Adaptive Initial Sizing Method and Safety Assessment for Hybrid-Electric Regional Aircraft
In the wake of many climate-friendly initiatives, the aviation sector must become more sustainable. A potential path for regional airliners could be the installation of hybrid-electric powertrains. In this work, a conceptual study design of various powertrain architectures is conducted. This helps t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Aerospace |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/9/3/150 |
| _version_ | 1797447666921111552 |
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| author | Nicolas Moebs Dominik Eisenhut Evert Windels Jenny van der Pols Andreas Strohmayer |
| author_facet | Nicolas Moebs Dominik Eisenhut Evert Windels Jenny van der Pols Andreas Strohmayer |
| author_sort | Nicolas Moebs |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the wake of many climate-friendly initiatives, the aviation sector must become more sustainable. A potential path for regional airliners could be the installation of hybrid-electric powertrains. In this work, a conceptual study design of various powertrain architectures is conducted. This helps the designer to quickly generate approximate numbers on the basic characteristics of new aircraft configurations. These results can be used to advance subsystems modeling or improve the starting values in the following preliminary aircraft design. After the selection of representative architectures, reasonable technological assumptions were gathered, ranging between a conservative and an optimistic scenario. This was done for powertrain components, various energy storage concepts and structural and aerodynamic changes. The initial sizing method was developed by building two interconnected sizing iteration loops. In addition, a safety assessment was integrated due to the many unconventional components in the powertrain’s setup. The results show that the fuel consumption of a conventional aircraft is not undercut with a hybrid-electric powertrain aircraft based on conservative technological assumptions. In the optimistic scenario, however, selected powertrain architectures show a significant drop in fuel consumption when compared to the conventional one. Furthermore, the use of synergistic effects and systematic powertrain optimizations can decrease the fuel consumption even further. In conclusion, it was shown that this initial sizing method can calculate entire hybrid-electric aircraft designs on a conceptual level. The results can quickly present trends that are reasonable and helpful. In addition, the safety assessment first gives evidence about which levels of safety have to be considered for the different components in the development of hybrid-electric powertrains. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:59:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a41b1cbd91bc42db93dfb87e39c1942e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-4310 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:59:12Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aerospace |
| spelling | doaj.art-a41b1cbd91bc42db93dfb87e39c1942e2023-11-30T10:28:02ZengMDPI AGAerospace2226-43102022-03-019315010.3390/aerospace9030150Adaptive Initial Sizing Method and Safety Assessment for Hybrid-Electric Regional AircraftNicolas Moebs0Dominik Eisenhut1Evert Windels2Jenny van der Pols3Andreas Strohmayer4Institute of Aircraft Design, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, GermanyInstitute of Aircraft Design, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, GermanyAircraft Development and Systems Engineering (ADSE) BV, 2132 HZ Hoofddorp, The NetherlandsAircraft Development and Systems Engineering (ADSE) BV, 2132 HZ Hoofddorp, The NetherlandsInstitute of Aircraft Design, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, GermanyIn the wake of many climate-friendly initiatives, the aviation sector must become more sustainable. A potential path for regional airliners could be the installation of hybrid-electric powertrains. In this work, a conceptual study design of various powertrain architectures is conducted. This helps the designer to quickly generate approximate numbers on the basic characteristics of new aircraft configurations. These results can be used to advance subsystems modeling or improve the starting values in the following preliminary aircraft design. After the selection of representative architectures, reasonable technological assumptions were gathered, ranging between a conservative and an optimistic scenario. This was done for powertrain components, various energy storage concepts and structural and aerodynamic changes. The initial sizing method was developed by building two interconnected sizing iteration loops. In addition, a safety assessment was integrated due to the many unconventional components in the powertrain’s setup. The results show that the fuel consumption of a conventional aircraft is not undercut with a hybrid-electric powertrain aircraft based on conservative technological assumptions. In the optimistic scenario, however, selected powertrain architectures show a significant drop in fuel consumption when compared to the conventional one. Furthermore, the use of synergistic effects and systematic powertrain optimizations can decrease the fuel consumption even further. In conclusion, it was shown that this initial sizing method can calculate entire hybrid-electric aircraft designs on a conceptual level. The results can quickly present trends that are reasonable and helpful. In addition, the safety assessment first gives evidence about which levels of safety have to be considered for the different components in the development of hybrid-electric powertrains.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/9/3/150hybrid-electric propulsionpreliminary aircraft designsustainable aviationaircraft safety analysisregional air travel |
| spellingShingle | Nicolas Moebs Dominik Eisenhut Evert Windels Jenny van der Pols Andreas Strohmayer Adaptive Initial Sizing Method and Safety Assessment for Hybrid-Electric Regional Aircraft Aerospace hybrid-electric propulsion preliminary aircraft design sustainable aviation aircraft safety analysis regional air travel |
| title | Adaptive Initial Sizing Method and Safety Assessment for Hybrid-Electric Regional Aircraft |
| title_full | Adaptive Initial Sizing Method and Safety Assessment for Hybrid-Electric Regional Aircraft |
| title_fullStr | Adaptive Initial Sizing Method and Safety Assessment for Hybrid-Electric Regional Aircraft |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adaptive Initial Sizing Method and Safety Assessment for Hybrid-Electric Regional Aircraft |
| title_short | Adaptive Initial Sizing Method and Safety Assessment for Hybrid-Electric Regional Aircraft |
| title_sort | adaptive initial sizing method and safety assessment for hybrid electric regional aircraft |
| topic | hybrid-electric propulsion preliminary aircraft design sustainable aviation aircraft safety analysis regional air travel |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/9/3/150 |
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