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Aerospace
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E-VTOL Simulation and Autonomous System Development
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E-VTOL Simulation and Autonomous System Development

A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Aeronautics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 10248

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ye Yuan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
Interests: aircraft design; helicopter and UAV flight dynamics; aircraft flying and handling qualities; autonomous systems; aircraft safety; aerospace system; model-based optimization; uncertainty quantification
Prof. Dr. Renliang Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Aerospace Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
Interests: rotorcraft flight dynamics; rotorcraft aerodynamics; aircraft design
Dr. Alper Celik

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
Interests: aerodynamics; experimental aeroacoustics; rotor aerodynamics experiments; flow control; rotor aerodynamics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The E-VTOL is one of the most promising aspects of the aerospace industry. Moving to zero CO2, low noise emitting flights, scheduled on-demand, and fully integrated into ground transportation are the best ways for the rotorcraft industry to support the demanding change needed by our society. The main challenge impeding this revolution is the need for a complete paradigm shift in corresponding E-VTOL design methodologies. The complicated aerodynamics and dynamics features, influences of novel net-zero power units, autonomous systems able to tackle multiple flight scenarios, and potential conflicts in the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system need to be investigated and upgraded to cope with the challenges derived from the E-VTOL. This Special Issue focuses on the development of research related to the E-VTOL, including aerodynamics, dynamics and vibration, flight dynamics, autonomous systems, and corresponding E-VTOL embedded air traffic management system development.

