Blended Wing Bodies

[bring_it_on]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3yR_-8p3ZY

 

[AeroFranz]

Good stuff, thanks for posting the video

 

[bring_it_on]

Good stuff, thanks for posting the video

There are other really good presentations and talks that they have recently uploaded...Good Stuff!!

 

[hesham]

Hi,

here is some BWB designs,with a concept called CWB.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292680419_Review_of_evolving_trends_in_blended_wing_body_aircraft_design

 

[bobbymike]

http://breakingdefense.com/2017/03/gen-pawlikowski-unveils-key-air-force-planning-group-pca-pew-oa-x/

Pawlikowski had one big hole in her hope chest: funds to build a prototype blended wing, an elegant looking design the Air Force has been working on occasionally since at least 2008

 

[Flyaway]

Airbus Unveils Blended Wing Body Demonstrator | Aviation Week Network

As it becomes clearer that disruptive new airliner configurations will be one of the few ways of meeting the reduced emissions targets of the future, Airbus has revealed it is flight-testing a scaled blended wing body (BWB) technology demonstrator.

aviationweek.com

 

[jsport]

Airbus Unveils Blended Wing Body Demonstrator | Aviation Week Network

As it becomes clearer that disruptive new airliner configurations will be one of the few ways of meeting the reduced emissions targets of the future, Airbus has revealed it is flight-testing a scaled blended wing body (BWB) technology demonstrator.

aviationweek.com

interesting news but not a BWB, a hybrid wing.

 

[Arjen]

Image from AW:

Flugrevue has an article about the Maveric demonstrator with more images:

Blended-Wing-Body-Konzept: Airbus enthüllt Maveric

Auf der Singapore Airshow hat Airbus erstmals sein neues Blended-Wing-Body-Konzept Maveric für Verkehrsflugzeuge der Zukunft gezeigt. Es soll 20 Prozent Kraftstoffeinsparung bringen.

www.flugrevue.de

Span 3.2m - first flight June 2019, France - flight testing in progress

 

[sferrin]

Kind of a different front end there.

 

[VTOLicious]

Airbus Unveils Blended Wing Body Demonstrator | Aviation Week Network

As it becomes clearer that disruptive new airliner configurations will be one of the few ways of meeting the reduced emissions targets of the future, Airbus has revealed it is flight-testing a scaled blended wing body (BWB) technology demonstrator.

aviationweek.com

interesting news but not a BWB, a hybrid wing.

Can you elaborate the difference?

 

[Grey Havoc]

 

[jsport]

Airbus Unveils Blended Wing Body Demonstrator | Aviation Week Network

As it becomes clearer that disruptive new airliner configurations will be one of the few ways of meeting the reduced emissions targets of the future, Airbus has revealed it is flight-testing a scaled blended wing body (BWB) technology demonstrator.

aviationweek.com

interesting news but not a BWB, a hybrid wing.

Can you elaborate the difference?

generally a BWB that is a wing w/ a uniformly thinning from the center all the way to the wing tip like the B-2. Hybrid is conformal body w/ wings attached like this Maveric.

 

[VTOLicious]

Airbus Unveils Blended Wing Body Demonstrator | Aviation Week Network

As it becomes clearer that disruptive new airliner configurations will be one of the few ways of meeting the reduced emissions targets of the future, Airbus has revealed it is flight-testing a scaled blended wing body (BWB) technology demonstrator.

aviationweek.com

interesting news but not a BWB, a hybrid wing.

Can you elaborate the difference?

generally a BWB that is a wing w/ a uniformly thinning from the center all the way to the wing tip like the B-2. Hybrid is conformal body w/ wings attached like this Maveric.

You consider the B-2 as an example of a BWB? I would think it is the classic example of a flying wing.
However, I get your point... But looking at the Maveric, I'm not sure if I can agree. The transition from body to wing looks quite seamless to me.
The only thing that puzzles me is that dull leading edge.

 

[djfawcett]

Airbus Unveils Blended Wing Body Demonstrator | Aviation Week Network

As it becomes clearer that disruptive new airliner configurations will be one of the few ways of meeting the reduced emissions targets of the future, Airbus has revealed it is flight-testing a scaled blended wing body (BWB) technology demonstrator.

aviationweek.com

interesting news but not a BWB, a hybrid wing.

