• box-wing
• flight mechanics
• hybrid-electric propulsion
• optimization
• pax-range

This thesis is part of the research activities developed within the national project PROSIB (PROpulsione e Sistemi IBridi per velivoli ad ala fissa e rotante), and it has been carried out at the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering. The main goal of the thesis is to evaluate the benefits, in terms of direct CO2 reduction, coming through the adoption of the hybrid-electric propulsion coupled with a disruptive configuration. A hybrid-electric box-wing configuration has been investigated to assess the environmental impact of this revolutionary concept. A performance tool has been developed in MATLAB, aiming to estimate aircraft performance during the mission. Moreover, the performance tool evaluates aircraft performance for several combinations of range and payload, allowing to obtain a comprehensive view by using the so-called pax-range diagram. Furthermore, a local optimization algorithm has been used to minimize block fuel consumption, and a multi-start optimization strategy has been adopted and integrated into the performance tool. Quantitative estimations of the CO2 reduction have been evaluated by comparing the box-wing aircraft with a current tube-and-wing aircraft developed according to the 2020 state of the art.