Mach Number Selection for Cruise Phase Using Ant Colony Algorithm with RTA Constrains Alejandro Murrieta-Mendoza, Antoine Hamy, Ruxandra M. Botez Université du Québec / ÉTS/ LARCASE 1

Motivation Airline Expenses: 26% - 40% Fuel innovation.columbia.edu - Profit - Financial Planning - CO 2 - Global Share: 2% - NOx - H Hydrocarbons 2

Motivation Canada: The Green Aviation Research & Development Network (GARDN) Develop technologies to reduce aircraft noise and emissions. Governmental Funding + Industrial Funding + University Expertise 3

Introduction How to reduce fuel? SA 3.0 Winglets Engines Improvements Morphing wings Trajectories and Airspace 4

Introduction Conventional 3D Trajectories – Flight Plan. – Voice communication. 4D Time based Trajectories: IBO/TBO – Flight Plan – Advanced Systems – Required Time of Arrival 5

Objectives Combination of Mach numbers that fulfill the RTA. ETA = RTA Reduce the fuel consumption – Reduce CO2, NOx, HC, etc… innovation.columbia.edu 6

Trajectory Studied Cruise Phase – Bucharest – Grand Canary Constant Altitude 7

Methodology Flight Cost Performance Database Experimental Flight Data 8

Methodology Flight Cost 9

Methodology How to manage the Mach Number? – Mach Number as a grid 10 Mach Number Options Lateral Flight Plan

Methodology Ant Algorithm – Ants wander around for food sources. – Different ants find the food source. – Over time the shortest path is selected. – Use pheromone to keep track of the path The more ants are in a path, the more pheromone there is 11

Methodology Ant Algorithm – Probability to select a given Mach Number – Pheromone Evaporation 12

Results 2 Turbo-Fan Aircraft Real Flight Plan Waypoints were used – Weather obtained from flight plan RTA waypoint just before the ToD. Arbitrary imposed RTAs. 13

Results 14 RTA: 4h20m0s – Tolerance: +/- 30 sec TailwindHeadwindHedwind Tailwind

Results 15 RTA1: 4h20m (blue)RTA2: 4h24min (green) RTA3: 4h30m (red)RTA4: 4h36min (magneta)

Results Flight Cost 16 FlightRTAFlight TimeDifference (s)Fuel Burn (T) 14h204h20m00s h254h24m59s h304h30m40s h354h34m43s Flight #Mach Number Flight Time Fuel Burn (Ton) h29m07s h25m30s h22m07s19.1 NO RTA RTA

Conclusion In almost all cases, the ACO respected the RTAs imposed. The algorithm was able to improve fuel burn. – Less fuel burn equals less emissions. The algorithm takes local decisions. A global weather view is required to reduce the Mach Number variation. 17

Thank You Q & A 18