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Hover performance estimation and validation of battery powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

  • Mechanical Engineering, Control Science and Information Engineering
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Abstract

Battery powered vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft attracts more and more interests from public, while limited hover endurance hinders many prospective applications. Based on the weight models of battery, motor and electronic speed controller, the power consumption model of propeller and the constant power discharge model of battery, an efficient method to estimate the hover endurance of battery powered VTOL aircraft was presented. In order to understand the mechanism of performance improvement, the impacts of propulsion system parameters on hover endurance were analyzed by simulations, including the motor power density, the battery capacity, specific energy and Peukert coefficient. Ground experiment platform was established and validation experiments were carried out, the results of which showed a well agreement with the simulations. The estimation method and the analysis results could be used for optimization design and hover performance evaluation of battery powered VTOL aircraft.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073, China

    Bo Wang  (王波), Zhong-xi Hou  (侯中喜), Ya-fei Lu  (鲁亚飞) & Xiong-feng Zhu  (朱雄峰)

  2. Troop 61243, Urumqi, 830006, China

    Bo Wang  (王波)

Authors
  1. Bo Wang  (王波)
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  2. Zhong-xi Hou  (侯中喜)
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  3. Ya-fei Lu  (鲁亚飞)
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  4. Xiong-feng Zhu  (朱雄峰)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhong-xi Hou  (侯中喜).

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Wang, B., Hou, Zx., Lu, Yf. et al. Hover performance estimation and validation of battery powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. J. Cent. South Univ. 23, 2595–2603 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-016-3321-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-016-3321-8

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