Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133150

Authors: Florian Mock Lukas Kettenhofen Daniel Alboldt Kai-Uwe Schröder

The open fan as a highly efficient propulsion concept is a promising approach to reduce climate-damaging emissions in aviation. However, the increased vibroacoustic emissions of the fan resulting from the open design lead to elevated cabin noise. Energy harvesting resonators can be used to leverage the piezoelectric effect and to attenuate structural vibrations caused by the acoustic loading simultaneously. To evaluate the potential of a specific configuration of energy harvesting resonators, an investigation of the dynamic interaction between the airframe and the resonators is necessary. Therefore, the eigenmodes and eigenfrequencies of a representative stiffened plate are determined experimentally using modal analysis via laser scanning vibrometry. A finite element model of the stiffened plate with the resonator idealized as a mass–spring element is implemented. The stiffness of this simplified resonator model is calibrated by correlating simulated with experimental results following a model updating approach. Finally, an optimization framework designed to determine the optimal quantity and placement of resonators using the experimentally validated model and representative loads is implemented to maximize both vibroacoustic attenuation and energy harvesting efficiency. The resulting framework serves as a generalized optimization tool capable of systematically optimizing the resonator configuration based on airframe geometry and specified vibroacoustic loading scenarios.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140021

Authors: Inus Grobler Hanif Banderker Reesen Govindsamy Gideon van der Kolf

This paper presents a performance evaluation of next-generation sodium-ion cells employing Sodium Iron Pyrophosphate (NFPP) chemistry, which is now commercially available. Building on prior research into early-generation SiB technologies, the study investigates NFPP cells under varied operating conditions, including high and low temperatures, extreme C-rate discharge, and zero-volt storage. Results indicate that NFPP cells deliver exceptional high-power capability, sustaining continuous discharge rates up to 30C without degradation, and they exhibit strong thermal stability at elevated temperatures. While safety features such as zero-volt tolerance remain intact, low-temperature operation continues to pose challenges, particularly for charging, with irreversible capacity loss observed when exceeding manufacturer specifications. Despite a relatively low energy density (~79.75 Wh/kg), NFPP cells demonstrate significant potential for high-power applications requiring reliability and safety in harsh environments. These findings position NFPP chemistry as a critical step toward advancing sodium-ion technology for specialised energy storage solutions.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140020

Authors: Yamkela Nompetsheni Mukovhe Ratshitanga

As global energy demands rise and concerns about environmental sustainability intensify, renewable energy sources like solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have gained significant attention. An integrated approach is proposed, leveraging spatial analysis using Helioscope, a 3D solar design tool, incorporated with Geographic Information System (GIS) data. This study conducted a spatial analysis of Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) Bellville campus’s potential for renewable energy, and the results are promising. The research indicated that the campus has enough rooftop space to optimally place solar panels with a capacity of 7.8 megawatts, which is more than the campus’s total energy needs of 6.3 megawatts. This study identified 13,249 modules that can be optimally placed to achieve this.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140022

Authors: Haltor Mataifa Ntanganedzeni Tshinavhe Senthil Krishnamurthy Mukovhe Ratshitanga Marco Adonis

Electric power distribution systems have been undergoing a transformation that can be attributed to factors such as the deregulation of the electric power supply industry, growing public concern over energy security and the environmental impact of energy generation and utilization, and technological advancements that have given impetus to concerted efforts to modernize the power grid in the framework of smart grid initiatives. The traditionally passive distribution network is increasingly becoming active due to the steady increase in the amount of distributed energy resources being integrated into the network. This has, in turn, given rise to a higher need for flexibility resources that can be used to handle the increased uncertainty caused by stochastic and intermittent distributed resources, such as variable renewable power generation. The provision of demand-side flexibility has largely been the purview of large industrial and commercial energy consumers. This article discusses the role that the aggregator can play in facilitating the provision of flexibility resources by small-scale consumers and prosumers and presents a case study on small-scale renewable generation and residential demand forecasting, which form an integral part of demand flexibility aggregation.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140019

Authors: Olumoroti Ikotun Evans Eshiemogie Ojo Musasa Kabeya

Previous studies showed that at the inverter end, the AC voltage will experience a slight increase, while further observations revealed an increase in DC current. Other findings indicated that the AC voltage at the rectifier side will experience a decrease, while both AC voltage and DC current will increase. This paper presents a hybrid multiterminal HVDC system, which was modelled and implemented using Matlab/Simulink software 2018b to investigate fault behaviors, focusing on DC line-to-ground faults and their impact on the overall system. Calculations were performed at the input of the Graetz bridge rectifier, the capacitor filter of the DC transmission line, and the three-phase LCL filter located at the inverter end. Results indicated that, at the rectifier end, the grid voltage will increase while the grid current will decrease with non-standard waveforms. It noted that at the inverter end, the AC voltage will decrease along with grid currents. In the DC transmission line, the DC current will decrease to near zero. Findings represent the contribution of the behaviors observed at both the rectifier and inverter ends of the grids during fault scenarios, providing a more profound understanding of how multiterminal HVDC systems behave under threat.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133147

Authors: Bahtiyar Eren Ahmet Bengöz

Although AS9100D is essential in the aviation industry, its impact on cost, safety, quality, and logistics remains uncertain. This study surveyed AS9100D-certified IAQG organizations across five domains: cost, process effectiveness, product safety, on-time delivery, and customer satisfaction. Using 25 Likert-scale questions and binomial tests, 40% reported a significant impact, 30% a moderate impact, 21% a low impact, and 9% lacked data. While all domains influenced processes, only 11 of 25 items showed strong significance individually. The findings highlight where resources should be prioritized to strengthen core activities and guide improvements toward AS9100E.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133148

Authors: Viviana Nebbioso Aurelio Bifulco Claudio Imparato Liberata Guadagno Marialuigia Raimondo Jessica Passaro Pietro Russo Giuseppe Vitiello Giulio Malucelli Antonio Aronne Amedeo Amoresano

Ice accumulation on aircraft surfaces severely affects aerodynamic performance by increasing drag and reducing lift, leading to stall conditions. Conventional thermal and pneumatic anti-/de-icing systems, although widely used, have some disadvantages, including high cost, inefficiency, and environmental unsustainability. Hydrophobic and icephobic coatings have emerged as a promising alternative to reduce ice adhesion and delay ice formation. This paper reviews the use of silane agents in epoxy-based coatings, incorporating functional additives such as natural fibers, quantum dots, and nanoparticles, to enhance hydrophobicity. Results demonstrated that the combination of silanes and functional additives affects surface features and wettability, improving hydrophobicity. These case studies show the potential of this approach in the development of coatings for advanced aircraft ice-protection applications.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133146

Authors: Ricardo J. N. dos Reis Anaisa Villani Silvio Romero Oliveira do Nascimento Filho Charles Dormoy Jaime Diaz-Pineda Théodore Letouzé

OLIVIA (OperationaL Intentions adVIser for Aviation) was developed in the HAIKU project. It is a flight deck tool providing support to mission-level decisions in complex situations by assessing and prioritizing route options according to operational intentions. It uses Artificial Intelligence to translate (1) operational intentions from pilots to route generation and optimization inputs and (2) route proposal KPIs into operational intention assessments. This paper reports on the final development of OLIVIA, the results from the human-in-the-loop experiments, and insights and recommendations regarding the development of similar assistants for the flight deck.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133140

Authors: Borys Syta Paweł Czerniszewski Stanisław Kachel Robert Rogólski

This study is part of a research program at the Military University of Technology aimed at creating a tool to support light aircraft design at the conceptual stage. The project seeks to develop a method for optimizing a conceptual model of a small manned or unmanned aircraft based on specific mission requirements and aerodynamics. Recognizing the need for a reliable CFD analysis tool in this process, the focus was placed on investigating popular tools utilizing panel methods.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133137

Authors: Christian Bülow Karina Kroos Steffen Opitz

Aviation faces major challenges in meeting EU decarbonization goals, and liquid hydrogen is a promising alternative fuel. This study evaluates the environmental and economic performance of composite liquid hydrogen tanks for aircraft. A combined Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) approach was applied to two tank configurations from the HyStor and TACOMA projects, based on Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) manufacturing data. Results show that tooling dominates prototype costs but becomes negligible in serial production, enabling reductions of up to 89%. The AFP process and carbon-fiber prepreg material are the main environmental impact drivers. Despite these, the lightweight composite design can offset its production footprint through operational fuel savings.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133142

Authors: Pascal Köhler Marius Nozinski Felix Müller Lauris Richter Jonas Hesse Cagatay N. Dagli Markus Richter Stephan Kabelac

Decarbonizing aviation requires innovative propulsion technologies and thermodynamic systems that enable efficient, sustainable energy conversion. The Institute of Thermodynamics at Leibniz University Hannover is engaged in several interdisciplinary research projects focusing on advanced, low-emission aircraft propulsion solutions. Two major areas of research are presented: high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for hybrid aircraft propulsion and thermal management systems for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell propulsion, including additively manufactured heat exchangers for aviation applications. These research activities contribute to the technological foundation of more climate-friendly aviation. Concepts are investigated through numerical simulations, experiments, and system-level analyses to develop future propulsion solutions. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the Institute of Thermodynamics’ ongoing research and the synergies between its various fields. It offers insights into the challenges and opportunities of more sustainable aviation technologies.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133132

Authors: Somrick Das Biswas Jonah Gerardus Adler Edsel Ece Inanc Nikolaos Kalliatakis Nabih Naeem Prajwal Shiva Prakasha

Wildfires are increasing in frequency, intensity, and duration, driving up suppression and damage costs and motivating a more coordinated use of aerial firefighting assets. Within this context, we extend the COLOSSUS Project’s X-Challenge System-of-Systems (SoS) simulation toolkit with an integrated aircraft sizing and fleet assessment methodology that links conceptual aircraft design with tactic selection. Two platforms are sized under 2035 technology assumptions—a 2000 kg payload electric Vertical Takeoff Landing (eVTOL) and a 3000 kg payload Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT) using physics-based performance and parametric cost models. A Design of Experiments (DoE) workflow coupled with the SoS toolkit evaluates mixed fleets and tactic assignments in three representative regions. Effectiveness is quantified via a weighted, normalized Measure of Effectiveness that aggregates burnt area, emissions, and cost metrics into a single scalar. Results show that acquisition cost dominates overall effectiveness and that location-specific fleet compositions can outperform a single fixed fleet without degrading suppression outcomes, motivating future work on adaptive, region-specific fleet design and sensitivity analyses.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140018

Authors: Tshilidzi Ramunenyiwa Komla A. Folly

This paper presents an energy performance assessment and the development of an energy consumption baseline model for a quarry located in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Using 24 months of historical electricity consumption and production data, the energy use intensity (EUI) was calculated to benchmark the quarry against similar international operations. The results show that the quarry performs competitively, ranking third among seven comparable sites despite having no energy conservation measures (ECMs) in place. A linear regression model was developed to predict energy consumption based on tons produced, yielding a strong correlation (R2 = 0.92) and statistically significant parameters. Model validation metrics—including a CVRMSE of 9%, Durbin–Watson value of 2.818, and negligible Net Determination Bias—indicate a reliable and accurate baseline suitable for future energy savings verification. The study highlights opportunities to further improve performance through energy management programmes and operational changes.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133143

Authors: Arnav Pathak Victor Norrefeldt Marie Pschirer

The shift toward more electric aircraft has intensified thermal management challenges due to increased heat load from electrical actuators, power electronics and energy storage systems concentrated within confined fuselage bays. A Conventional Environmental Control System (ECS) alone is not sufficient to dissipate such high localized heat loads. This creates the need for innovative heat dissipation and heat reuse strategies. This paper presents two thermal management concepts evaluated at the Fraunhofer Flight Test Facility. The first, developed in the ORCHESTRA project, integrates a bilge skin heat exchanger with modified ventilation to dissipate elevated heat loads. The second, under investigation in the TheMa4HERA project, focuses on reusing avionics heat to warm the FWD cargo hold, thereby reducing ECS power demand. Both concepts depend on convective heat exchange, characterized using Fraunhofer’s Convective Heat Transfer Meter (CHM) to determine key heat transfer coefficients. In parallel, an aircraft-level thermal model was developed, validated against experimental data and subsequently used for virtual demonstration of a ground test scenario.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133133

