Engineering
From unmanned aerial vehicles to passenger jets, Eric Russell explores the aerospace engineering industry and the many exciting opportunities it offers graduates.
There are a number of research and development challenges awaiting the graduate who wishes to break into the aerospace industry and most are created by today's need for products to be environmentally friendly. Today, noise is considered an environmental pollutant and NASA is flight testing new technologies in its Quiet Aircraft Technology programme to see if they can make aircraft quieter. Asymmetric scalloped edges, called chevrons, on engine exteriors are one of the high tech ideas being tested. Tests show the advanced chevron shape will reduce noise as much as 4dB. The GE90 engine on the test aircraft features a one-piece acoustic inlet liner running from the lip to the fan blades. It will provide more fan noise suppression than the current segmented liner. In addition, the nacelle has an acoustically treated leading edge instead of the current hardwall structure.
This is part of GE's ecomagination product portfolio to improve efficiency. The engine's uniquely shaped fan blades have improved fuel efficiency while the air volume is generated at a slower rotational speed, which produces lower noise. Internally, an improved combustor emits no more than 50 per cent of the CO2 that will be allowed by 2008 international standards. Another idea is to shield landing gear. NASA research indicates that air rushing past conventional landing gear is almost as loud as engine noise. Profiled covers could reduce landing noise by 3dB. Fuel efficiency is also rising on the aerospace agenda.
More people are starting to look upwards, at the extensive cirrus clouds of condensation that spread across the sky along aircraft routes, created from the water emitted as a result of hydrocarbon combustion. Airbus says its A380, the biggest passenger jet ever built, is being hailed for its environmental friendliness. While carrying 35 per cent more passengers than its rival, it produces half the noise on take off and burns 12 per cent less fuel per passenger. Boeing says it has improved the overall fuel efficiency of the 777-300ER extended range aircraft by 1.4 per cent. This equates to an annual jet-fuel saving of approximately 200,000 gallons. This was achieved through engine development, reduction in drag and weight-reductions. But the aircraft development market is not hogged by these big players.
A leading manufacturer of single-engine turboprop aircraft, Swiss-based Pilatus Aircraft says its flagship PC-12 has received several significant improvements for 2006. These mean an increased payload of 240kg. Better handling comes from an improved control system and new winglets derived from the company's military trainer. These reduce drag and improve crosswind control. Pilatus has also added Flettner tabs to the PC-12's ailerons. Roll control forces have been reduced by 60 per cent at low speeds and 72 per cent at high speeds, giving pilots a sportier, more responsive feel in all phases of flight.
As modern aircraft have migrated to fly-by-wire, the technology of automation is spilling over into unmanned aircraft. Originally a military concept, to reduce the risks to expensively trained pilots on non-combat missions such as deep reconnaissance or bombing, it is now being adopted for aerial surveying; search and rescue, especially at sea; law enforcement, including crowd control and detecting illegal border-crossers.
The UK Ministry of Defence has a little-known UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle) initiative called Project Churchill but is now linking with J-UCAS, the US Joint Unmanned Combat Air System project. In Germany, Rheinmetall Defence Electronics has recently delivered an unmanned aerial reconnaissance system to the German Army. The KZO will be used during hazardous out-of-area missions. By the end of 2007, the German Army will own sixty drones. The KZO operates at altitudes of 300 to 3,500m, is equipped with a de-icing system and is deployable in virtually all weathers. It can transmit targeting information from over 100km and can remain aloft for over 3.5 hours. It is manufactured from stealth material and has a wingspan of 3.42m and length of 2.26m.
Much of the rest of Europe's industry has joined a French-led initiative to build a stealth UCAV demonstrator named Neuron. South African company Denel Aerospace is developing its Bateleur Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle. This is initially for the South African Navy and the Air Force's Maritime Patrol. The country's search and rescue area covers some 5 million square miles along 3,000km of coastline and 200 nautical miles out to sea. Denel's existing ground control station provides line-of-sight deployment of the Bateleur with an action radius of 750km and flight duration of 12-18 hours. Use of the Ku-band satellite enables over-the-horizon operations up to 3,500km. Uconsystem of South Korea has unveiled its hand-launched RemoEye 002, with a take-off weight of 2kg. It is powered by an electric motor producing a maximum speed of 80km/h, with a range of 10km and endurance at 60 minutes. The payload is either a CCD camera for daylight operations or an infra-red camera for night-time imagery.
Graduates also need to consider where the aerospace centres of influence will lie in the future. The UK appears to be aligning itself with the USA; while the rest of Europe is moving towards centralisation through the European Defence Agency, a co-ordinating body set up two years ago and headquartered in Brussels.
Eric Russell is a freelance journalist regularly writing for a number of international magazines covering technical and manufacturing management topics. He also writes for a number of publications including the Financial Times. Previously he was managing director of several companies and has worked for the BBC and IBM. Photo: Copyright - BAE Systems.
