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Abstract The increase in worldwide awareness of environmental issues has necessitated the air transport industry to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions. To meet this goal, one solution is the electrification of aircraft propulsion systems. In particular, single-aisle aircraft with partial turboelectric propulsion with approximately 150 passenger seats in the 2030s are the focus. To develop a single-aisle aircraft with partial turboelectric propulsion, an air-cooled interior permanent magnet (IPM) motor with an output of 2 MW is desired. In this article, mathematical system equations that describe heat transfer inside the target air-cooled IPM motor are formulated, and their mathematical analytical solutions are obtained.

Abstract Electric ducted-fans with high power density are widely used in hybrid aircraft, electric aircraft, and VTOL vehicles. For the state-of-the-art electric ducted-fan, motor cooling restricts the power density increase. A motor design model based on the fan hub-to-tip ratio proposed in this article reveals that the thermal coupling effect between fan aerodynamic design and motor cooling design has great potential to increase the power density of the motor in an electric propulsion system. A smaller hub-to-tip ratio is preferred as long as the power balance and cooling balance are satisfied. Parametric study on a current 6 kW electric ducted-fan system shows that the highest motor power density could be increased by 246% based on the current technology. Finally, a preliminary design was obtained and experiments were conducted to prove the feasibility of the model.

Abstract Turboshaft engines, one of the classifications of the helicopters, combine the core engine and fan and consume fossil fuels. Using of fossil fuel causes global warming and environmental pollution, such as ecological, human health. To improve helicopter capability, energy is the first point of improvement. High-energy efficient helicopter engines help decrease the environmental damage. Exergy should be applied to the system to determine the maximum available energy. In this study, energy analysis and exergy analysis have been applied to a turboshaft helicopter engine. According to the result of this study, the maximum energy and exergy efficiencies are found to be 21.99% and 15.87%, respectively, at 1500 Shaft Horsepower (SHP). It is seen that the efficiencies increase with the increase of the engine power. Besides, exergy destructions and exergy loss values are presented by calculating different powers.

Abstract For electromechanical actuators (EMAs) and electronic devices cooling on aircraft, there is a need to study cooling fan performance at various altitudes from sea level to 12,000 m where the ambient pressure varies from 1 to 0.2 atm. As fan static pressure head is proportional to air density, the fan’s rotational speed has to be increased significantly to compensate for the low ambient pressure of 0.2 atm at the altitude of 12,000 m. To evaluate fan performance for EMA cooling, a high-rotational-speed, commercially available fan made by Ametek with a diameter of ~82 mm and ~3 m3/min zero-load open cooling flow rate when operating at 20,000 rpm was chosen as the baseline. According to fan scaling laws, this fan was expected to meet the cooling needs for an EMA when operating at 0.2 atm. Using a closed flow loop, the performance of the fan operating in the above ambient pressure range and at a rotational speed between 15,000 and 30,000 rpm was evaluated.

Abstract This article reports a reduced-order modeling framework of bladed disks on a rotating shaft to simulate the vibration signature of faults in different components, aiming toward simulated data-driven machine learning. We have employed lumped and one-dimensional analytical models of the subcomponents for better insight into the complex dynamic response. The framework addresses some of the challenges encountered in analyzing and optimizing fault detection and identification schemes for health monitoring of aeroengines and other rotating machinery. We model the bladed disks and shafts by combining lumped elements and one-dimensional finite elements, leading to a coupled system. The simulation results are in good agreement with previously published data. We model and analyze the cracks in a blade with their effective reduced stiffness approximation.