Assessing the Impact of Hybrid Distributed Electric Propulsion On VTOL Aircraft Design and System Effectiveness

Current VTOL aircraft design processes require significant changes in computational methodologies resulting from innovations in distributed hybrid and electric propulsion technology. Electric VTOL (eVTOL) aircraft design offers radically different configurations by eliminating limitations in weight, size and location of Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) and associated fuel systems. Hybrid Distributed Electric Propulsion (HDEP) solutions, to include eVTOL, allow designers to incorporate a greater number of smaller, lightweight propulsors throughout the airframe structure as necessary to meet complex mission requirements. Additional benefits of HDEP versus fossil fuel counterparts, include reduced acoustic and thermal signatures and lighter and smaller structures. Because of the many advantages of DEP, it is quickly becoming the preferred choice for autonomous aircraft design. This paper addresses the necessary changes to VTOL Synthesis to include DEP and Autonomy for HDEP aircraft. Two of the authors, Dr. Daniel P. Schrage and Mr. Kaydon Stanzione have substantial expertise and experience in VTOL aircraft design and the methodologies for vehicle synthesis. They will use this expertise and experience to identify and present the necessary changes in the VTOLTradeoff Environment (VTE) for HDEP VTOL aircraft design and assessment. The VTE will also be focused on using an Overall Evaluation Criterions (OEC) for the VTE that address value as a ratio of System Effectiveness to Life Cycle Cost (LCC). The third author, Dr. Apinut "Nate" Sirirovisuth, a research fellow in the Georgia Tech's Integrated Product Lifecycle Engineering (IPLE) Laboratory, and a Cost Research Analyst at PRICE Systems has significant experience in VTE modeling efforts and is an expert in affordability analysis for advanced aerospace systems.