Green Aviation Booklet 2012 PDF

Green
Aviation
solutions for the future
The history of Aeronautics

at Imperial College London
The Department of Aeronautics has existed at Imperial College
London for over 100 years. In 1909 the College introduced its
first lecture courses in Aeronautics, and in 1916 the first full
course in Aerodynamics was established. Courses at this time
were cutting edge for the era: The Dynamics of an Aeroplane,
Wind Pressure, and Light Petrol Motors for Aerial Work were the
titles of just some of the lectures which were run in
190910, the same year that Blriot made the first crosschannel flight. The importance of aeronautical research at that
time was underlined by the donation of todays equivalent of
over 1 million by financier Sir Basil Zaharoff in 1917 towards the
establishment of a Chair in Aerodynamics.
In 1919 Sir Richard Glazebrook, lifelong Professor of Physics at
Cambridge University, was appointed as Head of Department
and Zaharoff Professor of Aviation, making him the first
Professor of Aeronautics at the College. Aeronautics continued
to be a key area of research in the post-WWI period, with the
Air Ministry as it was then titled providing 8,500 per
annum (equivalent of over 180,000 today) to the College
in 1920 towards the running of the Department. In the same
year Imperial was invited to be a founding member of the
Aeronautical Research Committee.
Imperial first introduced the BSc Degree in Aeronautical
Engineering in 1947, just as the Cold War was beginning
across Europe and the Americas. The MEng degree course was
introduced as an option in 1984, leading eventually to the
thriving department we are today with our undergraduates
possessing the highest entry grades in the UK.
In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, we
were ranked as the UKs leading aeronautical engineering
department. Excellence in the fundamentals of fluids, structures
and control underpins our research and we maintain excellent
collaborative links with industry. The Department of Aeronautics
is extensively involved in the research and development of
Green Aviation technologies for future aircraft.
M H Ferri Aliabadi
Head, Department of Aeronautics
Zaharoff Professor of Aviation
2 Green Aviation solutions for the future
Green aviation research

Imperial College London is particularly
well placed to play a major role in the
development of technologies that will
deliver greener air travel for future
generations. The current aviation
research portfolio draws on expertise
within our engineering and science
departments (Aeronautics, Chemical,
Civil, Electrical and Mechanical
Engineering, Chemistry, Materials,
Mathematics and Physics) and in
our specialist cross-disciplinary
centres (Centre for Transport Studies,
Composites Centre, Centre for
Environmental Policy, Grantham
Institute for Climate Change, Energy
Futures Lab and Porter Institute for
plant-based liquid fuels). We are
extensively engaged in a broad
range of aspects of the green aviation
challenge including:
innovative drag reduction

high performance and multifunctional
materials for lighter airframes
Within this document we provide more

detail of our Green Aviation research
activities that are contributing to the
following four key targets:
improved air traffic management

strategies
chemistry and flow modelling for
design of fuel-efficient engines
>> Low emissions
advanced modelling tools for

improved aircraft design
>> Low noise
noise reduction through combustion

control and fractal grid flaps
structural health monitoring for
reduced maintenance
efficient processing techniques for bio
fuels and their associated technoeconomic and sustainability issues
investigation and analysis of the
environmental impact of aviation
Green aviation
research at
Imperial
The diagram below gives an indication

of the spread of these research
activities across the College.
>> Low weight

>> Low maintenance
I hope you find this description of

Imperials Green Aviation research to be
useful and informative.
Dr Paul Robinson
Director, Green Aviation
Department of Aeronautics
Environmental studies
Centre for Environmental Policy
Atmospheric physics
Department of Physics
Department OF
Aeronautics
Climate modelling
Grantham Institute
Advanced
materials
Fluid dynamics
Department of Mathematics
Multi-scale
modelling
Advanced
aerodynamics
modelling
Recycling
Morphing and
smart technologies
Flow
control
Noise
control and
modelling
Nano materials
Department Of Chemistry
Bio-fuels
Porter Institute
Control
Department of Electrical
engineering
Control
systems
Innovative
aircraft
configuration
design
Eco engines
Department of Mechanical
Engineering
Fuel cells
Energy Futures Lab
Air transport operations
Centre for Transport Studies
Emerging materials
Departments of Chemical Engineering
and Materials
Green Aviation solutions for the future 3
Green aviation challenge
The public awareness of the

environmental issues surrounding
transport is very significant but
the air transport sector attracts
particular attention. Aircraft
technologies, airport planning
(including the supporting
transport infrastructure) and air
traffic management are all vital
components in a complex multifaceted challenge that the air
transport sector must address to
deliver greener air travel for future
generations. According to the
Advisory Council for Aeronautics
Research in Europe (ACARE),
global civil aviation emission of
CO2 in 2008 represented 2% of
the man-made CO2 emission.1
Noise around airports affecting
neighbouring communities is
another important environmental
factor. If no action is taken, the
emissions and noise problems
will significantly increase since
the world passenger traffic is
predicted to grow by 4.7% per
annum over the next 15 years.
The targets set by the ACARE include:

improved CO2 efficiency by an average of
1.5% per year up to 2020
reduced net CO2 emission by 50% by 2050
(compared to 2005 levels)
reduced nitrogen oxides by 80%
reduced perceived noise by 50%
In recent meetings leading figures from the air
transport sector have described key aspects
of the green aviation challenge and some of
the measures being taken to address them.2
Historical data indicate that aviation has
been successful in reducing fuel burn. In the
last 50 years the aircraft fuel consumption
has reduced by 70% per passenger kilometre
through technological advances in both engine
and airframe.1 (A 1% structural weight saving,
can lead to around 0.5% to 1.5% reduction in
fuel consumption.)
Continuing these improvements (see CO2
Roadmap) depends on many factors including
aircraft configuration and design optimisation
following weight change. In the Airbus Holistic
Road Map to the Future it is estimated that a
further reduction of 10% in fuel consumption
is possible through airframe aerodynamic
improvements such as natural or hybrid flow
control, advanced riblet techniques, low-drag
technology and innovative configurations.
After 2020, it is envisaged that development
work will progress towards the next generation
of radically innovative technologies such as
blended-wing-body configuration with an
estimated 20% additional fuel efficiency.
Improved operational practices coupled
with optimised aircraft deployment across a
network have the potential of 5% reduction
in fuel consumption and as much as a further
12% reduction possible through better overall
flight planning.
The IATA targets.
A cap on
aviation CO2
emissions from
2020 (carbonneutral growth)
An average
improvement in
fuel efficiency
of 1.5% per
year from 2009
to 2020
A reduction in
CO2 emissions
of 50% by
2050, relative to
2005 levels
The required technological advances identified by

the aeronautics sector to achieve the long term
goals of greener aviation have been reported by
ACARE1 and presented by leading figures from the
air transport sector at Imperials Green Aviation
symposium series.2 These advances include:
structures

>> composites have step change potential,

enabled through nano-technologies etc.,
self-repairing, signal carrying, electrical
conductance
configuration and overall aircraft design
>> bio-composites
>> multi-functional materials and related

integrated solutions, adaptive structures
capable of modifying properties or
geometry according to demand
>> light weight metallic materials, low cost alloys
>> a
lternative configurations to achieve step
change as there is a limit in continuous
improvements of conventional configurations
aerodynamics and flight performance

