
Miguel Ângelo Rodrigues SilvestreUniversidade da Beira Interior C-MAST | Center for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies · Aerospace Sciences Department
Miguel Ângelo Rodrigues Silvestre
PhD
About
46
Publications
35,364
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
721
Citations
Introduction
Aerodynamics, Propulsion, Aircraft Performance, Rotary wing, Aerospace
Additional affiliations
February 1998 - present
Publications
Publications (46)
View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2021-3226.vid In the present study, the use of accessible 3D FDM printing technology as a way of rapid prototyping low Reynolds number UAV propeller geometries is investigated. Specific design features, integrated into the original propeller CAD model, towards a successful FDM print are described....
The race for speed ruled the early Jet Age on aviation. Aircraft manufacturers chased faster and faster planes in a fight for pride and capability. In the early 1970s, dreams were that the future would be supersonic, but fuel economy and unacceptable noise levels made that era never happen. After the 1973 oil crisis, the paradigm changed. The avera...
The race for speed ruled the early Jet Age on aviation. Aircraft manufacturers chased faster and faster planes in a fight for pride and capability. In the early 1970s, dreamed that the future would be supersonic, but fuel economy and not acceptable noise levels made that era never came. After the 1973 first oil crisis, the paradigm changed. The ave...
In this paper, a development of a modular controller to minimize current ripple in a low inductance coreless permanent magnet synchronous motor (CPMSM) is described. Based on individual modules, the controller uses a 60 degree commutation scheme instead of the conventional 120 degree. The neutral point of the motor’s windings is connected to an int...
Highlights
• Average weights are inconsistent with standard passenger weights.
• Deviations from standard passenger weights significantly affect aircraft performance.
• Overestimation of payload weight increases airline fuel cost.
• Increases in aircraft payload reduces fuel capacity in turn reducing range.
• Increasing prevalence of overweight and...
This paper describes the development of an in-wheel Coreless Permanent Magnet Synchronous motor designed and built for the participation of the Aero@UBI team in Shell Eco-Marathon competition where a low power and highly efficient motor was needed. The design of the motor for this competition is presented and the adopted concepts explained. The con...
Ultralight accidents are reported to be more severe compared to those in other categories of sports aviation. In the absence of denominator data in the United States (US) but addressing a continuing concern in general aviation safety, this study gives a comparison between ultralight accidents in the US, the United Kingdom (UK) and Portugal. For the...
Aircraft design is an inherently multidisciplinary undertaking, which motivates the quest for increasingly optimized solutions using distributed design optimization architectures. In this study, a mission-based aircraft preliminary design optimization methodology tailored for the assessment of adaptive technologies is presented. Its most distinguis...
A novel approach to onboard in-flight weight and balance estimation systems is presented. Data from an Airbus A320 fleet from an airline were used to assess the feasibility of the approach. Simple flight mechanics in combination with statistics allowed for the identification of weight and center of gravity position using cruise angle of attack, Mac...
An in-wheel Coreless Permanent Magnet Synchronous motor was designed and built tor the participation of the Aero@UBI team in Shell Eco-Marathon competition. The design of the motor is presented. The concepts embedded in the design are thoroughly described. Experimental tests data are given for the motor and motor with two different controllers.
This paper discusses the impact of passenger weight changes attributed to obese/overweight passengers on aviation fuel used, greenhouse emissions and fuel cost. The scope of this study is circumscribed to domestic air travel in Australia for the period between 1990 and 2014. It is estimated that the industry has used 561 kilo-tonnes of fuel between...
Purpose-The purpose of the paper is to analyse different post-stall models, originally developed for use in wind turbine codes, and extend their use to the propeller performance prediction. Design/methodology/approach-Different post-stall methods available in the literature were implemented in JBLADE software. JBLADE contains an improved version of...
The present invention refers to a set of interlinked devices that allow a change of camber of the wing airfoil while allowing the wing surface to remain smooth and continuous.
A new transition turbulence model is proposed. The model is based on the computation of the pre-transitional $\bar{u'v'}$ due to the mean flow shear. The proposed transition model is fully described and verified against standard benchmark test cases. A detailed analysis of its behavior is performed using the ERCOFTAC at-plate T3A, T3B and T3C test-...
Application of microscopy techniques for forensic analysis of a failed aircraft crankshaft - Volume 21 Issue S6 - J.M. Silva, M.A. Silvestre, V. Infante
Since aircraft design is an inherently multidisciplinary undertaking, the quest for increasingly optimized solutions can only be comprehensively successful by implementing multilevel or system design optimization architectures to step up disciplinary optimizations. In this study, a methodology which uses the Enhanced Collaborative Optimization (ECO...
Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to analyse different post-stall models, originally developed for use in wind turbine codes, and extend their use to the propeller performance prediction.
Design/methodology/approach – Different post-stall methods available in the literature were implemented in JBLADE Software. JBLADE contains an improved versio...
Propellers are being used as propulsive devices since
the early days of aviation. However, if they are not properly
designed, they can have poor efficiency, especially at low Reynolds
numbers environments such as the case of the high altitude airships
envisioned in the MAAT project. Experimental data those operating
conditions are crucial to effect...
The present work describes the implementation of the Enhanced Collaborative Optimization (ECO) multilevel architecture with a gradient-based optimization algorithm with the aim of performing a multidisciplinary design optimization of a generic unmanned aerial vehicle with morphing technologies. The concepts of weighting coefficient and dynamic comp...
A new 3D transition turbulence model, more accurate and faster than an
empirical transition model, is proposed. The model is based on the calculation
of the pre-transitional u'v' due to mean flow shear. The present transition
model is fully described and verified against eight benchmark test cases.
Computations are performed for the ERCOFTAC flat-p...
This paper reports the development of a new propeller design and analysis tool. JBLADE uses an improved version of blade element momentum that embeds a new model for the three-dimensional flow equilibrium. In addition, a new method for the prediction of the airfoil drag coefficient at a 90 deg angle of attack for a better poststall modeling is also...
The wing aerofoil of a medium/high aspect ratio wing (>6) is the major single contributor to the overall aerodynamic performance of a winged aircraft and therefore its careful design is paramount. The mathematical formulation used to define the aerofoil’s shape must be sufficiently flexible to represent the maximum shapes possible within the design...
The present work describes an aircraft design methodology that uses the wingspan and its mean aerodynamic chord as main design parameters. In the implemented tool, low fidelity models have been developed for the aerodynamics, stability, propulsion, weight, balance and flight performance. A Fortran® routine that calculates the aircraft performance f...
The results of wind tunnel tests performed on a full scale horizontal axis wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 1.2 m are presented, analyzed and compared with those predicted by WT_Perf and Qblade Blade Element Momentum (BEM) codes. The studied rotor, carved in wood, belongs to a family of wind turbines suitable for production by unskilled person...
The objective of this work is to determine the main cause of failure of a crankshaft from an ULM airplane aeroengine. The core of this paper is focused in the analysis of the damage mechanisms which were in the base of a catastrophic failure of the crankpin journal. Based on a preliminary observation of the fracture surface, there are clear evidenc...
The present work describes an aircraft design methodology that uses the wingspan and its mean aerodynamic chord as main design parameters. In the implemented tool, low fidelity models have been developed for the aerodynamics, stability, propulsion, weight, balance and flight performance. A Fortran® routine that calculates the aircraft performance f...
In the normal operation, propeller and wind turbine blades can achieve deep-stall angles of attack and the experimental data from wind tunnel measurements are only available over a limited interval with interest to the aerospace industry. The present paper reports the development of a new method for the drag coefficient prediction at 90 degrees ang...
This paper presents the methodology and numerical implementation of a propeller
analysis tool. The code has the capability to estimate the performance curves of a given
design for use in off-design evaluation. The long term goal of the JBLADE development is to
provide a user-friendly, accurate, and validated open-source code that can be used to des...
The flow around the nacelles of high altitude airships is very important in order to assess the inlet conditions and losses associated to their propulsion systems. The aerodynamics prediction of low Re number flows is a problem usually associated to the lack of accuracy of most of the turbulence models in everyday use. Herein we present a laminar k...
The present work describes the design optimization of a low Reynolds number high lift airfoil where the objective function is that curve defined by the lift coefficient variation with the boundary layer transition position along the upper and lower surfaces of the airfoil. An aerodynamic shape optimization program using XFOIL as the solver, a visco...
Persistent Gliding Waterframe (PGW) is an international cooperation effort involving Portuguese and United States of America entities for the development of a small, low cost, efficient autonomous underwater glider. This paper presents the waterframe development work that took place at University of Beira Interior. The design point selection is pre...
A methodology for the design of a high altitude airship is presented. Theoretical models available in the literature were implemented to access the weight of several design parameters in a conventional non-rigid airship concept and to identify key design parameters of the new airship design. The methodology relates the useful load that can be carri...
Flow visualization results are presented for a highly curved flow resulting from the collision of plane turbulent wall jet with a boundary layer. This configuration can be found in the case of impinging jets of a V/STOL aircraft operating in ground vicinity. The experiments were carried out for wall jet to boundary layer velocity ratio of 1.57. The...
Laser-Doppler measurements of velocity characteristics of the flowfield resulting from the collision of a wall jet with a boundary layer are presented and discussed together with visualization of the flow. The experiments have been carried out for boundary layer to wall jet velocity ratios of 0.5 and 0.58. Direct photography, digital film imaging,...
Laser-Doppler measurements of velocity characteristics of the flowfield resulting from the collision of a wall jet with a boundary layer are presented and discussed together with visualization of the flow. The experiments have been carried out for wall jet and boundary layer velocities of 6m/s and 3.48m/s, respectively. For the present conditions t...