Contact Dr Yicheng Sun
- Email: Yicheng.Sun@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
Areas of expertise
- Aircraft Design
- Computational Fluid Dynamics
Background
Dr. Sun is a Lecturer at Cranfield University, where he specializes in aircraft design. He previously served as a Research Fellow at Cranfield before being promoted to his current role. Prior to this, he was a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at Tsinghua University, where he was awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation.
Dr. Sun holds a Ph.D. in Aircraft Design from Cranfield University. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Aircraft Design and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from Beihang University.
He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Additionally, he is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Beyond academia, Dr. Sun holds the UK national record for the longest-distance paper aeroplane flight and was the runner-up in the Red Bull Paper Wings international competition.
Research opportunities
• Aircraft Conceptual Design
• Multidisciplinary Design Optimisation
• Next-generation Supersonic Transport Design
• Alternative Fuels for Advanced Configurations
• CFD & Surrogate Model for Aircraft Conceptual Design
Current activities
Dr. Sun is currently leading the development of the GENUS aircraft conceptual design environment at Cranfield University. GENUS is a multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization framework that has been under continuous development within the Aircraft Design Group since 2012. It has been successfully applied to the conceptual design of various aircraft, including hypersonic launch vehicles, conventional and blended-wing-body airliners, supersonic transports, and tailless combat UAVs.
In his role, Dr. Sun is advancing the capabilities of GENUS while collaborating with researchers on a range of ongoing projects, ensuring its continued evolution as a cutting-edge tool for aircraft design and optimisation.
Clients
- GKN Ltd
- Aircraft Technology Institute
- Airbus SE
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Kang L, Sun Y, Smith H & Mao J. (2023). The effects of the degree of hybridisation on the design of hybrid-electric aircraft considering the balance between energy efficiency and mass penalty. Aerospace, 10(2)
- Kang L, Sun Y & Smith H. (2022). MDAO method and optimum designs of hybrid-electric civil airliners. Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 35(4)
- Sun Y & Smith H. (2022). Conceptual design of sonic boom stealth supersonic transports. CEAS Aeronautical Journal, 13(2)
- Sun Y & Smith H. (2021). Design and operational assessment of a low-boom low-drag supersonic business jet. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 236(1)
- Sun Y & Smith H. (2019). Low-boom low-drag solutions through the evaluation of different supersonic business jet concepts. The Aeronautical Journal, 124(1271)
- Sun Y & Smith H. (2019). Low-boom low-drag optimization in a multidisciplinary design analysis optimization environment. Aerospace Science and Technology, 94
- Sun Y & Smith H. (2016). Review and prospect of supersonic business jet design. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 90(April)
- Yue K, Sun Y, Liu H & Guo W. (2015). Analysis of the Flow Field of Carrier-Based Aircraft Exhaust Jets Impact on the Flight Deck. International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences, 16(1)