Paris Air Show: Carbon Fiber Solar Aircraft Plays Lead Role

The 49th Paris-Le Bourget International Aerospace Exhibition (Paris Air Show) ended on June 26th at the Bourges Exhibition Centre in the northern suburbs of Paris. Louis Leposts, chief curator of the Paris Air Show, said that the theme of the Paris Air Show under the economic recovery was identified as "innovation and environmental protection."

Exhibitors have done articles on new energy, new power, and new concepts, indicating that fuel cells, solar energy, or the body’s own heat can power certain systems on future aircraft. Aeronautical engineers will continue to use nature as a source of inspiration. Some aircraft may even fly in teams like migratory birds to reduce resistance, fuel consumption and emissions.

Carbon fiber solar aircraft sing the protagonist In order to better reflect the theme of "innovation and environmental protection", the air show organizers invited the world's largest solar-powered aircraft - the Swiss-made "Solar Drive" and design team to exhibit. The organizers set up a special exhibition hall for this purpose, and strictly limit the number of visitors to the tour to protect this "special guest".

The “Solar Drive” project sponsor and Swiss explorer Bertrand Picard said that “Solar Drive” was exhibited to demonstrate to the public the great potential of new technologies in energy-saving and renewable energy production, and through public encouragement National policy makers adopt new technologies.

The "Solar Drive" is different from ordinary planes usually seen. Its fuselage is 21.85 meters long and its wingspan length is 63.4 meters. It looks like it is even uncoordinated. The wings were covered with 11,628 solar panels, charging four batteries for a total weight of 400 kilograms. "Solar Drive" uses a lot of ultra-light carbon fiber material, weighs about 1600 kg, equivalent to only a small truck, "has the weight of the Airbus aircraft and the car."

Andre Bolschberg, chief executive of the "Solar Drive" company and also the pilot of the plane, said that "The "Solar Drive" itself is a pilot aircraft. Its original intention was to prove that solar aircraft are You can fly during the day and night."

According to reports, due to the advantages of carbon fiber composites that are resistant to high heat, according to the design, the "solar drive" can rise to a height of 8500 meters to 9,000 meters during the day, so as to achieve the best aerodynamic efficiency and solar energy utilization rate. It reaches 70 kilometers per hour. Daytime is also the process of “charging” the aircraft. Excess solar power will be stored in high-performance batteries for a maximum of 8 hours at night. As for the nighttime, the flight altitude will be reduced to about 1,500 meters, which can reduce the power consumption. The "Solar Drive" proves that the new solar-powered aircraft can catch up with the daytime in the dark. Theoretically, it can realize the sky-going horizon and become a truly "permanent-moving aircraft."

The "sun-driven" project took 7 years. In July 2010, the 24-hour uninterrupted flight was successfully completed and it has since been included in the history of human flight. But it created history not only here. On May 13th this year, it successfully completed its first transnational flight. It took off from Payer in Switzerland, passed through France and Luxembourg, and flew nearly 13 hours to Brussels, Belgium.

Borschberger said that the power of the "Solar Drive" was actually equivalent to only one motorcycle, but it drove a much larger aircraft. Its success proved that we could drive even more with less power. Transportation to achieve maximum energy savings. Its success has injected a breakthrough in solar energy development. With the continuous advancement and improvement of technology, the popularity of solar energy will no longer be a dream.

Borschberger said, "We have successfully applied solar energy to aircraft today. We can use it in automobiles, housing, etc. tomorrow, and even one day we can store solar energy in certain media and become solar fuel for production and The use of life.At present, the development of solar energy is still in its infancy, and it will be difficult to say in what way it will emerge later. It needs further research and exploration.” He emphasized that although solar energy can replace existing energy to some extent However, it does not mean that future aircraft will use solar power.

Demonstrating the New Coordinates of the Future Aviation Industry At this year’s air show, Airbus and its parent company, the European Aerospace Defense Group (European Airlines Group), are the main ideas for the future and show their vision for the aviation industry in 2050.

In order to understand the challenges faced by the aviation industry and the needs of customers and passengers, Airbus conducted surveys on more than 10,000 people around the world. The question asked by the survey was: “What do you think the aviation industry looks like in the future?” The respondent’s response is very clear: By 2050, people will fly more on the plane, but try to reduce the impact on the environment as much as possible. .

