23,975 research outputs found
NASA Thesaurus Supplement: A three part cumulative supplement to the 1982 edition of the NASA Thesaurus (supplement 2)
The three part cumulative NASA Thesaurus Supplement to the 1982 edition of the NASA Thesaurus includes: part 1, hierarchical listing; part 2, access vocabulary, and part 3, deletions. The semiannual supplement gives complete hierarchies for new terms and includes new term indications for terms new to this supplement
Development of a Thermal Management System for Electrified Aircraft
This paper describes the development and optimization of a conceptual thermal management system for electrified aircraft. Here, a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle is analyzed with the following electrically sourced heat loads considered: motors, generators, rectifiers, and inverters. The vehicle will employ liquid-cooling techniques in order to acquire, transport, and reject waste heat from the vehicle. The purpose of this paper is to threefold: 1) Present a potential modeling framework for system level thermal management system simulation, 2) Analyze typical system characteristics, and 3) Perform optimization on a system developed for a specific vehicle to minimize weight gain, power utilization, and drag. Additionally, the paper will study the design process, specifically investigating the differences between steady state and transient sizing, comparing simulation techniques with a lower fidelity option and quantifying expected error
NASA Thesaurus Supplement: A three part cumulative supplement to the 1982 edition of the NASA Thesaurus (supplement 3)
The three part cumulative NASA Thesaurus Supplement to the 1982 edition of the NASA Thesaurus includes Part 1, Hierarchical Listing, Part 2, Access Vocabulary, and Part 3, Deletions. The semiannual supplement gives complete hierarchies for new terms and includes new term indications for entries new to this supplement
Aircraft electromagnetic compatibility
Illustrated are aircraft architecture, electromagnetic interference environments, electromagnetic compatibility protection techniques, program specifications, tasks, and verification and validation procedures. The environment of 400 Hz power, electrical transients, and radio frequency fields are portrayed and related to thresholds of avionics electronics. Five layers of protection for avionics are defined. Recognition is given to some present day electromagnetic compatibility weaknesses and issues which serve to reemphasize the importance of EMC verification of equipment and parts, and their ultimate EMC validation on the aircraft. Proven standards of grounding, bonding, shielding, wiring, and packaging are laid out to help provide a foundation for a comprehensive approach to successful future aircraft design and an understanding of cost effective EMC in an aircraft setting
Electrical Cable Design for Urban Air Mobility Aircraft
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) describes a new type of aviation focused on efficient flight within urban areas for moving people and goods. There are many different configurations of UAM vehicles, but they generally use an electric motor driving a propeller or ducted fan powered by batteries or a hybrid electric power generation system. Transmission cables are used to move energy from the storage or generation system to the electric motors. Though terrestrial power transmission cables are well established technology, aviation applications bring a whole host of new design challenges that are not typical considerations in terrestrial applications. Aircraft power transmission cable designs must compromise between resistance-per-length, weight-per-length, volume constraints, and other essential qualities. In this paper we use a multidisciplinary design optimization to explore the sensitivity of these qualities to a representative tiltwing turboelectric UAM aircraft concept. This is performed by coupling propulsion and thermal models for a given mission criteria. Results presented indicate that decreasing cable weight at the expense of increasing cable volume or cooling demand is effective at minimizing maximum takeoff weight (MTO). These findings indicate that subsystem designers should update their modeling approach in order to contribute to system-level optimality for highly-coupled novel aircraft.
Mobility (UAM) vehicles have the potential to change urban and intra-urban transport in
new and interesting ways. In a series of two papers Johnson et al.1 and Silva et al.2 presented four
reference vehicle configurations that could service different niches in the UAM aviation category. Of those,
this paper focuses on the Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) tiltwing configuration shown in Figure 1.
This configuration uses a turboelectric power system, feeding power from a turbo-generator through a system
of transmission cables to four motors spinning large propellers on the wings. Previous work on electric cable subsystems leaves much yet to be explored, especially in the realm of
subsystem coupling. Several aircraft optimization studies1, 3, 4 only considered aircraft electrical cable weight
and ignored thermal effects. Electric and hybrid-electric aircraft studies by Mueller et al.5 and Hoelzen
et al.6 selected a cable material but did not investigate alternative materials. Advanced cable materials
have been examined by a number of authors: Alvarenga7 examined carbon nanotube (CNT) conductors for
low-power applications. De Groh8, 9 examined CNT conductors for motor winding applications. Behabtu
et al.,10 and Zhao et al.11 examined CNT conductors for a general applications. There were some studies
that examined the thermal effects of cables but they did not allow the cable material to change; El-Kady12
optimized ground-cable insulation and cooling subject constraints. Vratny13 selected cable material based
on vehicle power demand, and required resulting cable heat to be dissipated by the Thermal Management
System (TMS). None of these previous studies allowed for the selection of the cable material based on a
system level optimization goal. Instead, they focused on sub-system optimality such as minimum weight,
which comes at the expense of incurring additional costs for other subsystems. Dama14 selected overhead
transmission line materials using a weighting function and thermal constraints. However, that work was not
coupled with any aircraft subsystems like a TMS.