Can you elaborate the difference?

generally a BWB that is a wing w/ a uniformly thinning from the center all the way to the wing tip like the B-2. Hybrid is conformal body w/ wings attached like this Maveric.

If is walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. The Maveric is the definition of a blended wing body design.

 

[jsport]

Airbus Unveils Blended Wing Body Demonstrator | Aviation Week Network

As it becomes clearer that disruptive new airliner configurations will be one of the few ways of meeting the reduced emissions targets of the future, Airbus has revealed it is flight-testing a scaled blended wing body (BWB) technology demonstrator.

aviationweek.com

interesting news but not a BWB, a hybrid wing.

Can you elaborate the difference?

generally a BWB that is a wing w/ a uniformly thinning from the center all the way to the wing tip like the B-2. Hybrid is conformal body w/ wings attached like this Maveric.

If is walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. The Maveric is the definition of a blended wing body design.

We are not talking about ducks. Maveric's body and its wings are quite distinctly dijferent, it is not a BWB. Maveric looks nothing like the B-2.

 

[djfawcett]

We are not talking about ducks. Maveric's body and its wings are quite distinctly dijferent, it is not a BWB. Maveric looks nothing like the B-2.

And a B-2 is not a BWB. It is the classic example of a flying wing.

 

[jsport]

There are hybrid wing bodies (HWB) and Blended Wing Bodies (BWB). Saying Flying Wing is like sayin my car is Hot Rod

 

[steelpillow]

There are hybrid wing bodies (HWB) and Blended Wing Bodies (BWB).

Can you provide details of the distinction between HWB and BWB, and who says so - especially who says so with any authority? For example you recently suggested the Airbus MAVERIC is a hybrid, though all the authoritative Airbus statements describe it as blended. On what grounds can you trump the authority of Airbus?
This is a serious query, I am quite prepared to believe that there is a difference, as long as it has some weight of authority behind it. For example one might suggest that the traditional BWB may have a tail, while the more recent HWB is basically a tailless BWB - or whatever.

Saying Flying Wing is like sayin my car is Hot Rod

The term "flying wing" has a well established technical meaning and it does not include either of them, though it does embrace the B-2 - probably as the classic example due to its operational fame. Mind you, the term "hot rod" is pretty well defined too. I guess both phrases also share the property of being widely abused.

 

[djfawcett]

There are hybrid wing bodies (HWB)

A hybrid BWB (HWB) is commonly referred to as a BWB with an epennage (take a look at Lockheed-Skunkworks HWB - below).

"Saying Flying Wing is like sayin my car is Hot Rod"
If you say so even though your analogy is wayyyyy out in left field.

 

[jsport]

There are hybrid wing bodies (HWB) and Blended Wing Bodies (BWB).

Can you provide details of the distinction between HWB and BWB, and who says so - especially who says so with any authority? For example you recently suggested the Airbus MAVERIC is a hybrid, though all the authoritative Airbus statements describe it as blended. On what grounds can you trump the authority of Airbus?
This is a serious query, I am quite prepared to believe that there is a difference, as long as it has some weight of authority behind it. For example one might suggest that the traditional BWB may have a tail, while the more recent HWB is basically a tailless BWB - or whatever.

Saying Flying Wing is like sayin my car is Hot Rod

The term "flying wing" has a well established technical meaning and it does not include either of them, though it does embrace the B-2 - probably as the classic example due to its operational fame. Mind you, the term "hot rod" is pretty well defined too. I guess both phrases also share the property of being widely abused.

you all are welcome to inaccurate definitions.

 

[Arjen]

So... opinion is divided then. Jsport says it's not a BWB. The rest of the world says it is. I can live with that.

 

[jsport]

So... opinion is divided then. Jsport says it's not a BWB. The rest of the world says it is. I can live with that.

So much B....

 

[steelpillow]

you all are welcome to inaccurate definitions.

Well really, I ask politely for clarification as to what is or is not inaccurate, and I get this. If you do not care who takes you seriously, why bother to post here at all?

