Effect of flight parameters on thermal performance of a hybrid air vehicle for cargo transportation

With the growth of global trade, the market of global freight transportation is increasing. Due to the combination of aerodynamic and buoyant lift, the hybrid air vehicle (HAV) is very suitable for long-distance transport of heavy loads. To achieve a long distance transportation, the HAV is designed to own large size and surface area, which causes the HAV to receive a lot of solar radiation and the resulting thermal effects have an important impact on its flight performance and safety. Meanwhile, complex configuration and solar array covered on the surface of HAV also affect its thermal performance. A co-simulation of thermal model, output power model and dynamic model of the HAV is carried out to investigate effects of flight time, location, attitude and relative wind speed on its temperature and output power during long-distance transportation across different latitudes and longitudes. The results are expected to provide references for future development of the HAV using in long-distance transport of large cargoes.