Simple mission Tutorial

[Sarath Sasi]

Hello

I would like some guidance on the SUAVE which provides lot of flexibility since it is in python environment.

I have used NASA FLOPS previously and I am familiar with aircraft performance and simulation.

I have set up SUAVE in spyder and all is running well and I have generated the plots as mentioned in the tutorial.

However, when I am going through the tutorial I am getting confused on how to modify the file to run simple mission for my needs due to keywords like configurations, analysis, analyses. I am not clear on which blocks of code are necessary for my needs. 

Here's what I aiming to achieve, 

I am looking to run a simple mission single aisle and extract results such as block fuel, weights and some parameters like L/D etc. 

Do I need to use the 737 tutorial file as is every time or is it possible to make a file just for one aircraft model without any configurations? 

Later I want to use engine performance decks created from an external program to evaluate impacts of engine performance on aircraft performance. 

Is there a way to disconnect the inbuilt turbofan network and use my engine data for mission calculations.

What I would like is to have a better view of the necessary blocks of code to run a mission without any configuration change and then I can modify/add codes to perform additional tasks.

Many thanks for the support.

[Emilio]

Hi,
Welcome to the SUAVE world. It is a bit different from FLOPS. But you'll find we have also included the FLOPS weights methods as an option in SUAVE.

So I'll translate this:

Configuration - simply a vehicle. We have different vehicles for different phases of flight. For example, in descent a 737 pilot will extend flaps and possibly raise spoilers. The pilot has reconfigured the aircraft. Hence, a configuration. We can also go beyond that and say a 737-800 vs 900 is really a different configuration of the same vehicle. This helps us book keep.

Analysis -  This is a set sequential methods to execute. For example, Fidelity Zero aerodynamics will run a VLM method to get lift, then calculate the viscous drag portions of the fuselage then the wings, etc... just methods to execute when called.

Analyses - This is a set of analysis that encompass all the things that are required to run analyze your vehicle. For examples, weights, aerodynamics, propulsion models.



Fuel burn, weights, and aerodynamic properties are all basic outputs that SUAVE produces.

I would run through more tutorials. The 737 is only one way to do things. SUAVE is a library of tools. There is no one way to do things. Many times we don't even run a mission.

Using an engine deck is simple. Just replace your energy network with the propulsor surrogate and give it a CSV file.

Let us know if you have more questions.

-Emilio