 

[DWG]

Airbus shows off MAVERIC, an unusual aircraft to test blended wing bodies

First the Flying V, now MAVERIC—are blended body designs really going to happen?

arstechnica.com

 

[steelpillow]

A hybrid BWB (HWB) is commonly referred to as a BWB with an epennage

Historical usage is not consistent with that. Early examples such as the Westland Dreadnought, McDonnell XP-67 "Bat" and General Dynamics F-16 have always been described as blended not hybrid, and they had empennages.

Nowadays tailless examples seem to be the norm and web searches for images of hybrid or blended wing bodies return pretty similar sets of images. I have this feeling that only hard evidence can settle the matter.

 

[TomcatViP]

Blended wing fuselage junction is NOT bwb.

BWB have as unique feature an airfoil like airstream around the fuselage resulting in a massive increase of lift (thick section).

Blended wings junction is just a neat way of reducting trim drag mainly.

Flying wings are just what they claim: an all winged aicraft with no tubular fuselage.


All those have different aerodynamics behaviors just like ICE, turbofans and rockets are differents...

 

[steelpillow]

Airbus shows off MAVERIC, an unusual aircraft to test blended wing bodies

First the Flying V, now MAVERIC—are blended body designs really going to happen?

arstechnica.com

The BWB concept has been around for a long time. The engineering mandate for squeezing the payload into a long tube is pretty darn compelling. By comparison the BWB has greater frontal area and its potential benefits such as lighter structure have always failed to compensate. Another problem is the safe location of the engines - you do not want a high, rear-mounted turbofan coming loose in a crash and smashing down onto the passenger cabin, and this was raised by the FAA as a problem with an early Boeing proposal. BWB designs always put them up there in order to maintain its theoretical advantages - but put them where they can be certified safe and the advantages diminish sharply.
In may ways a BWB is just an attempt to make the smallest practicable passenger-carrying flying wing, but the problem of frontal area is so dire that it has to carry thousands of passengers before it gets more efficient than a long tube.
They are very appealing, so let's hope I am wrong.

 

[robunos]

BWB have as unique feature an airfoil like airstream around the fuselage resulting in a massive increase of lift (thick section).

Okay, I'll bite . . . so, according to your definition above, this is a BWB aircraft, it has an aerofoil section fuselage . . .




cheers,
Robin.

 

[TomcatViP]

Nice one Robin but that one is Not "blended"

Perhaps a definition would be NoB WB which falls apart from the categories discussed above.

Notice that many pre-war European design had airfoil shaped fuselages in order, it was believed, to decrease their drag. As airfoil theory was becoming popular among designer, they found that using a wing profile for the fuselage section will ease decreasing drag.

Saddly as Lift is dependent on the ratio b/w span and chord, it was not and in effect, often the contrary.

 

[robunos]

By your own definition, it has " an airfoil like airstream around the fuselage resulting in a massive increase of lift (thick section). "
QED


cheers,
Robin.

 

[TomcatViP]

A blended wing body (BWB), Blended body or Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) is a fixed-wing aircraft having no clear dividing line between the wings and the main body of the craft.[1] The aircraft has distinct wing and body structures, which are smoothly blended together with no clear dividing line.[2] This contrasts with a flying wing, which has no distinct fuselage. A BWB design may or may not be tailless.

Blended wing body - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[DWG]

Another problem is the safe location of the engines - you do not want a high, rear-mounted turbofan coming loose in a crash and smashing down onto the passenger cabin,

A related safety issue is where do you put the hatches for emergency scenarios. There's less fuselage length per passenger, so the hatches will need to be closer together, increasing the chance of multiple exits being blocked, plus you'll likely need both lengthwise and crosswise movement to get to the hatches, as opposed to the current follow the aisle straight to the exit.

And of course there's the sheer practical issue of how do we dock this thing to a terminal....

 

[nuuumannn]

An addition to the practicalities of these designs, in response, Steelpillow, let's face it, if you were in a scenario where the engines might crash into the fuselage full of passengers, you are probably gonna die from what caused it, so it's a moot point. Aviation is hazardous to our health at any rate - the average passenger jet operates in an environment where, if we were outside, we'd die from oxygen starvation, that is if we didn't freeze to death beforehand. As an aircraft engineer I am confronted with things that have the potential to kill me, every day. From carcinogenic solvents to a hydraulic system pressurised to 3,000psi, undercarriage doors that snap shut, being sucked into an engine...The list goes on.