Authors: Shraddha Meda Sheshadri Alex Mercier Sarah Treece Cristian Puebla Menne Burak Bagdatli Dimitri Mavris Nikolaos Kalliatakis Nabih Naeem Prajwal Shiva Prakasha

Wildfire severity and frequency continue to increase worldwide, making effective aerial wildfire suppression a critical component of wildfire response. The COLOSSUS (Collaborative SoS) X-Challenge project established a system-of-systems (SoS) framework to design and evaluate next-generation firefighting capabilities and operational concepts. Building on this framework, this paper presents a simulation environment that jointly evaluates conventional fixed-wing and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) firefighting aircraft concepts by integrating aircraft design, fleet-level coordination, and mission-level tactics into the unified SoS assessment, enabling performance-driven design exploration. The framework was expanded with new tactics, including a ridge-based drop method, and a flanking selection algorithm that leverages road networks to establish anchor points and construct fire lines. Simulations across three representative wildfire locations (Salamis, Pyrenees, and Palisades) demonstrate that combining purpose-built aircraft with adaptive tactics can significantly improve mission effectiveness.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133141

Authors: Mathias Trampler Marc Tabie Julia Habenicht Elsa Andrea Kirchner

Performance of fine motor tasks during the initial phase of space missions is often compromised by the adaptation to microgravity. Since traditional Earth-based training methods are limited and struggle to replicate these conditions without strict time constraints, we propose the training of fine motor tasks with simulated microgravity on earth using an upper limb active exoskeleton. With a model-based control approach, we create a state of microgravity for both arms. To enable realistic microgravity simulation, a suitable model of the human arm is needed. We developed a method to identify the parameters of an arm model by leveraging the computational graph of the inverse dynamics algorithm and utilizing gradient descent to minimize the discrepancy between model and reality. Preliminary data from parabolic flights show that subjects trained with our exoskeleton achieved higher accuracy in a fine motor task during their first exposure to real microgravity compared to untrained subjects.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133135

Authors: Romain Espoeys Matthias De Lozzo Sylvain Béchet Jean-Christophe Giret François Gallard Simone Mancini Tim Klaproth

Modern engineering systems may require multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) to account for the interactions between coupled physical phenomena. When uncertainties affect model parameters or design variables, these analyses must be extended to uncertainty-based MDO (UMDO), in which objectives and/or constraints are expressed as statistical quantities. However, solving UMDO problems is computationally demanding, especially when costly simulators are involved and the budget must be allocated among uncertainty quantification, multidisciplinary coupling resolution, and optimization. This article introduces a generic multi-fidelity strategy, implemented in the open-source GEMSEO framework, to efficiently address UMDO problems. A fidelity level is defined by a number of samples to estimate the statistics; the higher the fidelity, the higher the number. The strategy solves the UMDO problem for each level by using the solution of the previous level as an initial guess. Numerical experiments are deployed on a simplified overall aircraft design (OAD) problem and a hybrid electric regional aircraft (HERA) case. The results show that, with two fidelity levels, restricting samples and iterations at the low-fidelity stage improves overall performance. This allows the multi-fidelity framework to significantly reduce computational cost compared with single-fidelity approaches (up to 45% for OAD and 40% for HERA) while maintaining or improving solution accuracy.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133136

Authors: Leith Afilal Daniël Peeters John-Alan Pascoe René Alderliesten

Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) enables the rapid and precise manufacturing of composite structures, but the process inherently introduces defects such as gaps and overlaps, which can significantly affect structural performance. Most existing studies assess these effects through coupon-scale testing; however, such an approach may not capture the influence of structural scale and defect interaction. This study investigates the combined effects of specimen dimension and defect configuration on stiffness, strength, and damage evolution. Two characteristic defect patterns were examined—aligned and staggered gaps—across two specimen dimensions. The results reveal different scaling trends for strength and stiffness between the two configurations. They also show the influence of specimen size on damage initiation and delamination behaviour. The findings demonstrate that coupon-based knockdowns cannot be directly extrapolated to structural components without accounting for defect interaction and scale effects.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133129

Authors: Antonio M. Mercado-Martínez José Blanco-Chica Antonio Jurado-Navas Beatriz Soret

The growing demand for accurate and timely Earth observation (EO) data has made autonomous mission planning increasingly essential. In particular, data acquisition planning has gained attention in recent years with the advent of agile Earth observation satellites (AEOSs). This process involves two main stages: target identification and observation scheduling. Traditionally, the former is performed manually, while the latter requires solving the agile Earth observation satellite scheduling problem (AEOSSP), a complex combinatorial optimization problem. In this work, we propose a constellation design comprising EO satellites deployed in medium Earth orbit (MEO) and low Earth orbit (LEO). The MEO satellites acquire low-resolution (LR) images for onboard target identification and subsequently schedule high-resolution (HR) observations by a set of LEO AEOSs. We adapt the AEOSSP to this multi-orbit context by explicitly considering communication constraints between MEO and LEO satellites and propose several heuristic solution methods. Among them, the quality-based greedy algorithm yields up to a 35.5% improve in observation profit in simple, low-conflict scenarios, while the structured heuristic algorithm proves the most robust, achieving up to a 21.5% increase in challenging schedules.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133131

Authors: Nikolaos Kalliatakis Nabih Naeem Prajwal Shiva Prakasha

Throughout history, wildfires have been prominent natural disasters that cause pollution, environmental damage and loss of lives. Local firefighting agencies and disaster response initiatives have typically managed to contain fires and limit damage to controllable levels. However, in recent times, due to climate change and human population growth, wildfire occurrences are becoming less predictable and result in greater cost and damage. Solutions employing new technologies and a more operations-oriented analysis, through system-of-systems (SoS), could be a promising way to combat further wildfire devastation. Designing new aircraft and strategies that can be used in human transport and firefighting is one of the goals of the COLOSSUS project. To enable international innovation, especially amongst young researchers, a student competition called the X-Challenge was released. This paper will deal with the overview of the challenge, breaking down its objectives, constraints, research contributions and outcomes. Following this paper, four different student teams will present their solutions, including innovative aircraft designs and SoS analysis methods. The knowledge gained, and successes and failures from the challenge, alongside outlook and recommendations for future challenges and SoS exploration, will be discussed in this paper.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140017

Authors: Pfano Nemakonde Fhulufhelo Nemangwele Mukovhe Ratshitanga Komla Agbenyo Folly

Accurate residual demand forecasting (RDF) is essential for stable peer-to-peer energy trading in developing economies. This study benchmarks three hyperparameter optimization paradigms, HEBO, PSO, and GP-BO, applied to XGBoost (2.1.4) forecasting using seven-fold TimeSeriesSplit validation on South African hourly grid data. Results demonstrate a fundamental trade-off between accuracy and efficiency: PSO achieves superior accuracy (0.47% MAPE) at the cost of substantial computation (23.4 h), while GP-BO offers revolutionary speed (19 min) with acceptable accuracy trade-offs. HEBO provides balanced performance with stable convergence. Crucially, we identify a “data–optimizer coupling” effect where optimal scaling methods are algorithm-dependent. These findings provide context-specific deployment strategies for microgrid operators addressing energy trilemma challenges.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133139

Authors: Robin Frank Stephan Rempe

One approach to make the aviation sector climate-compatible is to minimize greenhouse gas emissions by employing electric and hybrid electric propulsion system concepts. The introduction of novel technologies introduces novel failure modes and consequently effects of failure conditions on the aircraft. This study examines the safety of distributed electrified aircraft propulsion systems and evaluates individual failure scenarios in the context of the relevant certification requirements. A comparison of the functional architectures of legacy and Electric Hybrid Propulsion Systems (EHPSs) is conducted and the existing aircraft-level requirements, that are based on experience with conventional propulsion systems, are assessed for their applicability to the certification of novel propulsion systems. Subsequently the relevant safety items from these requirements are identified in the context of a critical loss of thrust scenario. Analysis methods are assigned to these safety items in order to prove the compliance of the novel systems with the legacy certification documentation. This results in a validation concept for EHPS at the aircraft level in the context of a critical loss of thrust. In particular, the distribution of individual subsystems and components throughout the aircraft leads to reduced isolation of the respective propulsion systems and thus potential safety-critical interactions with adjacent systems. The analysis demonstrates that the use of distributed propulsion systems increases the risk of multiple failures of redundant systems and cascading failure propagation, highlighting the need to develop targeted means of prevention and the mitigation of failure conditions for these systems.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133144

Authors: Alexander Athanasios Kamtsiuris Ann-Kathrin Koschlik Florian Raddatz Gerko Wende

In modern complex engineering systems, making well-informed maintenance decisions requires processing multiple sources of information. This is particularly crucial in autonomous operations, where systems must have the capability to automatically perform accurate diagnostic analyses to ensure safe and sustainable functioning. By leveraging Bayesian networks, data from various sensors can be integrated to infer the likelihood of different faults and failure modes. This approach not only identifies potential issues but also provides a measure of confidence in the diagnosis. This work investigates the use of Bayesian networks (BNs) for fault diagnosis in small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A diagnostic BN specifically designed for a small UAV is introduced and its functionality is demonstrated. In summary, Bayesian networks provide a robust method for supporting diagnostics in complex systems. They enhance the ability to make informed maintenance decisions, thereby ensuring the reliability and safety of advanced engineering systems.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026132007

Authors: André Schoeman Aarti Panday

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a transformative enabler in aviation, with applications spanning Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC), Air Traffic Management (ATM), and predictive maintenance. However, the adoption of AI in safety-critical domains remains constrained by the absence of established certification guidance. Traditional standards such as Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP), ARP4754B, ARP4761A, DO-178C, and DO-254 assume deterministic behaviour and verifiable logic, whereas AI exhibits adaptive and non-deterministic characteristics. Regulatory initiatives, including the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AI Roadmap 2.0, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) AI Safety Assurance Roadmap, and ISO/IEC Technical Report (TR) 5469:2024, signal progress but remain fragmented, exploratory, and often limited to low-level autonomous use cases. This study adopts a qualitative approach combining literature and standards analysis with expert interviews to identify gaps in post-deployment assurance, data governance, explainability, and accountability. A conceptual life cycle-oriented framework is proposed that embeds AI-specific assurance activities such as dataset validation, iterative verification, drift detection, and retraining oversight into established certification processes. The framework extends classical and emerging verification and validation models into operational service, linking machine learning constituents to system-level safety arguments and regulatory expectations to support the development of trustworthy and certifiable AI-enabled aviation systems.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133138

Authors: Iván González-Nieves Andrés Felgueroso-Rodríguez Miguel Díaz-Barja Jorge García-Rodríguez

The development of future electrical aircraft, such as the Hybrid-Electric Regional Aircraft (HERA) platform, presents challenging cooling demands due to the heat generated by electric powerplants, fuel cells and power electronics. Traditional heat exchangers in ram air channels may not be sufficient, necessitating alternative solutions like Skin Heat Exchangers (SHXs) to enhance heat transfer and reduce parasitic drag. Aircraft drag reduction and efficiency increase are expected with the integration of SHXs in two-phase cooling systems. This study employs Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models, specifically the Volume of Fluid (VOF) multiphase model together with the Lee model, to simulate the condensation process of two Hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) refrigerants in SHX channels (R1233zd(E) and R1234yf). An analytical model based on empirical equations is used to preliminarily correlate and validate the CFD results, showing deviations below 15%. The simulations reveal distinct flow behaviours for each refrigerant, influenced by the differences in liquid and gas densities. The study also establishes a basis for understanding and selecting the inverse of the relaxation time coefficient, which is crucial for multiphase CFD modelling. The CFD models used in this article could be of great importance for future SHX design optimization.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026134096

