Collaborative Multi-Environment Approach for Systems Integration in Conceptual Aircraft Design

The aviation sector faces the critical challenge of reducing its environmental impact while meeting the growing global demand for air travel. Incremental improvements to conventional propulsion systems will not be sufficient to achieve the industry’s carbon neutrality targets, prompting researchers and aircraft manufacturers to explore novel propulsion concepts designed to significantly reduce aircraft emissions. Among these concepts, hydrogen-powered aircraft represent a promising solution for commercial flight because they can substantially reduce emissions. This project aims to address key challenges associated with the hydrogen storage in the aft fuselage and the resulting dry wing system integration, including system architecture definition and system design. This will be supported by the development of a collaborative analysis environment consisting of a framework for overall systems design from the Hamburg University of Technology and a framework for component placement optimization from Concordia University. This will enable the definition of system architectures for hydrogen-powered aircraft through a model-based systems engineering approach, while assessing integration feasibility by considering safety, maintenance, thermal, and intercomponent routing aspects. The project will enable both institutions to enhance their capabilities for advancing low-emission technologies, thereby contributing to the development of next-generation sustainable aircraft through the exchange of complementary expertise.

Faculty Supervisor:

Susan Liscouët-Hanke

Student:

Partner:

Technische Universität Hamburg

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

Concordia University

Program: