Produits industriellement dès 1910, les duralumins (alliages Al-Cu-Mg) sont les premiers alliages d'aluminium à durcissement structural ayant permis le développement de l'aéronautique. Bien que les alliages Al-Zn-Cu de la famille 7xxx et les matériaux composites soient aujourd'hui majoritaires dans la construction des avions, ces alliages Al-Cu-Mg de la famille 2xxx restent un matériau de référence pour les structures aéronautiques. Cependant, même s'il est un produit industriel récent et largement utilisé, avec une grande production de documents écrits, il existe une perte d'informations liée à la politique d'archives appliquée par les industriels. Cette perte d'information touche particulièrement les données physico-chimiques des matériaux utilisés pour la construction des avions mais aussi l'explication des choix techniques des avionneurs. La rénovation du Breguet 765 Sahara n°504 64-PH aux Ailes Anciennes Toulouse est une opportunité d'étudier les duralumins aéronautiques de la fin des années 1950. Il est possible de récupérer les pièces déposées et remplacées avant qu'elles ne soient jetées et définitivement perdues avec les informations qu'elles contiennent. En comparant l'analyse en laboratoire de ces matériaux arrivés jusqu'à nous avec les documents d'archives et la documentation actuelle, il est possible d'entreprendre un retour sur expérience. Nous pouvons envisager de comparer ce qui a été réalisé avec ce qui a été initialement prévu lors de la conception de l'avion et de compléter les données connues de ces matériaux avec les techniques d'analyses métallurgiques actuelles. Ces alliages peuvent également constituer une première référence des duralumins aéronautiques des années 1950 et contribuer à l'étude de l'évolution sur de grandes échelles de temps des propriétés mécaniques par rapport aux valeurs minimum exigées du constructeur. / Industrially produced since 1910 and used for the construction of Breguet XIV in 1916, the duralumins (Al-Cu-Mg alloys) are the first age-hardening aluminum alloys that were at the origin of the aeronautics development. Although Al-Zn-Cu alloys of the 7xxx family and composite materials are more widely used today, these Al-Cu-Mg alloys of the 2xxx family remain a reference material for aircraft structures. However, although it is an industrial material, with a large production of written documents, the archiving policy applied by manufacturers causes a loss of information. There is thus a difficulty to retrieve pertinent chemical and physical data of material used in aircraft construction, but also to understand the choices made about the material and process used by the manufacturers. The renovation of the Breguet 765 Sahara n°504 64-PH by the association Ailes Anciennes Toulouse is an opportunity to study aeronautical duralumins of the late 1950s. It is possible to recover elements need to be replaced before they are permanently lost, with the information contained therein. By comparing laboratory analysis with archival and current literature, it is possible to give a feedback on these ancient materials. We can compare what was done with what was originally planned in the design of the aircraft and complete the known data of these materials with current metallurgical technical analysis. These alloys can also be a first reference for aeronautical duralumins of the 1950s and contribute to the study of the long-term evolution of mechanical properties compared to minimum values ??required by the manufacturer.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--RAND Graduate School, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--RAND Graduate School, 1993. / At head of title: Dissertation. "RGSD-106." Includes bibliographical references.

Purpose of this project is a) the evaluation of the Thrust Specific Fuel Consumption (TSFC) of jet engines in cruise as a function of flight altitude, speed and thrust and b) the determination of the optimum cruise speed for maximum range of jet airplanes based on TSFC characteristics from a). Related to a) a literature review shows different models for the influence of altitude and speed on TSFC. A simple model describing the influence of thrust on TSFC seems not to exist in the literature. Here, openly available data was collected and evaluated. TSFC versus thrust is described by the so-called bucket curve with lowest TSFC at the bucket point at a certain thrust setting. A new simple equation was devised approximating the influence of thrust on TSFC. It was found that the influence of thrust as well as of altitude on TSFC is small and can be neglected in cruise conditions in many cases. However, TSFC is roughly a linear function of speed. This follows already from first principles. Related to b) it was found that the academically taught optimum flight speed (1.316 times minimum drag speed) for maximum range of jet airplanes is inaccurate, because the derivation is based on the unrealistic assumption of TSFC being constant with speed. Taking account of the influence of speed on TSFC and on drag, the optimum flight speed is only about 1.05 to 1.11 the minimum drag speed depending on aircraft weight. The amount of actual engine data was extremely limited in this project and the results will, therefore, only be as accurate as the input data. Results may only have a limited universal validity, because only four jet engine types were analyzed. One of the project's original value is the new simple polynomial function to estimate variations in TSFC from variations in thrust while maintaining constant speed and altitude.

In order to uncover the best kept secret in today's commercial aviation, this project deals with the calculation of fuel consumption of aircraft. With only the reference of the aircraft manufacturer's information, given within the airport planning documents, a method is established that allows computing values for the fuel consumption of every aircraft in question. The aircraft's fuel consumption per passenger and 100 flown kilometers decreases rapidly with range, until a near constant level is reached around the aircraft's average range. At longer range, where payload reduction becomes necessary, fuel consumption increases significantly. Numerical results are visualized, explained, and discussed. With regard to today's increasing number of long-haul flights, the results are investigated in terms of efficiency and viability. The environmental impact of burning fuel is not considered in this report. The presented method allows calculating aircraft type specific fuel consumption based on publicly available information. In this way, the fuel consumption of every aircraft can be investigated and can be discussed openly.