Authors: Kazuhiko Takahashi Yuta Imamura Masafumi Hashimoto

We investigated the potential of multi-layer extreme learning machines (MLELMs) for trajectory tracking in autonomous unmanned vehicles, focusing on an unmanned surface vehicle (USV). MLELMs were used to design position and attitude controllers within a two-loop control architecture, ensuring that the USV accurately follows a reference trajectory. The performance of an MLELM-based controller in a tracking task was evaluated via numerical simulations of a USV dynamic model governed by nonlinear equations. The computational results confirmed the feasibility of the MLELM to accomplish this task with appropriate accuracy, demonstrating its potential applicability in control systems.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140011

Authors: Franck Mushid Mohamed Fayaz Khan

This paper presents a simulation-based comparative study on the deployment of aggregate versus individual battery energy storage systems (BESS) in low-voltage (LV) distribution networks, using IEEE standard test feeders. The analysis considers technical impacts on voltage regulation, energy losses, transformer loading, and feeder voltage stability under typical South African load profiles and time-of-use tariff conditions. Simulation results reveal that aggregate BESS configurations significantly outperform individual deployments in grid-support performance. The aggregate BESS reduced total feeder energy losses by up to 14%, improved voltage profiles across the network, and maintained transformer loading within safer operational margins. Furthermore, aggregate systems demonstrated superior energy arbitrage behavior and achieved lower values of the Feeder Voltage Stability Index (FVSI), indicating enhanced voltage resilience. While individual BESS units offer modularity and ease of deployment, their lack of coordination limits their effectiveness at the feeder level. This study provides valuable insights for utilities, policymakers, and researchers into optimal storage configurations that can strengthen distribution grid stability, reduce technical losses, and support renewable integration in developing energy markets such as South Africa.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133134

Authors: Durga Sri Sharan Katabathula Marcel Mischke Sebastian Stoppa Robin Frank

The importance of system safety elevates with the introduction of novel technologies in the aviation industry. With the rise of system complexity, regular safety practices include iterative workflows and heavy reliance on expert knowledge. For the development of modern, efficient aircraft systems, there is a need for innovative approaches. This paper presents a tool, OSIRIS (operational safety and integrated risk analysis), that supports safety and risk analyses utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) concepts. Developed as a key safety feature within the HADES modeling framework, OSIRIS aligns with an architecture-based design approach for abstract system modeling, adhering to model-based systems engineering (MBSE) principles and standards. It currently aids safety engineers in formulating system failure cases consistent with functional hazard assessments (FHA), representing model-based safety assessment (MBSA) in compliance with SAE ARP4761A. The methodological concepts and their implementation in OSIRIS are demonstrated considering an abstract system model from aeronautical applications. The generated results were evaluated against the system context to confirm compliance with the FHA process required for certification. Further, the future work will explore refining OSIRIS’s capabilities and its application cases.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133126

Authors: Ousmane Sy Shantanu Sapre Emmanuel Benard Joseph Morlier Yoann Le Lamer

As the aviation industry explores sustainable solutions for next-generation aircraft, the strut-braced wing (SBW) concept has emerged as a promising configuration, combining the enhanced aerodynamic efficiency of high-aspect-ratio (HAR) wings with a significant reduction in wing structural weight compared to conventional cantilever designs. Given the inherent aerodynamics and structural complexities of SBW concepts, developing innovative design methodologies is essential for fully investigating their potential. This work presents a low-fidelity, two-fold design methodology combining an overall aircraft design framework with finite element structural analysis. The approach enables overall aircraft design (OAD) sizing, exploration, and optimization of regional strut-braced wing configurations and assessing the effects of strut connections and jury on the wing’s static and buckling behavior. Trade-off and optimization studies based on the reference ATR-72 aircraft led to an optimal SBW configuration with an aspect ratio of 17.64 and a strut position ratio of 0.543, achieving reductions of about 24% in wing weight and 6.78% in fuel burn. The structural analysis of the optimized SBW indicates that a clamped–clamped strut connection provides superior buckling performance, and incorporating a jury strut effectively mitigates buckling issues while achieving approximately 20% wing weight reduction compared to the configuration without a jury.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133127

Authors: Cedric Obatolu Rainer Bartels Sebastian Neveling

In-flight icing poses a major risk to the flight safety and operational availability in aviation and particularly to small electric aircraft. One suitable ice protection system (IPS) concept is the electrothermal IPS; however, it often suffers from high power consumption if not properly optimized. Ducted fans are a promising propulsion technology for urban air mobility applications, but effective IPSs for ducted fan propellers have been rare thus far. This work thus presents a framework for the development of an energy-efficient electrothermal IPS for application in an off-the-shelf ducted fan propeller. Three-dimensional ice accretion simulations of the ducted fan’s assembly were performed under centrifugal loads using the commercial icing simulation code ANSYS® FENSAP-ICE-TURBO™ and the most critical areas for ice accretion on the ducted fan were identified. On the basis of the ice accretion simulations, the expected performance change of the ducted fan due to ice accretion on the rotor blades was evaluated. The placement and activation of the heating elements on the rotor blades were investigated and optimized using a one-dimensional electrothermal de-icing solver.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133130

Authors: Francesco Cipriani Maksim Shundalau Patrizia Lamberti

In this work a study about the behavior of nanomaterial-based innovative transparent electrodes is presented, with a special focus on graphene, for space photovoltaic applications, in particular their transparency and the efficiency of the final device. The efficiency of a solar cell is characterized by referring to Power Conversion Efficiency and External/Internal Quantum Efficiency. Starting from the literature results, it is possible to observe that solar cells realized by innovative nanomaterial-based transparent electrodes show promising results in terms of efficiency in the Earth environment. It is known that the space environment is characterized by extreme conditions including high-energy radiation, strong temperature variations and high vacuum, which can damage materials and, consequentially, influence their performances. Among all the properties like transmittance and sheet resistance, which are the main requirements for a good transparent electrode, could change their value and, therefore, influence the efficiency of the solar cell adopting this kind of electrode. In this paper, a theoretical analysis on the effects of high-energy radiation on the transmittance of graphene layers is given, leading to the observation that in the UV frequency range, it shows a sharp fall. Moreover, the effect of temperature varying is studied by an theoretical analysis on the resistivity of the twisted graphene bilayer. It is possible to observe that, in this configuration, the system moves from a superconductor to a metal, according to temperature and twist angle. This represents a starting point to have good efficiency of solar devices in a space environment by keeping high the transparency of their electrodes.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133125

Authors: Serhii Fil Dmytro Berbenets Andrii Khaustov Oleksandra Urban Oleksandr Bondarchuk

The use of hydrogen to power aircraft is considered as a promising direction for the future of air travel, as it enables CO2-free operation and supports long-term climate goals. This study considers the feasibility of developing an aircraft with a gas turbine power plant fuelled by liquid hydrogen. The aircraft is designed to carry 150 passengers over a distance of 2000 km, taking into account design features, technological challenges and operational advantages.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026134095

Authors: Shih-Ming Cho Ching-Long Yeh Chia-Ping Huang

AI and Machine Learning (ML) have advanced rapidly, yet their theoretical underpinnings remain incomplete. We developed an integrated framework combining mathematical theory, uncertainty quantification, and dynamic validation across autonomous platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles and self-driving cars. We address key challenges in generalization bounds, safety-guaranteed control, and multimodal sensor fusion by exploring the role of Large Language Models (LLMs) in experiment design and teaching material generation. Preliminary simulation and system-level results demonstrate the feasibility of bridging theoretical AI models with real-world engineering systems. The proposed framework aims to provide a reproducible research and teaching platform that fosters interpretable, robust, and certifiable AI applications.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133124

Authors: Pierre Bonhomme Valérie Pommier-Budinger Marc Budinger Valerian Palanque

In the context of reducing air transport emissions, operational costs and transitioning to more electric aircraft, there is a growing need to develop new ice protection systems. Resonant electromechanical de-icing (EM-DI) systems take advantage of the resonance to amplify vibration amplitudes applied through piezoelectric actuators, generating stress in the ice layer, enabling its removal. Research conducted on such systems has been focused on simplified or reduced models, and assessment of aircraft-level requirements has seldom been conducted. To overcome this shortcoming, this work proposes a pre-sizing methodology to evaluate the requirements (power consumption and piezoelectric mass) of EM-DI systems. After dividing the protected area into modules to cycle the aircraft de-icing, finite element models including the ice and the modules’ structure are developed. A modal analysis is performed to identify the extensional resonance modes that enable de-icing, and to calculate the necessary power and piezoelectric mass based on shedding criteria. The methodology is illustrated for two typical aircraft configurations: a jet engine single-aisle aircraft (SA) and a regional turboprop aircraft (TP). The results obtained for the EM-DI technology are promising, with apparent power estimates of as little as 2.7kVA/m2 for the SA and 1.28kVA/m2 for the TP.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140015

Authors: Ayodele A. Periola Lateef A. Akinyemi

Future networks should provide access to cloud-based content to subscribers in mountainous region. This research proposes a network architecture incorporating mountain data centers that provide content access via caching in a capital-constrained context. It also discusses the aspects of the power system supporting the network architecture. The use of content caching reduces content access latency. The research recognizes that mountains can host computing platforms while ensuring low to moderate operational costs. Using the proposed approach also reduces the number of network hops and associated power consumption by (26–37)% and (17–25)% on average, respectively.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133123

Authors: Gabriel Meisler Ouassim Bara Valérie Pommier-Budinger Michael Bauerheim

Ice accretion can significantly degrade aircraft performance and hinder its operational capacities. The ability to detect and characterize ice formation in real time is paramount for enabling timely mitigation strategies. Existing solutions for in-flight ice detection are either physically intrusive, require dedicated hardware that offers only localized readings, or are operationally impractical, depending on complex dynamic models or flight maneuvers unsuitable for standard commercial use. This context highlights a pertinent need for non-intrusive and robust methodologies for detecting actual ice accretion on aircraft. This article proposes a novel, non-intrusive Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven methodology for real-time aircraft icing detection through the leveraging of data obtained from existing control surface sensors, namely from the aircraft’s ailerons. A supervised learning database was compiled from an Airbus aircraft flight test campaign. In this dataset, flight tests with artificial ice shapes model aircraft behavior under icing conditions, while ice-free tests performed under analogous flight domains represent the nominal scenario. A gradient boosting model was trained on the dataset and evaluated for its performance in accurately identifying the presence of ice accretion. The research shows that aileron sensor data provides sufficient discriminating capacity for in-flight ice accretion detection.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140010

Authors: Ayabonga Mjekula Shongwe Thokozani Peter Olukanmi

The increased penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) in the electrical grid has necessitated the concept of a Virtual Synchronous Generator (VSG) control which is used to make grid-connected power electronic converters behave as synchronous generators. While VSG controls are suitable for supporting the inertia of a microgrid, their use leads to grid instability in the event of a disturbance. This research addresses this limitation by integrating a fully connected Feedforward Neural Network (FCNN) into a VSG control to dynamically adjust the damping coefficient and inertia constant in real time. This approach could enhance system stability by reducing frequency and active power oscillations during grid disturbances, particularly during partial load rejection. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a supervised learning-based FCNN was trained on VSG damping behavior under various grid disturbances. The trained model was then implemented in a simulation environment to regulate the VSG parameters dynamically. Simulation results show the neural network-based approach reduces high overshoots at the point of disturbance in active power and frequency oscillations; however, the VSG signal settles faster after the grid disturbance. These findings highlight the potential of machine learning in enhancing the stability of VSG-based microgrids, offering a computationally efficient solution for improving transient response and power-sharing performance.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140012

Authors: Marvellous Ayomidele Dwayne Jensen Reddy Kabulo Loji

The existing studies on Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) have not addressed the net billing framework behavior that applies to different import and export tariff rates. This paper presents the simulation and modeling of a smart net billing electricity meter for SSEG in MATLAB/Simulink R2018b. The model integrates a PV array, MPPT controller, DC-DC boost converter, three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI), LC filter, synchronous generator, and a bidirectional energy meter. A smart billing subsystem was developed to compute real-time energy costs using differential tariff rates consistent with South African utility policies. Simulations were conducted under fixed irradiance, with electrical performance evaluated over a short interval and billing dynamics assessed over an extended period. Results show stable PV generation, proper inverter synchronization with the utility grid, and accurate tracking of imported and exported energy. The system effectively calculates the net bill, demonstrating transparency, automation, and economic accuracy in line with policy-driven net billing frameworks. These outcomes validate the technical feasibility and practical relevance of smart net billing meters in modern grid-connected renewable energy applications.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026134094

