There are a number of systems in which supercritical cryogenic fluids are used as coolants or propellant fluids. In some modern military aircraft, the fuel is pressurized above its critical point and used as a coolant to remove heat from the aircraft engine. Accurate prediction of heat transfer coefficients to turbulent flows of supercritical fluids is essential in design of such systems. One o...

We address a dynamic repair shop scheduling problem in the context of military aircraft fleet management where the goal is to maintain a full complement of aircraft over the longterm. A number of flights, each with a requirement for a specific number and type of aircraft, are already scheduled over a long horizon. We need to assign aircraft to flights and schedule repair activities while consid...

The ability to accurately determine the amount of structural life that has been consumed in military aircraft can be compromised by the inability to be consistent in the manufacture and installation of strain sensors and general aircraft-to-aircraft variations in the structures themselves. The variations must be accounted for in order to be able to make correct decisions regarding the ability t...

Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a flight control system using computers and relatively light electrical wires to replace conventional direct mechanical linkage between a pilot’s cockpit controls and moving surfaces. FBW systems have been in use in guided missiles and subsequently in military aircraft. The delay in commercial aircraft implementation was due to the time required to develop appropriate failu...

Bifurcation analysis is a powerful method for studying the steady-state nonlinear dynamics of systems. Software tools exist for the numerical continuation of steady-state solutions as parameters of the system are varied. These tools make it possible to generate 'maps of solutions' in an efficient way that provide valuable insight into the overall dynamic behaviour of a system and potentially to...

This paper provides a summary of the Australian experience with infrared thermography as a nondestructive inspection (NDI) tool for through-life support of aircraft within the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It covers the key variants of active thermography including flash, synchronous (or lock-in), and sonic as well as thermoelastic stress analysis and presents a range of applications to milit...

Adaptive control has the potential to improve performance and reliability in aircraft. Implementation of adaptive control on commercial and military aircraft requires verification and validation of the control system’s robustness to modeling error, uncertainty, and time delay. Currently, there is a lack of tools available to rigorously analyze the robustness of adaptive controllers due to their...

On December 17, 1903, the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright flew the world's first successful airplane, following this with the first military airplane in 1908. (The 1908 Flyer was built by the brothers in response to a 1907 requirements specification for a 2-place aircraft capable of flying at 40 mph and able to be broken down and transported in a horse-drawn wagon. Technically, since it cras...

Unmanned Airborne Vehicles (UAVs) today are designed for specific applications in mind, with the majority of UAV applications being focussed on reconnaissance-type missions, reflecting the large military interest in the platform. While a UAV usually is much cheaper than a military attack or surveillance aircraft, the cost of constructing, running and maintaining a UAV is often beyond what civil...

Because of the key characteristics of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), removal of pilot, UAVs will be highly suited for repetitive, dirty, and dangerous operations. A wide range of civil and military applications are being explored in the community (Clapper et al., 2007). As a result, UAVs are given serious considerations in worldwide, making them the next step in evolution of aviation. Whateve...