Dr. Ye Yuan
Prof. Dr. Renliang Chen
Dr. Alper Celik
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 9346 KiB  
Article
Numerical Simulation and Experimental Study on the Aerodynamics of Propulsive Wing for a Novel Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing Aircraft
by Junjie Wang, Xinfeng Zhang, Jiaxin Lu and Zhengfei Tang
Aerospace 2024, 11(6), 431; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace11060431 - 27 May 2024
Viewed by 1377
Abstract
The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft offers the advantages of vertical take-off and landing, environmental cleanliness, and automated control, making it a crucial component of future urban air traffic. As competition intensifies, demands for aircraft performance are escalating, including forward flight [...] Read more.
The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft offers the advantages of vertical take-off and landing, environmental cleanliness, and automated control, making it a crucial component of future urban air traffic. As competition intensifies, demands for aircraft performance are escalating, including forward flight speed and payload capacity. The article presents a novel eVTOL design with propulsive wings and establishes methodologies for propulsive wing unsteady numerical simulation and wind tunnel experiments, analyzing its aerodynamic characteristics and lift enhancement mechanism. The results indicate that the cross-flow fan (CFF) provides unique airflow control capabilities, enabling the propulsive wing to achieve remarkably high lift coefficients (exceeding 7.6 in experiments) and propulsion coefficients (exceeding 7.1 in experiments) at extreme angles of attack (30°~40°) and low airspeeds. On the one hand, the CFF effectively controls boundary layer flow, delaying airflow separation at high angles of attack; on the other hand, the rotation of the CFF induces two eccentric vortices, generating vortex-induced lift and propulsion. The aerodynamic performance of the propulsive wing depends on the advance ratio and angle of attack. Typically, both lift and propulsion coefficients increase with the advance ratio, while lift and drag coefficients increase with the angle of attack. The propulsive wing shows significant advantages and prospects for eVTOL aircrafts in the low flight velocity range (0–30 m/s). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue E-VTOL Simulation and Autonomous System Development)
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20 pages, 13015 KiB  
Article
Research of Unsteady Aerodynamic Characteristics of Electrically Controlled Rotor Airfoils with Trailing-Edge Flaps
by Changwu Liang, Hong Li, Taoyong Su, Caleb Alistair Frank and Kewei Li
Aerospace 2024, 11(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace11010018 - 24 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1523
Abstract
An electrically controlled rotor (ECR), also known as a swashplateless rotor, eliminates the swashplate system to implement the primary control via the trailing-edge flaps (TEFs), which can result in enhancements in rotor performance, as well as substantial reductions in weight, drag, and cost. [...] Read more.
An electrically controlled rotor (ECR), also known as a swashplateless rotor, eliminates the swashplate system to implement the primary control via the trailing-edge flaps (TEFs), which can result in enhancements in rotor performance, as well as substantial reductions in weight, drag, and cost. In this paper, the unsteady aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil with TEF of a sample ECR under unsteady freestream condition are investigated. The CFD results are obtained with sliding and overset grid techniques that simulate the airfoil pitching and flap deflection. Comparative analysis of the aerodynamic characteristics under steady and unsteady freestream conditions at different advance ratios is conducted. At various advance ratios, the lift and drag coefficients are higher at a small angle of attack under unsteady freestream condition; however, it is the opposite at a large angle of attack. The peak values of the lift and drag coefficients show an increased trend with the increase in the advance ratio. On the contrary, the pitch moment and flap hinge moment coefficients demonstrate minor variation under unsteady freestream condition. Furthermore, the aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils become more unsteady with variation in the freestream. Therefore, the lift and drag coefficients of the ECR airfoil with TEF show significant differences between steady and unsteady freestream conditions; however, the pitch moment and the flap hinge moment coefficients show little difference. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue E-VTOL Simulation and Autonomous System Development)
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21 pages, 5338 KiB  
Article
An Improved Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization Method for Rotor Airfoil Design
by Yongchuan Wu, Gang Sun and Jun Tao
Aerospace 2023, 10(9), 820; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10090820 - 20 Sep 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1395
Abstract
In this study, a multi-objective aerodynamic optimization is performed on the rotor airfoil via an improved MOPSO (multi-objective particle swarm optimization) method. A database of rotor airfoils containing both geometric and aerodynamic parameters is established, where the geometric parameters are obtained via the [...] Read more.
In this study, a multi-objective aerodynamic optimization is performed on the rotor airfoil via an improved MOPSO (multi-objective particle swarm optimization) method. A database of rotor airfoils containing both geometric and aerodynamic parameters is established, where the geometric parameters are obtained via the CST (class shape transformation) method and the aerodynamic parameters are obtained via CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations. On the basis of the database, a DBN (deep belief network) surrogate model is proposed and trained to accurately predict the aerodynamic parameters of the rotor airfoils. In order to improve the convergence rate and global searching ability of the standard MOPSO algorithm, an improved MOPSO framework is established. By embedding the DBN surrogate model into the improved MOPSO framework, multi-objective and multi-constraint aerodynamic optimization for the rotor airfoil is performed. Finally, the aerodynamic performance of the optimized rotor airfoil is validated through CFD simulations. The results indicate that the aerodynamic performance of the optimized rotor airfoil is improved dramatically compared with the baseline rotor airfoil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue E-VTOL Simulation and Autonomous System Development)
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28 pages, 8440 KiB  
Article
Research on Pilot Control Strategy and Workload for Tilt-Rotor Aircraft Conversion Procedure
by Xufei Yan, Ye Yuan and Renliang Chen
Aerospace 2023, 10(9), 742; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10090742 - 22 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1280
Abstract
This paper studies the pilot control strategy and workload of a tilt-rotor aircraft dynamic conversion procedure between helicopter mode and fixed-wing mode. A nonlinear flight dynamics model of tilt-rotor aircraft with full flight modes is established. On this basis, a nonlinear optimal control [...] Read more.
This paper studies the pilot control strategy and workload of a tilt-rotor aircraft dynamic conversion procedure between helicopter mode and fixed-wing mode. A nonlinear flight dynamics model of tilt-rotor aircraft with full flight modes is established. On this basis, a nonlinear optimal control model of dynamic conversion is constructed, considering factors such as conversion corridor limitations, pilot control, flight attitude, engine rated power, and wing stall effects. To assess pilot workload, an analytical method based on wavelet transform is proposed, which examines the mapping relationship between pilot control input amplitude, constituent frequencies, and control tasks. By integrating the nonlinear optimal control model and the pilot workload evaluation method, an analysis of the pilot control strategy and workload during the conversion procedure is conducted, leading to the identification of strategies to reduce pilot workload. The results indicate that incorporating the item of pilot workload in the performance index results in a notable reduction in the magnitude of collective stick inputs and longitudinal stick inputs. Moreover, it facilitates smoother adjustments in altitude and pitch attitude. Additionally, the conversion of the engine nacelle can be achieved at a lower and constant angular velocity. In summary, the conversion and reconversion procedures are estimated to have a low workload (level 1~2), with relatively simple and easy manipulation for the pilot. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue E-VTOL Simulation and Autonomous System Development)
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30 pages, 8044 KiB  
Article
EVTOL Tilt-Wing Aircraft Design under Uncertainty Using a Multidisciplinary Possibilistic Approach
by Mohsen Rostami, Julian Bardin, Daniel Neufeld and Joon Chung
Aerospace 2023, 10(8), 718; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10080718 - 16 Aug 2023
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3577
Abstract
Recent development in Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft makes it a popular design approach for urban air mobility (UAM). When designing these configurations, due to the uncertainty present in semi-empirical estimations, often used for aerodynamic characteristics during the conceptual design phase, [...] Read more.
Recent development in Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft makes it a popular design approach for urban air mobility (UAM). When designing these configurations, due to the uncertainty present in semi-empirical estimations, often used for aerodynamic characteristics during the conceptual design phase, results can only be trusted to approximately 80% accuracy. Accordingly, an optimized aircraft using semi-empirical estimations and deterministic multi-disciplinary design optimization (MDO) approaches can be at risk of not being certifiable in the detailed design phase of the life cycle. The focus of this study was to implement a robust and efficient possibility-based design optimization (PBDO) method for the MDO of an eVTOL tilt-wing aircraft in the conceptual design phase, using existing conventional designs as an initial configuration. As implemented, the optimization framework utilizes a deterministic gradient-based optimizer, run sequentially with a possibility assessment algorithm, to select an optimal design. To achieve this, the uncertainties which arise from multi-fidelity calculations, such as semi-empirical methods, are considered and used to modify the final design such that its viability is guaranteed in the detailed design phase. With respect to various requirements, including trim, stability, and control behaviors, the optimized eVTOL tilt-wing aircraft design offers the preferred results which ensure that airworthiness criteria are met whilst complying with predefined constraints. The proposed approach may be used to revise currently available light aircraft and develop eVTOL versions from the original light aircraft. The resulting aircraft is not only an optimized layout but one where the stability of the eVTOL tilt-wing aircraft has been guaranteed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue E-VTOL Simulation and Autonomous System Development)
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