Authors: Jehn-Ruey Jiang Qiao-Yi Lin

The Dicke-state-initialized Grover’s algorithm is used for the hitting set problem (DSIGA-HSP) to efficiently solve the NP-Complete HSP. By initializing the working qubits in the Dicke state Dkn, the algorithm restricts the search domain to subsets of fixed size k, thereby avoiding the use of quantum counters and reducing the search space from 2n to nk. A Dicke-state-based diffuser and quantum-flag oracle are designed to achieve selective amplitude amplification of valid hitting sets. Experimental results based on the IBM Qiskit Aer Simulator confirm that the quantum circuit generated by DSIGA-HSP can successfully solve the HSP.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140014

Authors: Ayodele A. Periola Joyce B. Mfika Likhanyise Jwente

The high environmental toll of terrestrial data centers described by their high land and water footprint has motivated new data center solutions. An important solution that has emerged from this motive is the space-based data center (SBDC). An SBDC is a space asset capable of processing the increased amount of data arising from space-based applications. Being in a non-geostationary earth orbit, it is important for important high-capacity hyper-scale space-based data centers to be capable of transmitting data to ground stations where valuable applications are hosted. This challenge necessitates addressing the maximum use of communication windows for non-geostationary space assets requiring further research attention. The research presented proposes an algorithm enabling the scheduling of power for optimal communication window functioning, to achieve high quality of service and make the best use of a communication window opportunity. This is achieved by increasing the power available to the SBDC communication subsystem. The evaluation shows that using the proposed approach enhances communication window utilization readiness and the communication window by 82.8% and 55.9% on average, respectively.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140009

Authors: Mukovhe Ratshitanga Komla Agbenyo Folly David Oyedokun

This study presents a comprehensive clustering analysis of residential prosumer profiles for optimizing control and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading in community renewable energy systems (CRES). Using data from 25 prosumer households equipped with rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and electric vehicle (EV) charging capabilities, this study implements and compares k-means and spectral clustering algorithms to identify optimal segmentation strategies for prosumer energy management. K-means clustering identifies seven practical prosumer categories with a silhouette coefficient of 0.17, while spectral clustering achieves superior mathematical separation with a silhouette coefficient of 0.275 in ten clusters, though producing six singleton outliers. The k-means solution demonstrates three primary prosumer categories: net producers, net consumers, and balanced profiles. Cluster size variation requires adaptive optimization, while singleton outliers need custom strategies. EV ownership impact consumption, so future proliferation demands dynamic clustering, and these findings will guide metaheuristic algorithms for energy trading and pricing.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140013

Authors: Ayodele A. Periola

Non-terrestrial data centers (NTDCs) should be capable of functioning in harsh environments and are located in space, the stratosphere, and underwater. They require power to execute data processing and algorithm execution. NTDCs need power systems that are cyber-physical systems. These systems use data and programmed systems (using different programming languages), i.e., software enabling power system functionality, to realize the desired integration and functionality. Different programming languages have varying performance capabilities and integration support to enable the interworking of multiple entities in the software aspects of open NTDC power systems. Such open NTDC power systems support different operational objectives. It is important to achieve a high number of successful component integrations for system functioning. The proposed system considers the choice of the programming language, enabling multi-interface communications as a selectable and configuration parameter in a polyglot multi-language NTDC power system computing paradigm. Evaluation shows that the proposed approach increases the number of successful integrations between power system software-defined entities by 20.2%, with a maximum of 60%.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026135023

Authors: Andrea Nobile Francesca Zanello Francesco Lubrano Matteo Nicolini Elisa Arnone

Reliable climate data are essential for sustainable water management systems, especially under the challenges posed by climate change. In data-scarce regions, reanalysis products such as ERA5 can support flood and drought risk assessment and water security analysis. However, raw reanalysis precipitation is systematically biased relative to local observations and can distort hydrological indicators; bias correction is therefore needed. This study tests five bias correction techniques (Linear Scaling, Empirical Quantile Mapping, Quantile Mapping Spline Bias Correction, Mean Bias Subtraction, and Simple Linear Regression) on ERA5 precipitation data for Georgia, using classical and sliding window approaches at daily and monthly scales. Results show the importance of selecting the most appropriate method according to data availability and study objectives. The sliding window approach improved performance, especially at the daily scale, and distribution-based methods proved most effective in data-scarce regions.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133116

Authors: Andrea Reindl Franciscus L. J. van der Linden

The electrification of future aircraft poses significant challenges to existing electrical power system (EPS) architectures, particularly due to increasing installed power levels, the introduction of electric flight control, and the (partial) electrification of propulsion systems. The transition to AEA requires more than simply replacing conventional systems with electrical counterparts. It demands a fundamental redesign of the electrical system architecture. This study investigates three novel EPS architectures for More Electric Aircraft (MEA) and three corresponding ones for All Electric Aircraft (AEA). All concepts are based on the segmentation of the EPS into electrically isolated microgrids and the separation between propulsion and on-board systems, aiming to improve system reliability, efficiency, fault management, and certification flexibility. The disruptive architecture proposes islanded microgrids, where electrical loads are grouped by Design Assurance Level (DAL) and spatial distribution. Each microgrid is powered locally by batteries, which significantly reduces cabling mass, electromagnetic interference (EMI), and system complexity. By decoupling safety-critical from non-critical loads and reducing reliance on centralized distribution, the proposed architectures increase reliability and reduce complexity.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026126054

Authors: Jiachen Yin Triyan Pal Arora Mudassir Raza Ivan Petrunin Antonios Tsourdos Smita Tiwari Pekka Peltola Ben Lavin Martin Bransby Alexandru Budianu Filipe Salgueiro

The demand for reliable Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) solutions is rapidly increasing due to the growing need for precision, efficiency, and safety in unmanned systems. As operations become more autonomous, the reliance on accurate and continuous PNT data becomes critical for maintaining system integrity. The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), while serving as the primary global PNT service, is vulnerable to interference, jamming, and spoofing attacks. This raises serious concerns, particularly for safety-critical applications, and urgently requires resilient Alternative PNT (A-PNT) solutions. An existing worldwide infrastructure, the Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) system, is considered one of the most promising candidates for A-PNT to address GNSS vulnerabilities. Utilising the carrier phase of the DME signal enables distance measurements with centimetre-level accuracy. However, due to the pulse system nature of DME transmissions and the sparsity of phase observations, conventional carrier tracking loops such as PLLs and FLLs struggle to maintain a reliable phase lock. To address these challenges, this work proposes a zero-crossing-integrated Kalman filter-based approach to track the DME carrier signal at an irregular rate. The performance of the proposed algorithm is validated through a series of drone tests at Cranfield University, UK. The validation results demonstrate that the proposed enhanced carrier tracking approach consistently delivers stable and accurate performance.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140016

Authors: Mulizi David Ruhaya Senthil Krishnamurthy

The smart hybrid microgrid energy management system is based on photovoltaic (PV) arrays, wind turbines, battery energy storage, and diesel generators, supplying clean, stable, and cost-effective energy to rural villages. Predictive control, load-demand/load-following, and SOC optimization enable supply and demand adjustments for stable operation and reduced emissions/diesel consumption. MATLAB 2024a simulations support the concept that this system operates more sustainably, reliably, and efficiently when a compromise is made between conventional and renewable sources. By addressing the reliability issue of renewable energy’s intermittent production, such hybrid systems can provide the consistent power necessary for economic productivity and health/education in rural villages.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026135022

Authors: Natnael Hailu Mamo Roberto Gueli Giovanni Maria Farinella Luca Cavallaro Rosaria Ester Musumeci

Predictive Maintenance (PdM) approach in Combined Sewer Systems (CSS) is gaining momentum due to advances in sensor technology, affordability and availability of data, and the rise of machine learning and data analytics. This study aims to characterize the general behavior of CSS under Dry and Wet weather conditions. To achieve this, 10 min resolution precipitation and water level data were collected from nearby SIAS stations and AMAP radar water level sensors, installed at the outlet chamber of the CSS, respectively. Precipitation data was used to segment continuous time series data into Dry Weather Flow (DWF) and Wet Weather Flow (WWF). DWF analysis exhibited unique flow patterns that strongly correlated with water consumption behaviors of households. For wet weather, a comparison was made between key rainfall parameters (depth, intensity) and peak water level data, and nonlinear relationships were observed that highlight the complex rainfall–runoff process. These findings underscore the need for separate predictive models tailored to DWF and WWF characteristics. Integrating high-resolution sensor data with machine learning models such as Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks and anomaly detection, Autoencoders can enhance PdM, improving CSS management and reducing risks of blockage events and infrastructure failures.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026136011

Authors: Shih-Han Chen Chih-Hong Huang Chih-Hsuan Yen

The phenomenon related to urban heat islands is becoming severe. Besides the concrete building walls in cities, the urban surface also includes a large amount of asphalt pavement, whose thermal properties play a significant role in influencing the urban heat island. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the thermal characteristics of different asphalt aggregates and to enhance their effect on mitigating the urban heat island effect by applying radiative cooling to the aggregate components. Through indoor scaled experiments, we produced 30 × 30 × 5 cm asphalt concrete specimens, including conventional asphalt concrete (dense mix) and basic oxygen furnace slag (BOF) asphalt concrete with 100% aggregate replacement. The asphalt concrete specimens were heated in an oven until they reached the same temperature as the actual asphalt pavement and then subjected to 24 h radiation heat release cooling observation, to record temperature, humidity, and heat flux. The measured data were then verified against the theoretical values. The results showed that asphalt concrete with BOF aggregate had a higher heat capacity and a more pronounced radiative cooling effect than conventional asphalt. Such properties enable the localized cooling of the surrounding air. The results of this study provide a basis for the development of aggregate asphalt to boost the radiative cooling performance of surface materials and reduce the urban heat island effect.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140002

Authors: Abuyile Mpaka Senthil Krishnamurthy

This study applies a combined load flow, short-circuit, and protection study of the IEEE four-bus and five-bus benchmarks as a comprehensive approach to power system modelling. A consistent per-unit base of 150 MVA and 132 kV is applied uniformly. The NR co-simulation approach is used for load flow studies in both MATLAB_R2025b and DIgSILENT PowerFactory 2025. The simulation results indicate that voltages, power mismatches, and line flows are within the tolerance limits. Findings suggest that the NR method was highly implementable, yielding results in 2–3 iterations, and that the simulation results were comparable to those produced by commercial software, validating confidence in the power system modelling, load flow analysis, and protection study.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140003

Authors: Oliver Dzobo Prosper Mhlanga

The incorporation of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), mainly photovoltaic (PV) systems, creates new challenges for distribution networks, even though these technologies provide significant benefits for decarbonization and grid flexibility. This paper evaluates the impact of high PV penetration on the low-voltage distribution network. The impact was tested on an IEEE 123-bus test network in 24 h simulations. Simulations to evaluate the impacts were conducted using the Open-Source Distribution System Simulator (OpenDSS) and MATLAB via the Component Object Model (COM) interface. The maximum hosting capacity of the different buses was evaluated and then enhanced using smart inverters (SI). The results obtained show improved hosting capacity using fixed lagging PF and Volt-Watt settings. The Volt-Var yielded the worst PV hosting capacity (HC).