And of course there's the sheer practical issue of how do we dock this thing to a terminal....

As for the practicalities of the thing, these are worthy concerns and if the design was to get the go ahead for production, they'd have to be examined in depth. The 90 second evacuation rule would surely have to remain however. As for docking, the industry would find a way. Look at the A380 and the lengths airports went to to accommodate it, i.e. double deck air bridges, yet the type is on its way out already. What's to be done with the massive amounts of effort put into modifying terminals once it has gone from airline fleets? Anyway, back to scheduled programming.

 

[Rhinocrates]

There is also the problem that passengers seated well away from the axis will suddenly find themselves on a rollercoaster ride if the aircraft hits turbulence. The inevitable injuries and spilled drinks would lead to floods of lawsuits against the operators. I think it makes sense for cargo that can be tied down, but passenger-carrying BWBs or dual-fuselage designs would be impossible to sell.

 

[nuuumannn]

The inevitable injuries and spilled drinks would lead to floods of lawsuits against the operators.

It happens now, all the time, we just don't always hear about it. You know that surplus of cash that airlines talk about when they say they made a profit this financial quarter? It goes into things like that. If there is incentive, the design will get the green light, but it won't happen if the airlines don't want it. Airlines are notoriously conservative in aircraft selection, particularly when it comes to trends. Pax don't want jazzy, they want safe, they want normal. Something that looks like a flounder might not live up to pax expectations as to what a airliner looks like and so we'll be stuck with 707 copies for ever.

 

[DWG]

let's face it, if you were in a scenario where the engines might crash into the fuselage full of passengers, you are probably gonna die from what caused it, so it's a moot point.

Engines regularly separate in non-fatal crashes, and aircraft breaking their backs are equally common, cf last week's crash in Istanbul. The problem with a BWB with engines over the rear fuselage in a crash is whether the engine breaks free, or the aircraft breaks its back, you then have a large, high-inertia lump of engine that wants to keep moving forward, while the fuselage in front is decelerating.

An uncontained blade loss, or worse, disc loss, is also more problematic in an over-fuselage engined BWB than a conventional layout - there's a much wide range of exit angles from the engine that take the debris through the fuselage.

 

[steelpillow]

Steelpillow, let's face it, if you were in a scenario where the engines might crash into the fuselage full of passengers, you are probably gonna die from what caused it, so it's a moot point.

I agree with you that some of the potential hazards may be being over-emphasised here, for example roof and floor hatches with built-in ladders have been proposed. But I report only a concern expressed by the official US regulator. Crash survivability is a major regulatory area and we are far less likely to die in a major landing or takeoff incident than our forebears.
I also think the engine mounting issue is not a showstopper. BWB designers move them back from the front to clean up the wing airflow and make the wing more efficient, then claim it is a virtue of the BWB. That claim is unjustified. A generation of conventional airliners - Caravelle, Trident, VC 10, I forget the US models - did the same in the 1960s and the disadvantages showed: engines now less efficient in the disturbed wing wake, structural weight penalties. The idea was dropped and, as had happened long ago with pusher vs. tractor propellers, the marginally less efficient wing was restored in preference to less efficient engines. BWB can be no different. In fact it is worse: with engines high and at the back, as a stall approaches the engine airflow will begin to break up, leading to the risk of compressor surge and major loss of power, just at the point the plane is most desperate for increased thrust. The BWB will thus draw itself into a superstall state in which it pancakes near-vertically and controls are ineffective. Such as superstall was first experienced on the Dunne D.7 tailless swept monoplane ca. 1911, when Dunne deliberately pushed the machine beyond its stability limits when about 60ft. up. It "pancaked down, bursting like a shell all around me", he wrote afterwards. It happened again later when he cut his engine too soon before landing and pulled back on the elevators to try and gain extra distance. 40 years later the superstall was rediscovered by the Gloster Javelin, with the loss of too many RAF pilots. So both high-tailed and tailless demonstrably suffer from the same vulnerability. The later Trident had its T-tail raised further above the wing wake, and the prototype used to investigate the stall condition had a short-duration rocket pack mounted vertically in the tail should it enter a superstall. Of course, as with conventional fuselages, that high T-tail eats into the claimed efficiencies of the BWB wing. So any practical design is likely to have engines in the conventional forward under-wing position - negating also the shorter, lighter undercarriages assumed by the BWB proponents, while the sharp sweepback will necessitate long and heavy attachment pylons. It can probably be done, but I am not convinced that it would be worth it.

