A new numerical design tool for concept evaluation of propeller aircraft

Abstract

Besides the conceptual configuration development of an aircraft, a modern design tool should cover the evaluation of competitor aircraft, allow the assessment of technological and operational scenarios, and thus should have the potential to `right first time design'. For that purpose, the design system VisualCAPDA was developed on the basis of the former CAPDA system by evolutionarily introducing modern software standards under the premise of maximum reusability of existing FORTRAN coded methods. The new system plays the role of a workbench, which has to provide the analysis methods and necessary data. Through a graphical user interface the application of the system comes along as comfortable for the user as possible. In order to cover also turboprop aircraft, new modules with respect to cabin layout, propeller aerodynamic and acoustic analysis, propeller slip stream, engine modeling, geometry modeling are integrated into the design tool. The flexibility of the new system is demonstrated by applying it to the configurational development of propeller aircraft, investigating actual problems such as `Twin or Quad', `Turboprop or Turbofan', and finally, dealing with typical optimization problems.