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140007

Authors: Sweta Kumari Rajib Kumar Mandal S. P. Daniel Chowdhury

Z-source inverters (ZSIs) provide single-stage power conversion with inherent voltage boost capability through shoot-through (ST) states achieved using specialized PWM methods. This study compares various ST PWM strategies, Simple Boost PWM, Maximum Boost PWM, Constant Boost Third Harmonic Injection PWM, and Space Vector PWM, for high-voltage boost ZSI (HVB-ZSI) applications. A MATLAB/Simulink 2024a model was developed to assess their performance in terms of output-voltage quality, THD, capacitor-voltage stress, switch stress, and inductor–current ripple. Results indicate that while all techniques enable ST operation effectively, their voltage stress and harmonic performance differ notably, guiding optimal PWM selection for advanced ZSI-based systems.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026136010

Authors: Kuo-Tsang Huang Pei-Lun Fang Hung-Peng Chang

A framework was developed in this study for setting and adjusting energy-saving targets for existing public-sector office buildings. Using self-reported energy data, we removed outliers and grouped buildings by average daily operating hours. We analyzed electricity use intensity distributions and assigned reduction rates based on each building’s percentile within its group, allowing for larger improvements from high-consumption buildings while limiting pressure on already efficient ones. The framework achieved an average annual energy-saving effect of about 1% and can inform future revisions of energy management policies and target values for public office buildings.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140008

Authors: Kavita Behara

Power electronics is a cornerstone of modern electrical engineering, underpinning technologies from renewable energy systems to electric vehicles. Traditional lecture-based methods often emphasise rote learning and procedural skills but provide limited opportunities for higher-order thinking or experiential practice. To meet the needs of Generation Z learners and align with industry expectations, new pedagogical frameworks are required that combine cognitive rigour with authentic, technology-enhanced learning. This study introduces a Higher-Order Thinking Skills with Real-Time Simulation pedagogical framework to enhance learning outcomes in diploma-level power electronics. A quasi-experimental mixed-methods design was applied with 40 students divided into control and experimental groups. The control group received lectures, while the experimental group engaged with the HOTS–RTS framework across four topics: rectifiers, converters, inverters, and applications. Pre- and post-tests, Likert-scale surveys, reflections, and instructor observations provided data for both quantitative (t-tests, effect sizes) and qualitative thematic analysis. The experimental group achieved higher post-test gains (20.1 vs 9.5 points), with a large effect size (d = 1.9). Surveys revealed that 65 per cent of respondents rated RTS as highly effective, and Likert scores improved by 1 or more points in HOTS-related skills. Reflections emphasised clarity, confidence, and collaboration. HOTS–RTS effectively integrates cognitive rigour with real-time practice, aligning with STREAMS principles and equipping learners with next-generation industry competencies.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133120

Authors: Robert Rogólski

This paper presents the application of a structural finite element model (FEM) of a light patrol aircraft for numerical flutter analysis. The thin-walled structure was developed using 2D shells and additional 1D beam elements. The virtual structure was supplemented with additional point elements imitating lumped masses of non-structural on-board components. The model was subjected to validation for qualities such as the mass distribution, its CG location, the structural stiffness of its airframe units, and the similarity of natural modes. The comparative analyses showed satisfactory consistency of the mass and stiffness properties of the FEM with the actual aircraft. Numerical flutter analysis was then performed with the MD Nastran for an integrated aeroelastic model consisting of the FEM and the simplified aerodynamic model. The critical velocities of basic flutter modes were determined. Using simplified kinematic models of flight control systems built into the FEM, an analysis of the sensitivity of control surface flutter due to the pilot’s influence was carried out. The stick grip and the support of control pedals with the pilot’s legs cause specific conditions related to the imposition of additional stiffness and mass on the control manipulators. These conditions directly affect the natural frequencies of control surface modes, which translates into a change in the critical flutter speed of the tail. For the established range of changes in stiffness and mass added to the stick and pedals, a series of analyses of natural vibrations and flutter were carried out. The influence of the change in the support conditions of control manipulators was illustrated in graphs.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140004

Authors: Kavita Behara Ramesh Kumar Behara

High penetration of converter-based wind generation reduces system inertia. It poses challenges to frequency stability in modern distribution networks, particularly in doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind-energy-conversion systems (WECSs), where frequency regulation is coupled with point-of-common-coupling (PCC) voltage and power factor (PF) dynamics. This study presents a multi-objective comparative evaluation of proportional–integral (PI), proportional–integral–derivative (PID), fractional-order PID (FOPID), and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) controllers for a DFIG-based WECS connected to a radial distribution feeder. Controller parameters are tuned using multi-objective optimisation, considering frequency deviation, overshoot, settling time, disturbance robustness, control smoothness, and computational cost, while maintaining PCC voltage and PF within acceptable limits. MATLAB/Simulink simulations are conducted under turbulent wind conditions, load variations, voltage disturbances, and measurement noise. The results indicate that conventional PI and PID controllers exhibit limited performance under low-inertia conditions, whereas FOPID improves damping and voltage/PF behaviour. ANFIS achieves the best overall performance, providing reduced frequency deviation, faster settling time (below 3 s), improved disturbance rejection, and significantly lower integral absolute error (up to ~90%) compared to PI control. These findings offer practical guidance for selecting and tuning controllers to enhance frequency-centric stability in wind-integrated distribution networks.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140005

Authors: Senthil Krishnamurthy Abuyile Mpaka

The addition of renewable energy sources (RES), including photovoltaic (PV) and wind generation technology, has introduced new challenges and opportunities for modern power systems. This paper examines the functionality and reliability of a hybrid PV–-wind-integrated 9-bus power system evaluated in DIgSILENT PowerFactory. The system has been designed with two solar PV plants, two offshore wind farms, multiple loads, and transformer interconnections, and aims to evaluate steady-state, dynamic, and contingency behavior. The system was evaluated using load-flow, quasi-dynamic, and RMS simulations to assess power balance, voltage stability, and fault recovery. The outcomes indicated convergence, balanced power flow, and system resilience under single-contingency conditions. This paper shows the effectiveness of the power system simulation tool for analyzing hybrid renewable power systems.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133121

Authors: Nikolaos Kalliatakis Nabih Naeem Prajwal Shiva Prakasha

The year 2025 saw the continuing trend of worsening wildfire severity and impact with escalating costs, burnt area and casualties. Subsequently, the capability for a rapid response operation is ever-growing, with aerial assets providing a key role in fulfilling this function. One problem with aerial suppression is the reliance on updated fire data and precise fire front information. Drones or other long-endurance vehicles are commonly used to assist in this matter, providing real-time data and imagery to the manned suppression bombers. The interactions and collaboration between these systems to achieve an improved wildfire suppression can be classified as a system-of-systems (SoS). To facilitate the design, interaction and communication of the surveillance drones and suppression aircraft, this paper develops a holistic framework using an agent-based simulation. The framework allows for the analysis of top-level drone design parameters and operational considerations with their communication and collaboration both with each other and the suppressive agents. The results showcase the importance of swath radius for better wildfire coverage and suppression, with radii less than 50 m preventing successful exploration of the fire. The importance of monitoring is highlighted by the observed greater reductions in burnt area and fleet energy usage when increasing the monitoring agent fleet size by 50% compared to the same increase in suppression agent fleet size.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140006

Authors: Ajibola Oyedeji Peter Olukanmi

Detecting anomalies in high-dimensional temporal data in modern power grids is important for operational resilience. A long short-term memory (LSTM) autoencoder framework was introduced to detect anomalous windows. In the first phase, due to the lack of labeled anomalous data, the first 75% of the multi-feature nodal dataset was taken to represent normal operational patterns. From the normal, 75% was allocated for training and 25% for validation. In phase 2, statistical filtering was used to select the windows in the top 80% with the lowest reconstruction error calculated after training the phase 1 model. The LSTM autoencoder achieved a better reconstruction loss value of 0.000179 and identified 3062 anomalous windows in comparison to a standard autoencoder.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026140001

Authors: Maysam Soltanian David Oyedokun Pitambar Jankee Hilary Chisepo

The increased penetration of renewable energy resources with low inertia poses a risk to the frequency and voltage stability of modern power systems. Therefore, it is important to investigate grid-support functions from inverter-interfaced technologies. While conventional software simulations provide valuable insights into system behavior, they fail to capture physical interactions and hardware dynamics. This paper presents a power-hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) platform used to evaluate inverter grid-support functions in a physical microgrid supplied by two synchronous generators connected to a load bus. The inverter is implemented in Simulink, executed on a real-time simulator and interfaced to the physical load bus through a power amplifier. The inverter controller uses droop control to inject power in response to frequency and voltage deviations. Experimental results demonstrate that the PHIL platform captures dynamic interactions between virtual and physical components. The paper concludes with practical guidelines and key considerations for the reliable application of PHIL in validating inverter control strategies in small-scale microgrids.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133119

Authors: Paolo Aliberti Emina Hadžialić Marco Sorrentino Helmut Kühnelt

The aviation sector is under increasing pressure to cut emissions, prompting strong interest in alternative propulsion systems. This study examines the potential of hybrid-electric aircraft relying on electrochemical energy storage and conversion units (EC-ESC), consisting of proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems coupled with batteries. A design space exploration framework is proposed to size and control these systems for regional aircraft, treating fuel cell system nominal power and battery C-rate as key design variables, while also accounting for in-flight degradation. A flexible degradation-aware control strategy manages power sharing within the co-design strategy, which seeks a configuration minimizing the total EC-ESC equivalent mass. The entire procedure is designed versatilely enough to be applicable for the model-based design and energy management of EC-ESC units destined for several end uses, e.g., short/medium-haul, and long-haul aircraft or automotive.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133117

Authors: Raphael Gebhart Franciscus L. J. van der Linden

Contrail emissions are aviation’s largest non-CO2 contribution to global climate change. According to the Schmidt–Appleman criterion, potential future aircraft propulsion systems may enhance contrail formation relative to conventional engines through three mechanisms: (1) increased overall efficiency, (2) the use of hydrogen as fuel, and (3) external cooling in low-temperature fuel cell propulsion systems, which is the most critical factor. This paper presents the thermodynamic background and a system concept for contrail prevention applicable to conventional gas turbines, hydrogen combustion, and fuel cell propulsion systems. First, it is shown that fuel cell propulsion and hydrogen combustion exhibit equivalent thermodynamic contrail propensity when fuel cell exhaust is mixed with cooling air, analogous to core–bypass mixing in a conventional turbofan engines. Second, contrail mitigation via controlled condensation of exhaust water vapor is analyzed. It is demonstrated that the required cooling for LT-PEM fuel cell systems is 3–5 times lower than for turbofan engines, due to the already extensive thermal management in fuel cells. Since contrail avoidance is only necessary in ice supersaturated regions, a control scheme is proposed that limits condensation to the minimum required amount of water, thereby significantly reducing the overall drag impact. Avoiding contrail formation could provide a substantial climate benefit for future propulsion architectures.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133113

Authors: Victor Norrefeldt Arnav Pathak Marie Pschirer

Today’s cargo bay uses Halon 1301 gas for fire suppression. While effective, this fluid is broadly banned due to its high global warming potential (GWP) of 5700 and its high ozone depletion potential. Hence, alternative agents for cargo fire protection are being sought. In this framework, tests were conducted in the Fraunhofer Flight Test Facility with the goal of evaluating the uniformity of spread of various fire suppression agents, specifically a blend of a Hydrofluoroolefine (HFO) and CO2. The facility’s cargo area, with a volume of 38 m3, features a low-pressure vessel integrating a previously operated aircraft segment. In a series of tests, the alternative extinguishing agent was supplied into the cargo hold demonstrator and concentrations were measured in different locations to understand the uniformity of distribution and the system behaviour under a realistic flight envelope. Test results show several interesting outcomes. In the empty cargo hold with air movement due to leakage, initial bottle filling weight and extinguishing agent initial concentration are consistent. When no flow movement is applied to the cargo hold, a separation between upper and lower cargo hold concentrations is found. The heavy extinguishing agent necessitates a buoyancy correction of the measured pressure differential by air density and elevation.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133118

Authors: Leonard John Arne Dekeyser Lars-Fredrik Berg Jens Tübke

The increasing electrification in aircraft propulsion and assistant systems necessitates innovative approaches in battery safety design. This work presents an investigation into a lightweight, fire-resistant composite battery housing tailored for modular battery applications with potential for high-volume production. Utilizing the promising thermal capabilities of phenolic polymers, the housing parts were tailored around the identified fire protection baseline functions like bulkheads, outer walls and a venting concept consisting of burst valves and a venting channel. Component-level fire resistance tests were performed to close the testing gap between material and battery module-level testing.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133111