 

[nuuumannn]

An uncontained blade loss, or worse, disc loss, is also more problematic in an over-fuselage engined BWB than a conventional layout - there's a much wide range of exit angles from the engine that take the debris through the fuselage.

Maybe. Would it be enough to not build the design? Probably not, after all, in thousands of turboprops around the world the propeller disc is less than three feet from the fuselage full of passengers, yet the rear engine placed above the fuselage is supposed to be unsafe enough to warrant not building it? How about the current conventional engine layout where, while the pylons are not as close to the fuselage, they are mere feet away from fuel tanks. By the way, I've seen the result of a prop throwing a blade at the fuselage - it leaves a mighty great hole. Lucky the aeroplane was on the ground and no one was hurt, but in the air would have been catastrophic.

And yes, pax have survived from these incidents you describe, but in terms of the incidents, that's remarkable and almost could be called miraculous, because in reality it could have gone either way, so that in itself does nothing to prove that an over the fuselage engine layout might be less safe.

The fact is, you have no idea as to whether the layout proposed by Airbus in the Maveric is less safe than a conventional one. None at all. There is no evidence out there that proves it either way, so for now, you are surmising based on what you know.

The idea was dropped and, as had happened long ago with pusher vs. tractor propellers, the marginally less efficient wing was restored in preference to less efficient engines. BWB can be no different. In fact it is worse: with engines high and at the back, as a stall approaches the engine airflow will begin to break up, leading to the risk of compressor surge and major loss of power, just at the point the plane is most desperate for increased thrust. The BWB will thus draw itself into a superstall state in which it pancakes near-vertically and controls are ineffective.

Again, steelpillow, the jury is out. The most that has been tested is a scale model. No full scale rendition that has been subjected to the rigors of operational use. Just wind tunnel models, a few manufacturers mock-ups and a flying model or two. The basic concept is a long way off becoming reality and we can only hope that such things will be investigated before any metal is cut (or composite is formed). It still remains to be seen what impact such a design might have on the industry. Airlines are forever looking to find even more ways of saving money and making a profit. Its fate will, as it has been with almost every jet airliner since the Comet, be determined by this.

 

[steelpillow]

The most that has been tested is a scale model. No full scale rendition that has been subjected to the rigors of operational use. Just wind tunnel models, a few manufacturers mock-ups and a flying model or two. The basic concept is a long way off becoming reality.

The Westland Dreadnought Postal Monolane was a tailed BWB which flew briefly back in 1923, almost a hundred years ago. Although it was nominally a freighter, its windows show that it could accommodate eight passengers. For an airliner concept that has been investigated many times since then, there has to be a reason it is still as far from reality as ever. As I said, It can probably be done, but I am not convinced that it would be worth it.

 

[DWG]

The fact is, you have no idea as to whether the layout proposed by Airbus in the Maveric is less safe than a conventional one. None at all. There is no evidence out there that proves it either way, so for now, you are surmising based on what you know.

Wow, aggressive much?

Like all safety cases (which I have occasionally worked on, though they were never my main thing), it comes down to probabilities. What is the likelihood of a blade or blisk off hitting the fuselage or tankage? That depends on the percentage of exit trajectories that intersect the fuselage or wing, with the predominant trajectories roughly perpendicular to the engine axis, with some forward component as they bounce around and out of the cowl. If an engine is mounted over a BWB fuselage, the percentage of trajectories which intersect the fuselage is likely to be somewhere between 33% and 50%. (And note that I was talking about BWBs in general, not just Maveric). For conventional layouts it's closer to 10%.