Preliminary design of a long range windowless aircraft concept

The objective of this paper is to describe the preliminary design of a windowless configuration of a long-range aircraft and to analytically assess the achieved weight reduction. As a matter of fact, the reduction of weight is directly linked with reduction of fuel consumption; consequently there are advantages in terms of aircraft operative costs and emissions of carbon dioxide. A feasibility study will bring to the assessment of weight and cost reduction in consideration to the introduction of innovative screens, to give passengers the possibility to see through the fuselage itself. The proposed methodology consists in the preliminary design of a long-range aircraft, considering some defined design parameters and constraints. The activity will finally lead to weight reduction evaluation, in case the same aircraft will be designed windowless. In the end the methodology is applied to two existing aircrafts to estimate potential benefits of the windowless configuration if compared to the traditional one: the Airbus 340-500 and the Being 777-300.