New Design Concepts for High Speed Air Transport

Abstract

Future civil air transport requirements present challenging research problems. Those most challenging derive from the need for a successor to the Concorde. This book presents the prospects for supersonic transport aircraft and delineates the technological challenges to arriving at an economically viable aircraft under environmental constraints. The book describes the tools required for the design and optimization of such aircraft, touching upon aerodynamics, structures and thermal loads. Applications of these new technologies to both conventional configurations comprising the present knowledge base as well as novel ones are provided. The latter are shown to proffer strong advantages, but they also pose severe technological challenges before such designs could be certified as new aircraft. The book offers an excellent compilation of high speed air transport research topics and should be a stimulating guide for students in the aerospace engineering and related sciences.