Airbus's vision for the future includes five pillars: First, the future of energy (alternative fuels), including biofuels, fuel cells, solar energy, energy (such as the body's own heat) collection, electric aircraft concepts, etc.; Second, the future of the flight path (Air traffic management), including Europe's Single European Sky Air Traffic Management System (SE SA R), U.S. Next-Generation Air Traffic Management System, Clean Sky Action, Aircraft Formation Flying Creativity, etc.; III. Future Air Travel Solutions ( New business models), including the concept of aircraft "clusters", flying palaces (cruises in the sky), vertical take-off, etc.; 4. Research and Technology, including conceptual airplanes and concept cabins, bionic structures, smart materials (self-warming and self (Cleaning function), engine R&D (cruising engine of vertical landing and landing aircraft) and bionic technology; 5. Talents in the future, including Airbus' global "College of Ideas" flight competition and cooperation with educational institutions.

In 2010, Airbus introduced the concept aircraft, "Engineer's Dream." The main features of this concept aircraft are its long and thin wings, semi-embedded engine, U-shaped tail and light body, which have the characteristics of reduced fuel consumption, emission reduction, noise reduction and enhanced comfort.

Charles Campbell, Executive Vice President of Airbus Engineering, said: “The Airbus concept airplane shows people what the future plane looks like and represents the engineers’ dreams. This is not a real airplane, it shows Although the technology is feasible, it is unlikely to be put into use at the same time as the concept aircraft demonstrated.This concept aircraft has fully exerted our imagination and exceeded our usual way of thinking.Airbus hopes to be able to pass this The concept aircraft attracts young people from all over the world to participate in the aviation industry. While enjoying the benefits that aviation brings to people, we should pay more attention to environmental protection."

At this year's air show, Airbus introduced the Concept Cabin, an innovative and intelligent aircraft interior design. In the Airbus concept cabin, the traditional divisions of first class, business class and economy class will no longer exist. Instead, the concept of areas such as vitality area, interactive area and intelligent technology area will be replaced. Such regional division will bring passengers Unprecedented flight experience: “Interactive Zone” sets up a virtual three-dimensional projection, allowing passengers to stay in various environments and participate in various social activities. The “dynamic zone” is a recreation area where passengers can rest, eat, breathe fresh air, receive physiotherapy and massage. The "smart technology zone" uses artificial intelligence technology to provide passengers with a variety of services that make no distinction between air life and the ground. Charles Campbell, Executive Vice President of Airbus Engineering, said that Airbus’s research shows that 2050 passengers expect both a perfect flying experience and environmental protection. Passengers wishing to leave the cabin after a long flight can still maintain their vitality and energy.

The Airbus concept cabin needs the following technological developments to achieve:

— Bionic structure: Birds have an optimized skeletal structure that provides the strength needed for flight. With this bionic structure, the fuselage can obtain its required strength, and it can also make full use of more space when needed.

--- Polymeric film: The bionic structure of the cabin will be covered with a layer of polymer film to control the natural light, humidity and temperature received. It can control its transparency according to the needs. The aircraft's porthole is no longer needed. . Sitting in such a cabin, passengers are placed at a height of 10,000 meters, and they can enjoy the scenery outside the cabin through the intelligent, transparent 360-degree cabin wall, such as the starry night sky.

Composite materials: The materials of future aircraft may no longer be solid forms, but may also be liquid and gaseous.

--- Integrated neural networks: Optical cables, wires, and other things are no longer needed. The integrated neural network is "smart" and has many functions. For example, it can identify passengers and make passengers and aircraft "integrated."

--- Ecological materials: The future cabin is fully in line with ecological benefits. In the future, the cabin will no longer use non-recyclable materials such as metals and plastics, but will use plant fibers that can be recycled completely.

--- Deformable materials: The possibility of developing and utilizing materials that can be deformed and able to restore the initial state is great. The deformable material may be a metal or polymeric material with "memory" capabilities. In addition, you can also use the "skin" method on the material to achieve the effect of deformation.

— Materials with self-cleaning, self-repair, etc.: Future cabins will use materials that are self-cleaning and self-healing, and coating (foil) technology inspired by the natural world is now used in aircraft toilets. It will be used in aircraft seats and carpets in the future. This paint can repair scratches on its own, just like human skin.

--- 3D printing: Some parts of the cabin use a stack-up method, just like 3D printing. In this way, complex graphics can be obtained in a very simple way, while saving a lot of material compared to cutting out small graphics from large pieces of material.

---holographic technology: In the future cabin, the unique scenery of the destination, the bird's eye view of a city or the landscape of the rainforest can be projected on the wall. Using simulation projection technology, you can turn your private space in the cabin into your home bedroom, business meeting scene or Zen garden.

-- Energy Harvesting Technology: Future cabins will use energy solutions such as energy harvesting technology. The blinds on the aircraft portholes have a solar receiver that collects “extra” energy. Seats and floors can also collect excess calories from your body while you are resting and sleeping. This collected energy can be used to provide certain facilities in the cabin. electricity.

Airbus said that many of these technologies are currently in development and some of the technologies will be reflected in Airbus' future launch of the aircraft program.