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NASA NTRS2018

NDARC NASA Design and Analysis of Rotorcraft - Input, Appendix 8

The NASA Design and Analysis of Rotorcraft (NDARC) software is an aircraft system analysis tool that supports both conceptual design efforts and technology impact assessments. The principal tasks are to design (or size) a rotorcraft to meet specified requirements, including vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) operation, and then analyze the performance of the aircraft for a set of conditions. For broad and lasting utility, it is important that the code have the capability to model general rotorcraft configurations, and estimate the performance and weights of advanced rotor concepts. The architecture of the NDARC code accommodates configuration flexibility, a hierarchy of models, and ultimately multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization. Initially the software is implemented with low-fidelity models, typically appropriate for the conceptual design environment. An NDARC job consists of one or more cases, each case optionally performing design and analysis tasks. The design task involves sizing the rotorcraft to satisfy specified design conditions and missions. The analysis tasks can include off-design mission performance calculation, flight performance calculation for point operating conditions, and generation of subsystem or component performance maps. For analysis tasks, the aircraft description can come from the sizing task, from a previous case or a previous NDARC job, or be independently generated (typically the description of an existing aircraft). The aircraft consists of a set of components, including fuselage, rotors, wings, tails, and propulsion. For each component, attributes such as performance, drag, and weight can be calculated; and the aircraft attributes are obtained from the sum of the component attributes. Description and analysis of conventional rotorcraft configurations is facilitated, while retaining the capability to model novel and advanced concepts. Specific rotorcraft configurations considered are single-main-rotor and tail-rotor helicopter, tandem helicopter, coaxial helicopter, and tiltrotor. The architecture of the code accommodates addition of new or higher-fidelity attribute models for a component, as well as addition of new components.

Design and Analysis↗

NASA NTRS2018

Using Liquid Natural Gas Fuel to Cryogenically Cool and Enhance a Hybrid Electric Aircraft Power System

A previous system study identified significant increases in range and number of urban air mobility (UAM) missions by replacing the all battery power system of a notional UAM vehicle with an advanced diesel hybrid using conventional diesel or liquid natural gas (LNG) fuels (at constant vehicle design gross weight). Some benefits were realized using the LNG's cryogenic properties to reduce some electrical component losses and cooling requirements. Significant questions were raised concerning volume and thermal management considerations for all studied systems. The notional, baseline vehicle was a hybrid helicopter / airplane design capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), balancing high cruise efficiency with reasonable hover capability. A subsequent power system assessment using the same notional vehicle and mission was performed that identified increased volume and power requirements for the active cooling required. The cooling airflow could also generate additional drag on the vehicle during operation. For the notional vehicle studied, the additional volume identified by the subsequent study would not affect vehicle mold line and therefore drag. However, the additional drag from cooling airflow and the power to circulate it as needed would impact power system and vehicle mission performance. Vehicle and mission models were updated and rerun. Updated results still indicated significant benefits in range and number of UAM missions, but reduced the benefit by 12-15%. Hold time for the hybrid systems also generally increased a few minutes because of reduced power available for charging from the power for required cooling flows. Vehicle weights, thermal loads, and cooling airflows from the updated analyses were similar to previous results.

systems analysis↗

NASA NTRS2018

Tri-Rotor Aircraft Capable of Vertical Takeoff and Landing and Transitioning to Forward Flight

Systems, methods, and devices provide a vehicle, such as an aircraft, with rotors configured to function as a tri-copter for vertical takeoff and landing ("VTOL") and a fixed-wing vehicle for forward flight. One rotor may be mounted at a front of the vehicle fuselage on a hinged structure controlled by an actuator to tilt from horizontal to vertical positions. Two additional rotors may be mounted on the horizontal surface of the vehicle tail structure with rotor axes oriented vertically to the fuselage. For forward flight of the vehicle, the front rotor may be rotated down such that the front rotor axis may be oriented horizontally along the fuselage and the front rotor may act as a propeller. For vertical flight, the front rotor may be rotated up such that the front rotor axis may be oriented vertically to the fuselage, while the tail rotors may be activated.

North, David D.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Aerodynamic Analysis of the Elytron 2S Experimental Tiltwing Aircraft

The Elytron 2S is a prototype aircraft concept to allow VTOL capabilities together with fixed wing aircraft performance. It has a box wing design with a centrally mounted tilt-wing supporting two rotors. This paper explores the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft using computational fluid dynamics in hover and low speed forward flight, as well as analyzing the unique control system in place for hover. The results are then used to build an input set for NASA Design and Analysis if Rotorcraft software allowing trim and flight stability and control estimations to be made with SIMPLIFLYD.

