Classical Aircraft Sizing I

W. H. Mason

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering

from Sandusky, Northrop

slide 1

9/8/09

Which is 1st?
You need to have a concept in mind to start
The concept will be reflected in the sizing
by the choice of a few key parameters.
Then what?
- 1st estimate the TOGW of the airplane
- 2nd, estimate the W/S and T/W
- 3rd, use the mission program to evaluate the design
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 2

9/8/09

To Start: Define a Mission

What is this airplane supposed to do?
How far does it go? How fast?
What and how much does it carry?
What are the landing and takeoff requirements?
Are there any maneuver/accel requirements?
(these are known as point performance reqts)
What MIL or FAR reqts must be satisfied?
Taken together, the answers to these questions are
known as the Mission Statement, and also
imply that you think of concepts to do the job
Note: the web slides contain more charts. Fill in details
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 3

9/8/09

Basis for Sizing

Many Possibilities for the Selection Criteria
Possible Choices:
- minimum life cycle cost
-

"

flyaway cost

"

direct operating cost

"

fuel cost

"

take off gross weight (TOGW)

Cost is the real selection criteria, but hard to estimate

For a given class of aircraft, aircraft cost/lb is similar

min weight is a good choice for comparing alternatives

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 4

9/8/09

The Importance of Weight Control

TOGW = WTO = Wstruc + W prop + W fuel + W payload + Wsystems

W fixed
Wstruc Wprop W fuel
= WTO
+
+
+ W fixed
WTO
WTO
WTO

W
Wprop Wfuel
or: = 1 struc +
+
W = Wfixed
WTO
WTO TO
WTO
W fixed
W
Wprop W fuel
+
1 struc +

WTO
WTO
WTO
0.29 0.15 0.31
Typical:
Wfixed
WTO =
= 4 W fixed
(1 .75)
Aerospace and
4 is the Growth Factor!
Ocean Engineering
WTO =

Possible
Values

slide 5

9/8/09

More Precise Weight Definitions

Standard nomenclature important
FAR, MIL STD & Technical Societies define, see Torenbeek,
Chap. 8, pg 263-275 (quote at specified loading and cg)
- eventually you will make a detailed weight statement-
In 1st cut sizing we use Nicolais definitions:
TOGW = Wfuel + Wfixed+Wempty
Wempty: basic structure and propulsion
Wfixed: all items that can be removed and the a/c would still


be ready to fly, divided into two parts,

a) non-expendable (crew + equipment)

b) expendable: passengers, baggage, cargo




bombs & missiles, etc.
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 6

9/8/09

1st Cut Sizing

Several Methods Available:
Nicolai, Chap. 5
Roskam, Vol. 1 (both Jets and Props)
Raymer, Chap. 6 and 19 (Chap. 3 too crude, but read)
Loftin, Chap. 3 and 4 (Jet) and Chap. 6 and 7 (Prop)
(available on class web page - >400M)
Torenbeek, pp. 144-148, 171-180
We will use Nicolais Method in Class Examples
Note: books on reserve in the Architecture Library: see Schetz
on the Library reserve page
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 7

9/8/09

How to Start?
Fuel Available = Fuel Required
or, following Nicolai, With a given TOGW, subtract
the fuel and payload. Is the weight left enough to
build an airplane?

Available Empty Weight, WEmptyAvail

= Required Empty Weight, WEmptyReqd

WEmptyReqd comes from statistics at 1st Iteration,

In code this is
B
WEmptyReqd = KS x A x TOGW
A,B: come from fit of data for similar designs
KS: structural technology factor
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 8

9/8/09

Typical
Empty Weight ReqdTakeoff Weight Correlation

Wempty

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering

TOGW

from Nicolai, pg 5-4 (old statistics)

slide 9

9/8/09

Specific Example: Supersonic Transport

1,000,000
source: Roskam Table 2.14 in Vol. 1
Boeing SST

Wempty = 0.500TOGW 0.9876

TU-144

W empty, lbs

XB-70
B-1B
Concorde

100,000
F-111A

B-58

Study Biz Jet

Study Supercruise Fighter

10,000
10,000

100,000
TOGW, lbs

1,000,000

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 10

9/8/09

To Get WEmptyAvail, 1st Define Mission Segments

BCA: best cruise altitude
BCM: best cruise Mach
6+

Altitude

BCA,
specified M
5+
combat
6

5
3 BCA,BCM

Rsubsonic

Rsupersonic
Radius

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 11

9/8/09

Mission Phase Definitions

(follow Nicolai, except add supersonic segments)
Phase
1-2 engine start and takeoff
2-3

accelerate to subsonic cruise velocity and altitude

3-4
4-5

subsonic cruise out

accel to high speed (supersonic) dash/cruise

5-5+ supersonic cruise out

combat (use fuel, expend weapons)
6-6+ supersonic cruise back
6+ -7 subsonic cruise back
7-8

loiter

land

Aerospace and
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Note: for Military descent:

No credit for time, fuel or distance
slide 12

9/8/09

Mission Program
Aircraft Companies, Govt., etc. have Mission Programs
We have a mission program written for MATLAB

- based on Sid Powers BASIC Aircraft Performance

- originally by Mike Morrow
- then further developed by Dzelal Mujezinovic
- currently Chris Cotting

You need detailed propulsion data (and aerodynamics),

well as weight, etc. to fly the mission.

