Development of a method to study aircraft trajectory optimisation in the presence of icing conditions

摘要

There is a growing demand for new technologies and ight procedures that will enableaircraft operators to burn less fuel and reduce the impacts of aviation on the environment.Conventional approaches to trajectory optimisation do not include aircraftsystems in the optimisation set-up. However, the fuel penalty due to aircraft systemsoperation is signi cant. Thus, applying optimised trajectories which do not account forsystems o -takes in real aircraft Flight Management System (FMS) will likely fail toachieve a true optimum. This is more important in real scenarios where the ambientconditions inuence the systems operation signi cantly. This research proposed an iceprotection methodology which enables the development of a decision making processwithin the FMS dependent on weather conditions; thus transforming the conventionalanti-icing method into a more intelligent system.A case of a medium size transport aircraft ight from London - Amsterdam undervarious levels of possible icing was studied. The results show that fuel burn due toanti-icing operation can increase up to 3.7% between climb and cruise altitudes. Up to5.5% of this penalty can be saved using icing optimised trajectories. A 45% reductionin awakenings due to noise was achieved with 3% fuel penalty. The novelty of the studywas extended using 3D optimisation to further improve ight operations. It was foundthat the simulation successfully changed the lateral position of the aircraft to minimisethe time spent and distance covered in icing conditions. The work here presents afeasible methodology for future intelligent ice protection system (IPS) development,which incorporates intelligent operation.