Configuration Study of Electric Helicopters for Urban Air Mobility
There is currently interest in the design of small electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft to alleviate ground traffic and congestion in major urban areas. To support progress in this area, a conceptual design method for single-main-rotor and lift-augmented compound electric helicopters has...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-02-01
|
| Series: | Aerospace |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/8/2/54 |
| _version_ | 1797395973675155456 |
|---|---|
| author | Julia A. Cole Lauren Rajauski Andrew Loughran Alexander Karpowicz Stefanie Salinger |
| author_facet | Julia A. Cole Lauren Rajauski Andrew Loughran Alexander Karpowicz Stefanie Salinger |
| author_sort | Julia A. Cole |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is currently interest in the design of small electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft to alleviate ground traffic and congestion in major urban areas. To support progress in this area, a conceptual design method for single-main-rotor and lift-augmented compound electric helicopters has been developed. The design method was used to investigate the feasible design space for electric helicopters based on varying mission profiles and technology assumptions. Within the feasible design space, it was found that a crossover boundary exists as a function of cruise distance and hover time where the most efficient configuration changes from a single-main-rotor helicopter to a lift-augmented compound helicopter. In general, for longer cruise distances and shorter hover times, the lift-augmented compound helicopter is the more efficient configuration. An additional study was conducted to investigate the potential benefits of decoupling the main rotor from the tail rotor. This study showed that decoupling the main rotor and tail rotor has the potential to reduce the total mission energy required in all cases, allowing for increases in mission distances and hover times on the order of 5% for a given battery size. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:43:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3dc6eaddf1f2474ba3bbc82e36f3c39c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-4310 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:43:35Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aerospace |
| spelling | doaj.art-3dc6eaddf1f2474ba3bbc82e36f3c39c2023-12-11T17:41:30ZengMDPI AGAerospace2226-43102021-02-01825410.3390/aerospace8020054Configuration Study of Electric Helicopters for Urban Air MobilityJulia A. Cole0Lauren Rajauski1Andrew Loughran2Alexander Karpowicz3Stefanie Salinger4Mechanical Engineering, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Dr., Lewisburg, PA 17837, USAMechanical Engineering, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Dr., Lewisburg, PA 17837, USAMechanical Engineering, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Dr., Lewisburg, PA 17837, USAMechanical Engineering, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Dr., Lewisburg, PA 17837, USAAerospace Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2617 Wichita St., Austin, TX 78712, USAThere is currently interest in the design of small electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft to alleviate ground traffic and congestion in major urban areas. To support progress in this area, a conceptual design method for single-main-rotor and lift-augmented compound electric helicopters has been developed. The design method was used to investigate the feasible design space for electric helicopters based on varying mission profiles and technology assumptions. Within the feasible design space, it was found that a crossover boundary exists as a function of cruise distance and hover time where the most efficient configuration changes from a single-main-rotor helicopter to a lift-augmented compound helicopter. In general, for longer cruise distances and shorter hover times, the lift-augmented compound helicopter is the more efficient configuration. An additional study was conducted to investigate the potential benefits of decoupling the main rotor from the tail rotor. This study showed that decoupling the main rotor and tail rotor has the potential to reduce the total mission energy required in all cases, allowing for increases in mission distances and hover times on the order of 5% for a given battery size.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/8/2/54aircraft designeVTOLurban air mobility |
| spellingShingle | Julia A. Cole Lauren Rajauski Andrew Loughran Alexander Karpowicz Stefanie Salinger Configuration Study of Electric Helicopters for Urban Air Mobility Aerospace aircraft design eVTOL urban air mobility |
| title | Configuration Study of Electric Helicopters for Urban Air Mobility |
| title_full | Configuration Study of Electric Helicopters for Urban Air Mobility |
| title_fullStr | Configuration Study of Electric Helicopters for Urban Air Mobility |
| title_full_unstemmed | Configuration Study of Electric Helicopters for Urban Air Mobility |
| title_short | Configuration Study of Electric Helicopters for Urban Air Mobility |
| title_sort | configuration study of electric helicopters for urban air mobility |
| topic | aircraft design eVTOL urban air mobility |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/8/2/54 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT juliaacole configurationstudyofelectrichelicoptersforurbanairmobility AT laurenrajauski configurationstudyofelectrichelicoptersforurbanairmobility AT andrewloughran configurationstudyofelectrichelicoptersforurbanairmobility AT alexanderkarpowicz configurationstudyofelectrichelicoptersforurbanairmobility AT stefaniesalinger configurationstudyofelectrichelicoptersforurbanairmobility |