Biomimetics has become an increasingly important approach in aerospace engineering, offering innovative design solutions inspired by the flight mechanisms of living organisms. Birds, insects, and bats demonstrate exceptional aerodynamic efficiency, maneuverability, and adaptability, which have motivated the development of bio-inspired aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This systematic review aims to synthesize and critically evaluate existing research on biomimetic principles derived from biological flight and their application to aircraft and UAV design. A systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines, using major scientific databases to identify relevant peer-reviewed studies linking biological flight mechanisms with aerospace engineering applications. The selected studies were categorized according to biological sources of inspiration, including avian wing morphology and feather-based flow control, insect flapping-wing aerodynamics for micro-air vehicles, and bat-inspired flexible membrane wings. The results show that biomimetic approaches can significantly enhance aerodynamic performance, improve maneuverability, increase flight stability, and reduce energy consumption, particularly in UAV and small-scale aircraft applications. Despite these advantages, several challenges persist, such as material constraints, structural complexity, and difficulties in scaling biological mechanisms to full-size aircraft. This review highlights current trends and research gaps in biomimetic aerospace design and emphasizes the potential of biologically inspired flight principles to support the development of next-generation, efficient, and sustainable aircraft and UAV technologies.

Lifecycle cost (LCC) analysis is a vital methodology for assessing the economic sustainability and long-term viability of aircraft systems across their entire operational lifespan. As highly complex engineering products, aircraft involve substantial initial acquisition costs, continuous operation and maintenance (O&M) expenditures, and strict safety and regulatory compliance requirements, all of which contribute significantly to overall lifecycle expenses. This study focuses on the comprehensive evaluation of aircraft lifecycle costs by integrating advanced digital twin (DT) technologies to enhance the accuracy and reliability of cost estimation and prediction. A structured mathematical modeling framework for LCC is developed, encompassing all major cost components, including acquisition, operational usage, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, repair activities, and end-of-life disposal. The proposed framework enables systematic identification and quantification of key cost drivers that influence aircraft performance and economic outcomes. The results and discussion highlight how LCC analysis supports optimized maintenance planning, improves resource allocation, and facilitates informed decision-making for fleet management and system design. By leveraging real-time data, predictive analytics, and continuous system monitoring, DT-enabled LCC analysis reduces uncertainty associated with traditional cost estimation methods and enhances the ability to anticipate failures and maintenance needs. Furthermore, the integration of digital transformation trends within the aviation industry demonstrates the potential of DT technologies to improve operational efficiency, enhance safety performance, and extend asset life. Overall, the findings suggest that the application of digital twin-supported LCC analysis provides a powerful decision-support tool that strengthens economic efficiency, supports sustainable aircraft operations, and contributes to more resilient and cost-effective aviation systems.

The swift growth in the number of nanosatellites and CubeSats in orbit around the Earth has noticeably amplified the danger of collisions with micrometeoroids and orbital micro-debris. While these particles are tiny, the high relative speeds at which they move can inflict serious damage to the structure, impair the sensors, or render the whole subsystem non-functional, especially in small satellites that have little redundancy. A majority of the current nanosatellite missions do not have specially designed real-time impact detection hardware on board and instead depend on post-mission inspection or indirect signs like telemetry anomalies for their detection. This article describes a system consisting of several sensors that is compact, uses less power, and is able to detect micro-debris impact on the satellites in real time, which was the main reason for its development. The entire system is made up of several sensing elements, such as piezoelectric sensors, MEMS accelerometers, acoustic sensors, magnetic field sensors, and temperature pressure sensors, which respectively take up the different physical signatures produced by debris impacts. The sensor outputs are then directed to the signal conditioning stage, where filtering and normalization are performed. After this, a threshold-based event detection logic combined with a weighted multi-sensor data fusion method is applied to enhance detection reliability and lower the number of incorrect triggers caused by normal satellite operations. The system deploys event-driven logic for independent and low-power surveillance. Impact occurrences are recorded, sent, or kept with time stamps. The combination of the sensors increases the dependability, separates the background noise from the impacts, and makes possible the logging, power management, and integration of the nanosatellite without interruption, supporting the safety of long-term missions.

Conceptual design of small UAVs intended for tactical ISR missions is often complicated by the disconnect between early-stage aerodynamic/mission sizing and the manufacturability and field-deployment constraints that emerge later in the design cycle. This work presents an additive-first conceptual design framework that embeds those constraints from the outset. Mission-driven sizing equations based on Raymer and Sadrey are coupled with a parametric OpenVSP model, while the sizing loop is constrained by practical limits imposed by low-cost fabrication: maximum printable part dimensions, PLA’s orientation-dependent stiffness, integration of carbon-tube spars, internal placement of thin subsystems, like servos, cables, and connectors, and the detachable interfaces required for hand-launch and backpackable operation. These constraints directly affect the admissible geometry, structural layout, and mass distribution and are therefore treated as first-order design drivers rather than downstream corrections.

Structural feasibility is evaluated through finite element analysis of printed PLA components and PLA–carbon hybrid substructures, providing stiffness and failure predictions that inform the conceptual iterations. A prototype vehicle is fabricated to assess deviations between analytical, numerical, and as-built characteristics, with emphasis on structural margins, assembly tolerances, and the practical penalties introduced by modularity. Results show that including printability and field-handling constraints at the conceptual stage leads to materially different optima in wing loading, aspect ratio, and internal structural layout when compared to traditional unconstrained sizing. By integrating mission analysis, aerodynamic estimation, and manufacturability into a unified early-stage process, the framework offers a fast, practical approach for the preliminary design of low-cost, rapidly deployable UAV systems.

Mars habitation is a highly challenging engineering problem due to its extreme environmental conditions, which make human habitation difficult. The Martian atmosphere is extremely thin, with a surface pressure of approximately 600 pascals, and the surface temperature stays very low, around 211 kelvins. The solar radiation keeps fluctuating, and dust storms create wind-driven surface flows. These conditions impose major design restrictions, which require structures to endure high pressure differentials, extreme cold weather and strong wind conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to address these coupled challenges through an integrated design strategy in the early stages of Mars surface habitat development. This work performs a complete numerical analysis using a multiphysics approach to study a theoretical Mars sub-surface habitat system. Two habitat geometries, cylindrical and hemispherical, are modeled using CAD and analyzed using commercial finite element and computational fluid dynamics tools. The structural performance analysis assesses internal pressurization, which meets human-rated conditions. Thermal behavior is analyzed using steady-state heat transfer analysis of a multilayer wall system comprising an aluminum structural shell, a regolith layer, and a low-conductivity insulation layer. The study includes solar radiation effects through solar flux analysis, which considers four representative Martian years (MY48-MY51). Aerodynamic analysis is also performed to evaluate the habitat stability under Mars wind loading. The results demonstrate that habitat geometry and multilayer wall design significantly affect performance. The hemispherical design decreases structural deformation by more than ten times when compared to cylindrical geometries. The thermal analysis demonstrates insulation effectiveness, which results in 80-90% less conductive heat transfer, while regolith provides extra thermal insulation. The aerodynamic results demonstrate that the curved habitat remains stable when exposed to wind forces. The results create a practical base for initial Mars habitat development, which will later include radiation and dust assessment.