Advances in Aircraft Propulsion System Modelling, Design and Simulation

Dear Colleagues,

In the context of the urgent pursual of environmental sustainability, the civil aviation sector is committed to a transition towards cleaner and quieter operations, and is tackling a broad range of scientific, engineering, and technological challenges to reduce its emission footprint. Among these, the propulsive layout of aircrafts represents a fundamental focus for development. Therefore, during recent years, several engineering topics have emerged in this field. Considering the propulsive configuration, innovative designs have been proposed based on the concept of boundary layer ingesting (BLI), with fuselage-embedded engines or distributed electric propulsion. With these configurations, new challenges arise in terms of system performance modelling, powerplant integration, turbomachinery design and operation under non-uniform conditions. Propulsion system integration and coupled-design approaches are becoming increasingly important, especially during the coming decade with the application of turbofan engines, which tackle ultra-high bypass ratios where the air–frame interaction is enhanced. Findings from numerical methods need to be supported by wind tunnel experiments. These must be conceived to reproduce the powered-on operating conditions and provide sufficient accuracy and resolution to validate the innovative concepts.

The present Special Issue, “Advances in aircraft propulsion system modelling, design and simulation”, aims to collect the latest results and open issues related to the synthesis, analysis, and improvement of aircraft propulsion in a broad sense, from theoretical and analytical aspects to practical and experimental activities. Review or research articles covering, but not limited to, the following topics are welcomed: propulsive configurations for high efficiency and improved environmental impact; aero-propulsive performance analysis; propulsion system integration; engine–airframe interaction; methods for propulsor modelling, design and simulation; turbomachinery operability; aeroacoustics. Articles are expected to illustrate innovative techniques, novel findings or recent results that contribute to the advancement of engineering methods for successful modelling, design and analysis of aircraft propulsion systems.

Dr. Andrea Magrini
Prof. Dr. Ernesto Benini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Designs is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.