Design and Performance of the NASA SCEPTOR Distributed Electric Propulsion Flight DemonstratorDistributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) technology uses multiple propulsors driven by electric motors distributed about the airframe to yield beneficial aerodynamic-propulsion interaction. The NASA SCEPTOR flight demonstration project will retrofit an existing internal combustion engine-powered light aircraft with two types of DEP: small "high-lift" propellers distributed along the leading edge of the wing which accelerate the flow over the wing at low speeds, and larger cruise propellers co-located with each wingtip for primary propulsive power. The updated high-lift system enables a 2.5x reduction in wing area as compared to the original aircraft, reducing drag at cruise and shifting the velocity for maximum lift-to-drag ratio to a higher speed, while maintaining low-speed performance. The wingtip-mounted cruise propellers interact with the wingtip vortex, enabling a further efficiency increase that can reduce propulsive power by 10%. A tradespace exploration approach is developed that enables rapid identification of salient trades, and subsequent creation of SCEPTOR demonstrator geometries. These candidates were scrutinized by subject matter experts to identify design preferences that were not modeled during configuration exploration. This exploration and design approach is used to create an aircraft that consumes an estimated 4.8x less energy at the selected cruise point when compared to the original aircraft.
Document ID
20160010157
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Borer, Nicholas K. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Patterson, Michael D. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Viken, Jeffrey K. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Moore, Mark D. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Clarke, Sean (NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Edwards, CA, United States)
Redifer, Matthew E. (NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Edwards, CA, United States)
Christie, Robert J. (NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Stoll, Alex M. (Joby Aviation, Inc. Santa Cruz, CA, United States)
Dubois, Arthur (Joby Aviation, Inc. Santa Cruz, CA, United States)
Bevirt, JoeBen (Joby Aviation, Inc. Santa Cruz, CA, United States)
Gibson, Andrew R. (Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc. Pismo Beach, CA, United States)
Foster, Trevor J. (Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc. Pismo Beach, CA, United States)
Osterkamp, Philip G. (Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc. Pismo Beach, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 9, 2016
Publication Date
June 13, 2016
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And PowerSpacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
NF1676L-22882
Meeting Information
Meeting: AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference
Location: Washington, DC
Country: United States
Start Date: June 13, 2016
End Date: June 17, 2016
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics