Transient Thermal Analyses of Passive Systems on SCEPTOR X-57As efficiency, emissions, and noise become increasingly prominent considerations in aircraft design, turning to an electric propulsion system is a desirable solution. Achieving the intended benefits of distributed electric propulsion (DEP) requires thermally demanding high power systems, presenting a different set of challenges compared to traditional aircraft propulsion. The embedded nature of these heat sources often preclude the use of traditional thermal management systems in order to maximize performance, with less opportunity to exhaust waste heat to the surrounding environment. This paper summarizes the thermal analyses of X-57 vehicle subsystems that don't employ externally air-cooled heat sinks. The high-power battery, wires, high-lift motors, and aircraft outer surface are subjected to heat loads with stringent thermal constraints. The temperature of these components are tracked transiently, since they never reach a steady-state equilibrium. Through analysis and testing, this report demonstrates that properly characterizing the material properties is key to accurately modeling peak temperature of these systems, with less concern for spatial thermal gradients. Experimentally validated results show the thermal profile of these systems can be sufficiently estimated using reduced order approximations.
Document ID
20170007959
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Chin, Jeffrey C. (NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH United States)
Schnulo, Sydney L. (NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH United States)
Smith, Andrew D. (Vantage Partners, LLC Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2017
Publication Date
June 5, 2017
Subject Category
Statistics And ProbabilityAircraft Propulsion And PowerFluid Mechanics And ThermodynamicsAircraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
GRC-E-DAA-TN42404
Meeting Information
Meeting: AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition 2017
Location: Denver, CO
Country: United States
Start Date: June 5, 2017
End Date: June 9, 2017
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics