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Turboelectric propulsion is a technology that can potentially reduce aircraft noise, increase fuel efficiency, and decrease harmful emissions. In a turbo-electric system, the propulsor (fans) is no longer connected to the turbine through a mechanical connection. Instead, a superconducting generator connected to a gas turbine produces electrical power which is delivered to distributed fans. This configuration can potentially decrease fuel burn by 10% [1]. One of the primary challenges in implementing turboelectric electric propulsion is designing the power distribution system to transmit power from the generator to the fans. The power distribution system is required to transmit 40 MW of power from the generator to the electrical loads on the aircraft. A conventional aircraft distribution cannot efficiently or reliably transmit this large amount of power; therefore, new power distribution technologies must be considered.

As an element of a design optimization study of high speed civil transport (HSCT), response surface equations (RSEs) were developed with the goal of accurately predicting the sideline, takeoff, and approach noise levels for any combination of selected design variables. These RSEs were needed during vehicle synthesis to constrain the aircraft design to meet FAR 36, Stage 3 noise levels. Development of the RSEs was useful as an application of response surface methodology to a previously untested discipline. Noise levels were predicted using the Aircraft Noise Prediction Program (ANOPP), with additional corrections to account for inlet and exhaust duct lining, mixer-ejector nozzles, multiple fan stages, and wing reflection. The fan, jet, and airframe contributions were considered in the aircraft source noise prediction.

This paper attempts to assess the benefits of a unique distributed propulsion concept, known as the Multi-Gas Generator Fan (MGGF) system, over conventional turbofan engines on civilian vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) applications. The MGGF-based system has shown the potential to address the fundamental technical challenge in designing a VTOL aircraft: the significant mismatch between the power requirements at lift-off/hover and cruise. Vehicle-level performance and sizing studies were implemented using the Grumman Design 698 tilt-nacelle V/STOL aircraft as a notional personal air vehicle (PAV), subjected to hypothetical single engine failure (SEF) emergency landing requirements and PAV mission requirements.

A procedure is developed for evaluating various candidates for thermal control in the orbiting space station. Candidates for acquisition, transport and rejection are considered. For example, thermal rejection candidates include heat pipe radiators, high capacity heat pipe radiators and liquid droplet raditors. A computer program has been developed which computes subsystem and total system weights, volumes, powers and costs for a system consisting of selected acquisition, transport and rejection candidates. The program user is also able to select mission parameters such as duration, resupply interval, thermal loads, transport distance, acquisition temperature and rejection temperature. Simulation models are included in the program which allow the user to change candidate designs. For example, for a high capacity heat pipe radiator the user may change working fluid, materials, radiator temperature, radiator geometry, surface emissivity and surface absorptivity.