Design, Integration and Testing of a 10 kW Hybrid-Electric Powertrain for Fixed-Wing VTOL Aircraft

The fixed-wing VTOL is a new type of aircraft that combines the advantages of multi-rotor and fixed-wing aircraft. Enable freely taking off and landing, while maintaining high flight speeds during cruising. However, higher requirements for the powertrain system have emerged. The powertrain needs to adapt to the layout of distributed propulsion devices while also ensuring sufficient endurance. Both the full-electric powertrain and traditional fuel-based powertrain are unable to meet this demand, making the hybrid-electric powertrain one of the most feasible solutions currently available. A 10kW level hybrid-electric powertrain system was designed for a fixed-wing VTOL aircraft. The power generation performance tests are conducted to analyze the coupling working characteristics of the engine and generator. The performance of the hybrid configuration and the full-electric configuration in terms of power-to-weight ratio, energy-to-weight ratio, and endurance are compared. The results indicate that the payload capacity of the hybrid-electric system under the same range has increased by 52%, and the energy-to-weight ratio has improved by 16%, extending the endurance of the flight platform from 51min to 67min. The findings demonstrate that the hybrid-electric system can expand the performance capabilities of the aircraft to fulfill a wider range of mission requirements.