Framework for integrated dynamic thermal simulation of future civil transport aircraft

The development of increasingly more electric systems and ultra high bypass ratio turbofan engines for civil transport aircraft is projected to bring forth critical challenges regarding thermal management. To address these, it is required that the thermal behavior of the complete propulsion-airframe unit is studied in an integrated manner. To this purpose, a simulation framework for performing integrated thermal and performance analyses of the engines, airframe, and airframe systems, is presented. The framework was specifically devised to test novel integrated thermal management solutions for future civil aircraft. In this paper, the discussion focuses mainly on the thermal modeling of the wing and fuel. A highly flexible approach for creating wing thermal models by means of assembling generic thermal compartments is introduced. To demonstrate some of the capabilities, a case study is provided that involves thermal analysis of a single-aisle airplane with ultra high bypass ratio engines. Results are provided for fuel temperatures across flights in standard, hot, and cold days and for different airframe materials. Engine heat sink temperatures and input power to the engine gearboxes, both important parameters needed to design thermal management systems, are also presented.