>> s tep changes in flow control and dragreduction using both active and passive
systems
in-service support technologies
systems
power plant
>> h
ealth monitoring as the technological
framework for integration of new enabling
technologies, affecting structures and cabin,
with improvements in safety, reducing weight,
consumption and cost
>> novel engine architectures
>> more electric engines
>> power plants for alternative fuels
>> a
dvanced aircraft control systems to
support control of unconventional
systems and unstable structures
>> 4D flight planning and execution
>> optimisation of aircraft mission in time and

space
>> step change to allow for zero/ultra low

maintenance
air traffic management
Constant technology level

Operations and ATM (ACARE)
Engine/airframe (ACARE)
Sustainable fuels
Eng/airframe (post-ACARE)
Residual emissions
CO emissions
(relative to year 2000)
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
2000
2010
2020
2030
2040
Sustainable Aviation CO2 Roadmap projected future emissions of CO2 from UK aviation.
1 Beyond Vision 2020 (towards 2050) ACARE www.acare4europe.org

2 Presentations from Imperials Green Aviation symposium series www.imperial.ac.uk/greenaviation (see page 26)
2050
>> Low emissions
To succeed in reducing emissions

it will be necessary to develop
and implement new technologies
across the aviation system.
Reducing engine emissions is
part of the story but significant
advances can also be made
through modifying the design
and configuration of the
aircraft as well as optimising
air traffic management.
Low drag
The most important issue in reducing overall
emissions is to increase the efficiency of the
aircraft the greatest challenge to maximum
efficiency being drag.
Drag reduction for aircraft is extremely
challenging: more than half of the drag
arises simply through surface friction, and
nearly as much (somewhat less than half
the total) is generated as a consequence
of the aircraft having to generate lift,
so-called lift-dependent drag. Reducing
the extent of separated flow towards the
trailing edge increases the lift as well
as reducing drag arising from pressure
differences (form drag) in the direction
of the wing chord. Computational fluid
dynamics methods are now so good that
this drag component can be minimised by
careful design alone. As a consequence,
it is the frictional, lift-independent drag
that offers the greater potential for drag
reduction and is therefore the one that
is the focus of much recent research.
Roughly half of friction drag is generated
by the wings, and half by the fuselage. This
is inevitable, but the drag generated by a
turbulent flow on the surface is about four to
five times that produced by laminar flow. On
the wings therefore, the delay of the onset
of laminar-to-turbulent transition reduces
drag. On the fuselage, reducing the turbulent
friction drag also offers potentially huge drag
and emissions reductions.
In the case of wings, Natural Laminar Flow
Control (LFC) has been a fruitful area of
development with no concomitant penalties
in terms of weight. On the other hand, Hybrid
Laminar Flow Control (HLFC) involves active,
steady suction near the leading edge to
control leading-edge contamination and crossflow instabilities. This technique can ensure
that the boundary layer remains laminar up
to the shock location, but it does lead to
additional penalties associated with both
weight and power of the suction device.
Surface excrescences, gaps between the flaps

and the main wing and shock waves, also
generate drag. Together these contribute only
510% of the total drag. Tailoring the wing
shape can be an effective way of minimising
the strength of shocks that form in the region
of maximum lift generation on the wing. Wave
drag arises through the presence of shock
waves appearing on a wing at high speed, and
represents the cost of the energy expended in
the shock formation.
Drag reduction therefore has to be tackled
by a number of approaches, each requiring a
range of expertise and skills, computational,
experimental and theoretical.
Laminar flow control and the delay of

transition
Existing transition prediction methods rely
exclusively on empirical approaches having
little input from our current understanding.
The major challenge is to devise innovative
descriptions of the flow physics, which can
be used by engineers to predict transition
with the degree of accuracy needed for
viable laminar flow control strategies.
These problems can only be solved using
an interdisciplinary team involving both
engineers and mathematicians with close
industrial collaboration.
EPSRC has funded the assembly of such
a team with the recent award of a large
programme grant in laminar flow control which
is led by Imperial College London.
Turbulent skin-friction reduction

Flow control research in the Department of
Aeronautics for turbulent drag reduction
involves computational, theoretical and
experimental studies. Simulations resolving
all details of the turbulence processes
show that the use of in-plane surface waves
can reduce the skin friction by as much as
45%. Ongoing work involves developing
techniques for spatially evolving boundary
layers subject to on/off actuation, and it
also suggests that such a technique may
be viable at flight Reynolds numbers.
Recent theoretical work shows that some
basic aspects of this phenomenon may
be explained by a relatively simple, linear
model. Experimental verification at tunnel
Reynolds numbers is underway, including the
development of novel prototype actuators
that are able to generate both in-plane and
out-of-plane surface waves. The approach
also makes use of actuators operating at
resonance to maximise their efficiency.
Shape optimisation the reduction of

pressure drag
Other approaches to drag reduction being explored
at Imperial involve the use of smart materials
to optimise wing shape for any part of the flight
envelope. Such an approach a morphing
wing can use sophisticated optimisation
techniques in which the effect on the flow (and
hence the drag) due to shape changes can be
estimated in real time. One of the most important
parts of the flight envelope is the maintenance
of lift at low speed, such as when landing. This
enables aircraft to adopt a steepest descent
on approach, therefore minimising times during
stacking, and therefore emissions. So-called
high-lift devices allow aircraft to land at lower
speed, hence offering fuel savings due to more
economical use of airport operating space, both
in the air and on the ground. This has the added
benefit of reduced noise for shorter periods.
redicted near-wall turbulent streaks perturbed by

P
the oscillatory motion.
Schematic of oscillatory wall actuation normal to
flow direction.
Shape optimisation the reduction of

wave drag
A further form of wing-shape contouring is
used at Imperial to attenuate the interaction
between a shock wave and the flow beneath it
on the wings upper surface. Three-dimensional
contouring is used to control the shock wave,
making it steadier. This reduces the unsteady
loads on the wing thereby minimizing fatigue and
has the added benefit of reducing wave drag.
The use of feedback control

There is significant potential for greater drag
(and power) reductions using active devices with
feedback control, where the effectiveness of a
particular form of actuation can be optimised and
the duty cycle of actuators minimized. For this
long term vision to be realised much work is being
undertaken in the Department of Aeronautics to
devise realistic models of flow phenomena, such
as those coherent structures responsible for
skin-friction drag. Models for effective control have
to be of low order while still retaining a sufficient
description of the dynamics to be effective.
Moreover, such an approach has to be tempered
with realistic estimates of power consumption and
weight. Above all, any drag reduction system must
be several times redundant for it to be practicable.
This work is in its infancy.
DRAG REDUCTION
THROUGH SURFACE
OSCILLATION
wall oscillation can reduce drag by
up to 40%
streaks also oscillate following
the wall motion, so disrupting the
production of surface skin friction
simulations and experiments are
being used to find the optimum form
of surface motion
simulations and experiments are
being conducted to determine
whether the technique has potential
at flight Reynolds numbers
the key features are predicted by
linear theory
Aircraft configuration
T ransition of a flow in a fin-plate junction from a

laminar to a turbulent state: derived from a direct
numerical simulation.
PROGRAMME GRANT IN
LAMINAR FLOW CONTROL
LFC-UK: Development of Underpinning
Technology for Laminar Flow Control
is a programme grant coordinated
by Imperial College London with a
budget of 4.2 million funded jointly
by EPSRC, Airbus and EADS-IW. The
objective of the project is to address
improved aerodynamics, and develop
the underpinning technology for
Laminar Flow Control (LFC), the
technology of drag reduction on
aircraft. The development of viable
LFC designs requires sophisticated
mathematical, computational and
experimental investigations of the
onset of transition to turbulence
and its control. Existing tools are
too crude to be useful and contain
little input from the flow physics. The
solution of these problems will lead
to a giant leap in our understanding
of transition prediction and enable
LFC to be deployed. The programme
is based around a unique team of
researchers covering all theoretical,
computational, and experimental
aspects of the problem together with
the necessary expertise to make
sure the work can be deployed by
industry. Indeed our partnership
with EADS and Airbus UK will put
the UK aeronautics industry in the
lead to develop the new generation
of LFC wings. The programme
grant is led by the Department of
Mathematics and co-hosted with
the Department of Aeronautics.
Aerospace vehicle design focuses on developing

