Design of electric turbofan engines for new aircraft configurations (DEFANA)
In the DEFANA project (Design of electric turbofan engines for new aircraft configurations), FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences is investigating how electric engines and matching rotors must be designed for small and light aircrafts. The research team also has its eye on future concepts such as "flight cabs." The project started in February 2019 and is led by Prof. Dr. Carsten Braun.
Challenge
In times of congested roads and overloaded transport infrastructure, future concepts such as service drones or air cabs are gaining increasing attention. Before such concepts can become reality, however, there is still a considerable need for research in many areas: for example, autonomous flight, the development of environmentally friendly electric or hybrid drives and the development of flying machines that can take off vertically or with a very short run-up. Appropriately designed rotor concepts are currently still lacking, especially for electric and hybrid propulsion systems.
Goals and procedure
The DEFANA project aims to develop a design method for electrically driven shrouded rotors. This should make it possible to design appropriate rotors quickly and easily using an automated tool. Shrouded rotors have numerous advantages, including increased safety due to the shielding of the propeller, reduced noise emissions and improved engine efficiency; however, only individual aspects relating to their aerodynamic design have been investigated to date. The DEFANA project team therefore aims to develop a holistic design concept. To achieve this goal, different rotor configurations are compared, and the main influencing parameters identified. Then the specific characteristics of electric motors will be included in the investigations and the structural requirements on the material of the propeller and shroud will be systematically determined. The findings from this work will finally be combined to form the desired design concept.
Innovations and perspectives
A systematically created and scientifically validated design procedure for shrouded rotors with electric drives can provide an enormous boost to the industry – both established companies and start-ups – by significantly reducing the time required for rotor development. For FH Aachen, this creates good opportunities for (financial) exploitation of the research results, for example through subsequent R&D contracts.
In addition, the project strengthens a focus of the FH Aachen as well as the RWTH Aachen and numerous local companies, which manifests itself, among other things, in the expansion of a nearby airport into a research airfield. The project benefits directly from this expansion, as it can be productively pushed on by the efficient infrastructure and the scope for follow-up projects is large.