Search

The concept of variable rotor speed (VRS) has been recognized as an efficient means to improve rotorcraft operational performance and environmental impact, with electrification being a potential technology to further contribute to that. This paper explores the impact of optimal implementation and scheduling of VRS and power management strategy for conventional and hybrid-electric rotorcraft on energy, fuel, and emissions footprint. A multidisciplinary simulation framework for rotorcraft performance combined with models for engine performance and gaseous emissions estimation is deployed. A holistic optimization approach is developed for the derivation of globally optimal schedules for combined rotor speed and power split targeting minimum energy consumption. Application of the derived optimal schedules at mission level resulted to a 6% improvement in range capability for the VRS tilt-rotor relative to its conventional counterpart. For the hybrid-electric tilt-rotor, combined optimization of VRS and power management leads to an increase in range to 18.4% at 40% and 25% reduced payload for current (250 Wh/kg) and future (450 Wh/kg) battery technology, respectively. For representative urban air mobility (UAM) scenarios, it is demonstrated that the VRS concept resulted in up to 10% and 14% reductions in fuel burn and NOx relative to the nominal rotor speed case, respectively. The utilization of the combined optimum VRS and power split schedules can boost performance with reductions of the order of 20% and 25% in mission fuel/CO2 and NOx at a reduced payload relative to the conventional tilt-rotor.

An integrated engine cycle design methodology and mission assessment for parallel hybrid electric propulsion architectures are presented in this paper. The aircraft case study considered is inspired by Fokker 100, boosted by an electric motor on the low-pressure shaft of the gas turbine. The fuel burn benefits arising from boosting the low-pressure shaft are discussed for two different baseline engine technologies. A three-point engine cycle design method is developed to redesign the engine cycle according to the degree of hybridization. The integrated cycle design and power management optimization method is employed to identify potential fuel burn benefits from hybridization for multiple mission ranges. Genetic algorithm-based optimizer has been used to identify optimal power management strategies. The sensitivity of these mission results has also been analyzed for different assumptions on the electric powertrain. With 1 MW motor power and a battery pack of 2307 kg, a maximum of 3% fuel burn benefit can be obtained by retrofitting the gas turbine for 400 nm mission range. Optimizing the power management strategy can improve this fuel burn benefit by 0.2–0.3%. Redesigning the gas turbine and optimizing the power management strategy, finally provides a maximum fuel benefit of 4.2% on 400 nm. The results suggest that a high hybridization by power, low hybridization by energy, and ranges below 700 nm are the only cases where the redesigned hybrid electric aircraft has benefits in fuel burn and energy consumption relative to the baseline aircraft. Finally, it is found that the percentage of fuel burn benefits from the hybrid electric configuration increases with the improvement in engine technology.

Fluidic oscillators show promise for use in aerodynamic flow control applications, with many studies reporting oscillation frequencies in the 1–10 kHz range. Spyropoulos, “A Sonic Oscillator,” introduced a “sonic” oscillator whose oscillation frequency depends on the inlet flow rate. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the existence of a second mode of operation (mode II) for such an oscillator, with a separate physical mechanism to the traditional, flow rate-dependent mode (mode I). Mode II is shown to be a back-pressure-driven oscillation that is largely independent of flow rate once instigated. This is explained by a stationary wave formed along the outlet paths, and occurs when conditions on the degree of back pressure and the weakening of the Coandă attachment strength are met. For a fixed device geometry, the conditions reduce to a minimum flow rate threshold so that the combination of high flow rate and constant oscillation frequency could make mode II an attractive flow control solution in an industrial context where minimizing device size is often critical.

The design of efficient, environmentally friendly, and quiet powerplant for rotorcraft architectures constitutes a key enabler for urban air mobility (UAM) application. This work focuses on the development and application of a generic methodology for the design, performance, and environmental impact assessment of a parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system, utilizing simple and advanced recuperated engine cycles. A simulation framework for rotorcraft analysis comprising models for rotor aerodynamics, flight dynamics, and hybrid-electric powerplant performance is deployed for the design exploration and optimization of a hybrid-electric rotorcraft, modeled after the NASA XV-15, adapted for civil applications. Optimally designed powerplants for payload-range capacity, energy efficiency, and environmental impact have been obtained. A comparative evaluation has been performed for the optimum designs. The respective tradeoffs between engine, heat exchanger weight, thermal efficiency, as well as mission fuel burn and environmental impact have been quantified. It has been demonstrated that a recuperated gas turbine-based hybrid-electric architecture may provide improvements of up to 6% in mission range capability without sacrificing useful load. At the same time, analyses performed for a representative 100 km mission suggest reductions in fuel burn and NOX emissions of up to 12.9% and 5.2%, respectively. Analyses are carried at aircraft and mission level using realistic UAM mission scenarios.

This paper presents a novel approach to real-time modeling of disk temperature distribution using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). The method combines singular value decomposition (SVD) techniques with a series of low-order transfer functions to predict the disk's thermal response over a typical flight. The model uses only typically available full authority digital electronic control (FADEC) measurements to predict temperature with accuracy of ±30 K over the whole flight cycle. A Kalman filter has also been developed based on a single temperature measurement, and the location of the measurement has been assessed in order to select the most appropriate target for instrumentation. Points all around the front and back of the disk have been assessed, and the best practice result is found to be near the center of the disk neck. This represents a compromise between matching the fast dynamic response of the rim, with the slower dynamics of the cob. The new model has been validated against an independent flight simulation.

Practical observations of the nonreturn valve wear in aero-engine cabin-bleed systems suggest that such valves are subject to unstable behavior. A theoretical model for the prediction of nonreturn valve instabilities in air systems is proposed and a nonlinear state-space model of the nonreturn valve and air volume interaction is derived from first principles. Experimental work is used to identify both the dynamic characteristics and the flow properties of the valve, which are used to identify the coefficients within the model. Through frequency analysis of valve oscillatory behavior, the levels of damping within the system are identified. Finally, using a local linearization of the state-space model an explicit mathematical prediction of valve stability is derived based on system parameters. These predictions are used to generate a map of the transition from stable to unstable system behavior for low-speed air flow, which is in excellent agreement with experimental data.