Overcoming the Adoption Barrier to Electric Flight

Borer, Nicholas K.; Nickol, Craig L.; Jones, Frank; Yasky, Richard J.; Woodham, Kurt; Fell, Jared S.; Litherland, Brandon L.; Loyselle, Patricia L.; Provenza, Andrew J.; Kohlman, Lee W.; Samuel, Aamod

doi:10.2514/6.2016-1022

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…Current battery technologies yield 60-100x less energy stored per unit mass as compared to typical aircraft fuels [4]. Even with a threefold increase in efficiency, this is a prohibitive mass penalty for a simple powerplant retrofit to yield the same payload and range performance as the gasoline-powered counterpart.…”

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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186

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

186

109

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This study improves upon the detail level and accuracy of previous system-level vehicle studies [7,8,5,9] in two ways. First, we consider all relevant disciplines (propeller analysis, wing aerodynamics, structures, energy storage, and mission) using physics-based models, selecting an appropriate level of fidelity to capture first-order effects and tradeoffs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…With current battery technology, the critical limitation for pure electric propulsion is that batteries have energy densities that are 50-100 times lower than those of jet fuel. Even after factoring in the three-fold engine efficiency advantage for electric propulsion and other first-order effects, there is still 10-20 times less energy available [5], which translates to a smaller range. Other disadvantages of batteries include the high manufacturing cost, the additional infrastructure required, and certification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-scale multidisciplinary optimization of an electric aircraft for on-demand mobility

Hwang

Ning

2018

2018 AIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference

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Distributed electric propulsion is a key enabling technology for on-demand electric aircraft concepts. NASA's X-57 Maxwell X-plane is a demonstrator for this technology, and it features a row of high-lift propellers distributed along the leading edge of its wing to enable better aerodynamic efficiency at cruise and improved ride quality in addition to less noise and emissions. This study applies adjointbased multidisciplinary design optimization to this highly coupled design problem. The propulsion, aerodynamics, and structures are modeled using blade element momentum theory, the vortex lattice method, and finite element analysis, respectively, and the full mission profile is discretized and analyzed. The design variables in the optimization problem include the altitude profile, the velocity profile, battery weight, propeller diameters, propeller rotational speeds, blade profile parameters, wing thickness distribution, and angle of attack. Optimizations take on the order of 10 hours, and a 12% increase in range is observed.

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“…The roadmaps are in the following areas: Electric Propulsion and Configuration Integration; Simplified Vehicle Operations and Airspace Integration; and Integrated Structures and Manufacturing. NASA is also funding flight and ground demonstrations of distributed electric propulsion and related technologies (e.g., LEAPTech [30], and SCEPTOR [31]). For these technologies to be successfully demonstrated and deployed on industry-developed, FAA-certified ODM systems many additional issues need to be considered and many other organizations engaged.…”

Section: The Technology Landscape (Odm Enabling Technologies Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Vision and Opportunity for Transformation of On-Demand Air Mobility

Holmes

2016

16th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference

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Our nation and the planet face daunting challenges in intra-and inter-city transportation efficiency, accessibility, safety, and reliability, and their resultant impacts on economic growth, quality of life, environmental acceptability, and standard of living. Technology-enabled transportation system innovations can comprise some of the solutions to these challenges. Attainable options for transformations in mobility might propel some of the most impactful societal advancements since the U.S. Interstate Highway System. However, a larger framework is necessary involving stakeholders, policy, regulation, infrastructure and collaborators, all aligned around a public good outcome. These transformational options are driven by technology solutions satisfying market needs affecting the speed, cost, and safety of sustainable accessibility among global communities over a wide spectrum of scales of consumer demand. NASA refers qualitatively to such a modal advancement as "On-Demand Mobility (ODM), or OnDemand Aviation (ODA)." The term encompasses thinking about air transportation between any origin-destination pair regardless of the market sizes or whether such markets could support financially viable scheduled commercial service -not unlike our daily use of automobiles and commuter vans today. The intended markets include interand intra-urban, as well as "thin haul," or markets too small or irregular to support sustainable financial performance with scheduled air carrier services. This paper frames a study sponsored by NASA Headquarters. The study proposes to answer the following question: "Is it plausible that a new form of air mobility involving new aircraft and business models can be architected so as to raise accessibility and economic connectivity through on-demand aviation, and in doing so, complement and extend the utility we take for granted in our legacy system of scheduled airlines, interstate and intra-urban highways, and rail?" This paper proposes the key elements of a strategic context and framework for the technology strategies being considered by the U.S. Government, academia and industry (and by similar EU initiatives) affecting on-demand aviation systems. In addition, the paper introduces an approach to a high fidelity quantitative characterization of thin-haul markets. Finally, we outline the prospective roles of stakeholders, collaborators, infrastructure owners and operators, regulation, policy, international activities, and emerging technologies as enablers of transformation of 21st century democratized air mobility.

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Overcoming the Adoption Barrier to Electric Flight

Cited by 18 publications

References 8 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

Large-scale multidisciplinary optimization of an electric aircraft for on-demand mobility

A Vision and Opportunity for Transformation of On-Demand Air Mobility

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