innovative green aircraft design concepts to meet
challenging future operational requirements.
Supported by the departmental full-motion flight
simulator, research is concentrated on the design
and optimisation of advanced conceptual designs
and the development of novel configurations that
take advantage of emerging technologies for new
operational requirements. We are developing
design, optimisation and flight simulation methods
to reliably evaluate their potential advantages and
operational characteristics.
Engine optimisation
In pursuing solutions to reduced environmental
impact it is important to consider the role of engine
design and in particular the atomiser and combustor
specification which together are key to engine
efficiency. The Thermofluids Research Division
within the Department of Mechanical Engineering is
developing tools and techniques for modelling flow
and combustion within aircraft engines.
A key element of reducing emissions relates to
the design of the engine combustor and using
a combination of advanced computation and
laser diagnostics it is possible to improve engine
efficiency and reduce both fuel consumption and
the formation harmful gases.
An understanding of the interactions of chemistry
and flow is key to emission reduction and the design
of fuel-efficient engines. The formulation of accurate
chemical mechanisms, the modelling of chemistryturbulence interactions and their implementation
into prediction methods for turbulent flow is at the
core of our activities.
A further key activity relates to the fuel sprays and
gas flows and to help understand this interaction
we are developing laser diagnostics and large eddy
simulation for atomisation and droplet dispersion.
Additional activities include:
D
esign guidelines for altitude relight
D
etermine atomiser design for combustion
performance
D
esign guidelines for stable combustion
Influence of alternative fuels on combustor design
T he investigation of novel combustion modes that
are intrinsically less polluting
T he impact of fuel specification in the context of

fuel flexibility
Both atomiser and combustor design are, in turn,
affected by the fuel specification which will be
fundamentally changed by the introduction of
alternative and bio-derived fuels, the focus of
further research at Imperial.
Biofuels
Aviation biofuels offer a real opportunity to
reduce the total CO2 impact at the point of use.
Biofuels are, however, not without their own
challenges and controversies. The potential
growth in demand for bio-aviation fuels will
inevitably meet the same challenges that have
faced land-based transport biofuels. Assessing
their full life-cycle impact, net CO2 contribution
and impact upon food production is a strong focus
for Imperials Centre for Environmental Policy.
In order to introduce biofuels on a mass scale
innovative supply chains options are required and in
addition to the techno-economic assessments, full
life-cycle and sustainability assessments are also
necessary to guide its development.
Whilst biofuels have already been proven to
be compatible in principle, a major hurdle
to widespread use of biofuels at present is
the requirement for advanced, innovative,
conversion systems covering both biological and
thermochemical conversion systems.
The Centre for Environmental Policy is leading the
way in addressing the above issues and is actively
co-ordinating a number of research groups across
the College in order to bring together the appropriate
expertise to realise the required innovative solutions.
Air traffic management

Whilst many of the necessary technological
solutions to the challenges faced by the aviation
industry may be years, potentially decades, away
from maximum impact, research at Imperial into air
traffic management and aircraft operations has the
potential for more immediate change.
Taking the lead in this area is the Centre for Transport
studies with activities covering ATM concepts, airport
operations and environmental impact.
With expertise in modelling and optimisation
of capacity and safety, the Centre is leading the
way in studying future ATM concepts such as
integrated gate-to-gate 4D operations and future
trajectory management. Specific expertise is in
developing improvements in satellite positioning
to affect both the flight paths of aircraft and
air traffic management during take-off and
landing in order to improve both operational
effectiveness and reduce overall fuel demand.
In seeking to develop optimised solutions, the Centre

also considers the environmental impact of activities
and assessments are used to model development
and best practice. In situ deployment of pollution
monitoring networks and associated techniques
are a vital part of this work and link closely broader
Green Aviation environmental activities.
The Centre works extensively with both industry
and regulators including NATS, UKCAA, Eurocontrol,
SESAR and a number of airline operators such as
Easyjet.
Climate
Whilst work is underway to reduce emissions
from aviation, the full impact of this sector on the
climate remains a topic of research. Imperials
Grantham Institute for Climate Change was founded
with a mandate to drive forward climate-related
research, translating this into real world impact
and communicating their knowledge to help
shape decision-making. Under the direction of the
internationally renowned meteorologist, Professor
Sir Brian Hoskins, the Institute can offer advice on
the possible impact of aviation on the climate.
Policy
The management of aviation-linked pollution
will ultimately be driven by legislation, requiring
agreement at both the national and supranational
level if international travel is to continue unabated.
Through its links to the UKs Committee on Climate
Change and working with industrial partners, the
Institute is able to consider the latest thinking
regarding aviation scenarios in the UK. The
Grantham Institute also hosts a Policy Team, which
is instrumental in supporting the translation of
research for policy makers in government and
decision makers in business. Through their research
into areas such as carbon leakage, the team is
able to provide insight into the mechanisms by
which aviation emissions may be measured and
apportioned to countries.
Additional research activities include infrastructure

and operational considerations surrounding the
integration of air and landside channels to minimise
environmental impacts while maximising capacity
and safety.
>> Low noise
Economic growth of airline

markets has been themajor
factor for greater demand for
air travel. Current forecasts of
future air travel are showing
demand that exceeds current
airport capacity and potential
expansion at existing airports.
Construction of new airports
appears to be the only solution
to accommodate growth.
However, aircraft noise remains
one of the greatest barriers
to airport expansion and new
airport construction around
the world. The US General
Accounting Office (GAO, 2000a)
has reported noise as the greatest
environmental concern for the
busiest US airports. A similar
report was made by Matthew
Gorman, Corporate Responsibility
and Environment Director, for
Heathrow Airport.*
Aircraft noise is from four sources:
engine, propulsion and airframe
interactions, high-lift devices and
landing gear. There is not much
change in the engine noise during
take-off and landing, however,
the airframe noise is significantly
higher during landing compared to
take off.
*Meeting environmental capacity limits at Heathrow

Green Aviation 2011, Imperial College London,
6 January 2011
Reducing noise of aircraft

systems
Fractal grid spoilers
Spoilers are deployed during aircraft landing
and act to reduce lift and increase drag. The
contribution of spoilers and other control
surfaces to the overall noise produced by an
aircraft during landing is an important issue.
During descent (with engines at idle), a large
proportion of the audible sound at ground level
is generated by the engines and the airframe.
Sometimes one can hear from the ground
(and also from inside the cabin) a noticeable
decrease in the pitch of the produced noise
when control surfaces, such as spoilers, are
deployed. This frequency shift is caused in part
by the appearance of a fluctuating recirculation
region in the wake of the deployed spoilers,
which can in itself produce an unwanted
transient increase in lift and lead to vibration of
the airframe. The problem is compounded for
small aircraft where the vibration is amplified
and the noise not as muted inside the cabin as
the spoilers are closer to the fuselage.
Fractal spoilers are a new concept that has been
very recently introduced by the Department of
Aeronautics at Imperial College London. It has
already been demonstrated that such devices
can reduce noise by up to 4dB (relative to
conventional spoilers) while preserving the main
lift and drag characteristics required of a spoiler.
This was achieved without any optimisation
of this new technology leaving much room for
improvement. The mechanism responsible for
this sound attenuation involves the interaction
of the high frequency turbulence generated by
the fractal spoiler with the recirculation region
generated downstream of the spoiler. Fractal
spoilers perform much better than porous
spoilers made of regular grid porosity because
the peak turbulence intensity they create can be
designed to be much further downstream, thus
causing a persistent destructive effect within
the recirculation. In contrast, porous spoilers
with a regular grid produce a peak in turbulence
intensity much closer to the spoiler, which limits
the extent of the beneficial interference.
The low-frequency fluctuations of the
recirculation region cause a significant lowfrequency noise which the appropriately
designed turbulence depletes by acting on
the recirculation zone, effectively detaching
it from the spoiler. The high frequency noise
due to the turbulence generated by the fractal
spoiler is rapidly attenuated by the atmosphere
(the attenuation of high frequency pressure
fluctuations is much faster than low frequency
ones). An added benefit of this multi-scale/
fractal spoiler approach is the removal of the
transient increase in lift which often occurs with
standard spoilers.
Supressing combustion and thermo-acoustic

