High Speed Mobility through On-Demand Aviation

Moore, Mark D.; Goodrich, Ken; Viken, Jeff; Smith, Jeremy C.; Fredericks, Bill; Trani, Toni; Barraclough, Jonathan; German, Brian; Patterson, Michael D.

doi:10.2514/6.2013-4373

Cited by 63 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 1 publication

(1 reference statement)

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“…For light aircraft, these motors are more compact, lighter, quieter, and more reliable than the reciprocating combustion engines that are currently used for primary propulsion [1]. Ongoing development, research, and eventual production projects are focusing on the low-power, low-range, limited utility platforms dedicated to the flight training market, as seen in the Airbus E-Fan [2] and Pipistrel Alpha Electro [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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: Introductionmentioning

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

“…In addition, VTOL technology is also expected to have a large impact on the future intraand intercity transport systems by providing "on demand" mobility within 50-500 miles (Moore & Goodrich, 2013) and improve connectivity between airports and population centers in the metropolitan areas, which would strengthen competitiveness of the air transport mode over other ground transport systems such as high-speed rail and highway.…”

Section: Background Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Scenario-Based Strategic Planning for Future Civil Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) Transport

Choi¹,

Hampton²

2020

JAAER

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“…Moreover, recently developed concepts of mobility envision the adoption of light propellerpowered aircrafts to provide mass transportation solutions. For instance, new business models built on the so-called On-Demand Aviation have become part of the NASA's vision for the future [7].…”

Section: Nomenclature Latin Symbolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Surrogate-Based Multi-Disciplinary Design Optimization Framework Exploiting Wing-Propeller Interaction

Alba

Elham

German

et al. 2017

18th AIAA/ISSMO Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference

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The adoption of propellers is the oldest propulsive solution in aviation, and remains nowadays the preferred one in several segments of the market, being the greenest and most fuel-efficient choice for low-to-mid subsonic speeds. New paradigms of mobility envision the use of propeller powered aircrafts to provide an answer to the issue of future mass transportation in and between major cities.Common aircraft design procedures determine optimal wing design parameters pursuing low drag and weight solutions, but neglecting the influence that propellers' slipstreams have on lift and drag distributions, especially when mounted in tractor configurations.Considering such strong interest in propeller propulsion, and the apparent lack of insightful research in the multi-disciplinary design optimization (MDO) opportunities that propeller-wing integration brings along, the present Thesis was designed with the objective of building a surrogate-based MDO framework for a general aviation aircraft featuring wing mounted tractor propellers. Such objective was achieved by developing appropriate analysis tools to model the most relevant effects of wing-propellers interaction, and by integrating them in suitable optimization architectures enhanced by the adoption of surrogate models. Two research hypotheses underlay such approach, the first claiming that accounting for wing-propeller interaction effects could lead to better designs, and the second claiming that the adoption of surrogate modeling techniques could greatly improve overall optimization performances. The successful accomplishment of the described objective was demonstrated by applying the optimization on an existing aircraft and achieving sensitive fuel savings. The mentioned hypotheses were instead proven under several aspects through the multiple surrogate-based optimization frameworks adopted and the obtained optimal designs. The work proposed as well innovative solutions to perform a full interaction wing-propellers analysis, such as routines to assess and model the propeller streamtube deflection and the wing swirl recovery effects. It also provided guidance for the implementation of surrogate-based optimizations in problems featuring high numbers of design variables and multiple complex non-linear constraints, testing different surrogate models, as well as different frameworks, to achieve local and global optimal designs.iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe path leading to the achievement of my Master in Aerospace Engineering has been a challenging and rewarding one, along which all my professors and colleagues at TU Delft have been a huge source of motivation and improvement.This Thesis is the culmination of such journey, and would not have been possible without the support of the people I have been working with over the past year. I would first like to thank my supervisor Dr. Elham of TU Delft for his availability and precious contribution in several aspects of the work. A great thanks is due as well to Professor Brian German who hosted me at the Georgia Institute o...

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High Speed Mobility through On-Demand Aviation

Cited by 63 publications

References 1 publication

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

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

Scenario-Based Strategic Planning for Future Civil Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) Transport

A Surrogate-Based Multi-Disciplinary Design Optimization Framework Exploiting Wing-Propeller Interaction

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