Authors: Victor Norrefeldt Arnav Pathak Simon Holz Jonas Pfaff Marie Pschirer Sebastian Schopferer Jürgen Kuder

The carriage of portable electronic devices (PED) powered by lithium-ion batteries in the aircraft cabin today is a fact. Passengers carry several such batteries in mobile phones, tablets, laptops, e-cigarettes, power banks, etc. Even though rare, there is a remaining risk that a Li-ion battery experiences thermal runaway. This typically results in the emission of smoke and gas as well as the emergence of flames and fire, thus posing a threat to safe operation. To meet this challenge, procedures have been defined, and additional mitigation means have emerged on the market. This study presents an anonymized assessment of additional mitigation means. For this, manufacturers provided samples of their product on a voluntary basis to test the potential to contain a Li-ion battery fire. Furthermore, handling was evaluated by a panel of cabin crew members. As a result, a series of recommendations for additional mitigation means and procedures was derived.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133110

Authors: Moritz Bäß Lukas Kettenhofen Kai-Uwe Schröder

In the preliminary design of aircraft structures, efficient modelling techniques are essential to balance accuracy and computational cost. Shear Panel Theory (SPT) offers a simple yet effective idealisation of thin-walled, stiffened structures such as wings. It captures more structural detail—like ribs, sweep and taper—than traditional beam idealisation and would otherwise require detailed finite element analysis. However, compared to a finite element model, the degrees of freedom of the structure as well as the meshing effort are significantly reduced, as SPT idealisation uses a structural element approach. This improves mass estimation and structural response calculation and makes SPT particularly well-suited for optimisation tasks in early design phases. This work presents a methodology to derive structural properties of wing segments based on NACA airfoils using SPT. This offers adjustment of the wing’s geometry for use in aeroelastic analysis and enables fast evaluation of structural behaviour and gradient computation, supporting integration into multidisciplinary design optimisation frameworks. The proposed methodology advances the use of idealised structural models in aircraft design by bridging the gap between high-fidelity analysis and system-level aeroelastic simulations, supporting faster and more informed early design iterations.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026135021

Authors: Enrico Chinchella Arianna Cauteruccio Luca G. Lanza

This work focuses on the wind-induced bias in measurements from three commonly avail-able non-catching precipitation instruments. The bias was evaluated using a numerical approach to compute the velocity field around the instrument body in windy conditions and the effect that such aerodynamic disturbance has on raindrop trajectories. The instrument performances are shown in terms of Catch Ratios and Collection Efficiency for drop size distribution and rainfall intensity measurements, respectively. Both overestimation and underestimation were observed, depending on wind speed and direction. The correction of raw measurements can be performed based on collocated anemometer measurements.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133105

Authors: Sebastian Merbold Franz-Theo Schön Prabhjot Singh Chetan Sain Jeffrey Hänsel Stefan Kazula Stefanie de Graaf

Effective thermal management is crucial for the development of future electrified aircraft propulsion systems. One of the most challenging phases is the take-off phase, which imposes particularly high demands on cooling systems. In addition, the aerodynamic drag during cruise flight has to be kept to a minimum. This study introduces a novel experimental thermal management system using a test stand with a modular air duct (TMTmad), which is designed specifically to investigate different configurations of air supply and heat exchanger in fuel cell-based electrified propulsion systems. Given the versatility of nacelle-integrated electrified propulsion architectures, this approach offers high flexibility in the design and integration of thermal management systems. This includes aspects such as the location, orientation and geometry of an air-cooled heat exchanger (HEX), as well as the inlet and outlet configurations. Moreover, the optimization of the uniform flow guidance of the duct flow within the nacelle and the integration of additional fans to ensure airflow under critical conditions can be studied. The main heat source delivers up to 6 kW of heating power with a temperature range from −20 °C to 200 °C. The study measures the heat flux and pressure losses within these systems and includes a thorough fluid flow analysis. Furthermore, the experimental data serves as a valuable resource for validating numerical models of cooling ducts, enhancing the accuracy and reliability of future design iterations.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133112

Authors: Peiman Parand Hermann Barbato Patrick Ettore Longhi Alessandro Barigelli Francesco Vitulli Ernesto Limiti

This paper presents the design and simulation of a dual-redundant broadband low-noise amplifier (LNA) module for inter-satellite communication links operating in the V-band (59–71 GHz). The growing demand for high-capacity space communication systems requires highly reliable, low-noise front-end architectures capable of maintaining performance over long mission lifetimes. To address these needs, a selectable dual-input receiver architecture is proposed, integrating a waveguide dual-probe, redundant switching, and a two-stage LNA within a single Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) MMIC. The design methodology accounts for the non-ideal behavior of the redundant branch and its impact on noise figure and insertion loss. The front-end is implemented using a 70 nm GaAs mHEMT technology optimized for millimeter-wave low-noise applications. Simulations show an insertion gain higher than 15 dB across the operational band, with gain ripple below 1.3 dB peak-to-peak. The simulated system noise figure is approximately 3.0 dB, closely matching the target specification. The results demonstrate that the proposed architecture provides improved reliability through redundancy while maintaining competitive noise and gain performance for future V-band inter-satellite links.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133103

Authors: Fermin Navarro-Medina Pablo Solano-López Ester Velázquez-Navarro Marta Moure Cuadrado

Deep space missions face challenges in guidance, navigation, and control due to subtle non-gravitational forces, such as the Pioneer Anomaly—an unexplained acceleration toward the Sun observed in Pioneer 10 and 11. The most plausible cause is thermal recoil from anisotropic infrared emission by onboard systems, RTGs, and radiators. This study models thermal acceleration based on spacecraft geometry and heat-source placement, analyzing two spacecraft configurations for outer solar system missions. By parametric analysis, we assess the influence of geometric, thermo-optical properties, and emitted power, and we propose design recommendations—symmetrical layouts, optimized materials, and heat management—to mitigate or exploit thermal forces for improved navigation passive control.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133115

Authors: Jorge García Rodríguez Pablo Lopez Domene Alejandro Camps Cabezas

In long-haul flights, cold non-insulated structural zones within aircraft cabins can lead to discomfort for passengers and crew, particularly during cruise phases. Moreover, during ground operations in cold weather, maintaining the thermal conditioning of the cabin becomes challenging, especially with open doors. This article presents the development of an active air curtain designed to address these issues by isolating significant cold zones and enhancing cabin comfort. The conceptual design is based on redirecting conditioned air to form a controlled barrier, which reduces thermal gradients and air mixing. The cold stream infiltrating from non-insulated structures was characterized under typical cruise scenarios using flight test data, while the open-door scenario on the ground was characterized analytically. A CFD analysis was performed to optimize nozzle geometry, airflow rate, and placement. Based on simulation results, a prototype was manufactured and tested in a controlled laboratory environment. The experimental validation confirmed the effectiveness of the air curtain in minimizing heat loss and improving thermal comfort. This paper discusses design trade-offs, thermal performance, and integration considerations, highlighting the potential of air curtains as a lightweight and low-impact solution for environmental control systems in modern transport cargo aircraft.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133100

Authors: Javier Hernandez-Olivan Panagiotis Kolozis Andrea Calvo-Echenique José Manuel Royo Susana Calvo Elias P. Koumoulos

Ultrasonic Guided Wave (UGW)-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a promising strategy for detecting damage to aeronautical structures, although its application is complicated by signal complexity and experimental uncertainty. This work seeks to identify damage-sensitive signal features for integration into Machine Learning (ML) frameworks, offering physics-informed indicators. The study combined experimental monitoring of damage to Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) plates and finite element models. To overcome the numerical–experimental mismatch, an ML algorithm predicted experimental characteristics from numerical data. The robustness of the model was validated by extrapolation (prediction of future damage) and generalization (prediction on unseen plates) strategies, confirming that ML can robustly correct for uncertainty. These results validate hybrid strategies that feed Digital Twin approaches to structural diagnosis and real-time forecasting.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133102

Authors: Carmelo-Javier Villanueva-Cañizares Álvaro Gómez-Rodríguez Cristina Cuerno-Rejado

Studying the effect of gusts on aircraft is an essential task in aerodynamic and structural design and analysis, as well as in airworthiness certification. The singular design and operational characteristics of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) demand a specific study of gust effects on these vehicles. This investigation uses the discrete gust criterion prescribed in current fixed-wing RPA codes to analyse the gust behaviour of RPA from a conceptual design viewpoint. The results obtained from the flight envelope analysis allow us to assess the influence of stall, manoeuvring, and gust effects on the overall envelope, with these aspects showing significant differences with respect to conventionally piloted aircraft.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133114

Authors: Nikolaos Ziakos Andrea Cini

An automated framework for the parametric FE model generation and sizing of composite aircraft wings suitable for early-stage studies is presented. Implemented in Python and HyperMesh TCL, the tool controls both outer-geometry parameters, such as span, taper ratio, and twist, and internal-structural layout parameters, such as spar locations, rib spacing, and stringer layouts, and generates analysis-ready 2D composite GFEM models with material assignment and layups for size optimization. To demonstrate the workflow, a Design of Experiments (DoE) is performed on a representative transport wing internal structural layout, while keeping the outer geometry fixed. For each DoE point, OptiStruct performs gradient-based composite-size optimization to minimize structural mass, subject to composite strength (max strain), buckling, and metallic no-yielding constraints. A staged multi-run strategy is implemented to mitigate the effects of local minima. DoE results show a strong correlation and a non-monotonic effect of stringer number, an increase in mass as the front spar moves aft, and a comparatively weaker effect of the number of aluminum ribs. As a preliminary baseline, a Random Forest surrogate trained on the DoE predicts the wing structural mass with reasonable accuracy (RMSE =0.081), motivating the future implementation of Gaussian process models with uncertainty modeling. The framework accelerates early-stage structural design exploration and is amenable to surrogate-based optimization.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133101

Authors: Noor ul Ain Ahmed Maksim Shundalau Marialuigia Raimondo Vidmantas Gulbinas Maria Sarno Claudia Cirillo Patrizia Lamberti

Multijunction solar cells employing a GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple-junction configuration are the dominant technology for space photovoltaic applications. The choice of an efficient electrode is crucial in solar cells, as it enables effective charge carrier collection and transport while allowing maximum light to reach the active layer. Indium tin oxide (ITO)/graphene hybrid electrodes have emerged as smart transparent conductors offering significant advantages over conventional brittle ITO films. Graphene electrodes were prepared by cold-wall chemical vapor deposition and ITO electrodes were commercially obtained and used as a base for hybrid ITO/graphene electrodes. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the successful integration and characteristic G and 2D bands on the ITO surface. Nanoscale current mapping via Tunneling Atomic Force Microscopy (TUNA-AFM) verified continuous conductive pathways throughout the film with ~60% increase in nanoscale tunneling current at graphene/ITO interfaces, indicating improved local charge transport pathways. These results demonstrate the suitability of ITO/graphene hybrid electrodes a promising material for multijunction solar cells and other aerospace technologies.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133107

Authors: Francisco Javier Colmenero Jorge Ocón Mercedes Alonso Raquel Jalvo Javier Ramos

A software autonomy framework provides a vital solution to the challenges posed by growing congestion in Earth’s orbits and the increasing complexity of planetary exploration. For satellite constellations, IOS & ISAM missions, autonomy minimizes dependence on ground control by enabling real-time decision-making for spacecraft collision avoidance, client capture, robotic servicing operations, resource optimization, and resilience against cyber threats in a crowded and geopolitically sensitive space environment. Similarly, autonomous frameworks allow rovers to operate efficiently on distant planets, where communication delays make manual control impractical. By integrating adaptive navigation, fault management, and cooperative behaviors, these systems enhance mission success, reduce operational costs, and ensure rapid responses to dynamic conditions, both in orbit and on planetary surfaces. This paper presents the ERGO Autonomy SW Framework as a mature solution to deal with these space challenges.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133109

