Daniels Bucis Portfolio

Project 04

Design and Optimize a Delta Wing for a Commercial Aircraft in Addition to Designing a Wind Turbine for Use on The Wing to Generate Auxiliary Power

A ram air turbine design for emergency power on a commercial delta wing aircraft was proposed using CFD, FEA, and wind tunnel testing. I led prototype manufacturing, developed test matrices with the wind tunnel technician, and conducted post-test data analysis validating computational outputs against experimental results.

Role
4th Year Group Project Thesis
Place of Work
LEFT: Delta wing planform test campaign | RIGHT: Turbine blade test campaign

The intent

Project set-out to evaluate a ram air turbine system integration opportunity into a delta wing aircraft for an emergency electrical and hydraulic power generation during a primary power failure, leveraging delta wing air flow characteristics to maximize energy production in an environmentally sustainable manner as an alternative to fossil fuel-based emergency power sources.

Design requirements

Industry documents which among other research papers shaped the project:

Industry White Papers
EASA CS-25 Amdt. 27 SUBPART F AMC 25.1351(d) 6.2b
SAE International AIR1603 Section 5.2.1.3
SAE International AIR744D Section 9.
Manual of the ICAO Standard Atmosphere - extended to 80 kilometres / 262,500 feet (Doc 7488/3)

Build and test

Delta wings and a Ram Air Turbine blade were prototyped using CNC machining and 3D printing and tested in a wind tunnel to evaluate aerodynamic performance across multiple angles of attack and flow velocities. Virtual and physical testing identified the double delta wing design as the optimal candidate and determined the turbine blade’s peak efficiency occurred within a (-)5° - (+)5° pitch angle range.

Delta wing planform — wind tunnel test matrix (1 of 2)
Delta wing planform — wind tunnel test matrix (1 of 2)

1 / 9