RECENT ADVANCES IN AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGY Edited by Ramesh K. Agarwal Recent Advances in Aircraft Technology Edited by Ramesh K. Agarwal Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2012 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Ivana Zec Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team First published February, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Recent Advances in Aircraft Technology, Edited by Ramesh K. Agarwal p. cm. ISBN 978-953-51-0150-5 Contents Preface IX Part 1 Aircraft Structures and Advanced Materials 1 Chapter 1 One Dimensional Morphing Structures for Advanced Aircraft 3 Robert D. Vocke III, Curt S. Kothera, Benjamin K.S. Woods, Edward A. Bubert and Norman M. Wereley Chapter 2 A Probabilistic Approach to Fatigue Design of Aerospace Components by Using the Risk Assessment Evaluation 17 Giorgio Cavallini and Roberta Lazzeri Chapter 3 Study of Advanced Materials for Aircraft Jet Engines Using Quantitative Metallography 49 Juraj Belan Chapter 4 ALLVAC 718 Plus™ Superalloy for Aircraft Engine Applications 75 Melih Cemal Kushan, Sinem Cevik Uzgur, Yagiz Uzunonat and Fehmi Diltemiz Chapter 5 Potential of MoSi 2 and MoSi 2 -Si 3 N 4 Composites for Aircraft Gas Turbine Engines 97 Melih Cemal Kushan, Yagiz Uzunonat, Sinem Cevik Uzgur and Fehmi Diltemiz Part 2 Aircraft Control Systems 117 Chapter 6 An Algorithm for Parameters Identificationof an Aircraft’s Dynamics 119 I. A. Boguslavsky Chapter 7 Influence of Forward and Descent Flight on Quadrotor Dynamics 141 Matko Orsag and Stjepan Bogdan VI Contents Chapter 8 Advanced Graph Search Algorithms for Path Planning of Flight Vehicles 157 Luca De Filippis and Giorgio Guglieri Chapter 9 GNSS Carrier Phase-Based Attitude Determination 193 Gabriele Giorgi and Peter J. G. Teunissen Chapter 10 A Variational Approach to the Fuel Optimal Control Problem for UAV Formations 221 Andrea L’Afflitto and Wassim M. Haddad Chapter 11 Measuring and Managing Uncertainty Through Data Fusion for Application to Aircraft Identification System 249 Peter Pong and Subhash Challa Chapter 12 Subjective Factors in Flight Safety 263 Jozsef Rohacs Part 3 Aircraft Electrical Systems 287 Chapter 13 Power Generation and Distribution System for a More Electric Aircraft - A Review 289 Ahmed Abdel-Hafez Chapter 14 Power Electronics Application for More Electric Aircraft 309 Mohamad Hussien Taha Chapter 15 Key Factors in Designing In-Flight Entertainment Systems 331 Ahmed Akl, Thierry Gayraud and Pascal Berthou Chapter 16 Methods for Analyzing the Reliability of Electrical Systems Used Inside Aircrafts 361 Nicolae Jula and Cepisca Costin Part 4 Aircraft Inspection and Maintenance 381 Chapter 17 Automatic Inspection of Aircraft Components Using Thermographic and Ultrasonic Techniques 383 Marco Leo Chapter 18 The Analysis of the Maintenance Process of the Military Aircraft 399 Mariusz Wazny Part 5 Miscellaneous Topics 425 Chapter 19 Review of Technologies to Achieve Sustainable (Green) Aviation 427 Ramesh K. Agarwal Contents VII Chapter 20 Synthetic Aperture Radar Systems for Small Aircrafts: Data Processing Approaches 465 Oleksandr O. Bezvesilniy and Dmytro M. Vavriv Chapter 21 Avionics Design for a Sub-Scale Fault-Tolerant Flight Control Test-Bed 499 Yu Gu, Jason Gross, Francis Barchesky, Haiyang Chao and Marcello Napolitano Chapter 22 Study of Effects of Lightning Strikes to an Aircraft 523 N.I. Petrov, A. Haddad, G.N. Petrova, H. Griffiths and R.T. Waters Preface The book is a compilation of research articles and review articles describing the state of the art and latest advancements in technologies for various areas of aircraft system. The authors contributing to this volume are leading experts in their fields. The book is divided into five sections. Section one is titled “Aircraft Structure and Advanced Materials”. It has five papers, dealing with aircraft structures and advanced materials. In the area of aircraft structures, the topics such as morphing structures and probabilistic approach to fatigue design are covered, while the chapters on advanced materials include the study of advanced materials for jet engines using quantitative metallography, the innovative approaches to gas turbine engine applications and superalloys for aerospace applications. Section two is titled “Aircraft Control Systems”. It contains seven papers dealing with a wide variety of topics. The topics include algorithms for parameter identification of the aircraft dynamics, quadrotor dynamics, graph search algorithms for path planning, GNSS carrier phase-based attitude determination, fuel optimal control problem for UAV formations, measurement and management of uncertainty through data fusion, and subjective factors in flight safety. Section three is titled “Aircraft Electrical Systems”. It has four papers dealing with a wide variety of topics. The topics include a review of power generation system for a more electric aircraft, power electronics for a more electric aircraft, design of an in- flight entertainment system, and methods for reliability analysis of electrical systems of aircrafts. Section four deals with inspection and maintenance of an aircraft. It has two papers dealing with a number of topics concerning techniques for inspection and maintenance. The first chapter describes the automatic inspection of aircraft components using thermographic and ultrasonic techniques, while the second chapter deals with the analysis of the maintenance process. The last section of the book contains chapters on miscellaneous topics. One chapter reviews the technologies for sustainable green aviation, another chapter describes the synthetic aperture radar systems for small aircraft, the third chapter describes the X Preface avionics design for a fault-tolerant flight control test-bed and the final chapter in this section discusses the lightening strike effects to a radar dome. Thus the book covers a wide variety of topics related to aircraft technologies in twenty two chapters in a single volume. There is hardly another book that covers such a wide range of topics in a single volume. Therefore, it can serve as a useful source of reference to both researchers and students interested in learning about specific aircraft technologies, as well as obtaining a general overview of the state of the art of many technologies relevant to aircraft systems and their improvement. Ramesh K. Agarwal Washington University in St. Louis, USA . RECENT ADVANCES IN AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGY Edited by Ramesh K. Agarwal Recent Advances in Aircraft Technology Edited by Ramesh K. Agarwal Published by InTech. span-morphing UAV showing 1-D morphing wingtips. A key challenge in developing a one dimensional morphing structure is the development of a useful morphing skin, defined here as a continuous layer. manufacturing shortcomings in the skin or actuation system. Fig. 3. Morphing skin demonstrator including PAM actuation system. In addition, minimal out-of-plane deflection of the skin surface