AircraftSpecs¶

Class to hold parameters on the aircraft used in area computations.

class casex.aircraft_specs.AircraftSpecs(aircraft_type, width, mass, fuel_type=<FuelType.GASOLINE: 1>, fuel_quantity=0)[source]¶

This class is designed to hold all the parameters on a specific aircraft for which a critical area is to be computed. Many of the these parameters are not used in computations of critical area, but are reserved for future use.

Parameters

aircraft_type (enums.AircraftType) – Type of aircraft.
width (float) – [m] Width of aircraft (wingspan, characteristic dimension).
mass (float) – [kg] Mass of the aircraft.
fuel_type (:class:'enums.FuelType, optional) – Fuel type, such as fossil fuels or batteries (the default is FuelType.GASOLINE).
fuel_quantity (float, optional) – [L] The quantity of fuel in liters. For batteries the quantity is also given in L, i.e. the volume of the battery (the default is 0, which means that no deflagration is assumed upon crash).

width¶

[m] The width of the aircraft is the horizontal size of the aircraft orthogonal to the direction of travel. This value is used to determine the width of the glide and slide areas. Therefore, this value is the wingspan for fixed wing aircraft, the rotor diameter for rotorcraft, and the rotortip to rotortip distance for multirotor aircraft.

Type: float

mass¶

[kg] Mass of the aircraft in kg. This is the total mass at the time of crash, including fuel.

Type: float

aircraft_type¶

The type of aircraft.

Type: enums.AircraftType

fuel_type¶

Fuel type, such as fossil fuels or batteries (the default is FuelType.GASOLINE).

Type: enums.FuelType

fuel_quantity¶

[L] The quantity of fuel in liters. For batteries the quantity is also given in L, i.e. the volume of the battery (the default is 0, which means that no deflagration is assumed upon crash).

Type: float

friction_coefficient¶

[-] Coefficient of friction between aircraft and ground. Appropriate values can be found using FrictionCoefficients (the default is 0.6).

Type: float

coefficient_of_restitution¶

[-] Coefficient of restitution expresses the loss of energy on impact (the default is 0.7).

Type: float

ballistic_frontal_area¶

[m^2] Frontal area of the aircraft during ballistic descent. This is the area size of the aircraft as projected in the direction of descent.

Type: float

ballistic_drag_coefficient¶

[-] Drag coefficient of the aircraft during ballistic descent. For future use.

Type: float

glide_drag_coefficient¶

[-] Drag coefficient of the aircraft during glide descent.

Type: float

max_flight_time¶

[s] Maximum flight time on the given amount of fuel. For future use.

Type: float

cruise_speed¶

[m/s] Cruise speed of the aircraft.

Type: float

glide_speed¶

[m/s] Glide speed of the aircraft when descending in a glide without thrust.

Type: float

glide_ratio¶

[-] Glide ratio of the aircraft when descending in an optimal glide angle without thrust.

Type: float

parachute_deployment_time¶

[s] Deployment time for the parachute, measured from the time deployment is signalled to full deployment.

Type: float

parachute_area¶

[m^2] Area of the parachute generating drag during descent and full deployment.

Type: float

parachute_drag_coef¶

[-] Drag coefficient.

Type: float

reset_values()[source]¶

Reset all aircraft parameters.

Returns
Return type: None

set_aircraft_type(aircraft_type)[source]¶

Set aircraft type.

The type of aircraft such as fixed wing or rotorcraft.

Parameters: aircraft_type (enums.AircraftType) – Type of aircraft.
Returns
Return type: None

set_ballistic_drag_coefficient(ballistic_drag_coefficient)[source]¶

Set drag coefficient for ballistic descent.

Parameters: ballistic_drag_coefficient (float) – [-] Drag coefficient for ballistic descent.
Returns
Return type: None

set_ballistic_frontal_area(ballistic_frontal_area)[source]¶

Set frontal area for computation of terminal velocity in ballistic descent.

Parameters: ballistic_frontal_area (float) – [m^2] Frontal area of the aircraft during ballistic descent.
Returns
Return type: None

set_coefficient_of_restitution(coefficient_of_restitution)[source]¶

Set coefficient of restitution.

Parameters: coefficient_of_restitution (float) – [-] Coefficient of restitution for the ground impact.
Returns
Return type: None

set_cruise_speed(cruise_speed)[source]¶

Set cruise speed.

Parameters: DOC (MISSING) –
Returns
Return type: None

set_friction_coefficient(friction_coefficient)[source]¶

Set coefficient of friction between aircraft and ground.

Parameters: friction_coefficient (float) – [-] Coefficient for the glide resistance (the default is 0.6).
Returns
Return type: None

set_fuel_quantity(fuel_quantity)[source]¶

Set the fuel quantity.

Parameters: fuel_quantity (float) – [L] Quantify of fuel. Set to 0 for no fuel in case no deflagration is desired in the computations.
Returns
Return type: None

set_fuel_type(fuel_type)[source]¶

Set the type of fuel.

Sets the type of fuel onboard the aircraft. For a list of options, see enums.FuelType.

Parameters: fuel_type (enums.FuelType) – Type of fuel.
Returns
Return type: None

set_glide_drag_coefficient(glide_drag_coefficient)[source]¶

Set drag coefficient for glide.

Parameters: glide_drag_coefficient (float) – [-] Drag coefficient for glide descent.
Returns
Return type: None

set_glide_speed_ratio(glide_speed, glide_ratio)[source]¶

Set glide ratio.

Parameters

glide_speed (float) – [m/s] Glide speed in the direction of travel.
glide_ratio (float) – [-] The horizontal distance per vertical distance for the aircraft at glide speed.

Returns

Return type

None

set_mass(mass)[source]¶

Set the aircraft mass.

Parameters: mass (float) – [kg] Mass of aircraft.
Returns
Return type: None

set_max_flight_time(max_flight_time)[source]¶

Set max flight time.

Parameters: max_flight_time (float) – [s] Maximum flight time.
Returns
Return type: None

set_parachute(parachute_deployment_time, parachute_area, parachute_drag_coef)[source]¶

Set parachute parameters.

Parameters

parachute_deployment_time (float) – [s] Time from initiation of parachute deployment to a fully deployed parachute.
parachute_area (float) – [m^2] Size of the parachute.
parachute_drag_coef (float) – [-] Drag coefficient for the parachute.

Returns

Return type

None

set_width(width)[source]¶

Set the aircraft width.

Parameters: width (float) – [m] Width of the aircraft
Returns
Return type: None

terminal_velocity()[source]¶

Compute terminal velocity for free falling aircraft.

Returns: terminal_velocity – [m/s] The terminal velocity for the aircraft.
Return type: float

width_mass_check()[source]¶

Out of range check on width and mass.

Performs an out of range check of width and mass. Warnings are issued for parameters out of range.

Returns
Return type: None