Publication Date
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Committee Members
Rory A. Roberts (Advisor), Mitch Wolff (Committee Member), Zifeng Yang (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)
Abstract
Next generation aircraft will incorporate more electrical power generation and storage for both a distributed electric propulsion system and onboard subsystems. The power generation in this type of aircraft will require orders of magnitude higher than today’s commercial aircrafts, thus producing many challenges. For this reason, a unique, high-powered electric propulsion system primarily powered by a turbo-generator system with electrical storage is being considered. A Simulink/Matlab model has bee created for the electrical power system of the next generation blended wing commercial aircraft proposed by NASA. The components of the electrical system include turbo-generators, generators, battery banks, and electrical distribution systems. This thesis presents the development of the power generation, storage, and transmission of the electrical power required for typical commercial missions. All of the component models are integrated into an aircraft model and used to simulate typical flight profiles. The scalability of the model is demonstrated by developing the required distributed power system for a 50-passenger regional transport aircraft. The benefits of an all-electric aircraft are tremendous, but there are significant challenges in regard to the power generation and distribution requirements.
Page Count
77
Department or Program
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Year Degree Awarded
2017
Copyright
Copyright 2017, some rights reserved. My ETD may be copied and distributed only for non-commercial purposes and may not be modified. All use must give me credit as the original author.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
