuel-burn-centered philosophy yielded significant improvements, including a fuel block burn for the typical 500 nmi mission of 38.1 lb/seat and an 10% improvement in operating cost compared to current operations.

Disciplines

Aerospace Engineering

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URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/aero_fac/108