instabilities
In order to develop green solutions for the industry
it is necessary to overcome not just CO2 emissions
but also other gases such as NOx. The development
of low NOx, reduced noise combustors for aeroengines is limited by the problem of combustion
instabilities caused by two-way coupling between
unsteady combustion and acoustic waves. Current
research aims to develop methods of supressing
these instabilities through either active control or
tuned passive control.
Models have been developed which match well to
experimental results and can monitor fuel flow rate
and combustion instabilities. The next steps are to
extend these models to consider adaptive control
approaches, automatically tracking any changes
in operating conditions of the engine, to take into
account more realistic flame models.
Modelling of noise around airports

The effect of aircraft operations on the noise
climate around airports can be determined through
monitoring and modelling. Noise monitoring is
excessively costly due to huge arrays of noise
monitors that will have to be employed to measure
aircraft noise. In addition, according to CAA
reports the visual intrusion caused by an array of
microphones is considered to be unacceptable to
the general public. For this reason aircraft noise
models have been developed to produce accurate
estimates of the noise exposure experienced around
airports. Recent development in computational
methods and in particular the Boundary Element
Method (BEM) for open air acoustics can also be
used to predict future noise levels and carry out
examination of options for noise reduction and
mitigation. The FAST BEM models developed in the
Department of Aeronautics have been used to model
aircraft approach over surrounding houses. The
FAST BEM allows large scale models with several
millions of degree of freedom as well as providing
high accuracy in modelling sound propagation.
Fractal spoiler in wind tunnel.
FRACTAL GRID SPOILERS

The aim of this area of research is
to reduce the noise generated by
the outboard spoilers on aircraft,
through means of large-scale fractal
porosity, whilst maintaining the
lift and drag characteristics.
Spoilers generate a large area of
unsteady re-circulating flow behind
them which is the main source of the
low frequency noise. Unlike other
porous plates, fractal plates can be
designed so as to generate turbulence
at a distance commensurate with the
re-circulation size while at the same
time keeping relatively high blockage.
This disrupts the recirculation
and reduces the low frequency
noise. The high frequency noise
penalty of the turbulence is quickly
attenuated by the atmosphere.
In proof of concept studies a
reduction of up to 4dB has been
observed on flat plate experiments.
It is believed that by scaling up the
spoilers, there will be more freedom
in terms of design and the capability
of producing a wider range of bleed
flows, which, it is believed, would
reduce the noise further whilst
not affecting the aerodynamics.
Active noise and vibration control

Noise is the most important parameter affecting
passenger comfort in the aircraft after seat
properties and local climate or air quality. The main
contributors to aircraft interior noise are turbulent
boundary layer noise, air-conditioning and engine
noise (and vibrations) which are transmitted into the
aircraft through the fuselage.
Todays modern aircraft are now being
designed using a human-centred approach
which is defining the future guidelines for
passenger and cabin crew environments with
improved cabin ambience and comfort levels
by reducing both noise and vibration levels.
The study of the vibroacoustic properties
of advanced materials and the subsequent
development of appropriate concepts for noise,
vibration and harshness reduction become most
effective when the actual human perception of
sound and vibration are taken into account.
the cabin vibroacoustic environment is expected to

become increasingly important with the upcoming
use of larger passive windows providing a weak
link in protecting aircraft interior from outside
noise. Research at the Aeronautics Department
in collaboration with CIRA has resulted in a novel
active structural acoustic control (ASAC) concept
to reduce sound transmission through aircraft-type
windows at low frequencies. The structural control
inputs are achieved by piezoelectric actuators
applied to the structure to minimize the radiating
pressure field.
Imperial College London is leading a number of
major research initiatives aimed at reducing the
noise both internal and external to aircraft. The
SEAT (Smart technologies for stress free travel)
project resulted in development of active noise
control and vibration for cabin using advanced
optimisation and modelling techniques.
Active noise control is a key technology to enhance

aircraft cabin comfort. Aircraft interior trim panels
and windows are characterized by poor sound
transmission loss behaviour at low frequencies. For
next-generation transport aircraft, their impact on
Results of passive noise control modelling
Old textile.
New textile.
New textile and modified headrest.
>> Low weight
Achieving the IATA goals of

emissions reduction will require
radical innovation. In addition
to improved aerodynamics and
more fuel-efficient engines,
reducing the weight of the
aircraft structure is a vital target
for aircraft manufacturers.
Weight savings in successive
generations of aircraft have been
achieved through improvements
in materials, design and
manufacture. To continue to
drive down aircraft weight
requires significant advances
in the efficient application
of existing materials and,
looking further to the future,
the development of innovative
materials offering a dramatically
improved performance.
Imperial College London has a
very broad range of research
activities focussed on low
weight and the following
sections highlight how we are
advancing the understanding
of high performance materials,
addressing the complexity
of efficient aircraft structural
design through high-fidelity
simulation, and developing new
materials offering significant
performance gains including
added functionality.
Improving the understanding

of aerospace materials
To fully exploit the potential of a material and
so enable the design of optimum, low weight
aircraft structures, it is important to thoroughly
understand how that material will behave when
subjected to the stresses and environment
that will be encountered during operation of
the aircraft. Improving the understanding of
aerospace materials is a major research activity
at Imperial.
Carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites
have long been recognised as providing high
stiffness and strength with low weight and
are therefore used extensively in the latest
fuel efficient civil aircraft such as the Boeing
787 and Airbus A380. These materials are
particularly attractive because of the ability to
optimally tailor the arrangement of the fibre
reinforcement but this characteristic also
means that the behaviour of these materials
is inherently more complex than that of metals
and other isotropic materials.
Imperial has been extensively involved in
research into the performance of composite
materials for over 30 years. A major focus
of our research activity is on understanding
and characterising the failure processes in
these materials. Our typical approach uses
well-designed experiments (often guided
by finite element modelling and employing
advanced fractographic analysis techniques)
to enable a failure mechanism to be rigorously
investigated. A recent example is an in-depth
re-examination of the compression failure
mechanism of unidirectional composites. This
research has provided a sound, physicallybased foundation for the development of
accurate predictive failure models. Related
work is also underway on compression
failure of woven fabric composites.
As well as gaining an in-depth understanding
of failure mechanisms, Imperials composites
research includes a long track record
in the development and evaluation of
characterisation test methods for measuring
key mechanical properties required by
engineers for the design and accurate
simulation of composite structures. This
work has included test techniques for the
measurement of compression strength,
interlaminar toughness (the resistance
to separation of the layers in a laminated
composite) and, more recently, translaminar
toughness. This last property is essential for the
prediction of the initiation and the propagation
of a through-thickness crack in a composite
panel. Knowledge of this allows designers
to produce structures which are resistant to
initiation of translaminar cracks and, in the
event of accidental in-service damage, to
predict how rapidly the damage will grow.
The composites research activities described

