Development of a Scaled Experimental Testbed for Hybrid Electric Aircraft
Open Access
- Author:
- Dunford, Carly
- Area of Honors:
- Mechanical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Herschel C Pangborn, Thesis Supervisor
Margaret Louise Byron, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Testbed
MATLAB
Simulink
SolidWorks
Hybrid Electric Aircraft - Abstract:
- Hybrid electric aircraft are increasingly a focus of research and development in the aerospace industry. These aircraft have the potential to be more sustainable than traditional aircraft and offer other possible benefits. There are many ways to create a powertrain for a hybrid electric aircraft, and choosing which configuration is the best for a given set of flight requirements can be challenging. Different propulsion configurations provide various advantages to the aircraft. There is currently no comprehensive way to compare all the configurations due to the variables in each aircraft body shape, wing length, maximum takeoff weight, mission requirements, and many other factors. This work aims to develop a testbed to analyze many different hybrid electric aircraft propulsion configurations without rearranging components. The eventual goal is to develop a rapidly reconfigurable testbed to represent different candidate powertrain designs. To start this design process, Simulink was used to determine the type and size of parts needed for the testbed. By running simulations of the powertrains, the ideal part parameters were determined. After these parts were ordered, a testbed structure was created to test the functionality and interaction of the parts safely. Multiple testbed cage and motor mount designs were created and analyzed using SolidWorks. Final testbed layouts were selected and created. Using the final testbed motor mounts, two motors were coupled together as a motor and dynamometer pair and then run at a low speed to determine the interaction between the motors and develop a method to ensure the motors are precisely aligned. Once the testbed cage is completed, future students will work to transform the testbed to become reconfigurable.