LeonardoTimes – Page 8 – Leonardo Times

15Sep

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Aviation, News, Propulsion

Solar Impulse 2: New record

Solar Impulse 2 set a new world record for the furthest flight for an aircraft, simply powered by the sun. As a first piece of its trip around the world the Solar Impulse 2 took off in Abu Dhabi and landed twelve hours later in Muscat, Oman. With this the Swiss project has completed its very first objective; it has proven that it works. Since the aircraft is extremely slow, the world trip will have various stops. The biggest challenge for the aircraft and the pilots (Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschbeg) will have to overcome is the trip over the Pacific Ocean, which is expected to be a 5 days non-stop flight. During these stops the team will be able to maintain the aircraft, rest and promote clean technologies, such as the Solar Impulse 2.

13Jul

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

Aviation, Manufacturing

Self-Healing of Creep Damaged Steel

Creep is often seen as an undesired effect in metals, which may be a limiting factor in the lifetime of steel components. It may lead to premature fracture below the yield strength when exposed to elevated temperatures for long times, in combination with constant high stress. Self-healing is a promising approach to increase the lifetime performance of iron-based alloys and steels, which could drastically reduce maintenance and material costs for aerospace propulsion systems. Improving the lifetime of critical air- and spacecraft components in high temperature environments is an essential aspect when it comes to making future airplanes more sustainable. Conventionally, making the material as strong as possible, preventing damage to evolve in the material, increases the lifetime of mater...

14Jun

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Aviation, Operations

European Airline Market

Low cost vs Legacy carriers Since the advent of low cost airlines in European Skies, the Airline industry has seen fierce competition. On point-to-point short haul flights, low costs carriers have bled legacy carriers dry. On long-haul services, these same low costs operators are breaking their teeth trying to enter a market, which is owned mostly by well-established legacy carriers. The European aviation market is a very dynamic environment. It is composed of a multitude of airlines, most of which are old national flag carriers, challenged by their own lack of flexibility and new low cost airlines. The sky is littered with failed airlines such as Sabena or Swissair, faltering airlines such as Corsair, AF-KLM, Alitalia or Lufthansa, and flourishing airlines such as Iberia or Ryanair....

12Jun

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Aerodynamics and wind energy, Aviation

Large Eddy Simulation of Wind Farms

Numerical Experiments with Energy-Conserving schemes To predict the power produced by a wind farm, one must at least know the velocity of the air flowing through the farm. The wind velocity can be measured using meteorological masts with devices that can assess wind speed and direction a given point or even over a limited area. However, this data is not enough to study complex flow phenomena like gusts, kinetic energy transport, and the effect of the wind farm on local weather. This article explains the challenges involved in complementing experimental data with that from simulations. A wind farm consists of a cluster of wind turbines placed over a piece of land or at sea, that work together to produce electricity from the wind. The wind turbines are generally placed in a manner that...

15Feb

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News, Space engineering, Space flight

ATV-5: The Last of its Kind

A trail of fire in the night sky marked the end of ESA’s ATV program. On February 15, 2015 the last ATV, ATV-5 undocked from the International Space Station and started deorbiting. Loaded with waste from the ISS it made its way back towards the atmosphere, where it burned out over the Pacific Ocean. This was the last ATV made by ESA. It marks the end of a space program, which was already conceived in 1987 to serve for an international Space Station, when UssR’s MIR station was shut down. Five successful ATV missions (originally Ariane Transfer Vehicle) have made its way to space since the first launch in 2008. Its legacy however remains as the experience and technology will be used for further space missions such as NASA’s Orion capsules.

11Feb

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News, Space engineering, Space flight

IXV Test: Success!

The Americans did it with the space shuttle. Now we did it with the IXV. On February 11, 2015 a Vega rocket brought the first IXV (Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle) to space, where it deorbited and reentered the atmosphere. Starting at hypersonic speeds the IXV slowed down to supersonic speeds, after which it glided through the atmosphere. It was controlled by a pair of flaperon-like tails. Later it deployed parachutes, to slow down further, for a safe landing in the Pacific Ocean. Currently the used IXV module is being transferred to ESTEC in the Netherlands to be analyzed. This first success was only the start of potentially a new generation space shuttle.