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 13

9/8/09

Now to Get WEmptyAvail

Compute fuel fraction for each segment of mission
For Range segments:
Ri+1 =

V L
W
ln i

sfc D
Wi+1
Rsfc

or

Wi+1
= e V ( L/ D)
Wi

For Loiter Segments:

E=

1 L Wi
ln
sfc D Wi+1
Esfc

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering

W
or i+1 = e ( L/ D)
Wi

Note: Watch Units!

slide 14

9/8/09

Where to get values to put in formulas?

With your vehicle concept in mind:
use historical data for L/D max, requires CD0, E, AR
sfc: use engine spec. or see propulsion text

Velocity: fly just before drag rise (0.7 to 0.8 Mach)

Following charts provide some info

(or see Raymer, Torenbeek, Nicolai, Roskam, etc. for
summaries and statistics)

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 15

9/8/09

Typical Zero Lift Drag Values for Transports

Aerospace and from Nicolai, Fundamentals of Aircraft Design, METS, Inc., 1975
Ocean Engineering
slide 16

9/8/09

L/Dmax data correlation by Raymer

20

10

0
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
source: Raymer, Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach
slide 17

9/8/09

Speed and Altitude: Review of Best Range

(consider specific range, SR)
Drag Rise Not Included

Drag Rise Included

SR at 20K
SR at 30K
SR at 40K

0.30

0.30
Altitude, 1000 ft
40
0.20
SR
nm/lb

0.20 Altitude, 1000 ft

40
SR
nm/lb
30
20
0.10

30
20

0.10

0.00
0.0

0.2

0.4 0.6 0.8

Mach number

1.0

Best Altitude/Mach
Increase Without Bound
Aerospace and
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0.00
0.0

0.2

0.4 0.6 0.8

Mach number

1.0

Drag rise (compressibility)

leads to distinct optimum
speed and altitude

Note: Study of impact of technology integration

requires operation at BCA/BCM
based on a figure in Shevell, Fundamentals of Flight

slide 18

9/8/09

For other parts of the Mission:

Startup, Takeoff: estimate 2 1/2 to 3 % of TOGW
Climb and Accel: Use correlation chart or Raymer Eqn.
Accel to High Speed, Use Chart Again
Combat: # of minutes max power, or # of turns:
Combat Fuel = sfc x Thrust x Time
and:

g n2 1
, in radians per sec.
V
Time = (no. of turns)(360 ) / ,(in degrees per sec)

- Watch units: Degrees and Radians

Reserve and trapped fuel must be accounted for
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 19

9/8/09

Weight fraction for climb-accel phases

from Nicolai, Fundamentals of Aircraft Design, METS, Inc., 1975

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering

See also: Raymer, 4th Ed, page 115, eqns. 6.9 and 6.10,
and page 582, eqns. 19.8 and 19.9
slide 20

9/8/09

Actual Computation: Perform an Iteration

1. Assume TOGW
2. Compute WEmptyReqd

At 1st, these
will not agree

3. Compute WEmptyAvail
4. Estimate a new TOGW

j+1
j
WTO
= WTO
+ ( WEmpty Re qd WEmptyAvail )

where is a relaxation factor to speed

convergence (2 for the examples)

5. Go to step 2, and repeat until

WEmptyReqd WEmptyAvail <
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 21

9/8/09

Example & Use of Fuel Fractions

W final
TOGW

W final
WTO

W8 W2 W3 W4 W8
=

W1 W1 W2 W3 W7

fuel fraction for each segment

(must include a step change
if you drop something)

W fuel

Wreserve Wtrapped
W
fuel
fuel
1 8 WTO
= 1 +
+
WTO
WTO W1

Wreserve Wtrapped
fuel
fuel
WTO WLanding
= 1 +
+

WTO
WTO

ignores any other weight

loss during mission

WEmptyAvail = WTO Wfuel W fixed

see extra notes on web for extension to include bombs dropped, etc.
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 22

9/8/09

Our example sizing code acsize.QB

Originally we had an implementation of this
scheme in QuickBASIC(still available on the
software page): acsize.QB
We also have acsweep.QB. It computes lines of
WemptyReqd and WemptyAvail
Now a REALbasic code (Mac counterpart of
VisualBASIC?) version of acsize

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 23

9/8/09

Screenshot

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering Software available from Masons Software web page
slide 24

9/8/09

Example:
Nicolais Lightweight Fighter
250 nm mission radius
4 minutes of max a/b at M.9, 30K ft
one accel from M = 0.9 to M = 1.6 at 30K ft
5% reserve fuel
Crew of One
Two AIM 9 missiles, one M-61 cannon
One F100 afterburning turbofan engine
Implies:
- L/D cruise = 9
- sfc = 0.93
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 25

9/8/09

Comparison of Required and Available Weights

over a range of TOGW
12000

acsweep.QB makes curves

11000

Radius = 250 nm
W fixed = 1500 lb.