so far have been associated with relatively slow
(quasi-static) loading rates but there are also
major programmes addressing impact behaviour
and the associated characterisation of material
properties at high loading rates. This research
covers a range of events from a tool dropped during
maintenance to a bird striking the aircraft during
flight. Understanding the damage developed in
these impact events is important for the design
of impact-tolerant structures. Work at Imperial
ranges from drop weight impact testing at a few
m/s through to ballistic impact at speeds in excess
of 1km/s. The development of tests for mechanical
properties at high rates (providing important data to
impact simulation tools for use in design) includes
Hopkinson bar tension tests of fibres and highspeed translaminar toughness testing.
Despite the uptake of polymer matrix composites
in aircraft structures, metals continue to play
an important role particularly where the stress
fields are complex and of high magnitude and
where the operating environment is harsh
(for example, within engines). Current work
in the Department of Materials at Imperial
is investigating how titanium alloys can be
modified through microstructural engineering to
optimise mechanical properties and maximise
strength. Texture evolution during processing is
also being investigated using a 3rd generation
synchrotron with the aim of identifying processing
techniques which can be used to produce
components with improved fatigue performance.
Much of the research summarised here has been
focussed on improving the understanding of the
mechanical performance of materials but Imperial
is also engaged in experimental investigations
at the structural detail and component levels.
The structural behaviour is dependent on design
features, manufacturing tolerances as well as
the behaviour of the material itself. This research
is frequently performed to provide validation of
the predictions by simulation tools. Recent such
investigations include bolted joints in composites,
the post buckling behaviour of stiffened panels and
stiffener run-out behaviour in compression.
arbon nanotubes grown on surface of a silica fibre

C
are stripped off to examine surface damage.
THE COMPOSITES
CENTRE
In 1983 Imperial established the
Composites Centre to help coordinate
and promote its growing portfolio
of composites research. Today the
composites research community is as
strong as ever. Composites research
extends across engineering and
science departments (Aeronautics,
Chemical Engineering, Chemistry,
Civil Engineering, Materials and
Mechanical Engineering) and is
supported by extensive facilities
for the manufacture, inspection
and testing of composite materials.
Through these facilities and the
expertise of its staff, an unusually
broad range of research activities in
composites has been developed. This
research includes the development of
new composites, characterisation of
the behaviour of composite materials
and an extensive modelling capability
which specifically addresses the
complexities inherent in fibre
reinforced architectures. A notable
feature of many of the composites
research projects at Imperial is the
strong multi-disciplinary approach
which is often essential to achieving
significant advances in this field.
Modelling for more

efficient design
Integrally stiffened structure.
DAMAGE TOLERANCE
FOR NEW STRUCTURAL
CONCEPTS
DaTon (Innovative Fatigue and
Damage Tolerance Methods for
the Application of New Structural
Concepts) was an EU project was
coordinated by IFL in Germany and
included Airbus and a number of
academic institutions around Europe.
The aim of the project was to allow
the industry to use newly developed
manufacturing methods, which all
promise high efficiency but lack a
good damage tolerance capability
under certain circumstances. The
project developed new damage
tolerance assessment tools for the
following manufacturing techniques:
High Speed Cutting (HSC), Laser
Beam Welding (LBW) and Friction Stir
Welding (FSW) all three leading to
a type of structure which is close to
an integral structural design. This
design offers benefits (for example,
low cost) but significant concerns
remain about the damage tolerance
capacity. Researchers from the
Department of Aeronautics developed
advanced computational methods
based on boundary elements and
finite elements for assessment of
the damage tolerance of integrally
stiffened structures, manufactured
by FSW. The methods were validated
against full scale test results of
stiffened panels.
The design process for modern, fuel

efficient civil aircraft is complex,
costly and time consuming.
Modelling tools which accurately
simulate the behaviour of aircraft
structures can significantly reduce
the design time and also greatly
reduce the reliance on expensive
physical testing during the
investigation and development of
design solutions. Modelling tools are
therefore vital in the drive towards
optimal low weight aircraft and
their development and application
constitute a major research focus at
Imperial College London.
The Department of Aeronautics
at Imperial has a long history in
the modelling of aircraft structural
behaviour with origins in the very early
stages of the development of the finite
element method. The recent research
at Imperial has strongly focussed
on the development of modelling
tools for the accurate simulation
of failure in aircraft structures but
modelling has also been developed
for simulation of manufacturing
processes for metal structures, for
the trajectory of debris thrown up by
the aircraft wheels during take-off
(see Low maintenance section), for
noise control strategies and for the
investigation and design of structural
health monitoring systems.
The development of modelling
tools for structures manufactured
from fibre reinforced composites
is particularly important. As noted
earlier, composites offer the
designer an unrivalled capacity for
optimisation to suit the function of
a particular component (through
the choice of the materials for fibre
and matrix, and the selection of the
orientation and architecture of the
fibre reinforcement) but the failure
processes of composites are very
complex and accurate simulation
tools are essential to enable failure
to be properly considered during
the design process. Our research
therefore has a significant focus on
the development and implementation
of failure criteria for accurately
predicting failure initiation.
However accurate prediction of the
initiation of failure does not give a
complete picture of the behaviour
of a composite structure; an
understanding of how that failure

subsequently propagates is also
very important and so we have major
projects developing and evaluating
energy-based fracture mechanics
approaches for the simulation of
failure propagation. These tools
are being developed for polymer
matrix composite structures using
unidirectional, 2-D woven, 3-D woven
and braided fibre architectures and
for fibremetal hybrid materials. The
loading regimes being considered
include quasi-static, cyclic and
impact events.
Our composites modelling research
is being conducted over a range
of length scales. Representation
of individual fibres and matrix
is usually the smallest scale
considered and this has been
used extensively at Imperial for
investigating the fundamentals
of particular failure modes.
Fibrematrix micromechanical
models have also been developed
for prediction of the stiffness
properties of composites with
complex architectures such as 3-D
weaves (using a voxel discretisation
approach) and braided composites
(using meshless methods).
Moving up through the length
scales, lamina level modelling (in
which the discrete layer containing
fibre and matrix is represented in
a homogenised form) is used in
applications where the interaction
of failures within laminae and
between laminae (delaminations)
is to be investigated. Examples of
the application of this modelling
from recent and current research
in the Department of Aeronautics
include laminates containing open
holes, bolted joints, stiffener run-out
configurations and high-fidelity
impact simulations.
At the larger scale (for example to
simulate the wing of an aircraft)
the challenges posed for failure
modelling are very considerable. To
control the simulation run-times,
laminates will most usually be
represented by homogenised plates
and the complexity of the structural
details will be represented in a
simplified form (so, for example,
bolts and bolt holes will not be
explicitly represented in detail).
However failures will depend on
the stresses developed at smaller
scales (at least at the lamina level)

and the detail of geometry and layup
can have a considerable influence
on the initiation and propagation
of failure. To address this issue
global-local models are being
developed which automatically
detect potential failure sites in the
large scale model. A refined local
model is then generated to identify
damage development and this
supplies the reduced local stiffness
characteristics back to the global
model for further analysis iterations.
Multi-scale analysis techniques
are being developed to bridge the
length scales all the way from the
fibre-matrix level through to the
component level and is particularly
useful for complex composite
architectures which are difficult
to characterise experimentally.
Research in the Department of
Aeronautics is also applying
this approach to capture the
initiation of intergranular failure
in fatigue of polycrystalline metal
alloys and the subsequent failure
accumulation and propagation to
cause failure of the component.
The advances in the capabilities of
modelling tools described above are
being applied in several research
programmes investigating optimal
light weight structures. The improved
design of stiffened panel composite
structures is one example in which
the aim is to produce a design that
is both lightweight and robust by
including manufacturing tolerances
in the model and predicting their
effect on failure development.
Another example of structural
optimisation has arisen from our
improved damage modelling of
impact events. Impact simulations
are of particular importance for
composite aircraft structures. Fibre
reinforced composite structures
subjected to low velocity impacts
can suffer extensive internal damage
without any visible signs of this
on the outer surface. Techniques
have been developed to predict the
impact damage and, importantly,
the residual strength of the damaged
structure. Current research in the
Department of Aeronautics is
refining the damage modelling
to more accurately capture the
interaction of damage modes that
occur during impact which is key
for the subsequent prediction of

