Power Based Sizing Method for Aircraft Consuming Unconventional Energy

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Date
2005-01-10Author
Nam, Taewoo
Soban, Danielle Suzanne
Mavris, Dimitri N.
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Traditionally, most fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft have been powered by internal
combustion engines that consume hydrocarbon fuels. Only in a few exceptional designs, such
as solar powered air-vehicles, are attempts made to apply alternate energy sources. In the
past decade, however, the aerospace community has shown a renewed interest in alternate
energy sources for revolutionary propulsion systems. In particular, fuel cells are increasingly
being considered as an alternate power source for their potential outstanding advantages
over the traditional power system. Nevertheless, traditional aircraft sizing methods are not
immediately applicable for such unconventional-energy consuming air-vehicle designs. This
paper proposes a generalized aircraft sizing formulation that is also applicable to
revolutionary aircraft concepts powered by unconventional energy sources and/or have
revolutionary propulsion systems. A power based formulation, which allows easy tracking of
energy transformation process from the first power generation to the last propulsive power
production, is introduced. Lastly, a generalized aircraft weight estimation formulation that
is also valid for unconventional-energy consuming propulsion systems is developed.