Preliminary design of a short-medium range windowless aircraft
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Preliminary design of a short-medium range windowless aircraft M. C. Moruzzi1
· S. Bagassi1
Received: 20 February 2020 / Accepted: 23 July 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract This paper describes a new aircraft concept, where all windows, except those for emergency exits, are replaced with simulated windows, which consist of monitors connected to external cameras to overcome the discomfort for the passenger due to the absence of real windows. This concept is developed through an analytical method to estimate the potential advantages for the environment and for airline companies deriving from a windowless configuration for a short-medium range aircraft, within the boundaries of the preliminary design. Actually, the reduction in weight is directly linked to the reduction in fuel consumption, providing advantages in terms of operating costs and emissions of carbon dioxide. The method is applied to four models of short and medium range aircraft, namely Boeing 737–800, Airbus 320, ATR72 and Embraer 190. The results show the benefits of a windowless configuration that become very positive for the operating life of an aircraft and the total fleet, potentially leading to the saving of millions of tons of carbon dioxide every year when applied to the whole fleet of the analyzed aircraft. Keywords Aircraft preliminary design · Windowless configuration · Regional aircraft · Fuel consumption reduction · Fuselage design
1 Introduction The increase in air traffic is expected to grow with an annual trend of 4.3%, in the next 20 years, in accordance with the Airbus Global Market Forecast 2019–2038;1 thus, there is a greater focus on the environmental impact generated by the transport sector. In this perspective, much research is aimed at defining and developing new designs and technologies to reduce fuel consumption and, consequently, of polluting emissions. This trend is well explained in the work of Frota [1], in particular the authors believe the “classical” aircraft configurations inhibit innovative practices and to ensure a growth in the aviation sector radical changes in the way we design and operate aircraft are required. A similar thesis can be found in the work of Jupp [2]. In this paper, we consider the short-medium range aircraft category (single-aisle), whose sales are expected to account for 76% of the new aircraft deliveries in the next 20 years
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M. C. Moruzzi [email protected]
(Airbus Global Market Forecast 2019–2038). For example, Kaparos et al. [3] analyzed a design methodology for a box wing aircraft, applying the method to the Airbus A320. Welstead et al. [4] explore the design space of the single-aisle commercial transport concept with a turboelectric propulsion system architecture to evaluate the reduction in fuel consumption. In the windowless configuration, the reduction in aircraft weight, and consequently, the decrease in fuel consumption, is caused by the removal of windows and their reinforcements and, indirectly, by the possibility of lightening the whole aircraft
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