Development of Aircraft System Design Framework to Consider Climate Impact = 기후 영향 분석이 가능한 항공기 시스템 설계 프레임워크 개발

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Global aviation’s climate impact—substantially amplified by non-CO₂ effects at cruise altitudes—requires emissions reduction to be treated as a primary design driver from the earliest stages. Because climate impact depends strongly on aircraft performance and mission operating conditions after convergence, it should be assessed within the design loop rather than as a downstream, post-processing step.
Motivated by this need for in-loop climate impact assessment, this thesis develops ASPECT (Aircraft Sizing and Performance Estimation Code and Toolkit), a specialized object-oriented framework for conceptual and preliminary fixed-wing aircraft design. Built on a generalized modeling environment, ASPECT is designed to accommodate the flexibility and tight system coupling characteristic of climate-aware design studies, including hybrid-electric and fully electric architectures.
The central contribution of this thesis is a unified iterative design loop that tightly integrates performance analysis, sizing, emissions estimation, and climate impact assessment. This formulation ensures that environmental metrics are evaluated consistently using aircraft and mission states that have converged in terms of both performance and feasibility. The framework is demonstrated through two applications: (i) design space exploration of a true-parallel hybrid-electric cargo aircraft, and (ii) an engine design and operational sensitivity analysis for a single-aisle aircraft. Together, these studies highlight the leverage of early-stage design decisions in mitigating aviation’s climate impact.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

전 지구적 항공 운송이 초래하는 기후 영향은 순항 고도에서 발생하는 비(非) CO₂ 효과로 인해 크게 증폭되며, 이에 따라 배출 저감은 설계 초기 단계부터 핵심 설계 구동 요인으로 고려될 필요가 있다. 항공기의 기후 영향은 수렴된 항공기 성능 및 임무 운용 상태에 강하게 의존하므로, 사후적 평가가 아닌 설계 과정 내부에 통합된 평가가 요구된다. 이러한 인식에 기반하여, 본 논문은 개념 및 예비 고정익 항공기 설계를 위한 객체지향 프레임워크인 ASPECT(Aircraft Sizing and Performance Estimation Code and Toolkit)의 개발에 초점을 둔다.
ASPECT는 일반화된 모델링 환경을 기반으로 구축되었으며, 하이브리드 전기식 및 완전 전기식 항공기와 같이 기후 영향을 고려한 설계 탐색에서 요구되는 높은 유연성과 강한 시스템 간 결합 특성을 효과적으로 처리할 수 있도록 구조화되었다. 본 논문의 핵심 기여는 성능 평가, 사이징, 배출량 산정, 그리고 기후 영향 평가를 하나의 통합적·반복적 설계 루프로 구현한 데 있다. 이를 통해 환경 지표는 성능 및 실현 가능성 측면에서 수렴된 항공기 및 임무 상태를 기반으로 일관되게 평가된다.
제안된 프레임워크의 활용성은 두 가지 주요 적용 사례를 통해 입증된다. 첫째, 진병렬(True-Parallel) 하이브리드 전기 화물 항공기를 대상으로 한 설계 공간 탐색을 수행하였으며, 둘째, 단일 통로 항공기를 대상으로 엔진 설계 및 운용 조건 변화에 따른 민감도 분석을 수행하였다. 이러한 사례 연구는 항공기의 기후 영향을 완화하는 데 있어 초기 설계 단계가 갖는 지렛대 효과를 명확히 보여준다.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Abstract I
• Table of Contents III
• List of Figures VI
• List of Tables VIII
• Chapter 1. Introduction 9
• 1.1 The Climate Crisis and the Urgency of Action 9
• 1.2 Aviation's Climate Impact: Non-CO₂ Effects and Growth Constraints 11
• 1.3 Climate Constraints as a Primary Design Driver: The Leverage Point of Early Design 14
• 1.4 Core Problem: The Need for In-Loop Climate Impact Assessment 15
• 1.5 Research Scope and Objectives 15
• 1.6 References 17
• Chapter 2. Implications and Requirements for Climate-Aware Early-Stage Design Frameworks 18
• 2.1 Early-Stage Design Under Evolving Constraints: The Mandate for Integrated Assessment 18
• 2.2 Design Integration Challenges Due to Tightly Coupled Systems 19
• 2.3 Core Workflow Principles for In-Loop Climate Assessment 19
• 2.4 System Representation Requirements: Supporting Integrated Analysis 21
• 2.5 Summary 22
• 2.6 References 23
• Chapter 3. Development of a Climate-Aware Aircraft Design Framework 25
• 3.1 AMADEVS environment [1] 25
• 3.2 Overview of the ASPECT design process 29
• 3.3 Modules in ASPECT 33
• 3.3.1 Building Aircraft Object Module 33
• 3.3.2 Trim Analysis Sub-Module 36
• 3.3.3 Energy-Flow Analysis Sub-Module 38
• 3.3.4 Propulsion System Evaluation/Sizing Module 40
• 3.3.5 Weight Estimation Module 44
• 3.3.6 Emissions Estimation Module 45
• 3.3.7 Climate Impact Assessment Module 48
• 3.3.8 Fuselage Sizing Module 50
• 3.4 References 53
• Chapter 4. Application and Demonstration of the ASPECT Framework 56
• 4.1 Application Strategy and Objectives 56
• 4.2 Application 1: True-Parallel Hybrid-Electric Cargo Aircraft 58
• 4.2.1 Motivation and Problem Definition 58
• 4.2.2 Reference Aircraft and Propulsion Architecture 59
• 4.2.3 Mission Definition and Trade-Study Parameters 61
• 4.2.4 Implementation in ASPECT 62
• 4.2.5 Results: Range and Climate Impact Trade Space 63
• 4.2.6 Discussion: Altitude as a Climate Control Variable 65
• 4.3 Application 2: Engine Design and Operational Sensitivity Analysis for a Single-Aisle Aircraft 67
• 4.3.1 Problem Definition and Objectives 67
• 4.3.2 Model Setup and Climate Metric Evaluation 68
• 4.3.3 Design Space Exploration 69
• 4.3.4 Results: Fuel and Climate Sensitivity to Engine Variables 70
• 4.3.5 Implications for Early Engine Design Decisions 72
• 4.4 Cross-Application Discussion of Framework 73
• 4.5 References 76
• Chapter 5. Conclusions 78
• APPENDIX A 80
• A.1 Application 3: All Electric Short-Haul Regional Aircraft 80
• 국문 초록 91