The airplane of the future

Three projects financed under FAPESP’s Partnership for Technological Innovation Research (PITE) program, in partnership with Embraer, could make the aircraft produced by the Brazilian company more comfortable, silent and secure.

By Fábio de Castro

Agência FAPESP – Three projects financed under FAPESP’s Partnership for Technological Innovation Research (PITE) program, in partnership with Embraer, could make the aircraft produced by the Brazilian company more comfortable, silent and secure.

The partial results of the projects were presented during the FAPESP-ABC Workshop on Collaborative University-Company Research, which ended on November 8 in São Paulo. The PITE program begun in 1995 has supported research projects developed in cooperation between research centers, academic institutions and research institutes under a co-financing scheme between the Foundation and companies.

The event, sponsored by FAPESP and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) was held concurrently with Inovatec (Business Fair for Technological Innovation among Companies, Research Centers and Universities), organized by the São Paulo State Confederation of Industry and São Paulo State Secretariat of Economic Development, Science and Technology.

During the event, Jurandir Itizo Yanagihara, professor at the Polytechnic School (Poli) of Universidade de São Paulo (USP), presented the project “Cabin comfort: development and integrated analysis of comfort criteria”.

According to him, the project – which involves USP, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) and Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar) – involves diverse studies focused on incorporating innovative comfort trends into the cabins of aircraft.

“Building an aircraft has market requisites for structure and also comfort. With regard to comfort, we study operational parameters like thermal comfort, pressure, noise, vibration, illumination and also ergonomy within a cabin,” says Yanagihara.

According to him, the project began in 2008 and the first phase is still being finalized. The main focus is to integrate the varied aspects of human comfort and establish criteria that will be used as parameters for the project and design. The scientists developed a specially built environment that simulates a cabin to make integration possible.

“This equipment is very sophisticated and it is the only the second of its kind built in the world. The only similar [environment] is at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. At the end of the study, the objective is to not only have results from each technology, but an integrated analysis measuring how each criteria affects the final comfort result.  The first phase will end at the beginning of 2012 with an integrating analysis package,” he explains.

One of the trends identified, according to Yanagira is the creation of individualized spaces in airplanes, alternative spaces for interaction among passengers. “The trend is to allow people to have adequate space to rest or to work. Illumination is also one of the criteria that we are working with, analyzing the use of LEDs to afford modification in the environment,” he declared.

“In studies on the thermal environment, for example, researchers managed to simulate temperatures from 14 to 37 degrees Celsius in the cabin and internal walls and to vary relative humidity from 12% to 70%.  With this, according to the researchers, one can study the degree of discomfort for different environmental conditions and obtain the most appropriate conditions for different phases of the flight.

“There are many other studies, which range from the microclimate at a seat to the effects of cabin pressure – conducted with a model of the tympanic cavity – and other pyscho-physiological aspects, that is an evaluation of how the passenger perceives comfort,” he said.

Light, cheap materials

Sergio Müller Frascino, of the Aerospace Science and Technology Department at the Aeronautics Technology Institute, presented the project “Aircraft structures using composite materials”. We estimate that these materials can afford a 10% to 15% reduction in the weight and cost of the airplane in comparison to conventional materials,” says Frascino.

The project validates new technologies, processes, methods and project criteria for calculations, manufacture and tests with compound materials, with a view to proving both benefits and limitations.

The programming of the project includes implementation of a state-of-the-art laboratory in the São José dos Campos Technological Hub, as a means of generating competency at universities in the critical technology and compound materials areas. 

The research lines include drafting, optimization, post buckling, delamination, thermal effects, joints and repairs, electromagnetic behavior and manufacturing processes with resin infusion, automatic lamination, thermoplastic and thermo-rigid resins and ultrasound inspection.

According to him, because the project involves cutting-edge technology, it is vital for the competitiveness of the Brazilian aeronautical sector. “The technologies that we developed with these materials, on the other hand, will be applicable to other sectors, such as the space, oil, auto and wind energy,” he affirmed.

The project involves Poli-USP, USP’s Electrotechnical and Energy Institute (IEE), USP São Carlos’ Electrical Engineering School (EESC-USP), Unicamp’s Electrical Engineering and Computer School, Faculdade de Engenharia de Guaratinguetá (FEG), ITA and the Technological Research Institute (IPT). “I believe that projects of real relevance for Brazil must involve many institutions,” says Frascino.

Submitted in 2007, the project only recently received funding. “The part that needed the most investments is only beginning, but the majority of the project has low financing needs and was already concluded. From now on, we will realign the scope of the project, implement a laboratory of light structures and seek new application areas for compound materials,” he affirmed.

Less noise

The project “Silent aircraft: a research on aeronautics” was presented by Júlio Romano Meneghini of Poli-USP. According to him, the discussions surrounding the project began in 2005 and the first phase has been completed.

“There has been an increase in the number of flights around the world and the forecast is for a 5% increase in the number of airports by 2016. The legal restrictions against noise are increasingly stringent. In this context, it is fundamental for Embraer to satisfy international demands, especially the United States and Europe, which are the central markets for the aircraft industry,” says Meneghini.

The project’s main objective, according to the researcher, is to propose noise-suppressing methods and equipment. “This does not involve noise generation in the cabin, but surrounding airports. A two-kilometer landing strip can generate noise reaching 20 to 30 kilometers from the airport. We have to have significant research to reconcile the increase in the number of flights and noise restrictions,” he declared.

Two types of initiatives are important to curb the problem, according to Meneghini. One is to locate the source of noise generation and to make geometric modifications in the aerodynamic surface of the aircraft. The other is urban replanting and land management surrounding airports.

“Our project focuses on being capable of simulating and measuring mainly noise from the aerodynamic surface, jet and landing gear. The focus is on these aspects because Embraer is totally responsible for them. The aeronautics industry, unlike the auto sector in Brazil, projects its components in the country, and occasionally manufactures them abroad,” he said.

The project has some R$ 10.5 million in funding, according to Meneghini, the majority of which was used for acquisition of a supercomputer. Another large part of the sum was invested in the experimental line of the studies, such as noise measurement conducted with large sets of microphones on top of an experimental 5-kilometer landing strip located in Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo.

“These measurements are not trivial, because we cannot limit ourselves to the global noise of the aircraft. We have to know if the noise is coming from the flaps, turbine or landing gear, for example, from two kilometers away,” he affirmed.

At the end of the first phase, the project had already requested to noise reduction patents. Some 70 researchers from Embraer, USP USFC, ITA, Universidade de Brasília (UnB) and Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU) are conducting the studies.  

“We managed to cross the tenuous border between basic studies and innovation. And we met an important objective: generating a center of excellence for each specialization at each research institution. Today, we have internationally recognized excellence centers that we didn’t have the beginning of the project,” he affirmed.