ICA A "Assessment of the Air Transport System"

Shaping the necessary transition pathways to achieve sustainable air transport solu-
tions requires a sound understanding of the behavior of the ATS itself. The task of the group is to analyze and evaluate alternative transition pathways in order to achieve long-term
development goals for the ATS.
The group will develop system dynamics (SD) and agent-based simulation and optimization models capturing the main actors and structure of the ATS, under consideration of technological, economic, environmental and social factors. The models will be used to analyze and evaluate the overall system behavior of the ATS for the selection and temporal allocation of measures meant to steer the ATS towards energy efficiency and sustainability.
All developed simulation runs will be updated and repeated during the span of the cluster if and when new data becomes available, e.g., more detailed specifications of the model aircrafts.

JRG-A1

The ScenAIR2050 project aims to provide a multi-criteria decision support for the evaluation and optimisation of technologies developed within the cluster for an energy-efficient air transport system. As part of the SE2A excellence cluster, the team addresses the interaction of several subcomponents of aviation in a medium-term future (2050).

The project’s methodology is based on a combination of Futures Studies, Foresight and Design Research through Scenario-Technique, Morphological Delphi, User Research and others. Through trend research and PESTEL+ analysis, the key factors and drivers are mapped to generate scenarios. They are part of the methodological framework to map the possible developments of the air transport system, offer insights for transformation to leave familiar trajectories and find impulses for innovation. The alternatives can depict possible, probable and preferred futures and will be discussed and further developed with the cluster partners.

A1.1

The activities directly contribute to the fundamental objectives of SE2A. The simulation process will help to identify and determine the medium and long-term (year 2050) potential for eliminating the carbon footprint of future air transport operation under consideration of aircraft noise. Social and economic constraints can directly be associated with community noise annoyance due to aircraft operation. The selected simulation process will enable to assess comprehensive criteria and metrics and to serve as a basis for decision-making between ICA-A, ICA-B, and ICA-C. For example, the proposed process is an essential prerequisite to assess the noise of any new vehicle and flight procedures as developed in ICA-B (under 3.4.2.5 Design methodology and assessment of aircraft) and noise shall be included as a design constraint in the planned Design Engineering Engine (DEE).

A2.1

The main objective of this project is to establish a simulation chain that enables the prediction of the noise levels generated by novel aircraft concepts while considering a representative air traffic scenario, i.e. taking into account a given airport layout, fleet mix, flight trajectories, and individual aircraft noise emissions. The proposed approach consists in coupling the DLR’s proprietary software PANAM (Parametric Aircraft Noise Analysis Module), with the noise exposure prognosis tool sonAIR, developed by EMPA. Hence, this project will be able contribute to the decision making process during the early stage design of new aircraft configurations. Thereby the payback, in terms of noise impact, of low-noise technologies and flight procedures can be predicted and assessed while considering long-term air traffic scenarios. Furthermore, different sound metrics will be evaluated regarding their ability to indicate changes in aircraft concepts and trajectory design that can contribute to mitigate the sound exposure levels and noise annoyance of the communities around future airport scenarios.

A2.2

With respect to acoustics, a comprehensive noise assessment at both, the immission point ”cabin” and the immission point ”ground”, respectively is aimed within SE²A. The focus of this project is to predict the passenger cabin noise levels by considering high-fidelity simulations of noise sources within detailed vibro-acoustic modelling of the entire aircraft. Considered noise sources are the acoustic field beneath the turbulent boundary layer and the pressure fluctuations beneath asymmetric boundary layer ingesting flow fields. Wave-resolving mechanical models of the SE²A aircraft conceptual designs are derived in order to apply the different loads and compare the variants with regard to cabin noise. One of the main challenge is the development of comparable vibro-acoustic models for the different aircraft configurations with short-, medium- and long-range characteristics.

A2.3

The AdAS project will develop a significantly advanced simulation platform for the ATS. It will build on leading, existing simulations. But, to meet the demands of sustainable and energy-efficient aviation AdAS will take a leap forward in simulation technology that can only be achieved by a substantial effort in fundamental research.
 
The main challenges for fundamental research are the following:

1. A higher level of accuracy requires integration or partial integration of different simulations and simulation levels.
2. A useful model of an energy-efficient ATS must reflect that the modeled decisions in the ATS are increasingly being taken by optimization, in particular to enhance energy efficiency. Therefore, the simulation itself must perform optimization of modeled decisions.
3. The future ATS will show an increased complexity. The AdAS must be able to simulate it, identify its scale and allow developing strategies to cope with this complexity.
4. The simulation must be robust against changes in the input data to allow for dependable planning.
5.  The simulation must be adjustable to different technologies and the corresponding ATSs.

A3.1

Operations on the airport’s apron contribute to the CO2 and the noise emissions of the air transport system. Battery-powered electric vehicles such as airport passenger buses, baggage towing or aircraft tractors can be used to reduce those emissions and make ground operations ecologically more sustainable. Future short- and medium term passenger aircraft with electric engines and batteries as their energy storage might be pulled by electric tractors while taxiing on the ground, in order to preserve the precious battery energy for the flight phase. These envisioned changes lead to the question of how to recharge all those ground vehicles. A technologically interesting approach is to use dynamic wireless (inductive) energy transfer to recharge the batteries of apron service vehicles while they are in motion, thus eliminating time and space needs of stationary conductive charging systems. However, this leads to the question of how and where to allocate the required inductive charging technology in the ground below the apron. The main components of the Power Transmitter Unit (PTU) to be installed in the ground are the Power Supply Unit (PSU), which includes the frequency inverter used to create an output frequency in the order of magnitude 20 to 100 kHz and the connected Inductive Transmitter Unit (ITU), essentially a system of electromagnetic coils creating moving electromagnetic fields. The allocation and dimensioning of the PTU components at selected segments of the apron road system is an important, rich, and new problem. The objective of this project is to develop a mathematical methodology to formally describe and practically solve this problem, taking both airport operations, techno-logical, and economic aspects into consideration.

A3.2

The objective of the project SUMAFly is the development and the application of life cycle engineering methodologies for future aircraft to enable the analysis of environmental, economic and social sustainability and support decision making in early stages of aircraft development. The proposed research program comprises the development of inventory models for all phases of the aircraft’s life cycle. During the first phase of the project (2019-2022), the modelling will focus on the energy storage and supply system. The work will be conducted jointly by the IWF and the AIP to cover the broad range of required competences in environmental as well as socio-economic analyses.

A4.1

Germany needs alternatives to fossil fuels to realize the energy transition and climate targets 2050. Hydrogen represents a promising pathway. The momentum of a hydrogen economy affects the aviation sector. The objective of the Junior Research Project is a macroeconomic assessment of the hydrogen transition in Germany and its influence on aviation. More concretely, the team aims to design a simulation model in order to quantify potential macroeconomic effects of hydrogen use in the aviation sector. The project also focuses on the impact of state interventions.

JRP