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Impact of electric propulsion technology and mission requirements on the performance of VTOL UAVs

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Abstract

One of the engineering challenges in aviation is the design of transitioning vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Thrust-borne flight implies a higher mass fraction of the propulsion system, as well as much increased energy consumption in the take-off and landing phases. This mass increase is typically higher for aircraft with a separate lift propulsion system than for aircraft that use the cruise propulsion system to support a dedicated lift system. However, for a cost–benefit trade study, it is necessary to quantify the impact the VTOL requirement and propulsion configuration has on aircraft mass and size. For this reason, sizing studies are conducted. This paper explores the impact of considering a supplemental electric propulsion system for achieving hovering flight. Key variables in this study, apart from the lift system configuration, are the rotor disk loading and hover flight time, as well as the electrical systems technology level for both batteries and motors. Payload and endurance are typically used as the measures of merit for unmanned aircraft that carry electro-optical sensors, and therefore the analysis focuses on these particular parameters.

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Abbreviations

\(\dot {m}\) :

Mass flow rate

A/C:

Aircraft

AC:

Alternating current

Bat:

Battery

C :

Cruise

CTOL:

Conventional take-off and landing

DC:

Direct current

e :

Electronic

E :

Energy

E*:

Mass specific energy

ES:

Electrical system

ESC:

Electronic speed controller

g :

Gravitational acceleration

ISA:

International standard atmosphere

L :

Lift

L/D :

Lift-to-drag ratio

M :

Figure of merit

m :

Mass

m 0 :

Design gross mass

MSL:

Mean sea-level

MTOM:

Maximum take-off mass

n :

Number of

P :

Power

P :

Propeller

P*:

Mass specific power

S :

Area

T :

Thrust

t :

Time

T/W :

Thrust-to-weight ratio

TO:

Take-off

TRL:

Technology readiness level

UAV:

Unmanned aerial vehicle

VTOL:

Vertical take-off and landing

η :

Efficiency

ρ :

Density of air

τ :

Energy reserve fraction

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Aircraft Engineering, FH-Aachen, Hohenstaufenallee 6, 52064, Aachen, Germany

    D. Felix Finger & Carsten Braun

  2. School of Engineering, RMIT University, Plenty Rd, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia

    Cees Bil

Authors
  1. D. Felix Finger
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  2. Carsten Braun
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  3. Cees Bil
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Correspondence to D. Felix Finger.

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Finger, D.F., Braun, C. & Bil, C. Impact of electric propulsion technology and mission requirements on the performance of VTOL UAVs. CEAS Aeronaut J 10, 827–843 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-018-0352-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-018-0352-x

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