Hypersonic Morphing for the SpaceLiner Cabin Escape System

Abstract

HYPMOCES has been a Project in the frame of Research and Technological Development for Air Transport in the 7th Framework Programme 2012. The goal is to investigate and develop technologies in the area of control, structures, aerothermodynamics, mission and system analyses required to enable the use of morphing in escape systems for hypersonic transport aircrafts. Focus is on the SpaceLiner passengers Cabin Escape System (CES). The SpaceLiner is a passenger transport system reaching hypersonic flight speeds to cover intercontinental distances in almost 90 minutes. The CES, thanks to the implementation of morphing structures, achieves the capability to change its shape and automatically reconfigure during an abort scenario after ejection from the mother aircraft, fulfilling at the same time constraints about compactness, adaptability to the unpredicted environment and required flight performances to ensure safe landing. A multidisciplinary design approach investigates issues related to the CES Integration within the SpaceLiner mother aircraft (DLR), GNC approaches for morphing (Deimos), Morphing Structures Design and Analysis (Aviospace), ATD-database and advanced micro-ATD analysis (ONERA). The contributions to the HYPMOCES Project mainly concerned in this paper are about System and Morphing Structure Analyses.