TEAM S55: 1:8 SCALE “REPLICA” OF THE SIAI-MARCHETTI S55X

The purpose of this work is to show the engineering approach and the technical contents of an aeronautical design activity performed by a student team, the “Team S55”, a group of young engineers and students organized within the Department of Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS) of “Politecnico di Torino”, in order to be able to engage students in extra-curricular activities, which are a source of experience and learning. The current goal of the team is to design and realize a 1:8 scale and flying “Replica” of the SIAIMarchetti S55X. Afterwards the members focused on Weight and Balance analysis that evaluated the inertial properties of the scale model and the S55-X in order to have an accurate prediction of the weight and to match the position of the center of gravity of the 1:8 model. For Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics, the analysis started with the study of both the model’s and the original’s aerodynamic curves obtained using AVL (Athena Vortex Lattice), an open-source program developed by MIT. Then, the aerodynamic analysis was deepened through CFD simulations using STAR CCM+ in order to correct the aerodynamic curves, to study the cruise phase and to obtain the pressure field on the seaplane. The structural analysis was made using the Finite Element Code ANSA, developed by BETA CAE System. The structure of the model aircraft was divided in major components and, for each part, it was performed a CAD modification for the structural idealization, interface and FEM geometry definition, mesh preparation, material properties definition, modal analysis, loading result’s analysis and propose modifications on the components.