Authors: Georgios Iosifidis Richard Haidl Koji Hasegawa Bernhard Weigand

Future aircraft propulsion concepts (e.g., water-enhanced engines and fuel cells) will depend on efficient water recovery to enhance cycle efficiency and environmental performance. Operating conditions commonly involve droplet (mist) transport in turbulent air and wall-bounded films formed by droplet–wall interactions. This work develops an Eulerian–Lagrangian model within the RANS/URANS framework that accounts for air–droplet–wall phenomena—interfacial shear, impingement, and film advection. A dynamic contact-angle model, implemented and calibrated from static contact angle measurements performed in this study, represents wall wetting at the liquid–solid interface. The model is validated against experiments using two design metrics: pressure loss across the unit and recovered water mass fraction. At a low Mach number (Ma=0.1), saturated and dry air produce nearly identical pressure losses in the circular test section, whereas the separation lip geometry exerts a strong influence via local acceleration and separation. The simulations reproduce measured pressure drops and water mass recovery with close agreement.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133108

Authors: Armand-Ioan Curpanaru Philippe Pastor Fabrice Demourant Eric Nguyen Van

The development of aircraft with high-aspect-ratio (HAR) wings and flexible lightweight structures is at the forefront of efforts for a more sustainable aviation. Nevertheless, this change in aircraft configuration is accompanied by significant complexity. Specifically, it calls for the modelling of strong aero-structural couplings and the concurrent synthesis of active control laws to mitigate the higher structural loads generated by HAR wings. Managing these challenges from the very onset of the preliminary design phase demands a unified approach. Consequently, this paper leverages a Flexible Wing Co-design framework that integrates aeroelastic wing design and robust H∞ controller synthesis for gust load alleviation (GLA). This co-design capability is deployed to conduct a sensitivity analysis of wing aspect ratio effects, as well as a multidisciplinary design optimisation (MDO) approach focused on minimising mission block fuel. The results confirm that the proposed approach delivers substantial mass savings and superior aircraft performance, establishing it as an indispensable tool for the early stage development of next generation configurations.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133106

Authors: Thorben Hammer Stefanie de Graaf Anne Treder

The present work investigates the flight characteristics and handling qualities of the novel aircraft concept “HyBird” through multiple scaled flight experiments. Various adaptations were made to the demonstrator—especially to the placement of the electrically driven propeller. The first flight experiment revealed drawbacks of the positioning of the electric propeller at the wing tips and tips of the V-Tail. In further experiments, the propeller positioning was changed to investigate a modified aircraft configuration. These flight tests showed significantly improved flight characteristics. The findings substantiate the critical role of propeller positioning in the design of novel aircraft concepts.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133083

Authors: Andrea Reindl Rushikesh Mali Franciscus L. J. van der Linden

Future More-Electric and All-Electric Aircraft (MEA/AEA) require electric power systems (EPS) with higher installed power, improved reliability, and reduced complexity, motivating a fundamental reshape of the architecture and key system-level design choices. This paper applies a structured design process to future DC-based EPS and derives justified decisions from a comprehensive assessment of state-of-the-art research. Among three possible topologies, the bipolar three-wire DC grid is selected as the preferred architecture due to its superior corona suppression, insulation behavior, electromagnetic compatibility, safety, and reliability. A voltage-level study shows that increasing the low-voltage bus from 28 V to 48 V yields the most significant wiring-weight reduction (∼20%), while increasing the high-voltage level from 800 V to 1200 V offers only marginal benefits and introduces additional insulation and partial-discharge challenges. For power conversion, both isolated and non-isolated DC/DC converters are required: non-isolated multiphase interleaved converters are suited for smaller subnetworks, whereas isolated dual active bridge converters are foreseen for inter-grid power exchange. Midpoint grounding via a resistor is identified as a robust baseline concept that ensures fault detectability and operational continuity while providing controlled fault currents and limited voltage deviations, with the final resistance value to be refined based on the finalized grid configuration. The study focuses on architecture-level assessment and does not include dynamic simulations or experimental validation, which are identified as areas for future work.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133122

Authors: Pavel Hospodář Robert Kulhánek

The main objective of this study is to analyze the dynamic of a tilt-wing aircraft. The dynamic model of the airplane considers non-linear aerodynamic characteristics as a function of wing angle, angle of attack, engine thrust and propeller advanced ratio. The effect of the propellers is modeled with respect to angular misalignment and interaction with the flow. Aerodynamic characteristics were obtained by a combination of CFD calculations and wind tunnel measurements.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133099

Authors: Álvaro Cobo-González Cristina Cuerno-Rejado

Unconventional aircraft configurations hold great potential for improving air transport efficiency and reducing aviation’s contribution to global warming. However, these novel layouts require robust evidence of their advantages from the conceptual design phase to justify the substantial development costs they entail. Computerized design environments provide the most suitable framework for the conceptual design of unconventional aircraft. This paper proposes an original taxonomy of unconventional aircraft configurations tailored to computerized design environments, reviews the existing tools with such design capabilities, and identifies the current trends and challenges in this field.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133098

Authors: Donato Cardone Rauno Cavallaro Andrea Cini

The structural design of aeronautical composite components requires numerical models which capture multilayer behaviour while keeping computational costs manageable. High-fidelity three-dimensional (3D) finite element models are often too expensive for systematic optimisation, whereas classical 1D and 2D formulations rely on simplifying assumptions. This work investigates the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF) as a cost-effective composite simulation tool, using Equivalent Single-Layer (ESL) and Layer-Wise (LW) beam models whose hierarchical cross-sectional expansions approximate 2D/3D behaviour within a one-dimensional framework. A representative composite stiffened panel is analysed to compare 3D solid, 2D shell, CUF-ESL, and CUF-LW models in terms of static response and computational cost. High-order CUF-ESL models reproduce 3D strain fields with 2–7% error while reducing analysis time by over 89%. The CUF–FEM framework is then integrated into a gradient-based optimisation scheme with Automatic Differentiation, adjoint sensitivities, and Kreisselmeier–Steinhauser constraint aggregation. Panel optimisation achieves a 64% mass reduction in six iterations with CUF-ESL, compared with 56% in 18 iterations for the 2D shell model. The results prove that CUF-ESL beam models are a computationally cost-effective tool for preliminary sizing of composite structures.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133097

Authors: Giorgio Maria D’Orazi Antonio Raimondo Andrea Cini

In resin impregnation processes for composite manufacturing, proper infusion of the preform is essential to achieve optimal component quality. Manufacturing-induced defects, such as voids, are commonly present in the final product; however, minimizing their occurrence is critical to preserving the component’s mechanical properties. This study aims to provide a predictive tool for defect analysis and composite manufacturing process optimization. A finite element-based multi-scale framework is developed to simulate resin impregnation, coupling macro-scale multiphase flow analysis with meso-scale modeling of unsaturated porous media. The model is verified against commercial software and used to perform a parametric study. Results demonstrate the framework capability to predict filling times, resin front progression, and defect formation, providing insights onto the correlation between material behavior and flow kinetics. The proposed simulation tool enables process optimization and defect minimization, offering a flexible and efficient alternative to heuristic process setting.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133094

Authors: Felicitas Leese Claas Olthoff

The next generation of crewed space missions will take astronauts farther away from Earth than ever before. These missions will necessitate increasingly sophisticated and autonomous control of Life Support Systems (LSS) to ensure astronauts stay alive, healthy and happy. High system autonomy and resilience are therefore critical to mission success. A key enabler for future space missions are Digital Twins (DTs) of LSSs. The use of DTs to date includes a wide range of applications. Nevertheless, they have not yet been adopted for LSSs. Combining LSSs with DTs offers benefits in the development and testing of new LSS technologies, as well as their monitoring once missions are underway. Together with the DT, astronauts can make time-critical decisions on their own, which is a crucial factor for enabling deep space missions. However, implementing DTs comes with its own challenges, such as collecting all the necessary data with appropriate sensors and handling the vast amounts of data generated. Additionally, the DT must be given boundaries in which it can control its physical counterpart so as not to harm valuable equipment. These development issues and possible shortcomings of DTs, as well as the potential of DTs of LSSs are discussed in this paper.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133096

Authors: Moritz Bäß Kai-Uwe Schröder Maximilian Weber Benedikt Auernhammer Mesut Cetin

Reducing the ecological footprint of aviation is a key objective in the development of future aircraft. This is particularly relevant in the emerging field of Urban Air Mobility, which demands sustainable yet industrially feasible solutions due to expected high production rates. As part of the cooperative research project KONKAV, innovative materials and manufacturing methods are being explored to meet these demands. One such approach is the partial consolidation of nonwovens made from recycled carbon fibers, aimed at producing multifunctional, recyclable components for Urban Air Mobility cabin linings for high bending stiffness requirements. This study presents the experimental characterization of various nonwoven architectures, focusing on how different levels of consolidation affect their specific mechanical properties. The partially consolidated structure enables tailored stiffness profiles, making it possible to optimize structural performance while integrating functions such as thermal insulation and acoustic damping directly into the lining. An analytical material model has been developed by analyzing the experimental results. The findings demonstrate that partially consolidated nonwovens can achieve a competitive stiffness-to-weight ratio, with advantages over conventional glass-fiber-reinforced composites in terms of eco-efficiency and circularity. The proposed construction method offers potential for cost-effective, lightweight solutions that support closed-loop material use in aviation interiors.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133093

Authors: Brando Fraiz Sandra Amarillo Alex Sanchis Juan V. Balbastre

The development of a highly parallel Monte Carlo simulation framework for assessing conflict risk and dimensioning protection buffers in U-space environments provides a robust, scientifically grounded, and computationally feasible method for establishing the necessary separation standards. The simulation framework and the normalized metric provide a reliable, scientific, and scalable method for setting the required separation standards, allowing regulatory bodies to dimension buffers that are both compliant with acceptable level of safety requirements and scalable with increasing traffic density.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026135020

Authors: Stefania Anna Palermo Michele Turco Behrouz Pirouz Anna Chiara Brusco Patrizia Piro

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are sustainable tools to mitigate the impacts of climate change and urbanization. Thus, we present a specific research activity of the “Tech4You” Project, whose main objective is to contribute to the widespread implementation of NbS. In this regard, a specific area of the Cerisano urban catchment was selected for the implementation of a rain garden. A preliminary design and a predictive model were developed to assess its hydrological performance. The findings are promising and show how this green infrastructure can positively contribute to urban stormwater management.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026135012

Authors: S. Prapotnich C. Capponi B. Brunone L. Tirello A. Rubin S. Meniconi

The ongoing evolution of hydraulic modelling software has expanded its application to increasingly complex scenarios, including unsteady-state situations. This study investigates the modelling of a portion of the Water Distribution System in the city of Trieste executed by using a commercial software. The results highlight the software’s ability to capture the dynamic behaviour of the system and provide insights for optimizing pressure control.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026136009

Authors: Yuan Zhi Leong Wai Yie Leong

Flood-prone riverfront zones face increasing challenges due to climate change, urbanisation, and legacy industrial development. Riverfront regeneration presents a unique opportunity not only to restore ecological function and public amenity but also to integrate adaptive architectural strategies that enhance flood resilience. This study aims to investigate the interplay between riverfront regeneration and adaptive architectural planning in flood-prone areas. This study provides a framework for understanding how built form, landscape infrastructure, and socio-spatial systems were developed to mitigate flood risk while reactivating riverfronts. Through a literature review and a methodology that integrates comparative case study analysis with generative scenario modelling, key design typologies were identified, including amphibious buildings, multifunctional embankments, and dynamic land-use zoning, and their performance was evaluated in terms of flood risk reduction, amenity provision, and community resilience. Based on the results, recommendations are proposed for practitioners and policymakers on advancing integrated riverfront regeneration in flood-prone regions, emphasising the necessity of multi-stakeholder governance, adaptable architectural strategies, and nature-based infrastructure.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026135019

Authors: Paolo Bevilacqua Claudia Cafaro Rosario Lo Cascio Paolo De Alti Maurizio Pessina

