Calculation of in-flight cruise performance for integration in an EFB System Aerospace Engineering

123 Pages·2016·9.15 MB·English

by  Andre C. Marta

Calculation of in-flight cruise performance for integration in
an EFB System
Development of a Computational Methodology
Tiago de Almeida Torre
Thesis to obtain the Master of Science Degree in
Aerospace Engineering
Supervisors: Prof. António José Nobre Martins Aguiar
Eng. Carlos Fernando da Costa Figueiredo
Examination Committee
Chairperson: Prof. Filipe Szolnoky Ramos Pinto Cunha
Supervisor: Prof. António José Nobre Martins Aguiar
Member of the Committee: Prof. Pedro da Graça Tavares Álvares Serrão
December 2016
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”IcandoallthingsthroughHimwhostrengthensme”
Philippians4:12-14
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Acknowledgments
There’s a group of individuals without whom this work would not have been possible, and to them I
expressmydeepestgratitude:
First and foremost I thank Prof. Anto´nio Aguiar for granting me the opportunity to participate in a
tremendouslyinterestingproject,anddedicateapartofhisvaluabletimeinsponsoringandsupporting
thisthesis.
ToEng. CarlosFigueiredo,leadEng. ofTAP’sElectronicFlightBagsolution,Ican’tthankenoughfor
allthetimeheinvestedinme,guidingmethroughouttheprojectandhelpingmewheneverhecould.
Lastly express my appreciation for all the help and feedback provided by Eng. Jorge Frade and Eng.
PedroPereira,andtoMar´ıliaSantosandVeraBatistaformakingmytimeatTAPanevenmorepleasant
andremarkableexperience.
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Resumo
Astecnologiasdeinformac¸a˜oesta˜oarevolucionarasoperac¸o˜esdaaviac¸a˜ocomercial,dentroeforado
cockpit. Processosmanuaisedocumentac¸a˜oimpressava˜osendosubstitu´ıdosporsistemascomputa-
dorizados,grac¸asa` crescenteportabilidadeepodercomputacionaldosdispositivoseletro´nicos.
Os pilotos usam dispositivos eletro´nicos porta´teis conhecidos como Electronic Flight Bags (EFB),
que permitem uma maior eficieˆncia e seguranc¸a operacional das aeronaves. O uso de sistemas
EFB tem crescido de forma significativa nos u´ltimos anos. O EFB maximiza o potencial de ferramen-
tas de ca´lculo de desempenho e documentac¸a˜o importante, tornando-os acess´ıveis aos membros da
tripulac¸a˜o,ondequerqueestejam.
Estetrabalhotemcomoobjetivoodesenvolvimentodeumaferramentacomputacionalquepermite
que membros da tripulac¸a˜o calculem perfis de voo para situac¸o˜es de emergeˆncia, aproveitando os
mais recentes dados meteorolo´gicos. A informac¸a˜o meteorolo´gica que e´ disponibilizada antes de um
vooesta´ sujeitaasofreralterac¸o˜es. Istoimplicaque,a` medidaqueelasevaialterando,podera˜osurgir
melhoresrotasdeescapeparasituac¸o˜esdeemergeˆncia. Estetrabalhoajudaacompanhiaaaproveitar
essasalterac¸o˜esdaprevisa˜ometeorolo´gica,aumentandoaseguranc¸aoperacional.
Aaplicac¸a˜opermitequeoutilizadorcalculeperfisdeemergeˆnciaparafalhasdepressurizac¸a˜oe/ou
demotor. Comparandooperfilcalculadocomasaltitudesm´ınimasdevoo,osoftwareconseguedeter-
minarseoperfilsatisfazosrequisitosimpostospelalegislac¸a˜oparaotipodefalhaemcausa. Integrada
noEFBdaTAP,estaferramentabeneficiara´ aformacomoasrotasdeemergeˆnciasa˜ogeridas,aumen-
tandoaseguranc¸aemcasodeemergeˆncia.
Palavras-chave:
Electronic Flight Bag, Descida de Emergeˆncia, Desempenho de Aeron-
aves,FalhadeMotor,Despressurizac¸a˜o
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Abstract
Informationtechnologyisslowlybutsurelyrevolutionizingcommercialaviationoperations,inandoutof
thecockpit. Manualprocessesandpaperdocumentationaregraduallybeingreplacedbycomputerized
systems,thankstotheincreasingcomputationalpowerandportabilityofelectronicdevices.
FlightCrewmembersuseportableelectronicdevices,knownasElectronicFlightBags(EFB),which
unlock a higher operational safety and efficiency. The use of EFB systems by airline companies has
been growing significantly in recent years. It unleashes the potential of aircraft performance tools and
criticaldocumentationbymakingitportableandaccessibletoflightcrewmembers,withouttheneedto
carrylargeorheavybags.
Thepresentworkfocusesonthedevelopmentofacomputationaltoolthatallowsflightcrewmembers
to compute emergency descent profiles in real time, taking the most recent meteorological information
into consideration. Atmospheric information released before a flight is prone to change. This implies
that safer emergency routes are likely to arise as atmospheric data gets updated. This work helps the
airlinetakeadvantageofthoseatmosphericupdates,andmakeflightoperationssafer.
The application allows the user to compute emergency descent profiles for depressurization and
engine failure scenarios. By comparing the computed profile against minimum flyable altitudes, the
applicationcanrapidlyverifyifthecalculatedflightpathsatisfiesregulatoryrequirementsforthetargeted
emergency procedure. Integrated in TAP’s EFB solution, this tool could prove to be a game changer in
howescaperoutesaremanaged.
Keywords:
Electronic Flight Bag, Emergency Descent, Aircraft Performance, Engine Failure,
Depressurization
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