Building the Impossible Airplane Challenges and Highlights
Robert Fraefel
Head of Airplane Development
Solar Impulse
November 2015
An idea born in Switzerland
HEAD OF ENGINEERING
LEADING THE TECHNICAL
PROGRAM
FINDING THE BEST COMPROMISE
WITH THE INTERDISCIPLINARY
TEAM AND REALIZE
HEAD OF TROUBLESHOOTING
3
DEMONSTRATING THE POTENTIAL OF CLEAN
TECHNOLOGIES AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
4
PUSHING BACK THE
BOUNDARIES
OF KNOWLEDGE
PROVING THE
IMPOSSIBLE
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SCIENCE AND INNOVATION COMBINED TO PROMOTE A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE
TWO PILOTS, Borschberg and Piccard
Inspiring
Clean technologies
Political reach
Leading
Managerial
experience
Innovative solutions
7
Challenges and Achievements
8
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Flight Card:
• Pilot: Andre Borschberg
• Takeoff: 3:03 am local time Japan 29
June 2015
• Landing: 05:55 am local time Hawaii 3
July 2015
• Flight time: 117:52 hours
• Maximum altitude: 28,000 ft.
FAI World Records:
• Straight distance pre-declared
performance
• Distance along course
• Straight distance free-flight
performance
• Distance free-flight along course,
optimised to maximise distance
Nagoya to Hawaii - The Moment of Truth
11
FIRST EXPERIMENTAL
AIRPLANE CERTIFIED
TO FLY OVER
DENSELY
POPULATED AREAS
12
December 2009 – The
flea hop
July 2010
Solar Impulse Night Flight
2011 European
Solar Flights
2012 – Crossin
g Frontier
s
2013 – Across Americ
a
April 2014 –
Unveiling Solar
Impulse 2
Summer 2014 –
Test Flights
2015
Part 1: The Round-
The-World Solar Flight
2016 Part 2: The Round-The-World Solar Flight
TIMELINE
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THE TECHNICAL
CHALLENGE
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A FLYING LABORATORY
ULTRA-LIGHT, YET CAPABLE
OF WITHSTANDING HUGE
STRESSES
15
WINGSPAN OF A BOEING 747
(72M/ 236FT)
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WEIGHT OF A FAMILY CAR
2.3 TONNES / 5,000 POUNDS
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17,248 SOLAR CELLS
EACH THE THICKNESS OF A HUMAN HAIR
BEST COMPROMISE BETWEEN LIGHTNESS
AND EFFICIENCY (23%)
18
4 BRUSHLESS & SENSORLESS MOTORS
EACH ONE HAS 17.4 HP, RECORD 94% EFFICIENCY
(THERMAL MOTORS ARE 30% EFFICIENT)
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BATTERIES MOUNTED ON
ENGINE PODS, INSULATED BY
HIGH-DENSITY FOAM
1/4 OF TOTAL AIRCRAFT WEIGHT
20
COCKPIT ISOLATION FOAM
INSULATION FROM
EXTREME TEMPERATURES
21
DESIGN AND
CONSTRUCTION
22
PRODUCTION WORKSHOP
EACH COMPONENT CERTIFIED
AS "FIT TO FLY"
23
CONFIGURATION & STRUCTURE
ENGINEERS, PHYSICISTS,
COMPUTER DESIGN &
AERODYNAMICS EXPERTS 24
SOLAR IMPULSE
&
DASSAULT SYSTEMES
25
IN TWO STEPS
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
26 hours flight
HB-SIA
HB-SIB
Around the world flight
2015
26
“We had to be right the first time. We needed proven, cutting edge industry
solutions to craft the experience for which we were looking. That’s why we
went to Dassault Systèmes and its 3DEXPERIENCE.” Bertrand Piccard, Initiator, Chairman and Pilot, Solar Impulse
Dassault Systèmes
Building such innovative and unique airplane came with
particular challenges:
• New wing and fuselage designs
• New materials to achieve strict weight objectives
• Ergonomic design of the cockpit to accommodate a pilot for
5 days and 5 nights, insuring comfort and safety.
Solar Impulse uses Dassault Systémes applications since
2006
More particularly the design, construction and validation of
the SI2 plane was done with the vital support of Dassault
Systems 3DEXPERIENCE platform: CATIA and ENOVIA •
28
1. CAD
2. FEM
3. Composite Design
29
30 4. Drawing for Hand-Manufacturing
5. Production 31
6. Assembly
31
Process
Parallelization
32
COCKPIT
ERGONOMICS
33
PILOT SEAT
YOGA LOADCASE
34
HAWAII IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE TO THE BATTERIES CAUSE A CONTINUATION NEXT YEAR
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