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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Takeoff And Performance Tradeoffs Of Retrofit Distributed Electric Propulsion For Urban Transport, Kevin Moore, Andrew Ning
Takeoff And Performance Tradeoffs Of Retrofit Distributed Electric Propulsion For Urban Transport, Kevin Moore, Andrew Ning
Faculty Publications
While vertical takeoff and landing aircraft have shown promise for urban air transport, distributed electric propulsion on existing aircraft may offer immediately implementable alternatives. Distributed electric propulsion could potentially decrease takeoff distances enough to enable thousands of potential inter-city runways. This conceptual study explores the effects of a retrofit of open-bladed electric propulsion units. To model and explore the design space we use blade element momentum method, vortex lattice method, linear-beam finite element analysis, classical laminate theory, composite failure, empirically-based blade noise modeling, motor and motor-controller mass models, and gradient-based optimization. With liftoff time of seconds and the safe total …
Modeling Multirotor Aerodynamic Interactions Through The Vortex Particle Method, Eduardo Alvarez, Andrew Ning
Modeling Multirotor Aerodynamic Interactions Through The Vortex Particle Method, Eduardo Alvarez, Andrew Ning
Faculty Publications
Distributed electric propulsion and vertical take-off and landing has recently opened a new design space for urban air mobility. However, the use of multiple rotors operating in close proximity introduces complicated aerodynamic interactions that are not well understood, are not captured through conventional design tools, and need to be addressed in the conceptual design stage. This study investigates the accuracy of the viscous vortex particle method (VPM) in modeling rotor-on-rotor aerodynamic interactions in a side- by-side configuration as encountered in tilt-rotor, quadrotor, and distributed propulsion aircraft. The VPM approach has the potential to enable the use of mid/high fidelity models …