E. Cestino

• PhD in Aerospace Engineering
• Professor (Associate) at Polytechnic University of Turin

The present work aims to develop the current CubeSats architecture. Starting from the framework of project ARAMIS (an Italian acronym for a highly modular architecture for satellite infrastructures), a new concept of smart tiles has been developed, employing multifunctional structures and lightweight, composite materials. This enables increased Cub...

The study analyzes the development of analytical models for the reinforcement of structures using nanomaterials. Initially, it introduces the “Surface stress” phenomenon within the context of composite materials. In fact, nanocomposites show distinct characteristics compared to traditional composites due to the high surface-to-volume ratio at the n...

This study explores the viability of an innovative aerial delivery system for blood-derived medications in emergency scenarios by comparing electric Vertical TakeOff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft and drones against the traditional ground transport methods. It also seeks to determine the most effective location for a delivery hub to enhance the effic...

The following article presents an experimental investigation into the crashworthiness performance of an innovative tri-axial braided carbon fiber reinforced composite (CFRC) cylinder under dynamic crush loading. Two different test methods were employed, a drop tower test and a very high-speed (VHS) machine test, using both flat and conical impactor...

Vibration analysis of wing-box structures is a crucial aspect of the aeronautic design to avoid aeroelastic effects during normal flight operations. The deformation of a wing structure can induce nonlinear couplings, causing a different dynamic behavior from the linear counterpart, and nonlinear effects should be considered for more realistic simul...

Background and Importance Blood-derived medicines are administered especially in response to traumatic events. Since their use is linked to the occurrence of accidents, their need is unpredictable. Consequently, it is difficult to apply traditional management logic of warehouses. Aim and Objectives The present research aims to compare different st...

This paper aims to verify the effectiveness of a process of superficial protection based on nanotechnologies produced by 4Ward360 and specifically developed for aeronautical applications on composite material aircraft. The Dardo aircraft, a composite VLA category manufactured by CFM Air, was taken as a reference case and two application/investigati...

Current CubeSats usually exhibit a low structural mass efficiency and a low internal volume for their payloads. The present work aims to propose an advanced structural architecture for CubeSats that addresses the issues of low structural mass efficiency and payload volume. The starting concept is the smart tiles architecture for satellites develope...

A new Range Equation for a hybrid-electric propeller-driven aircraft was formulated by an original derivation based on the comparison of Virtual Electrical Aircraft (VEA) and Virtual Thermal Aircraft (VTA) range equations. The new formulation makes it possible to study the range of a hybrid aircraft with pre-established values of electric motor usa...

Dimensional accuracy of selective laser melting (SLM) parts is one of manufacturers’ major concerns. The additive manufacturing (AM) process is characterized by high-temperature gradients, consolidation, and thermal expansion, which induce residual stress on the part. These stresses are released by separating the part from the baseplate, leading to...

This research presents the application of a beam finite element, specifically derived for simulating bending–torsion coupling in equivalent box-beam structures with curvilinear stiffeners. The stiffener path was simulated and optimized to obtain an expected coupling effect with respect to four typical static load cases, including geometric constrai...

The impact in water is a very complicated phenomenon due to the interaction between the hydrodynamic field and the structures and the possibility to investigate its characteristics by means of a scaled model seems straightforward. In general, the similarity procedure requires the scaling of different properties (mass, length, speed, etc.) to proper...

Featured Application The presented methodology offers the author’s view on how to bridge the gap between the numerical evaluation and physical response of a typical composite panel under high-velocity impact. A rational approach to failure conditions and progressive damage propagation in panels under the high-velocity impact scheme is discussed in...

This research presents a new beam finite element capable of predicting static and dynamic behavior of beam structures with bending-torsion coupling. The model here derived establishes a relation between the bending and torsional nodal degree of freedom of a two node beam element. The equilibrium equations are derived neglecting the non-linear terms...

Featured Application The presented methodology bridges the gap between the numerical evaluation of the specific parameters to fulfil the right physical response of the simulated tests. This provides a more rational approach to the failure simulation of composites, reducing the need for a trial-and-error procedure based on several extensive test cam...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate a new and innovative sandwich material evaluating its capability for use in space habitat structural components in deployable and foldable configurations. The main habitat requirements were considered in the preliminary design of a typical space outpost, proposing a preliminary architecture. Desi...

