Investigation and Design of a C-Wing Passenger Aircraft

Abstract

A novel nonplanar wing concept called C-Wing is studied and implemented on a commercial aircraft to reduce induced drag which has a significant effect on fuel consumption. A preliminary sizing method which employs an optimization algorithm is utilized. The Airbus A320 aircraft is used as a reference aircraft to evaluate design parameters and to investigate the C-Wing design potential beyond current wing tip designs. An increase in aspect ratio due to wing area reduction at 36m span results in a reduction of required fuel mass by 16%. Also take-off mass savings were obtained for the aircraft with C-Wing configuration. The effect of a variations of height to span ratio (h/b) of C-Wings on induced drag factor k, is formulated from a vortex lattice method and literature based equations. Finally the DOC costing methods used by the Association of European Airlines (AEA) was applied to the existing A320 aircraft and to the C-Wing configuration obtaining a reduction of 6% in Direct Operating Costs (DOC) for the novel concept. From overall outcomes, the C-Wing concept suggests interesting aerodynamic efficiency and stability benefits.