Simulated safety

Simulation software developed at Greenwich University has shown that a concept aircraft can satisfy emergency evacuation certification criteria — even in the event of a cabin fire.

Prof Ed Galea and colleagues from the university's fire safety engineering group (FSEG) have used their airEXODUS software to show that a blended wing body (BWB) aircraft can be evacuated in less than 90 seconds.

Running the simulation with FSEG's SMARTFIRE CFD software further validated BWB's design in the event of flashover, where flames flash over and through vapours produced by combustible items in the cabin.

The BWB is one concept under investigation in the €30m (£24m) new aircraft concepts research (NACRE) programme led by Airbus and part-funded by the EC.

NACRE aims to evaluate novel aircraft design concepts to provide the aerospace industry with improvements in efficiency, environmental performance, comfort and economics.

Delta-winged BWB designs being considered in the project are claimed to be capable of carrying over 1,000 passengers on a single deck with 20 exits and eight aisles running the length of the cabin.