Purpose Structural configurations related to new green aircraft design require high efficiency and low weight. As a consequence, moderate-to-large deformation under operating loads arise and aeroelastic instabilities different with respect to rigid counterpart are possible. Coupled structural configurations can provide the right mean to overcome su...

The addition of several power sources in an aircraft increases the complexity of the sizing and energy management problem while allowing a system redundancy that makes aircrafts safer. The optimization of the sizing and the energy management of hybrid electric aircraft powertrains can be accomplished using comprehensive mathematical models from the...

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations on the origami-patterned tube which is acknowledged as a promising energy-absorption device. Its buckling mode leads to high performances in terms of specific energy absorption (SEA) and crush force efficiency (CFE). The polygonal tube is prefolded by following an origami pattern, which...

Shape memory alloy actuators have been studied for more than thirty years. Many experimental tests have been performed, and several patents have been registered. However, designing such devices is still a challenging task. On the one hand, models are not yet able to provide the accuracy required to replace a substantial portion of the experimental...

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft of the lift+cruise configuration are significantly impacted by the drag of the lift propellers even though they are only briefly used for takeoff and landing. This work aims to quantify the drag penalty of these high lift propellers, its impact on the performance of a lift+cruise eVTOL aircraft...

Thin-walled composite box beam structural configuration is representative of a specific high aspect ratio wing structure. The optimal design procedure and lay-up definition including appropriate coupling necessary for aerospace applications has been identified by means of “ad hoc” analytical formulation and by application of commercial code. The ov...

CubeSats usually adopt aluminum alloys for primary structures, and a number of studies exist on Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) primary structures. The internal volume of a spacecraft is usually occupied by battery arrays, reducing the volume available to the payload. In this paper, a CFRP structural/battery array configuration has been desi...

Curvilinear stiffened panels are being developed for aerospace structures and other applications. This paper presents an experimental and numerical study into the vibration response of three curvilinear stiffened square plates clamped at the edges. The experimental modal analysis was performed using laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) and an impact hamm...

The recent advances in battery energy density and electric propulsion systems for automotive applications are enabling the development of the electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The electric VTOL is a new means of transport that can fly like an aircraft and take off and land vertically like a helicopter, sometimes called persona...

The flutter instability of high aspect ratio wings is numerically investigated by means of finite element aeroelastic analysis. The effect of static equilibrium deflection as well as the additional differential stiffness was introduced in the calculation by a new procedure based on MSC Nastran™ commercial code. The difference between the classic li...

Experimental and numerical investigations into the linear and nonlinear aeroelastic behaviour of very flexible High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) wings are conducted to assess the effect of geometrical nonlinearities on wings displaying moderate-to-large displacement. The study shows that the dynamic behaviour of wings under large deflection, and...

In the last ten years, different concepts of electric vertical take-off and landing aircrafts (eVTOLs) have been tested. This article addresses the problem of the choice of the best configuration. VTOLs built since the fifties are presented and their advantages, disadvantages, and problems are discussed. Three representative eVTOLs, one for each ma...

CubeSats primary structures are usually made with aluminium alloys, with few examples of CFRP primary structures under study. Power system battery arrays usually occupy spacecraft internal volume and mass that should be available to the payload. A CFRP structural/battery array configuration has been designed, allowing to integrate the electrical po...

This paper presents the numerical and experimental validation of a variable stiffness box beam model made by an arrangement of stiffened and unstiffened panels. The derivation of the equivalent properties of curvilinear stiffened plates is briefly summarized. The validity of the equivalent continuum plate model is assessed. The governing equations...

A study of particle reinforced metal matrix composite (PRMMCs) by means of periodic multi-particle unit cells is presented. The inhomogeneous particle spatial distribution, as well as the effect of matrix/particles interface, strongly influences the heterogeneous material behaviour. The effect of both particle spatial distribution and particle size...

Despite the ubiquity of both linear and nonlinear multimember resonators in MEMS and kinetic energy harvesting devices very few research efforts examine the orientation of members in the resonator on its dynamic behavior. Previous efforts to design this type of resonator constrains the members to have relative orientations that are 0○ or 90○ to eac...