Elytron 2S↗

NASA NTRS2018

Theory Validation - 2 Points of View

The task of validating any given theory against any given proprotor/propeller data set is of immense importance. Not just to the researchers who are developing a theory, but to the working engineers using the theory to design a proprotor/propeller. However, there is major difference in how the two groups see validation. This difference is that, most frequently, researchers see the validation in coefficient form as, for example, CP versus CT or Figure of Merit versus CT. In contrast, design engineers are always working in the dimensional world as, for example, horsepower required to hover versus aircraft weight. The objective of the design engineer is, of course, to release drawings and specifications to manufacturing so a VTOL aircraft will be built with reasonably high assurance that the aircraft will meet the primary specifications.

Harris, Franklin D.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Generation of Performance Model for the Aeolian Wind Tunnel (AWT) Rotor at Reduced Pressure

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) designed the Mars Helicopter (MH) in collaboration with AeroVironment Inc., NASA Ames Research Center, and NASA Langley Research Center to explore the possibility of a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for flight on Mars. A 40-inch-diameter Aeolian Wind Tunnel (AWT) rotor, roughly approximating the proposed MH design by JPL, was tested in forward flight at Mars atmospheric pressure at the NASA Ames Planetary Aeolian Laboratory (PAL) in support of MH research efforts. This report describes the generation of the rotor model used to correlate with that experimental effort as reported by Ament and Koning. The 40-inch-diameter rotor was 3D-scanned and transformed into an airfoil deck. The scanned rotor airfoil sections are analyzed using C81 Generator (C81Gen) to generate the sectional aerodynamic coefficients for comprehensive analyses. A mid-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation using Rotorcraft CFD (RotCFD) is pursued to efficiently estimate rotor hover and forward flight performance. Simulations at two pressures, 7 mbar (approximate Martian atmospheric pressure) and 1018 mbar (1 atmosphere), are performed to gain an understanding of the performance differences and Reynolds number effects observed. Experimental 1-atmosphere thrust for single- and dual-rotor isolated hover cases correlate well with the modeled rotor. Performance results at reduced pressure (7 mbar) show a drastic decrease in lift for equivalent RPMs tested at 1 atmosphere. Although this is primarily due to pressure reduction, Reynolds number effects also contribute to this decrease, as airfoil lift and drag coefficients are affected when compared with 1-atmosphere results. Further, simulated rotor power coefficient shows drastic increases at reduced pressures, attributed to laminar boundary layer separation, as described in Koning et al. for the MH rotor analysis. PAL experimental Martian Surface Wind Tunnel (MARSWIT) results are presented in the paper by Ament and Koning. The very low Reynolds number range is currently not well understood and presents various challenges for both experimentation and simulation.

Koning, Witold J. F.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Incorporating Test Data for Small UAS at the Conceptual Design Level

Increasing demand for improved capabilities of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) has generated interest in improving the design techniques for these vehicles. sUAS have typically been designed using iterative methods with multiple prototypes, but advancements in aircraft design software will make it possible to generate conceptual designs of very small VTOL aircraft with reduced hardware prototyping. This paper describes a research effort to generate a conceptual design of an approximately 6-lb quadcopter using the NASA rotorcraft design software NDARC. Wind tunnel and hover test data are used to validate and refine the conceptual design results. The effects of parametric design variations on vehicle scale are shown. The design study described herein shows that the NDARC software, which was designed for full-scale rotorcraft, can be used to design and evaluate sUAS vehicles.

Russell, Carl R.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Handling Qualities Optimization for Rotorcraft Conceptual Design

Over the past decade, NASA, under a succession of rotary-wing programs has been moving towards coupling multiple discipline analyses to evaluate rotorcraft conceptual designs. Handling qualities is one of the component analyses to be included in such a future Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization framework for conceptual design of VTOL aircraft. Similarly, the future vision for the capability of the Concept Design and Assessment Technology Area of the U.S Army Aviation Development Directorate also includes a handling qualities component. SIMPLI-FLYD is a tool jointly developed by NASA and the U.S. Army to perform modeling and analysis for the assessment of the handling qualities of rotorcraft conceptual designs. Illustrative scenarios of a tiltrotor in forward flight and singlemain rotor helicopter at hover are analyzed using SIMPLI-FLYD and the conceptual design sizing tool, NDARC, integrated in a single process. The effects of variations of design parameters such as horizontal tail and tail rotor size were evaluated in the form of margins to fixed- and rotary-wing handling qualities metrics and the computed vehicle empty weight. The handling qualities design margins are shown to vary across the flight envelope due to both changing flight dynamic and control characteristics and changing handling qualities specification requirements. The current SIMPLI-FLYD capability and future developments are discussed in the context of an overall rotorcraft conceptual design process.

