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Carl Recine

Publications and source records attributed to Carl Recine.

Sizing and Performance Analysis of a MW-Class Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) System for a Parallel Hybrid Turboprop Concept

Aircraft electrification has emerged as a pivotal research and development focus in the 21st century, gaining international momentum as a strategic approach to curtail fuel consumption and emissions in the civil aviation sector. Through the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project, NASA is collaborating with industry partners to develop and demonstrate Megawatt (MW) class Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) systems using regional turboprops, as well as single-aisle commercial transports. With the rapid emergence of novel EAP concepts, current efforts are focused on developing the capabilities to evaluate the impacts of electrification on vehicle-level performance. This requires parametric modeling at the conceptual design stage, using uncertainty propagation techniques to account for the high variability in EAP system architecture. This paper details an integrated approach to parametric sizing of multi-MW EAP systems in a large turboprop freighter concept with a parallel hybrid configuration. The primary goal is to assess vehicle-level performance sensitivities, such as range and fuel burn reduction, to variations in electrical system component-level performance metrics, including specific power, efficiency, and energy density, based on near-term EAP technology levels.

electrified aircraft propulsion↗

Advanced Turboprop Transport Aircraft Modeling for the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration Project

The objective of this study is to establish models for state of the art, representative regional non-electrified turboprop configurations in the 19-50 passenger capability range and assess performance impacts from advanced aircraft technologies. Two of these models will serve as reference baseline configurations for comparison to electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) demonstrator concepts for the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project. The other two non-electrified configurations will primarily assess the impacts of advanced technologies on fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions. This paper details an aircraft synthesis and performance analysis approach using the General Aviation Synthesis Program (GASP) which is used to establish baseline performance capabilities, calibrate airplane and engine models using published manufacturer data and conduct technology sensitivity studies. Advanced technologies are selected from the categories of propulsion, aerodynamics, and flight systems. Performance assessments use Monte Carlo method coupled with GASP simulations to obtain performance distributions of the expected fuel burn, propulsive, aerodynamic, and weight benefits on the representative turboprop configurations from the application of advanced technologies. The final paper will present the impact of the advanced technologies on fuel burn and CO₂ emissions.

aircraft performance↗

Advanced Turboprop Transport Aircraft Modeling for the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration Project

The objective of this study is to establish models for state of the art, representative regional non-electrified turboprop configurations in the 19 to 50 passenger capability range and assess performance impacts from advanced aircraft technologies. Two of these models will serve as reference baseline configurations for comparison to electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) demonstrator concepts for the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project. The other two non-electrified configurations will primarily assess the impacts of advanced technologies on fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions. This paper details an aircraft synthesis and performance analysis approach using the General Aviation Synthesis Program (GASP) which is used to establish baseline performance capabilities, calibrate airplane and engine models using published manufacturer data and conduct technology sensitivity studies. Advanced technologies are selected from the categories of propulsion, aerodynamics, and flight systems. A GASP-Monte Carlo simulation framework for uncertainty propagation is used to obtain performance distributions of the expected fuel burn, weight reduction and CO₂ emissions reductions from advanced aircraft technologies. Significant fuel burn savings from application of aerodynamics and propulsion technologies was observed.

Dahlia D.V. Pham↗

Aviary: An Open-Source Multidisciplinary Design, Analysis, and Optimization Tool for Modeling Aircraft With Analytic Gradients

Demands on aircraft design methods in recent years have begun to require increasingly higher amounts of coupling between disciplines and have also begun to require optimization in order to satisfy competing objectives involving large numbers of parameters that define unconventional configurations. These expanding requirements have amplified a need for new and improved aircraft design, analysis, and optimization codes that are capable of performing coupled design exploiting analytic gradients where possible. Aviary is a multidisciplinary design optimization and analysis framework which allows for tightly coupled simultaneous aircraft and subsystem design using analytic gradients. Aviary has employed the methods of two legacy aircraft analysis tools to provide native analytically differentiated calculations for five different disciplines, and it also has the ability to couple in external discipline analysis tools, whether or not those tools can provide analytic gradients. Preliminary examples and modeling efforts have shown Aviary’s ability to effectively model novel concepts and explore large and non-intuitive design spaces. Finally, a multi-level user interface in Aviary creates an easy entry point for users with any level of multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization experience.

multidisciplinary↗

Multidisciplinary Optimization of A Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Aircraft Using Aviary

The continuous push to decrease fuel burn of single-aisle commercial aircraft has led to interest in a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) concept vehicle. Sporting high-slung wings that are long and slender to increase aerodynamic efficiency, a TTBW can also accommodate higher-bypass turbine engines. The combination of these two changes potentially leads to an overall decrease in fuel consumption. In this paper, a TTBW concept vehicle is assembled in the Aviary open-source tool for conceptual aircraft design. The conceptual-level aerodynamics and propulsion systems that come prepackaged with Aviary are replaced with higher-fidelity vortex lattice method for aerodynamics (VSPAERO) and a one-dimensional cycle analysis tool for propulsion (pyCycle). The vehicle is then optimized to minimize fuel burn for a representative commercial mission. Design parameters for the vehicle include the electrified turbine size, the size of the electric motors which are used for takeoff and climb assist, and battery capacity. The TTBW concept vehicle presented in this paper represents the first application of Aviary to an aircraft design problem.