the residual strength. Research
is also now linking these models
to optimisation algorithms to
allow rapid design of light weight
composite structures which are
more robust to the impact threat.
Imperials impact modelling research
for civil aviation has a strong focus
on low velocity and birdstrike events.
However we also have a significant
research activity investigating
ballistic impact which has been
developed primarily for defence
applications. This capability is now
being applied to future green aircraft
concepts using open rotor engines
in which there is the potential of a
failed blade impacting the fuselage
and other structural components at
high speeds.
As mentioned earlier the modelling
research at Imperial has been
applied to new manufacturing
processes which hold the potential
for the production of improved
lightweight structures. Friction stir
welding is one example which has
been investigated at Imperial. This
manufacturing technique enables
low weight stiffened panels to be
developed that were not possible
a few years ago. Modelling tools
were developed to assess residual
stress fields and enable predictions
of crack growth and validated
against experimental results.
Brittle failure in stiffened composite panel.
PROGRAMME GRANT IN
DUCTILE COMPOSITES
HiPerDuCT: High Performance Ductile
Composite Technology is a programme
grant with a budget of 6.4 million
funded by EPSRC. Conventional
composites such as carbon fibre
reinforced plastics have outstanding
mechanical properties: high strength
and stiffness, low weight, and low
susceptibility to fatigue and corrosion.
Despite this progress, a fundamental
and as yet unresolved limitation of
current composites is their inherent
brittleness. Failure is usually sudden
and catastrophic, with little or
no warning. As a result complex
maintenance procedures are required
and a significantly greater safety
margin than for other materials. We
will design, manufacture and evaluate
a range of composite systems with the
ability to fail gradually, undergoing
large deformations whilst still carrying
load. Energy will be absorbed by
ductile or pseudo-ductile response,
analogous to yielding in metals, with
strength and stiffness maintained,
and clear evidence of damage. To
achieve such an ambitious outcome
will require a concerted effort to
develop new composite constituents
and exploit novel architectures.
( Top) Translaminar
toughness testing of
composites.
( Bottom) Autoclave
for composites
manufacture.
New materials for the future

Better use of the capabilities of current high
performance materials is already producing
lighter aircraft structures but further weight
reduction in the future will increasingly be
dependent upon the development of new
improved materials. At Imperial, the main
drive in this area is to create materials with
significantly enhanced mechanical performance
but the potential for added functionality is
also receiving considerable attention.
Imperial College London has extensive research
activities aimed at the development of fibre
reinforced polymer matrix composites with improved
mechanical performance. These activities draw
on expertise and facilities in the Departments of
Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Aeronautics
for synthesis, manufacturing, testing and modelling
in this field. A large part of this research is
investigating how the outstanding properties of
carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be used to improve
the characteristics of conventional carbon fibre
reinforced composites. An important line of
investigation is the incorporation of CNTs into the
matrix phase of conventional fibre composites.
A variety of techniques to introduce the CNTs is
being explored by the team at Imperial, one of
which involves growing the CNTs on the surface
of the conventional carbon fibres. The advantage
of this technique is that the distribution of the
CNTs can be well controlled within the composite.
Combining conventional fibres and CNTs in a
composite to form a hierarchical reinforcement
architecture offers the possibility of significantly
improved matrix-controlled properties such
as fibre-direction compression strength and
interlaminar toughness. Improvement in
other, non-mechanical properties may also be
beneficial for future aircraft applications. For
example, the enhanced electrical conductivity
which results from the introduction of CNTs may
reduce the need for lightning strike protection.
Current carbon fibre composites are strong, stiff and
light but they often exhibit a brittle failure mode. If
this failure mode could be changed to a more ductile
process then there will be substantial benefits
for future aircraft design as well as in many other
applications. Recently Imperial College London and
Bristol University have jointly been awarded a large
grant by the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council to address this problem. The aim
is to devise new composites that exhibit significant
ductility in their failure process see the case
study for more details. This prestigious award puts
Imperial researchers at the forefront of composite
materials innovation in the UK.
capability. Currently there are research projects at

Imperial investigating the development of materials
with additional performance functions to provide
adaptive shape control, electrical energy storage
and self-repair.
NiTi-based shape memory alloys have the capability
to provide actuation for shape change but suffer
cyclic degradation. The Department of Materials
is investigating the cause of this degradation and
examining strategies to create stable, repeatable
actuation. In related work, the Departments
of Aeronautics and Chemical Engineering are
developing composites with controllable flexural
stiffness. These materials, in which the flexural
stiffness can be temporarily decreased on demand,
could reduce the actuation system requirements in
morphing structures.
The capability to store electrical energy in structural
polymer matrix composites has been the focus
of a series of research projects undertaken by
a team from the Departments of Chemistry,
Chemical Engineering and Aeronautics. The team
has developed demonstrator materials to prove
the concept is viable and the current EU-funded
project (STORAGE) will develop and characterise
composites using a nanostructured matrix material
to achieve optimum electrical and mechanical
properties. The same team, on this occasion
working with colleagues at Bristol University, are
also looking at the exciting prospect of selfhealing composite structural materials. Imperials
research is developing and evaluating a strategy for
incorporating microcapsules to release the healing
agent in the event of damage.
Finally, researchers in the Departments of
Aeronautics and Chemical Engineering are
addressing the important issue of recycling of
composite materials, either waste from the aircraft
manufacturing process or at the end of the life
of an aircraft. One research project is examining
methods of recovering the reinforcing fibres from
the composite material and a second project is
examining the mechanical behaviour of short fibre
composites produced using the recovered fibres
and developing predictive tools for the properties
of these materials. These recycled composites have
the potential to be re-used in future aircraft for
aircraft interiors.
Adding extra functionality to a material, beyond

the mechanical performance required for use in
structural components, can enable weight reduction
(by reducing or eliminating the need for other
systems on the aircraft) and may deliver other
benefits e.g. reduced drag in the case of a morphing
>> Low maintenance
Aircraft maintenance involves

periodic inspections after
a certain number of flights
or amount of time. Aircraft
operators follow a continuous
inspection program approved
by European Aviation Safety
Agency (EASA) or the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA).
Current airworthiness standards
(such as FAR 25.571 and AC 20107A) set by these authorities
require the evaluation of the
damage tolerance for airframe
design. Damage tolerance refers
to the ability of the design to
prevent structural cracks or
damage from precipitating
catastrophic fracture when
the frame is subjected to
flight or ground loads.
Airframe structures are generally
made damage tolerant by means
of redundant (fail-safe) designs
for which the inspection intervals
are set to provide at least two
inspection opportunities in
the number of fights it would
take for a visually detectable
crack to grow large enough to
cause a failure in flight. Aircraft
manufacturers are required as
part of the certification processes
to perform tests and analyses
to demonstrate compliance
with these airworthiness
requirements.
Damage tolerant structures

