ICAS 2014: a round-up of the second day

9 September 2014

The second day of the international congress ICAS 2014 has drawn to a close. The TsAGI press service provides an overview of the key events. 

On September 9 the congress began with a plenary session chaired by Anders Gustafsson, chairman of the ICAS Executive Committee in Sweden.

The congress participants were addressed by TsAGI Director General and Associate Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Boris Aleshin, who spoke about key decisions of the Russian government for the development of the aviation industry. Discussion touched on the state program of the Russian Federation “Development of the aviation industry in 2016-2025,” which aims to promote areas of research and to support technology.

CIAM General Director Vladimir Babkin highlighted prospects for the development of engines for civilian aircraft and helicopters. He noted that the development of power units is a knowledge-intensive industry, and spoke about the institute headed by him and the role of CIAM in the design of modern engines.

The topic of engine building for air transport was continued by Ric Parker, director of research and technology at Rolls-Royce. According to the representative of this company, a significant part of the activities of which is the development of power units for civil and military aircraft, it is necessary to strive to get rid of the outer casing of the engine and move to an open rotor architecture.

“Events like ICAS, increase understanding of the importance of interaction between the industrial and research sector. Aeronautics is a high-tech industry, and without science it is impossible to create a product that is qualitatively superior to what has gone before,” Vladimir Babkin commented on the session.

The plenary section continued with the presentation of posters that were not included in the workshop program. For the first time at ICAS, materials were presented on touchscreens.

At the workshops, more than ten reports prepared by TsAGI scientists were presented. The speeches covered a wide range of issues — flight simulation and training equipment, weather conditions / wake vortex, icing, carbon composites, structural design, gondolas, fatigue and failures, new fuels and combustion chambers. Scientists from the Russian aviation science center in conjunction with the Gromov Flight Research Institute presented the results of another joint study on flight safety and the training of pilots to get aircraft out of a stall. This work is aimed at addressing the current problem of creating flight simulators, algorithms and systems to control cab stand mobility, capable of accurately reproducing the flight of an aircraft in critical modes, including stall.

A key event of the day was the presentation of the ICAS Zhukovsky Award, named in honor of the great Russian scientist who laid the foundations of aerodynamics and founded the Central Aero-hydrodynamic Institute. This award is given for innovation in aeronautics. The representative of the ICAS Executive Committee in China Susan Ying told congress participants about the award and the winner, which this year was Michimasa Fujino, President and CEO of Honda Aircraft. He was nominated for the Zhukovsky Award for the development of an optimal configuration for an over-the-wing engine mount (OTWEM) and management of a project for the development and manufacture of HondaJet aircraft, in which this technology has been applied. Professor Fujino delivered a keynote address in which he presented his company’s latest developments. The unique OTWEM configuration has significantly increased aircraft efficiency at cruise speed and has maximized cabin space without increasing the size of the aircraft. Furthermore, the developers of the new business jet achieved better fuel efficiency: 17% less than other planes in this class. The project team also developed unique software for the analysis and modeling of flutter. For his cutting-edge achievements Michimasa Fujino received a certificate and the Zhukovsky gold medal from ICAS President Murray Scott.

During ICAS, Airbus presented the international competition “Fly your Ideas”, the winner of which will receive 30,000 euros to realize their aviation project. Airbus Executive Vice President for Engineering Charles Champion addressed those gathered, as did the winners of previous competitions. They spoke about how to take part in the project and shared their experiences and impressions. According to Mr. Champion, “Airbus decided to take advantage of the opportunities offered by a large congress like ICAS to attract the best talent in the aerospace industry, to motivate young scientists to work together and to think about the future. “Fly your Ideas” is open to all students who would like to develop a promising idea.

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