Optimization↗

Framework for National Airspace System (NAS) Level Sustainability Assessment of New Aircraft

This paper introduces a framework for investigating the future sustainability benefits of conceptual vehicles. The framework considers the complex interactions between such vehicles and how it can be flown in the National Airspace System. Aggregate benefits for reduction in fuel use and emissions need to consider fleet wide operations, demand distributions, NAS Infrastructure, and differing business models. To extract true system level benefits multi-objective function optimization for operational energy use, acoustics, emissions and NAS Wide efficiency and interoperability incorporating physic-based system-wide flight simulations in the National Airspace system is required. The framework marries traditional vehicle synthesis processes with a NAS Simulation environment to simulate how a new synthesized vehicle will behave in the NAS.

Sustainability↗

Aviary: An Open-Source Multidisciplinary Design, Analysis, and Optimization Tool for Modeling Aircraft with Analytic Gradients

In recent years demands on aircraft design methods have begun to require higher degrees of coupling between disciplines and optimization in order to satisfy competing objectives involving large numbers of design parameters that define unconventional configurations. These expanding requirements have amplified a need for new and improved aircraft design, analysis, and optimization codes that are capable of performing coupled design and exploiting analytic gradients to perform gradient-based optimization where possible. To address this need, a new multidisciplinary design optimization and analysis tool called Aviary is presented. This tool, built on OpenMDAO, allows for tightly coupled, simultaneous aircraft and subsystem design using analytic gradients. Aviary includes methods from two NASA developed legacy aircraft analysis tools and provides native analytically differentiated calculations for five different disciplines (weights and sizing, aerodynamics, geometry, propulsion, and mission analysis), while also allowing external discipline analysis tools to be coupled, regardless of whether those tools can provide analytic gradients. Verification and preliminary examples and modeling efforts show Aviary’s ability to effectively model novel concepts and explore large and non-intuitive design spaces. Additionally, a multi-level user interface in Aviary creates an easy entry point for users with any level of multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization experience.

optimization↗

Sizing and Performance Analysis of a MW-Class Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (Eap) System for A Parallel Hybrid Turboprop Concept

Aircraft electrification has emerged as a pivotal research and development focus in the 21st century, gaining international momentum as a strategic approach to curtail fuel consumption and emissions in the civil aviation sector. Under the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project, NASA and industry partners are raising the technical readiness, addressing integration challenges and gathering data for future standards and regulations for demonstrate Megawatt (MW) class Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) systems which can be utilized on regional turboprop or single aisle transports. With the rapid emergence of novel EAP concepts, risk reduction efforts are focused on developing the capabilities to evaluate the impacts of electrification at the conceptual design level where high variability in the EAP system architecture must be accounted for. This paper details an integrated, approach to parametric sizing of multi-MW EAP systems with the primary goal of assessing vehicle-level performance sensitivities to variations in electrical system component-level performance metrics. The focus of this work is to investigate the degree to which EAP component parameters such as specific power, efficiency, and energy density impact range and overall fuel savings.

EAP↗

NASA's Aviary Takes Flight: A Public Software for Aircraft Design

Aviary, developed by NASA, is an open-source software tool for modeling and optimizing traditional and next-generation aircraft designs. It modernizes legacy design tools and integrates disciplines together more tightly to evaluate new vehicles, like X-66, open-rotor electric aircraft, and blended wing body. Aviary has the potential to revolutionize aircraft analysis by leveraging the complex interactions between disciplines to make aircraft conceptual designs more efficient.

Carl Recine↗

Sizing and Performance Analysis of a MegaWatt-Class Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) System for a Parallel Hybrid Turboprop Concept

Aircraft electrification has emerged as a pivotal research and development focus in the 21st century, gaining international momentum as a strategic approach to curtail fuel consumption and emissions in the civil aviation sector. Under the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project, NASA and industry partners are raising the technical readiness, addressing integration challenges and gathering data for future standards and regulations for demonstrate Megawatt (MW) class Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) systems which can be utilized on regional turboprop or single aisle transports. With the rapid emergence of novel EAP concepts, risk reduction efforts are focused on developing the capabilities to evaluate the impacts of electrification at the conceptual design level where high variability in the EAP system architecture must be accounted for. This paper details an integrated, approach to parametric sizing of multi-MW EAP systems with the primary goal of assessing vehicle-level performance sensitivities to variations in electrical system component-level performance metrics. The focus of this work is to investigate the degree to which EAP component parameters such as specific power, efficiency, and energy density impact range and overall fuel savings.

EAP↗