The reliability of damage detection during
scheduled inspections and follow-up repairs
is essential for damage tolerant structures.
The inspection and maintenance program is
established to minimise the risk. A reduced
number of inspections increases the probability
of failure whilst too many inspections will
lead to an increase in life cycle costs and
reduced operational times. The challenge is
to adhere to increasing demands for lower
weight and greater safety and at the same
time to reduce maintenance by having fewer
scheduled inspections. This challenge is
being partly met through development of
effective and efficient advanced mathematical
models to allow better knowledge of the
behaviour of flaws in airframe structures
ranging from material degradation and crack
initiation to crack growth during service and
eventual failure of the aircraft structure.
A recently completed TSB-funded project
(Structural Adhesive Bonding of thick
Components for Advanced Design SABCAD)
has investigated a bonded approach to wing
construction. The project, coordinated by
Airbus UK, explored the use of lower density
aluminium lithium materials and fibre metallic
laminate (FML) in both monolithic and
laminated metallic sections for innovative wing
design concepts. Modelling and design tools
were developed and applied to optimise the
design of a metallic laminate wing cover. Our
research provided validated predictive models
of multi-layered metallic laminates and fibre
metallic laminates for simulation of static
residual strength, fatigue and crack propagation
behaviour. Testing and modelling was carried
out to optimise the design and understand
interfacial effects in adhesively bonded, thick,
metallic laminates. Hybrid composites such
as FML show greater fatigue properties and
slower crack growth in comparison to the
metallic laminates which should result in fewer
inspections and hence reduced maintenance.
The new material combinations will provide
superior structural efficiencies for large
aerospace structures via improved fatigue and
static strength performance and reduced weight
and corrosion. Lower weight will give greater
fuel burn efficiency and lower emissions over
an aircrafts lifetime as well.
Composite materials are being used in aircraft
primary structures such as Boeing 787 and
A350 wings and fuselage. In these applications,
stringent requirements on weight, damage
tolerance and reliability are satisfied. Current
guidelines for general aircraft maintenance
were established largely for metallic airframes.
Deterministic fracture and damage criteria
do not provide accurate representation of
variability of parameters encountered in
composites and stochastic models are necessary. We

have developed new methods for determining the
probability of failure and constructing distribution
functions for critical responses.
High cycle fatigue is an important cause of failure in
aircraft structures. Delamination is a major damage
mechanism in composites and it is important
to understand the onset and propagation of
delamination under repeated loading of the structure.
Newly developed finite element models (as part of
Maaximus FP7 project) are enabling prediction of
the onset and propagation of delamination allowing
better design and predictions of stiffener run-outs and
bonded joints.
Runway debris
Runway stones thrown up by aircraft tyres can lead to
considerable damage to aircraft structures, yet there
is limited understanding of the lofting mechanisms.
The original motivation studies were conducted in
support of certification of Eurofighter, during which
it was identified that there was no realistic measure
of the threat to aircraft from such impact conditions.
Subsequently, through EPSRC and MoD funding, finite
element models utilising contact mechanics were
developed which were validated against drop weight
experiments to mimic the contact conditions between
the stones, tyres and ground. In addition, the effect of
such impact events on aerospace materials have been
characterised using a bespoke impactor developed
in the Department of Aeronautics. More recently the
research has utilised aerodynamic models to mimic
the interaction between the lofted stone and the
airflow behind the aircraft wheel. This has culminated
in the production of threat maps which identify the
sites on the aircraft lower fuselage that are exposed to
the most severe impact conditions.
Adaptive structures
Morphing and adaptive concepts to allow large shape
changes are increasingly being investigated for
aerodynamics improvements. They can also reduce
maintenance costs as with fewer parts inspections are
much easier. One of the most important requirements
of a morphing wing concerns the skin which has to
be able to withstand aerodynamic and structural
loads while being flexible enough to be morphed. Our
researchers have utilised carbon fibre/polyurethane
composite to fabricate a corrugated morphing wing.
The aim is to optimise the shape and geometry of
the corrugated skin such that the lift to drag ratio
of the morphing wing is maximised. Research is
under way to integrate smart actuators into the
wing. Research in the Department of Aeronautics
is also investigating an adaptive wing which has
continuously variable camber from tip to root without
separate control surfaces. This wing exhibits lower
drag than its conventional equivalent and has
shown to offer potential for further development. A
related research project is being conducted into the
aeroelastic topology using genetic algorithms for
design of the compliant morphing wing substructure.
teady state response due to harmonic excitation

S
by piezo-electric transducers used for damage
detection.
SMART INTELLIGENT
AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES
SARISTU (Smart Intelligent Aircraft
Structures) is a level two, largescale integrating project which aims
at achieving reductions in aircraft
weight and operational costs, as
well as an improvement in the
flight profile specific aerodynamic
performance. The project focuses
on integration activities in three
distinct technological areas: airfoil
conformal morphing, self-sensing and
multifunctional structures through
the use of nanoreinforced resins.
Coordinated by Airbus, the SARISTU
Consortium brings together 64
partners from 16 European countries.
The total budget of the project is 51
M, partially funded by the European
Commission under FP7-AAT-2011RTD-1. The Department of Aeronautics
at Imperial is contributing to impact
studies of fuselage panels and
development of structural health
monitoring methodology platform for
the demonstrator wing.
evelopment of
D
morphing wing
structure.
Structural health monitoring
damage. Vibration-based techniques can actively

interrogate the structure for damage using a
high-frequency excitation. Piezoceramic materials
are used in vibration based damage detection
methods to generate frequency response function
or wave motions. Electromechanical SHM also
uses piezoelectric patches which behave as both
sensors and actuators. These methods provide an
effective damage detection capability, but require a
large number of sensors to detect small damages.
Therefore, it is important that methodologies are
developed that would allow effective optimization
of sensor placement. For operational in situ
monitoring, measurements from the sensor system
would provide information of different levels of
condition diagnosis:
The concept of sensorised structures for the

purpose of damage detection and recording
changes of strain fields is of growing interest
to reduce the maintenance activities as well as
to improve the aircraft safety. There are many
techniques which have been developed or are
under investigation for detecting damage in
composites. In cases of ground or non-operational
inspection techniques such as ultrasonic
cartography, X-ray, thermography, laser ultrasound,
shearography and electro-optic holography are
receiving much attention. However, possibly a
more efficient and safer approach is to monitor the
composite structure continuously during operation
through structural health monitoring (SHM).
damage detection
The types of systems widely used for structural

health monitoring include piezoceramic materials,
fibre-optic wires, strain gauges, microwaves, and
acoustic emission sensors. Strain gauges are
sensitive but give localized measurements. Acoustic
emission sensors detect propagation of a crack, but
do not detect damage unless it is growing, and they
can be sensitive to reflections from stiffeners and
noise in the measurements. Fibre-optic wires can
sense strain and vibration and have successfully
been integrated into composite materials. The
above techniques are passive techniques that
rely on unmeasured natural excitation to detect
damage location
damage magnitude
In a recent JTI Clean Sky project SMASH, in
collaboration with Alenia Aeromachi, we have
developed effective computational tools for the
development and manufacturing of a sensorised
stiffened composite aircraft structure for impact
damage detection. Different SHM methods for
piezoceramics and fibre optics sensors were
developed. In SARISTU FP7 project the research is
being extended to a wing demonstrator.
Modelling damage detection with active sensing
PZT Actuator
Damage
Sensor
PZT Actuator
Damage
scattered
waves
Sensor
Dr Paul Bruce Lecturer in Compressible Aerodynamics
Professor Sergei Chernyshenko Professor of Aerodynamics Director of MSc in Advanced

Computational Methods
Dr Colin Cotter Senior Lecturer in Aeronautics
Professor Denis Doorly Professor of Fluid Mechanics Director of Undergraduate Studies
Professor J Michael R Graham Professor of Unsteady Aerodynamics
Low maintenance
Professor Ferri Aliabadi Head, Department of Aeronautics Professor of Aerostructures

Professor Peter Bearman Professor of Experimental Aerodynamics
Low weight
Low noise
Low emissions
Green aviation capability
Dr Emile Greenhalgh Reader in Composite Materials