Future configurations of unconventional manned/unmanned aircraft demand for innovative structural concepts to improve the structural performance, and thus reduce the structural weight. New materials and specific couplings are necessary to cope with such demanding structural design influencing static and dynamic aircraft performances. An appropriate...

This note proposes a novel element removal method for ground structured based topology optimization that utilizes a double-filtering scheme based on a graph representation of the topology. Two types of systems: planar resonators and compliant mechanisms, are used to illustrate the method.

The recent improvements in electric motor technology and battery energy density are making electric propulsion a valid alternative for non-conventional aircraft design. The adoption of this new propulsive system is changing the design of new aircrafts and distributed propulsion seems to be a good way to exploit the advantages of electric propulsion...

This manuscript presents the derivation of a systematic set of equations for the evaluation of equivalent plate model of curvilinear stiffened panels. The homogenized properties of the stiffened panel are derived by first imposing kinematic equivalence between the stiffener’s strains and the strains of the equivalent layer, and then equating the st...

This manuscript presents a two steps procedure, useful within preliminary design stages, to optimize High Aspect Ratio composite wing and investigate the effect of different materials on the structural performances. The selection of material is carried out based on structural performances rather than Material Selection Optimization. Notably, the ef...

In this paper a revised algorithm, derived by the Stud GA, to optimize the stacking sequence of layered composite structures is presented. The constrained combinatorial problem is formulated and hence solved by means of the algorithm presented herein. Unlike the Stud GA, the proposed algorithm uses a fitness-proportionate selection to find potentia...

In this manuscript, we investigate the use topology optimization to design planar resonators with modal frequencies that occur at 1 : n ratios for kinetic energy scavenging of ambient vibrations that exhibit at least two frequency components. Furthermore, we are interested in excitations with a fundamental component containing large amounts of ener...

Purpose - The purpose of the research activity is to identify the best configuration of piezoelectric (PZT) elements for a typical condition of wing aeroelastic instability. The attention is mainly focused on the flutter behavior of the structure. However, the model can be extended with low-impact adjustments to other loading conditions. Design/met...

This article evaluates the amount of energy that can be extracted from a gust using an aeroelastic energy harvester composed of a flexible wing with attached piezoelectric elements. The harvester operates in a subcritical flow region. It is modeled as a linear Euler–Bernoulli beam sandwiched between two piezoceramics. The extended Hamilton’s princi...

A procedure for the characterization of low velocity impact damage and its effect on residual tensile and buckling behaviour of composite structures is presented. A simplified analytical method is used to enhance the damage simulation and a degradation model is introduced in the subsequent finite element analysis. Different degradation coefficients...

The problem of wing shape modification under loads in order to enhance the aircraft performance and control is continuously improving by researchers. This requirement is in contrast to the airworthiness regulations that constraint stiffness and stress of the structure in order to maintain structural integrity under operative flight conditions. The...

The innovative highly flexible wings made of extremely light structures, yet still capable of carrying a considerable amount of non-structural weights, requires significant effort in structural simulations. The complexity involved in such design demands for simplified mathematical tools based on appropriate nonlinear structural schemes combined wit...

The nonlinear aeroelastic behavior of isotropic rectangular plates in supersonic gas flow is examined. Quadratic and cubic aerodynamic nonlinearities as well as cubic geometrical nonlinearities are considered in this study. While the aerodynamic nonlinearities are the results of the expansion of the nonlinear piston-theory aerodynamics loading up t...

The model of a geometrically nonlinear wing hosting piezoelectric patches with the dual purpose of suppressing aeroelastic vibration and harvesting vibrational energy is presented in this paper. The nonlinearities are introduced in order to consistently reproduce the behavior of the flexible structure, since moderate to large displacements can occu...

The lifting surfaces of next generation of flying vehicle exhibits enhanced flexibility, particularly for high aspect-ratio solutions needed for high-altitude long endurance aircrafts and for 24/7 operations. Often the wing of these vehicles is designed as slender body with an aeroelastic behavior distinctive of cantilever beam. Based on this typic...

