RAPID RESPONSE CENTERS FOR DISASTERS IN MEXICO: A THEORETICAL STUDY

After a disaster, reaction speed becomes one of the most important elements. To act in the best possible way, Disaster Operations Management must have the most accurate information on the affected area. To aid in these moments, a network of centers for Rapid Response is proposed here. Those centers would be equipped with short takeoff and landing aircraft, and would send them as soon as possible to the affected area, to gather information, and bring some type of aid. This research focuses on the theoretical foundation for such centers, including objectives, locations, missions, and equipment. This foundation is obtained through a literature review, which helps find the need for rapid response, and the main objectives and missions to be carried out. The number of centers and their locations are found by the use of a facility location model, considering the risk of each location. Finally, the number and type of aircraft needed in each center, as well as the missions for each one are found by the use of an assignment model. This research was made with the southeastern region of Mexico as its objective, but the resulting network of Rapid Response Centers could be setup in some other areas of the world.

Design and aerodynamic evaluation of a medium short takeoff and landing tactical transport aircraft

The present article deals with the conceptual design of a new medium short takeoff and landing tactical transport aircraft, which is intended to expand the institutional capabilities of the Colombian Air Force in terms of versatility and flexibility. An original design strategy was developed during the conceptual design, combining classical methodologies and high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. This methodology allowed the aircraft to be assessed in a single design space, based on its design requirements, mission, and applicable airworthiness standards. Once obtained a baseline concept, the aerodynamic study focused on the flow around two types of wingtip devices: tip tanks and blended winglets. These devices were designed to optimize the performance capabilities of the aircraft, while keeping simple certification procedures. Wind tunnel experiments and CFD simulations were carried out to evaluate and select the best configuration. Lift, drag, and pitching moment coefficient charts, along with vorticity contours, are presented. Results showed that blended winglets have a significant potential for improving aircraft performance without severe structural weight penalties, allowing additional payload capabilities and/or increased range and fuel savings. Finally, the optimized aircraft is compared to major competitors in order to discuss and highlight its main advantages and feasibility for future production.

Primary parameters design method for distributed electric propulsion unmanned aerial vehicle

Distributed electric propulsion technology brings new ideas to the design of unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV), such as improving aerodynamic efficiency and propulsive efficiency, and new concept of vertical/short takeoff and landing configurations. However, compared with conventional UAV, the propulsion system of distributed electric propulsion UAV is more complex, which brings difficulties and challenges to the design of distributed electric propulsion UAV. Based on its special aerodynamic/propulsive coupling characteristics, this paper studies the design method and process of primary parameters of distributed electric propulsion UAV. A short takeoff and landing UAV with distributed electric propulsion system is taken as an example for the conceptual design and primary parameter design, and the influence of design parameters on the takeoff mass and endurance is analyzed. Finally, the validity of the established design method is verified by the flight test of the prototype. Results indicate that the distributed electric propulsion system accounts for more than 20% of the takeoff mass; the electric ducted fan efficiency, mass specific power of the motor, mass specific power of the electronic speed controller and the resistivity of power wires are the most significant design parameters that affect the performance of the UAV; with the improvement of technologies, the takeoff mass is expected to be reduced by more than 20%, and the endurance is expected to be increased by more than three times.

ДОСТИЖЕНИЕ ПРЕИМУЩЕСТВА Ан-188 СРЕДИ ОПЕРАТИВНО–ТАКТИЧЕСКИХ ВОЕННО-ТРАНСПОРТНЫХ САМОЛЕТОВ

In the "Antonov" Company, a unique medium-sized tactical military transport aircraft An-12 and An-70 have been created. Based on the Аn-12 basic version, several modifications have been developed, which operate in many countries around the world.To replace this aircraft has been created the An-70 with a higher capacity and hourly capacity, which on some key parameters outperforms the competition-analogs: American C-130J-30, West-European A400M, and Japanese C-2.However, the range with the maximum capacity is worse for Аn-77 compared to the A400M, but cruising speed and combat readiness – for C-2.For the most complete implementation of tactical tasks:– transportation of personnel, equipment, goods, and means of procurement;– delivery of military units, equipment, and cargo in the interests of peacekeeping or counter-terrorism operations;– transportation of troops, arms, military equipment and material resources of strategic direction;– delivery of units and formations of the airborne forces and ground forces in the areas of military purpose;– provision of the relocation of aviation units and formations, and provision of superiority at range with maximum load, at cruising speed and combat readiness the team of the “Antonov” Company created the An-188 – the medium-sized tactical aircraft with short takeoff and landing, which provides execution of a series of tasks, not available even for C-2.At the initial stage of designing this modification scientific principles the "Design techniques of modifications of the MTA taking into account the profound changes in the wing and the power plant" were used. The most important modification change in An-188 is the replacement of the D-27 turboprop engine for СFM LЕАР-1A turbofan engine, which increased the capacity and combat readiness of modification.Another important modification change was the use of discrete geometric twist of the wing local chord, bringing its shape in plan view to elliptical one and has brought a reduction in induced drag for a given lift force. This solution provided an increase in the range of up to 3200 km.Such profound modification changes in the power plant and the geometry of the wing have contributed to the complete superiority of the An-188 in the class of operational-tactical MTA.In combination with An-132D and An-178 modification, the An-188 can be considered as a unified system of support for the troops with military transport planes.

Vortex generators project for an unmanned small airplane

Since the Cold War period, turbine generators have proved to be an important alternative to the development of aerodynamic aircraft designs, and even so, there was little adherence to their use, among which we highlight, short takeoff and landing aircraft (STOL) and some models of military aircraft and commercial jet aircraft. In the USA and Brazil, in addition to other countries, they hold competitions to awaken technological innovation in the aeronautical field for engineering students: the SAE AeroDesign Competition (SAE - Society of Automotive Engineers). These contests allow teams from their countries to use points of difference in their design and, in some cases, to use small unmanned aircraft devices that have already been designed for huge aircraft, such as vortex generators. Therefore, we intend to adopt a Vortex Generator model for the Avoante Aeromec AeroDesign team airplane project (team from the Federal University of Ceara, Brazil - UFC), use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with turbulence modeling, as well as perform tests in a wind tunnel. Despite the problems found in comparing the results of the computational models with the prototype tests, it was possible to prove the efficiency of these vortex generators in the design of the team's airplane, observing the increase in the stall angle, reduction of the drag coefficient and increase of the coefficient lifting.