01 - Aircraft and Systems Integration

HYBRID TURBO-ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTED PROPULSION APPLIED TO SHORT RANGE AIRCRAFT

P. Laskaridis, Cranfield University, United Kingdom

Hybrid Turbo-Electric Distributed Propulsion is a novel concept that has the potential to revolutionise the design and performance of future aircraft. The exact benefits of the concept depend heavily on the airframe and the architecture of the propulsion system considered. The present study focuses on the application of a hybrid, turbo-electric distributed propulsion system on a regional aircraft. The study considers the impact of the various synergies available and how they can affect the design space of the aircraft. The short range of the aircraft makes it difficult to optimise for minimum fuel consumption and maximum efficiency. Instead, operational flexibility and take-off performance combined with low capital costs become in many cases the main drivers in the design of such an aircraft. The moderate power requirements of the aircraft coupled with the flexibility and the synergies offered by a Hybrid Turbo-electric Distributed Propulsion system makes is a suitable candidates for the application of the concept. In this context, propulsion architectures that utilise discrete propellers distributed across the span of the wing can account for asymmetric thrust or power failures whilst maintaining a uniform span-wise thrust distribution. As a result, the size and weight of the vertical tail can reduce. Furthermore, the slipstream of the distributed propellers can be used to augment the aerodynamic characteristics of the wing. The design parameters of the propellers have a direct impact not only on the efficiency of the propeller and the propulsion system but in this case on the overall aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft. A Turbo-Electric configuration can be implemented to achieve better control of the propellers and decouple the operation of the propellers from the operation of the engine. As a result the desired thrust can be achieved by controlling not only the pitch angle of the propeller blades but by also controlling the rotational speed independently

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