The traditional aircraft design approach, which relies on assembling groups of optimal subsystems, breaks
down when considering novel aircraft concepts like the tiltwing vehicle. In a large part, this is because novel
concepts have a much higher degree of interaction or coupling between subsystems. For example, when a
cable creates heat, this heat needs to be dissipated by the TMS, which needs power supplied by the turbine,
and delivering the power creates more heat. The cable, the TMS, and the turbine are all coupled. A change
to one subsystem will affect all the other subsystems, much to the consternation of subsystem design experts.
Multidisciplinary optimization is the design approach that can address these challenges. However, to fully
take advantage of this, we must change the way we think about subsystem design. Specifically, we must
move away from point design, and focus on creating solution spaces.
The work presented in this paper uses the multidisciplinary optimization approach with aircraft level
models to study the system-level sensitivity of cable traits: weight-per-length and resistance-per-length.
Additionally, we examined the effects of vehicle imposed volume constraints on these traits. This is useful
for three purposes: (1) to demonstrate a framework that can perform a coupled analysis between the aircraft
thermal and propulsion systems, (2) to provide a method by which future cable designs can be evaluated
against each other given a system-level design goal, (3) to provide insight into what cable properties may
be promising for future research. This last element is explored given the caveat that the models contained
in this analysis do not represent high-fidelity systems. Thus, while we can demonstrate coupling in between
systems, the exact system-level sensitivity to a given parameter may change if a subsystem model or the
assumptions governing that model change.
The organization of this paper is as follows, in Sec II we outline a method to combine the VTOL vehicle
design and cable information in order to produce cables sensitivity studies. Results analysis and discussion
are contained in Sec III. Conclusions are presented in Sec IV
Baseline Assumptions and Future Research Areas for Urban Air Mobility Vehicles
NASA is developing Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concepts to (1) create first-generation reference vehicles that can be used for technology, system, and market studies, and (2) hypothesize second-generation UAM aircraft to determine high-payoff technology targets and future research areas that reach far beyond initial UAM vehicle capabilities. This report discusses the vehicle-level technology assumptions for NASAs UAM reference vehicles, and highlights future research areas for second-generation UAM aircraft that includes deflected slipstream concepts, low-noise rotors for edgewise flight, stacked rotors/propellers, ducted propellers, solid oxide fuel cells with liquefied natural gas, and improved turbo shaft and reciprocating engine technology. The report also highlights a transportation network-scale model that is being developed to understand the impact of these and other technologies on future UAM solutions
An Experimental Approach to a Rapid Propulsion and Aeronautics Concepts Testbed
Modern aircraft design tools have limitations for predicting complex propulsion-airframe interactions. The demand for new tools and methods addressing these limitations is high based on the many recent Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) concepts being developed for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) markets. We propose that low cost electronics and additive manufacturing can support the conceptual design of advanced autonomy-enabled concepts, by facilitating rapid prototyping for experimentally driven design cycles. This approach has the potential to reduce complex aircraft concept development costs, minimize unique risks associated with the conceptual design, and shorten development schedule by enabling the determination of many "unknown unknowns" earlier in the design process and providing verification of the results from aircraft design tools. A modular testbed was designed and built to evaluate this rapid design-build-test approach and to support aeronautics and autonomy research targeting UAM applications utilizing a complex, transitioning-VTOL aircraft configuration. The testbed is a modular wind tunnel and flight model. The testbed airframe is approximately 80% printed, with labor required for assembly. This paper describes the design process, fabrication process, ground testing, and initial wind tunnel structural and thermal loading of a proof-of-concept aircraft, the Langley Aerodrome 8 (LA-8)
Rotorcraft flight-propulsion control integration: An eclectic design concept
The NASA Ames and Lewis Research Centers, in conjunction with the Army Research and Technology Laboratories, have initiated and partially completed a joint research program focused on improving the performance, maneuverability, and operating characteristics of rotorcraft by integrating the flight and propulsion controls. The background of the program, its supporting programs, its goals and objectives, and an approach to accomplish them are discussed. Results of the modern control governor design of the General Electric T700 engine and the Rotorcraft Integrated Flight-Propulsion Control Study, which were key elements of the program, are also presented
An engine trade study for a supersonic STOVL fighter-attack aircraft, volume 1
The best main engine for an advanced STOVL aircraft flight demonstrator was studied. The STOVL aircraft uses ejectors powered by engine bypass flow together with vectored core exhaust to achieve vertical thrust capability. Bypass flow and core flow are exhausted through separate nozzles during wingborne flight. Six near term turbofan engines were examined for suitability for this aircraft concept. Fan pressure ratio, thrust split between bypass and core flow, and total thrust level were used to compare engines. One of the six candidate engines was selected for the flight demonstrator configuration. Propulsion related to this aircraft concept was studied. A preliminary candidate for the aircraft reaction control system for hover attitude control was selected. A mathematical model of transfer of bypass thrust from ejectors to aft directed nozzle during the transition to wingborne flight was developed. An equation to predict ejector secondary air flow rate and ram drag is derived. Additional topics discussed include: nozzle area control, ejector to engine inlet reingestion, bypass/core thrust split variation, and gyroscopic behavior during hover
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