Aerodynamic design challenges of the Blended-Wing-Body subsonic transport

TLDR

Blended‑Wing‑Body aircraft design is far more complex than conventional wing aircraft, originating from a NASA study aimed at creating a more efficient subsonic transport for 800 passengers over 7,000 nautical miles, and evolving from a streamlined‑disk concept compared to traditional tube‑and‑wing configurations. The paper reviews the unique design challenges of BWB aircraft, evaluates the use of Navier‑Stokes analysis, and summarizes progress to date. The authors examine Navier‑Stokes analysis for BWB design and propose increasing the wetted aspect ratio (b²/Swet) to enhance aerodynamics.

Abstract

The aerodynamic design of a Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) aircraft is substantially more complicated than that of a conventional wing. This paper provides an overview of unique design problems faced by the BWB designer, discusses the applicability of Navier-Stokes analysis, and summarizes the progress made to date. BACKGROUND Development of the Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) concept began with a NASA sponsored study to create a new, more efficient, configuration for subsonic transport aircraft. The initial BWB approach to the challenge sought to improve the aerodynamics by increasing wetted aspect ratio (b2/Swet). For the payload-range specification of 800 passengers and 7000 nautical miles, the BWBconcept evolved from the streamlined-disk plus sketch shown in Figure 1, where it is compared with a conventional tube and wing configuration.