Rotorcraft Conceptual Design↗

NASA NTRS2019

Modular Unmanned Aerial System with Multi-Mode Propulsion

A modular Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) includes an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) parent module and UAV child modules. A main wing extends from a respective fuselage of the modules. The UAS includes docking mechanisms coupled to wingtips of the main wings. The child modules dock with the wingtips of the parent or an adjacent child module. Docking forms a linked-flight configuration, with undocking and separation from the parent or adjacent child module achieving an independent-flight configuration. The modules have booms arranged transverse to the main wings and parallel to the longitudinal axis, as well as front and rear rotors/propellers. The front and rear propellers have axes of rotation that are normal to a plane of the longitudinal axis in a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) configuration, with the axis of rotation of the rear propellers parallel to the longitudinal axis in a forward-flight configuration.

Patterson, Michael D.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Tiltrotor Conceptual Design

This year end progress report summarizes our engineering study of a large, VTOL civil transport that we began in August 2015. The task has been to follow up on work reported in Reference 1, which described a NASA, 2005 design study showing that a 120 passenger, tiltrotor aircraft capable of cruising at 350 knots at 30,000 feet was quite feasible. The objective of our task this year has been to investigate the feasibility of a 120 passenger, tiltrotor aircraft capable of cruising at 425 to 450 knots at altitude and having VSTOL capability at Denver (i.e., 5,000 feet) with an outside air temperature (OAT) of 95°F. A corollary to our work has been to examine the suitability of the engineering tools available to conduct the concept design study we have begun. We have relegated two key pieces of corollary work to an appendix and used the body of this report to transmit progress in our preliminary performance trend studies. By way of background, in January of 2016, Mr. Harris presented a paper titled The VSTOL Performance Gap at the AHS Technical Meeting on Aeromechanics Design for Vertical Lift. This presentation is included in this year end report as Appendix A. A key concluding chart in that presentation is repeated here as Fig. 1. The Rotorcraft Branch at NASA Ames was already studying a tiltrotor suited for the regional carrier routes, but no effort beyond the 2005 results reported in Ref. 1 was going on. Therefore, we took on the task of extending the 350 knot, 120 passenger tiltrotor studies up to speeds associated with major airline routes.

Conceptual Design↗

NASA NTRS2019

NDARC NASA Design and Analysis of Rotorcraft - Input, Appendix 10

NDARC↗

NASA NTRS2019

Multidisciplinary Optimization of a Turboelectric Tiltwing Urban Air Mobility Aircraft

Urban air taxis, also known as urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles, are anticipated to be an area of significant market growth in the near future. These vehicles are typically vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) designs which are capable of carrying 1 to 30 passengers in an intra-urban environment with flights of less than 50 nautical miles. Development of UAM vehicles and their integration into the airspace will be enabled by advancements in a number of areas including electrified propulsion systems, structures, acoustics, automation, and controls. However, the strong multidisciplinary interactions for these unique vehicles presents a significant new design challenge. This work describes the development of a multidisciplinary analysis and optimization environment which can be used to support the conceptual design of these UAM vehicles, using efficient gradient based optimization with analytic derivatives. The tools included in this multidisciplinary analysis model the aircraft trajectory, vehicle aerodynamics, structures, and electrified propulsion system. The multidisciplinary environment created in this research is unique in that all the physics tools are tightly integrated together, with the trajectory model directly calling the aerodynamics, structures, and propulsion models. This multidisciplinary analysis environment is then demonstrated in the design optimization of a turboelectric tiltwing UAM vehicle concept.

Hendricks, Eric S.↗

NASA NTRS2020

A Quiet Helicopter for Air Taxi Operations

NASA is exploring rotorcraft designs for VTOL air taxi operations, also known as urban air mobility (UAM) or on-demand mobility (ODM) applications. Several concept vehicles have been developed, intended to focus and guide NASA research activities in support of aircraft development for this emerging market. This paper examines a single main-rotor helicopter designed specifically for low-noise air taxi operations. Based on demonstrated technology, the aircraft uses a turboshaft engine with a sound-absorbing installation, and the NOTAR anti-torque system to eliminate tail-rotor noise, consequently the noise and annoyance of the aircraft are dominated by the main rotor. Several design parameters are explored to reduce the noise, including rotor tip speed, blade geometry, and higher-harmonic control. Commensurate with the level of design detail, the noise is calculated for compact loading and thickness sources on the rotating blades. The metric is the reduction of the noise for the helicopter certification conditions (takeoff, flyover, and approach), relative a baseline aircraft with typical (high) tip speed, conventional blade planform, and no higher-harmonic control.