Directive (EU) 2024/3019 updates and introduces new approaches to the collection, treatment, and discharge of urban wastewater. The directive aims to safeguard the environment and human health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the wastewater treatment cycle, improve energy efficiency, and foster the transition towards climate neutrality, while promoting the circular economy and the reuse of water resources. Within this framework, the reuse of treated urban wastewater emerges as a strategic lever to confront the growing challenge of water scarcity, to support circular economy principles, and to alleviate pressure on natural water reserves. This paper, starting from the European and Italian regulatory frameworks for urban wastewater management, provides an in-depth analysis of potential reuse pathways, highlighting both the advantages and the challenges associated with their application.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026135018

Authors: Marco Maio Giorgia Diglio Francesco Di Menna Gustavo Marini

In recent years, pumps as turbines have been replacing pressure-regulating valves as a system for regulating pressure and reducing water losses in the water distribution network, as they combine leakage reduction with the production of hydroelectric power. However, when a pump as turbine is installed, it is necessary to implement real-time pressure control. This study proposes an innovative algorithm that combines the integral control with a feedforward control in order to minimize the time to reach the desired pressure under flow variation. The algorithm was tested through laboratory tests showing an effective optimization of real-time pressure control.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026134093

Authors: Heidee Soliman-Cuevas Jocelyn F. Villaverde

Native chicken production in the Philippines is increasing, accounting for nearly half of the total population of raised chickens. Health-conscious consumers prefer native chicken due to its lower fat content. To support this growth, the government established a breeding facility featuring 10 pens, each housing 2 to 6 laying hens and a rooster, which began operation in November 2023. In recent months, staff observed a decline in laying performance in some pens. Because chicken behavior is a key indicator of growth and production performance, this study aims to implement a real-time laying hen activity recognition system using You Only Look Once Version 11 (YOLOv11) to classify hen behaviors into multiple categories. These include active behaviors (walking, eating, drinking, pecking, dust bathing, and preening), inactive behaviors (resting or inactivity), and environmental objects (feeders and water cans). A dataset of 464 images was collected from the breeding facility in Zamboanga City, Philippines. To capture hen behavior, a TP-Link Tapo C510W outdoor WiFi camera was mounted on the ceiling at a height of 80 cm above the ground. The model demonstrated excellent performance in detecting static objects such as feeders and water cans. Among behaviors, pecking and walking were identified as the most common, while drinking and dust bathing were relatively rare. The YOLOv11-based activity recognition system successfully achieved real-time classification of hen behaviors with strong performance across most activity classes. The system reached 95% mAP50, with particularly high accuracy in detecting static objects and distinctive behaviors, thereby providing a solid foundation for future improvements in recognizing more complex or challenging behaviors.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133128

Authors: Arnav Pathak Victor Norrefeldt Simon Holz Jonas Pfaff Sebastian Schopferer Jürgen Kuder

Passengers routinely carry numerous Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) powered by lithium-ion batteries, which present hazards when subjected to thermal runaway, including emission of toxic gases, smoke generation and potential fires. The LOKI-PED project investigates the severity of such events in aircraft cabins by experimentally characterizing combustion gases, validating a zonal cabin model and predicting exposure to harmful substances and smoke. PEDs were deliberately forced into thermal runaway in both burn chamber and A320 cabin mockup tests, enabling the quantification of emitted carbon dioxide and toxic compounds such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, hydrogen fluoride, and hydrogen chloride. These measurements were correlated to CO2 peak concentrations, enabling a factor-based scaling approach for full-scale cabin simulations. A validated zonal model was then used to predict the temporal and spatial spread of gases and smoke in the cabin, cockpit and galley. Results show that while cabin ventilation generally keeps exposure below harmful levels, the cockpit and galley are significantly more vulnerable. The study highlights the importance of rapid crew response, limitations on PED battery capacities and operational mitigation strategies to ensure flight safety.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133095

Authors: Stavros Kapsalis Thomas Dimopoulos Pavlos Kaparos Georgios Iatrou Pericles Panagiotou Kyriakos Yakinthos

This work examines the aerodynamic efficiency improvement achieved by integrating C-type winglets into a small-scale Blended Wing Body (BWB) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The platform, designated S-3M, is an evolution of the RX-3 1:3 sub-scale demonstrator developed and flight-tested by the Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics and Turbomachinery (LFMT) during the DELAER project. The S-3M is redesigned for catapult launch and Intelligence–Surveillance–Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, supporting a useful payload of up to 5 kg. Strict dimensional, cost, and development constraints posed challenges in preserving aerodynamic efficiency and achieving sufficient stability margins. To meet these requirements, the design incorporates C-type winglets, tailored to enhance aerodynamic performance while providing stabilizing effects. Their integration enabled an increase in gross take-off weight (GTOW) and payload capacity, while ensuring adequate trimming without the need for a conventional horizontal tail. The aerodynamic development of the winglets and the overall configuration is supported by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses, followed by performance calculations. S-3M was manufactured by Carbon Fiber Technologies (CFT) and successfully flight-tested by LFMT, validating the design choices. Overall, the study demonstrates that C-type winglets can significantly improve efficiency and expand the operational envelope of BWB UAVs, highlighting the value of non-planar lifting surfaces in modern UAV design.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026136007

Authors: Yao-Wen Liu Su-Hsing Huang Hiroshi Cho Szu-Hsien Peng

Against the backdrop of extreme weather, flooding has become one of Taiwan’s main disaster risks, highlighting the importance of promoting self-reliant disaster prevention communities and strengthening residents’ autonomous response capabilities. This study aims to examine community residents’ perceptions of flood risk and their disaster preparedness attitudes, while analyzing the influence of participation in disaster prevention education and demographic background variables. In the results of an online questionnaire survey and inferential statistical analysis, residents who participated in disaster prevention education demonstrated significantly higher risk perceptions and disaster preparedness attitudes than non-participants. The participants showed a significantly increased willingness to use the mobile water situation app (a government-provided real-time flood information application), strongly proving the effectiveness of localized educational interventions in promoting the application of digital disaster prevention tools. The analysis results of demographic variables revealed that age and years of community residence significantly influenced disaster preparedness attitudes and participation willingness. Overall, this study confirms that localized disaster prevention education effectively enhances community resilience, providing an empirical foundation for advancing self-reliant disaster prevention communities and refining disaster prevention and mitigation policies.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026136008

Authors: Yuan Zhi Leong Wai Yie Leong

Low-lying and riverine areas of Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia are increasingly exposed to compound flood hazards driven by intensified monsoon rainfall, sea-level rise, and land-use change. Recent projections indicate stronger extreme rainfall, fewer dry days, but more high-intensity events, and significant increases in annual rainfall and sea level, all of which elevate fluvial, pluvial, and coastal flood risk. In this study, climate-responsive vernacular architecture is investigated as a passive, low-carbon strategy for enhancing residential flood resilience in East Malaysia. Traditional stilted Malay kampung houses, Bornean longhouses, and coastal stilt settlements were explored since they have historically evolved to cope with seasonal inundation, high humidity, and tropical thermal loads. In this study, the following was conducted: (1) historical flood and climate analysis for key basins (Rajang, Sarawak, Kinabatangan); (2) morphological and typological analysis of vernacular dwellings; (3) parametric physical and hydrodynamic simulation of elevated and amphibious configurations; and (4) multi-criteria performance assessment based on structural robustness, flood safety, thermal comfort, cultural acceptability, and embodied carbon. Results from scenario-based simulations show that well-configured stilted typologies, with optimized floor elevation, breakaway panels, and porous undercroft zones, can reduce flood damage depth by 60–80% and expected annual loss by 30–55%. By translating these findings into a design guideline and decision matrix for climate-responsive housing in East Malaysia, contemporary reinterpretations of vernacular strategies were embedded into Malaysian building codes, state-level planning policies, and community-led upgrading programmes.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133091

Authors: Daniel Terlizzi Abdullah Bamoshmoosh Gianluca Valenti

Europe’s global liquid hydrogen production share remains limited at 7%, while research institutions face an inadequate supply chain for laboratory-scale procurement. The Department of Energy at Politecnico di Milano addresses this gap through the procurement of Italy’s first laboratory-scale LH2 liquefaction system, designed with 70 L/day capacity, a 200 L ATEX-classified storage tank, and a 50 L mobile transport tank for investigations into heat transfer, cryogenic valve and sensor testing, superconducting electronics, and material compatibility. The absence of Italian standards and limited European precedents necessitated a comprehensive review of relevant European safety projects and industrial guidelines. Regulatory compliance is ongoing under ATEX directives, with safety consultants defining critical parameters via leakage simulations. The project requires around three years from conception to commissioning; this paper aims to accelerate similar implementations by sharing the experience at Politecnico di Milano for future laboratory-scale facilities. Systematic coordination among engineering design, safety consultation, and regulatory authorities remains essential for viable LH2 infrastructure implementation.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133087

Authors: Tawfiq Ahmed Marko Alder

Uncertainty quantification (UQ) is essential for the robust and competitive design of climate-friendly transportation systems, such as aircraft and space launch systems. However, supporting software applications for UQ are fragmented across numerous open-source libraries, often require in-depth knowledge of the mathematics underlying UQ, and commercial solutions often involve licensing costs. This can make it difficult for design experts to take uncertainties into account. To address this issue, we propose a modular, web-based framework that will guide practitioners through the most common UQ processes, such as statistical sampling, propagation through design workflows, and statistical analysis of the results. Adopting a modern client-server architecture, a backend service, called uqFramework, wraps relevant software libraries for each of the aforementioned steps. The current version focuses on probabilistic approaches, enabling the generation of Design-of-Experiment (DOE) inputs via Quasi-Monte Carlo, Latin Hypercube, and Low Discrepancy Sequence sampling methods. Furthermore, it enables the parallel execution of design and analysis workflows via DLR’s Remote Component Environment (RCE) or Python scripts. Finally, uqFramework performs global sensitivity analyses using Sobol, FAST, or Morris techniques. An interactive front-end application called uqStudio connects to uqFramework through a Representational State Transfer (REST) interface. It guides users through the UQ process via an intuitive, step-by-step interface. Interactive visualizations enable detailed exploration of each step. The framework’s capabilities are illustrated through two examples, the Ishigami function and a multidisciplinary UAV design study, verifying its precision, adaptability, and user-friendliness. We demonstrate that uqStudio enables researchers to conduct integrated UQ studies covering uncertainty specification, propagation, and sensitivity analysis without the difficulty of installing and properly using fragmented libraries. Future work includes extending visualization capabilities and integrating surrogate-modeling capabilities to enable faster workflow execution.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133088

Authors: Alvaro Rodriguez-Sanz Luis Rubio Andrada

Airports face persistent capacity constraints and increasing delays. This study introduces a behavioural framework for demand management that integrates airport and airline preferences with principles from Prospect Theory. By incorporating concepts from behavioural economics—such as loss aversion, reference dependence, and non-linear probability weighting—into choice architectures, we explore how adaptive decision environments can influence airline scheduling and demand distribution. A practical example illustrates the applicability of the proposed methodology. Results suggest that behavioural interventions can sustain economically viable schedules while maximising total prospect value. This approach provides policymakers and operators with innovative tools to address complex capacity challenges in air transport systems.

Engineering Proceedings doi: 10.3390/engproc2026133079

Authors: Felix Fritzsche Daniel Silberhorn Vincenzo Nugnes Tim Burschyk Michael Kotzem

Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) as an energy carrier for passenger aircraft has the potential to combine low climate impact and high lifecycle energy efficiency. Due to its significantly different physical properties compared to kerosene, the integration of LH2 fuel storage and distribution systems interacts with the general configuration of the aircraft. In order to assess promising configuration combinations quantitatively, an aircraft design and assessment framework is further developed. These additions are aimed at capturing the interdependencies originating from the fuel system integration choices at the aircraft level and quantifying the effect of trim drag. The framework is applied to a selection of LH2 mid-to-long-range aircraft designs. A comparison of the mass breakdown, aerodynamics breakdown and performance indicators such as specific energy consumption is carried out for the framework-generated aircraft models. A trim drag induced block fuel penalty is quantified for the aircraft selection as well as a mitigation strategy based on operational constraints.