Conceptual Design of Electric Aircraft with Distributed Propellers: Multidisciplinary Analysis Needs and Aerodynamic Modeling Development

Patterson, Michael D.; German, Brian

doi:10.2514/6.2014-0534

Cited by 27 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…A future paper will detail the low-order integrated aerodynamic-propulsion modeling approach used for the "cruisesized" wing analysis, along with the subsequent validation of this approach to higher-order computational methods. A companion paper by Patterson et al [15] describes the design of the high-lift propeller system, which has been built up from previous work [6,7,16,17,18,19]. …”

Section: A Initial Sizingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Performance of the NASA SCEPTOR Distributed Electric Propulsion Flight Demonstrator

Borer

Patterson

Viken

et al. 2016

16th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference

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187

109

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Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) technology uses multiple propulsors driven by electric motors distributed about the airframe to yield beneficial aerodynamic-propulsioninteraction. The NASA SCEPTOR flight demonstration project will retrofit an existing internal combustion engine-powered light aircraft with two types of DEP: small "high-lift" propellers distributed along the leading edge of the wing which accelerate the flow over the wing at low speeds, and larger cruise propellers located at each wingtip for primary propulsive power. The updated high-lift system enables a 2.5x reduction in wing area as compared to the original aircraft, reducing drag at cruise and shifting the velocity for maximum lift-to-drag ratio to a higher speed, while maintaining low-speed performance. The wingtip-mounted cruise propellers interact with the wingtip vortex, enabling a further efficiency increase that can reduce propulsive power by 10%. A tradespace exploration approach is developed that enables rapid identification of salient trades, and subsequent creation of SCEPTOR demonstrator geometries. These candidates were scrutinized by subject matter experts to identify design preferences that were not modeled during configuration exploration. This exploration and design approach is used to create an aircraft that consumes an estimated 4.8x less energy at the selected cruise point when compared to the original aircraft. Nomenclature = coefficient of drag 0 = coefficient of drag at zero lift = coefficient of lift = maximum coefficient of lift ⁄ = ratio of drag to dynamic pressure = battery specific energy = energy use per unit distance, conventional configuration = energy use per unit distance, distributed electric propulsion configuration = aircraft gross weight ℎ = altitude above mean sea level = induced drag constant ⁄ = ratio of lift to drag ( ⁄ ) = maximum ratio of lift to drag = mass of battery pack = power consumption of aircraft at cruise = specific excess power (instantaneous rate of climb capability) = rate of descent = range parameter at cruise power, no reserves = efficiency multiplier = velocity at cruise 0 = stall speed in the landing configuration , ∞ = airspeed velocity

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Section: A Initial Sizingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Performance of the NASA SCEPTOR Distributed Electric Propulsion Flight Demonstrator

Borer

Patterson

Viken

et al. 2016

16th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference

Self Cite

187

109

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Various electric aircraft designs have been investigated [6,[45][46][47][48][49][50], either dealing with the conversion of existing fuel-powered aircrafts to all-electric or hybrid aircrafts, or with the development of totally new aircraft designs. However, many electric aircraft designs rely on substituting the fuel-powered propulsion system by an electrical one using, for example, (heavy) conventional batteries.…”

Section: General and Aerospace-specific Potentials Of Structural Enermentioning

confidence: 99%

Multifunctional Composites for Future Energy Storage in Aerospace Structures

et al. 2018

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Multifunctionalization of fiber-reinforced composites, especially by adding energy storage capabilities, is a promising approach to realize lightweight structural energy storages for future transport vehicles. Compared to conventional energy storage systems, energy density can be increased by reducing parasitic masses of non-energy-storing components and by benefitting from the composite meso-and microarchitectures. In this paper, the most relevant existing approaches towards multifunctional energy storages are reviewed and subdivided into five groups by distinguishing their degree of integration and their scale of multifunctionalization. By introducing a modified range equation for battery-powered electric aircrafts, possible range extensions enabled by multifunctionalization are estimated. Furthermore, general and aerospace specific potentials of multifunctional energy storages are discussed. Representing an intermediate degree of structural integration, experimental results for a multifunctional energy-storing glass fiber-reinforced composite based on the ceramic electrolyte Li 1.4 Al 0.4 Ti 1.6 (PO 4 ) 3 are presented. Cyclic voltammetry tests are used to characterize the double-layer behavior combined with galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements for capacitance calculation. The capacitance is observed to be unchanged after 1500 charge-discharge cycles revealing a promising potential for future applications. Furthermore, the mechanical properties are assessed by means of four-point bending and tensile tests. Additionally, the influence of mechanical loads on the electrical properties is also investigated, demonstrating the storage stability of the composites.

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“…15 A brief explanation of the method is presented below; a more detailed description of the method can be found in the previously cited references including Bramesfeld's dissertation 9 and a recent paper by the authors. 2 A DVE is a planar, trapezoidal, finite-chord element that consists of a vortex filament at its leading edge with a vortex sheet that trails aft and terminates with another vortex filament at its trailing edge as shown in Figure 2 The wake is generated with a time stepping method. Wake DVEs are shed from the trailing edge of the last row of bound wing DVEs and by moving the side-edge, mid-chord points of existing wake DVEs in the direction of the full local velocity at each time step.…”

Section: A Wing Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A vision describing the computational tools necessary to perform these trades was described in a recent paper by the authors. 2 One of the most important components is a conceptual design-level aerodynamic modeling technique that is capable of rapidly and accurately analyzing the performance of configurations with distributed propellers. In this paper we describe our initial steps at implementing this aerodynamic modeling.…”

Section: A Research Goals and Paper Scopementioning

confidence: 99%

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Wing Aerodynamic Analysis Incorporating One-Way Interaction with Distributed Propellers

Patterson

German

2014

14th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference

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The use of electric motors on general aviation aircraft may enable new aircraft designs that are noticeably different from conventional configurations due to the reduced weight and volume of electric motors compared to conventional engines. One potential design involves distributing multiple propellers over the wing span to augment lift at low speeds. This paper describes initial conceptual design-level work in modeling the aerodynamics of wing configurations with multiple tractor propellers distributed upstream of the leading edge. The approach leverages a vortex lattice model of the wing aerodynamics and propeller slipstream velocities obtained from the XROTOR code augmented with corrections based on the Conway actuator disk model. The technique captures only the "one-way coupling" between the propellers and the wing in which only the propellers' impact on the wing is considered. This method provides quick results that may aid in design space exploration of DEP concepts in the conceptual design stage. Results indicate that substantial lift improvements may be obtained through leading edge propellers. Furthermore, distributing an equivalent amount of total power over four propellers instead of two provides additional increases in wing lift augmentation even when the propeller design and diameter are held fixed. These results should be verified with more detailed analyses that can capture the full mutual coupling between the wing and all propellers, but these initial tests indicate promise for distributed propeller configurations to provide lift augmentation at low speeds.

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Conceptual Design of Electric Aircraft with Distributed Propellers: Multidisciplinary Analysis Needs and Aerodynamic Modeling Development

Cited by 27 publications

References 24 publications

Design and Performance of the NASA SCEPTOR Distributed Electric Propulsion Flight Demonstrator

Design and Performance of the NASA SCEPTOR Distributed Electric Propulsion Flight Demonstrator

Multifunctional Composites for Future Energy Storage in Aerospace Structures

Wing Aerodynamic Analysis Incorporating One-Way Interaction with Distributed Propellers

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