Johnson, Wayne↗

NASA NTRS2019

Towards Urban Air Mobility: NASA’s Quadcopter Air Taxi Concept

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is envisioned to be the future air transportation system over populated areas, where everything from small package delivery drones to passenger-carrying air taxis are able to interact safely and efficiently. The capacity of multi-rotor vehicles to perform vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), together with their great maneuverability, make them an excellent choice for UAM aircraft. The accurate prediction of multirotor vehicles performance and acoustics is very challenging due to the unsteady and complex flows, as well as the aerodynamic interactions. By running high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations on NASA supercomputers, researchers model the complex aerodynamics of multi-rotor flows, getting us closer to making UAM a reality.

Ventura Diaz, Patricia↗

NASA NTRS2020

Development of a Thermal Management System for Electrified Aircraft

This paper describes the development and optimization of a conceptual thermal management system for electrified aircraft. Here, a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle is analyzed with the following electrically sourced heat loads considered: motors, generators, rectifiers, and inverters. The vehicle will employ liquid-cooling techniques in order to acquire, transport, and reject waste heat from the vehicle. The purpose of this paper is to threefold: 1) Present a potential modeling framework for system level thermal management system simulation, 2) Analyze typical system characteristics, and 3) Perform optimization on a system developed for a specific vehicle to minimize weight gain, power utilization, and drag. Additionally, the paper will study the design process, specifically investigating the differences between steady state and transient sizing, comparing simulation techniques with a lower fidelity option and quantifying expected error.

Chapman, Jeffryes W.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

UAM Decision Making

NASA, in collaboration with the industry and FAA, is conducting research on Urban Air Mobility (UAM). UAM introduces unique and evolving operational characteristics unaccounted for within current transportation planning tools. This evolving modality requires a unique and comprehensive tool that integrates new and existing planning methodologies to provide a holistic solution for decision makers. NASA has identified a number of barriers and research areas related to aircraft, airspace, and communities as well as infrastructure requirements. The research will identify requirements related to urban capable aircraft and airspace technologies. While civil aviation authorities are responsible for safety and structure of operations through the air, the local and regional authorities are responsible for decisions related to location of vertiports, helipads, and airports. The implementation of UAM vertiports will consider diverse regional system categories such as weather, airspace restrictions, noise acceptability, surface traffic, availability of power, vertipad locations, routes, impact on surface traffic, safety and risks, economic impact, ingress/egress for electric/hybrid VTOL aircraft, applicable fire codes, evacuation strategy, zoning requirements, emergency preparedness, interactions with surface traffic, and community acceptance. Therefore, regional implementation bodies need a decision making tool to assess systemic dependencies in preparation for UAM impact on the region. We are developing a simulation and modeling tool that allows regional authorities to consider many factors while deciding the location of vertiport and UAM operations. The objective of this paper is to present the conceptual design of a comprehensive decision making tool to assist planning bodies in developing UAM infrastructure. Specifically, the UAM planning tool will simultaneously consider all relevant local/regional considerations to identify for vertiport locations and UAM operations for a region.

Parimal Kopardekar↗

NASA NTRS2020

Run Time Assurance as an Alternate Concept to Contemporary Development Assurance Processes

NASA and the FAA sought industry research to identify and evaluate alternate concepts for assuring safety of airborne systems. This report documents a research effort focused on the evaluation of Run Time Assurance (RTA) as applied to a novel, airborne system architecture. The RTA pattern is applied to a case study focused on a notional integrated flight and propulsion control system for a DEP VTOL aircraft. During flight, while the high-automation algorithms are operating, the RTA system will monitor the aircraft state for any impending violation of safety requirements. When necessary, it will switch to the low-automation software to prevent such violations. Assurance practices for both baseline industry activities and the RTA approach were captured and compared to illustrate the required engineering design considerations, and possible advantages and disadvantages of each approach as part of this case study.

Eric M. Peterson↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Operational Analysis of Vertiport Surface Topology

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concepts and technologies are being developed to safely enable operations of small, electric-powered or hybrid, pilot-optional, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) passenger and cargo aircraft at vertiport facilities in urban and suburban environments. It is likely that many of the highest demand locations for vertiports will be in space constrained urban environments, requiring vertiport designs to maximize throughput within a compact surface footprint. This paper presents several generic vertiport topology design approaches and evaluates their relative surface area utilization and operational efficiency under different wind constrained configurations while meeting safety driven spacing constraints derived from heliport design standards and subject matter expert interviews.

Urban air mobility↗