FLARE, Fuel Efficiency for Luxury Aircraft Research Endeavors, was my second capstone project for my undergraduate degree. This was a sponsored project by Honda Aircraft Company (HACI) looking to develop a fuel slosh model to better predict and understand unusable fuel amounts within aircraft tanks during flight. The purpose of constructing this model was to reduce the number of required flights tests HACI would need to complete in order to certify their aircraft for flight. While I supported and oversaw the entire project, I was primarily responsible for the design, manufacturing, and experimental testing of a test apparatus to help validate the computational model.
Experimental Overview
In order to effectively test, a small-scale representation of the HA-420 fuel tank needed to be developed. Due to time, material, space, and funding constraints, it was not possible to develop a larger simulation model that is 100% representative of the HA-420 wing. As a result, a small-scale, 10-gallon test apparatus design was produced.
Experimental Apparatus Overview
A 10-gallon water tank was placed within a cradle of a 6105 aluminum extrusion structure equipped with 2 linear actuator motors for pitch and roll sequences. An Arduino microcontroller powered the entire unit with H-Bridge motor drivers controlling the actuators. A flow meter and pump are part of the plumbing system to extract the fluid from the tank during testing. A detailed overview of the apparatus components can be seen below.
Experimental Testing Requirements
For this project, 4 different test modes were conducted to represent the main flight domains that are required and tested for unusable fuel certification, as outlined by FAA AC 23-16a regulations. Each test started with 5 gallons of water within the tank, and tests were conducted until 0% flow was occurring. Upon completion of each test, the remaining water within the tank was measured and recorded. The collected data was used to compare against the simulated and theoretical results that were obtained by the computational team.
Person Contribution
Within this project, I served as the experimental lead which had the responsibility of designing, developing, testing, and analyzing a test apparatus. To start, I led the initial brainstorming and research of developing a test apparatus for this project. While many great suggestions were provided by all team members, both the project manager and I settled on the design I proposed. Although this system was not capable of introducing acceleration to the tank, a 3-point system with a ball joint, and two linear actuators enabled pitch and roll abilities. I was involved with every step of this apparatus, from initial modeling of the device in SolidWorks, placing buy orders, to manufacturing the apparatus in the workshop and conducting tests. In addition to building the physical apparatus, I also designed and wrote the Arduino code used for system checkouts, verification, and testing. Finally, I helped led the writing and creation of the teams final deliverable documents and presentations.