Fast Sizing Methodology and Assessment of Energy Storage Configuration on the Flight Time of a Multirotor Aerial Vehicle

Abstract

Urban air mobility (UAM), defined as safe and efficient air traffic operations in a metropolitan area for manned aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems, is being researched and developed by industry, academia, and government. This kind of mobility offers an opportunity to construct a green and sustainable sub-sector, building upon the lessons learned over decades by aviation. Thanks to their non-polluting operation and simple air traffic management, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft technologies are currently being developed and experimented with for this purpose. However, to successfully complete the certification and commercialization stage, several challenges need to be overcome, particularly in terms of performance, such as flight time and endurance, and reliability. In this paper, a fast methodology for sizing and selecting the propulsion chain components of an eVTOL multirotor aerial vehicle was developed and validated on a reduced-scale prototype of an electric multirotor vehicle with a GTOW of 15 kg. This methodology is associated with a comparative study of energy storage system configurations, in order to assess their effect on the flight time of the aerial vehicle. First, the optimal pair motor/propeller was selected using a global nonlinear optimization in order to maximize the specific efficiency of these components. Second, five energy storage technologies were sized in order to evaluate their influence on the aerial vehicle flight time. Finally, based on this sizing process, the optimized propulsion chain gross take-off weight (GTOW) was evaluated for each energy storage configuration using regression-based methods based on propulsion chain supplier data.

Design Optimisation Approach of an Outer Rotor Multiphase PM Actuator for Multirotor Aerial Vehicle Applications

“…This category of propellers is characterized by its stiffness and lightweight. The propeller parameters are the diameter D p , the blade number B p and the pitch angle φ p or the pitch which is related to the pitch angle by H p = D p • tan(φ p ) and its model, which describes the propeller thrust T p (N) and torque M p (N • m) in terms of the other parameters given by [21][22][23]:…”

“…The thrust and torque coefficients are dependent on the propeller blade airfoil shape. Their model and their approximative values are presented in [21]. Based on the sizing methodology presented in [21], it is suggested that with a carbon fiber propeller of D p = 1.2 m and H p = 0.456 m, the developed thrust is 74 kg at a velocity of 3300 rpm.…”

“…Their model and their approximative values are presented in [21]. Based on the sizing methodology presented in [21], it is suggested that with a carbon fiber propeller of D p = 1.2 m and H p = 0.456 m, the developed thrust is 74 kg at a velocity of 3300 rpm. The propeller parameters and its thrust and torque in terms of the velocity are, respectively, given by Table 1 and Figure 2.…”

Heavy-Lift Multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Characterization and Sizing

“…Due to the high-energy consumption nature, when designing a multirotor UAV, it is important to carefully select system parameters and components in order to minimize energy consumption. Numerous studies have been conducted covering various aspects ranging from energy consumption prediction [19] to sizing methodologies [20,21]. Furthermore, in the paper [22], an analytical framework is presented for addressing hovering performance and optimal sizing of battery-powered electric multirotors.…”