Purpose - This study aims to analyse slender thin-walled anisotropic box-beams. Fiber-reinforced laminated composites could play an important role in the design of current and future generations of innovative civil aircrafts and unconventional unmanned configurations. The tailoring characteristics of these composites not only improve the structural...

The application of fuel cell technology to aircraft propulsion and/or energy supply is attracting a great deal of interest because of the undoubted advantages that can be attained in terms of pollution emissions and noise reduction. The goal of the ENFICA-FC project (Environmentally Friendly Inter City Aircraft powered by Fuel Cells) has been to de...

Long-endurance, unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) usually employ high-aspect-ratio, flexible wings to reduce weight and power required to achieve extended flight operation. There are currently several advanced concept designs and prototypes that will sustain autonomous operations for months or even years. The increased wing flexibility can lead to large...

A detail design of Solar powered UAV was completed, under coordination of first author, to obtain an High-Altitude Very-Long Endurance Solar-Powered Autonomous Aircraft (VESPAA-UAV) flying at stratospheric altitudes of 17-25 km and with an endurance of more than six months. Two different configurations are under investigation in order to understand...

Nowadays there is a growing request for Very Long Endurance Solar-Powered Autonomous Aircraft (VESPAA) flying at stratospheric altitudes of 17-25 km because they can act as artificial satellites - with the advantage of being much cheaper, closer to the ground, and being able to perform missions that offer greater flexibility. A long experience has...

In the development of High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAVs and their control the flexibility of the wing must be taken into account. The wing of this type of UAVs, usually made of highly flexible composite materials, has high aspect ratio with significant bending-torsional deformation during flight. The NASA Helios, as an example, has tragicall...

The aeroelastic design of highly flexible wings, made of extremely light structures yet still capable of carrying a considerable amount of non-structural weights, requires significant effort. The complexity involved in such design demands for simplified mathematical tools based on appropriate reduced order models capable of predicting the accurate...

The aim of this work is to apply an innovative adaptive ℒ1 techniques to control flutter phenomena affecting highly flexible wings and to evaluate the efficiency of this control algorithm and architecture by performing the following tasks: i) adaptation and analysis of an existing simplified nonlinear plunging/pitching 2D aeroelastic model accounti...

Fuel cells could become the main power source for small general aviation aircraft or could replace APU and internal sub-systems on larger aircraft, to obtain all-electric or more-electric air vehicles. There are several potential advantages of using such a power source, that range from environmental and economic issues to performance and operabilit...

Many of the catastrophic errors in health care are related to inadequate procedures. Robust preventative actions are therefore required to minimize the risks inherent to the prescribing, dispensing and administration of medicines. The redesigning of subsystem processes is a goal that should be undertaken to improve the overall safety of hospitals....

The design of highly flexible aircraft, such as high-altitude long endurance (HALE) configurations, must include phenomena that are not usually considered in traditional aircraft design. Wing flexibility, coupled with long wing span can lead to large deflections during normal flight operation with aeroelastic instabilities quite different from thei...

An all-electric General Aviation airplane was realized within the ENFICA-FC program (ENvironmentally Friendly Inter City Aircraft powered by Fuel Cells - EC funded project coordinated by Prof. Giulio Romeo). The electric-motor-driven two-seat airplane powered by fuel cells was developed and validated by flight-test in May 2010. The airplane represe...

The application of fuel cell (FC) technology to aircraft propulsion and/or energy supply is becoming of great interest for undoubted advantages in terms of pollution emissions and noise reduction. A better understanding of problems related to fuel cells applied to aeronautics is sought by the European Commission (EC) funded project Environmentally...

This article deals with the design, manufacturing, and testing of a propeller for a general aviation aircraft fuelled by hydrogen. The feasibility of the ENFICA-FC project depended on several key-enabling technologies. In order to minimize the power required from both the batteries and the fuel cell, a highly efficient electrical propulsion system...

Environmental sustainability should gain asignificant role as one of the main drivers in thedesign of new generation of transport civilaircrafts in order to obtain more/all electricaircrafts powered by greener energy sources ashydrogen fuel cell systems. In this framework,the European Commission has selectedENFICA-FC (ENvironmentally Friendly Inter...