Professor Richard Hillier Professor of Compressible Flow
Professor Lorenzo Iannucci Professor in Advanced Structural Design and Dstl/Royal Academy
of Engineering Chair in multiscale armour design
Dr Eric Kerrigan Senior Lecturer
Professor Michael Leschziner Professor of Computational Aerodynamics
Dr Aimee Morgans Senior Lecturer in Aeronautics
Professor Jonathan Morrison Head, Aerodynamics Professor of Experimental Fluid Mechanics
Dr Rafael Palacios-Nieto Lecturer in Aerostructures
Dr George Papadakis Reader in Aerodynamics
Dr Joaquim Peiro Senior Lecturer in Aeronautics
Dr Silvestre Pinho Reader in Aerostructures
Dr Paul Robinson Director, Green Aviation Head, Composites Centre Reader in Mechanics
of Composites Director of MSc in Composites
Dr Matthew Santer Lecturer in Aerostructures
Dr Stephan Schmidt Lecturer in Computational Aircraft Design
Dr Varnavas Serghides Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Vehicle Design
Professor Spencer Sherwin Professor of Computational Fluid Mechanics
Dr Vito Tagarielli Lecturer in Structures

Professor J Christos Vassilicos Professor of Fluid Mechanics Director of Research
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Dr Arnab Majumdar Lecturer in Transport Risk Management
Dr Wolfgang Schuster Research Fellow Leader Intelligent Transport Systems Group

Leader Air Traffic Management Group
Professor Washington Ochieng H

ead, Centre for Transport Studies Chair in Positioning and
Navigation Systems
Dr Pedro Baiz Villafranca Lecturer in Aerostructures

Dr Peter Vincent Lecturer in Aeronautics
Professor Alexander Bismark Professor of Advanced Materials Polymer and Composite

Engineering (PaCE) Group
Low maintenance
Low weight
Low noise
Low emissions
Department of Chemical Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Dr Daniel Balint Lecturer
Dr Bamber Blackman Reader in the Mechanics of Materials
Professor Ioannis Hardalupas Professor of Multiphase Flows
Professor William Jones Head, Thermofluids Division Professor of Combustion
Professor Peter Lindstedt Professor of Thermofluids
Professor Kamran Nikbin Professor of Structural Integrity

Professor Alex Taylor Professor of Fluid Mechanics
Dr Ambrose Taylor Senior Lecturer
Department of Materials
Professor Neil Alford Head, Department of Materials Deputy Principal (Research)
Faculty of Engineering
Dr David Dye Senior Lecturer in Materials
Centre for Environmental Policy

Dr Ausilio Bauen Head, Bioenergy Group
Dr Jeremy Woods Lecturer in Bioenergy
Department of Physics
Professor Joanna Haigh Head, Department of Physics Professor of Atmospheric Physics
Professor Ralf Toumi Professor of Atmospheric Physics
Department of Chemistry
Professor Milo Shaffer Professor of Materials Chemistry
Dr Joachim Steinke Reader in Polymer Chemistry
Department of Mathematics
Professor Philip Hall Director of the Mathematical Sciences Res Inst
Professor Anatoly Ruban Chair in Applied Maths and Mathematical Physics
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Professor Richard Vinter
onda Wind Tunnel at

H
Imperial College London.
Presentations from Imperials Green Aviation symposium series

Green Aviation 2011
Green Aviation 2012
British Airways Carbon Reduction Strategy

Willie Walsh, CEO, British Airways
A change is in the air: Virgin Atlantics sustainability story

Steve Ridgway, Chief Executive, Virgin Atlantic
The Future by Airbus

Axel Krein, Senior Vice President, Research and Technology, Airbus
Driving the spirit of innovation forward: perspectives about

aerospace and defence research trends
Jean Botti, Chief Technology Officer, EADS
Green AeroEngines
Ric Parker, Director of Research and Technology, Rolls-Royce
Clean Sky: Europes Unified Approach to Green Aviation
Eric Dautriat, Executive Director, Clean Sky
Meeting environmental capacity limits at Heathrow
Matthew Gorman, Corporate Responsibility and Environment
Director, Heathrow Airport Ltd
Climate change and aviation
Sir Brian Hoskins, Director, Grantham Institute for Climate Change
Sustainable aviation: technology directions to enable a better world

Allen Adler, Vice President of Enterprise Technology Strategy, Boeing
Green propulsion for the 21st century
Alan Epstein, Vice President of Technology and Environment,
Pratt & Whitney
The long haul to alternative jet fuel
Charles Cameron, Head of Technology, Refining and Marketing, BP
Towards green air traffic management in European skies
Alain Siebert, Chief Economics and Environment, SESAR
Thames hub
Huw Thomas, Partner, Foster + Partners
available at www.imperial.ac.uk/greenaviation
For further information about Green Aviation

please contact
Dr Paul Robinson
Director
Green Aviation
Imperial College London
South Kensington Campus
London SW7 2AZ
Telephone: +44 (020) 7594 5056
Email: greenaviation@imperial.ac.uk
www.imperial.ac.uk/greenaviation

Green Aviation Booklet 2012 PDF

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Green

The history of Aeronautics

2 Green Aviation solutions for the future

Green aviation research

innovative drag reduction

Within this document we provide more

improved air traffic management

>> Low emissions

advanced modelling tools for

>> Low noise

noise reduction through combustion

The diagram below gives an indication

>> Low weight

I hope you find this description of

Green aviation challenge

The public awareness of the

The targets set by the ACARE include:

The IATA targets.

4 Green Aviation solutions for the future

The required technological advances identified by

>> composites have step change potential,

configuration and overall aircraft design

>> multi-functional materials and related

>> light weight metallic materials, low cost alloys

aerodynamics and flight performance

in-service support technologies

>> novel engine architectures

>> more electric engines

>> power plants for alternative fuels

>> 4D flight planning and execution

>> optimisation of aircraft mission in time and

>> step change to allow for zero/ultra low

air traffic management

Constant technology level

1 Beyond Vision 2020 (towards 2050) ACARE www.acare4europe.org

Green Aviation solutions for the future 5

>> Low emissions

To succeed in reducing emissions

Surface excrescences, gaps between the flaps

Laminar flow control and the delay of

Turbulent skin-friction reduction

6 Green Aviation solutions for the future

Shape optimisation the reduction of

 redicted near-wall turbulent streaks perturbed by

Shape optimisation the reduction of

The use of feedback control

Green Aviation solutions for the future 7

T ransition of a flow in a fin-plate junction from a

Aerospace vehicle design focuses on developing

T he impact of fuel specification in the context of

8 Green Aviation solutions for the future

Air traffic management

In seeking to develop optimised solutions, the Centre

Additional research activities include infrastructure

Green Aviation solutions for the future 9

>> Low noise

Economic growth of airline

*Meeting environmental capacity limits at Heathrow

Reducing noise of aircraft

10 Green Aviation solutions for the future

Supressing combustion and thermo-acoustic

Modelling of noise around airports

improved air traffic management

advanced modelling tools for

noise reduction through combustion

>> composites have step change potential,

>> multi-functional materials and related

>> light weight metallic materials, low cost alloys

>> optimisation of aircraft mission in time and

>> step change to allow for zero/ultra low

1 Beyond Vision 2020 (towards 2050) ACARE www.acare4europe.org

redicted near-wall turbulent streaks perturbed by

T ransition of a flow in a fin-plate junction from a

T he impact of fuel specification in the context of

*Meeting environmental capacity limits at Heathrow

Fractal spoiler in wind tunnel.

arbon nanotubes grown on surface of a silica fibre

Integrally stiffened structure.

teady state response due to harmonic excitation

Professor Sergei Chernyshenko Professor of Aerodynamics Director of MSc in Advanced

Dr Wolfgang Schuster Research Fellow Leader Intelligent Transport Systems Group