W emptyAvail

10000

W Empty
9000

W emptyReqd

Solution for TOGW for

the Lightweight Fighter

8000
7000
6000
10000

acsize.QB
11000

12000

13000

14000

15000

16000

17000

18000

TOGW
Essentially from Nicolai, Fundamentals of Aircraft Design, METS, Inc., 1975
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 26

9/8/09

Sensitivity of TOGW to Change in Payload,

the Growth Factor
20000
Radius = 250 nm
19000

W pay carried
out and back

18000
TOGW, lb

W pay dropped
during combat

17000
16000
15000
14000
1000

Note: TOGW increases by 3.8 pounds

Baseline for each pound of addtional payload
W pay
1500

2000
Fixed Weight, lb

2500

3000

Essentially from Nicolai, Fundamentals of Aircraft Design, METS, Inc., 1975

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 27

9/8/09

TOGW Sensitivity to Radius (or Range) Requirement

20000
Valid assessment of technology
or multidisciplinary optimization
requires keeping the range fixed
18000
TOGW, lb
16000
W fixed = 1500 lb.
14000
200

250

300
Radius, nm

350

400

Essentially from Nicolai, Fundamentals of Aircraft Design, METS, Inc., 1975

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 28

9/8/09

Large Transport Aircraft Example

the Range-Payload diagram
comparison with C-5A

- 6000 nm range

- 100,000 lb payload

- sfc = .6 @ M=.8, 36,000 ft alt.
- L/D = 17

examples for increasing range,

holding the technology level constant

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 29

9/8/09

Range-Payload Diagram
Max payload
increasing fuel wt.
TOGW changing

Payload,
lbs

TOGW at max value

max payload
partial fuel
max fuel
reduced payload
Full fuel tanks
Reduce payload wt.
TOGW changing

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering

Range, nm
slide 30

9/8/09

Effect of Range Requirement on Weights

for a C-5A Class Aircraft
all for fixed technology, holding payload constant
baseline: range = 6000nm
range = 8000nm: solution obtained
range = 10,000nm: appears solution would converge

(unbelievable weight)
range = 12,000nm: no solution at any TOGW!
Note: Nicolai, in Fundamentals of Aircraft Design,
shows that a range-payload diagram which matches
the actual C-5A can be developed using our methods.
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 31

9/8/09

Range = 6,000 nm case

4.0 105
WEmptyReqd

3.8 105

WEmptyAvail

3.6 105
WEmpty
3.4 105
Sizing Solution
5

3.2 10

3.0 105

100,000 lb payload

2.8 10
6.5 105 7.0 105 7.5 105 8.0 105 8.5 105 9.0 105 9.5 105
TOGW
Aerospace and
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slide 32

9/8/09

Range = 8,000 nm case

2.0

106

1.5 106

Required and Available Curves slopes start

to be parallel, small errors lead to large
errors in TOGW

WEmpty
1.0 106

100,000 lb payload
Sizing Solution

5.0 105
note scale!
0.0 100 0
0.0 10
1.0 106
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering

WEmptyReqd
WEmptyAvail
2.0 106
TOGW

3.0 106

4.0 106

slide 33

9/8/09

Range = 10,000 nm case

6

2.0 10

Converged solution may occur

at TOGW approaching infinity!
1.5 106
WEmpty
1.0 106
100,000 lb payload
5.0 105

0.0 100
0.0 100
Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering

WEmptyReqd
WEmptyAvail
1.0 106

2.0 106
TOGW

3.0 106

4.0 106

slide 34

9/8/09

Range = 12,000 nm case

2.0 106

No solution for this technology

level at any size
1.5 106
WEmpty
1.0 106
100,000 lb payload
5.0 105
WEmptyReqd
WEmptyAvail
0.0 100 0
0.0 10

1.0 106

2.0 106
TOGW

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering

3.0 106

4.0 106

slide 35

9/8/09

TOGW Weight Growth:

for a specified technology level

the range cannot be increased without limit
5.0 106

Payload = 600,000 lb

4.5 106
4.0 106
L/D = 21
sfc = .55
KS = .85
M = .77

Takeoff 3.5 106

Gross
Weight 3.0 106
2.5 106
2.0 106
1.5 106
1.0 106

Using Idealized (Optimistic) Single Segment Analysis

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

range, nm
Note: this case does not correspond to the technology levels used in the
previous charts, which are for something close to a C-5. This example was
Aerospace and developed for the 1992-93 AIAA Contest Payload, with advanced technology.

Ocean Engineering

slide 36

9/8/09

Parametric studies provide insight

You can investigate how the key technology
parameters affect the TOGW for a given mission:
L/D
sfc
Ks
Its worth studying and pondering

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 37

9/8/09

To Conclude:
This method is the 1st cut back of the envelope
method for sizing: it works.
Note: The example codes available on the software
link on our web page are for jet propulsion
Your skill: Develop confidence by predicting the
size of existing airplanes
You will use a sizing program and practice
Next sizing class will look at sizing a little more
deeply for wing and engine size selection.
Constraints on takeoff and landing, etc.
become critically important

Aerospace and
Ocean Engineering
slide 38

9/8/09