The wide range of applications for civilian UAVs, will open up a variety of markets for potential sales and economic growth. The Scientific Community could benefit in many ways from employing UAVs in the civilian sphere. Within the EC funded project TANGO "Telecommunications Advanced Networks for GMES Operations", a three-year European Commission (...

Next generation of composite civil aircrafts and unconventional configurations, such as High Altitude Long Endurance HALE-UAV, exhibit aeroelastic instabilities quite different from their rigid counterparts. Consequently, one has to deal with phenomena not usually considered in classical aircraft design. Alternative design criteria are needed in or...

The hydrogen and fuel cell power based technologies that are rapidly emerging can be exploited to start a new generation of propulsion systems for light aircraft and small commuter aircraft. Different studies were undertaken in recent years on fuel cells in aeronautics. Boeing Research & Technology Centre (Madrid) successfully flew its converted Su...

Flutter-critical velocity is usually estimated from deterministic analyses by assuming that physical and geometrical parameters are perfectly known. However, aleatory and epistemic uncertainties, especially those associated with the definition of material properties, are intrinsically present partly because of the random nature of every physical sy...

The next generation of slender, flexible aircraft wings requires extremely lightweight structures capable of carrying a considerable amount of non-structural weight. With the increased slenderness and flexibility, possible with the advent of advanced composites, these wings can exhibit aeroelastic instabilities quite different from their rigid coun...

The application of fuel-cell technology to aircraft propulsion and/or energy supply is becoming of great interest for undoubted advantages in terms of pollution emissions and noise, features particularly important for commuter airplanes that usually take off and land from and in urban areas. The conversion of conventional aircraft into more/all-ele...

The aeroelastic design of innovative aircraft wing configurations imposes the designer to deal with specific phenomena, which are not usually considered in classical aircraft definition. The design process itself, though, gives the designer several indications on how to maintain the safety standards imposed by regulations. The investigation of the...

Innovative aircrafts, such as very long endurance UAVs employ high aspect ratio flexible wings to reduce weight and power in order to achieve sustained flight for months or even years. The increased wing flexibility can lead to large static structural deflections for trimmed flight states. These large deformations can induce aeroelastic instabiliti...

The main objective of the ENFICA-FC project (ENvironmentally Friendly Inter City Aircraft powered by Fuel Cells), funded by European Commission, is to develop and validate the use of a fuel cell based power system for propulsion of more/all electric aircraft. The following items shall be pursued: a) A fuel cell system shall be designed, built and t...

Some main activities have been developed as part of the HELINET research project which was financed in January 2000, by the European Commission, (Fifth Framework Program in the IST action), to develop a European project in the field of stratospheric platforms. From the aeronautical point of view the following items were studied: (1) the design of a...

This paper addresses stability analysis, control design, and simulation of high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles: These aircraft are highly flexible and have very low struct ural frequencies. Hence the separation between the elastic and rigid body motions no longer exists, and an approach that unifies these two motions must be used...

Several researches are being carried out at the Politecnico di Torino with the aim of designing a high altitude very-long endurance/unmanned air vehicle (HAVE/UAV). Being able to fly in the stratosphere (15-20 km) and with an endurance of about 4 months offers an advantage and possibility that is presently not available with conventional aircraft o...

Research is being carried out at the Turin Polytechnic University with the aim of designing a HAVE/UAV (High Altitude Very-long Endurance/Unmanned Air Vehicle). The vehicle should be able to climb to an altitude of 17-20 km by taking advantage of direct sun radiation and maintaining a level flight; during the night, a fuel cells energy storage syst...

High aspect ratio aircrafts, such as High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) UAVs, can experience large static deflections during normal flight operations that could severely reduce the flutter speed. At such speeds, Limit Cycle Oscillations (LCOs) may occur, reducing their operational life. A time-marching solver of a nonlinear aeroelastic model is pr...

This paper presents the design and manufacture of the first European Very Long-Endurance Stratospheric Unmanned Air Vehicle, HeliPlat® (HELIos PLATform).§ This vehicle is a monoplane with eight brushless motors, a twin-boom tail type and two rudders. A computer program has been developed to carry out the platform design. To minimize airframe weight...