The fulfilment of the ACARE 2050 objectives in terms of an improved mobility while protecting the environment will not be achieved without the introduction of radically new ideas. The electrification of aircraft propulsion systems is one of such disruptive concepts that is gradually enabled by recent technological progress in power electronics for the storage, transmission and recuperation of electric power. Besides, it opens interesting perspectives for the integration of distributed propulsion systems around the airframe, seen as a promising avenue to increase the effective by-pass ratio and reduce fuel consumption. But a tighter integration of the propulsion system within the airframe introduces also novel issues in terms of propulsive efficiency and noise emissions, that must be accounted for in a holistic design process.

In parallel with the ever-increasing growth of civil air transport, the world has seen an unexpectedly fast development of a new paradigm: Urban Air Mobility and Personal Air Vehicles. In good part based on the successful deployment of drones for defence and professional applications, a number of companies are exploring very disruptive flying concepts. Considering the diversity of architectures (multi-copter, fixed wing, thrust vectoring, tilt rotors, single vs. tandem rotors, etc.), involving complex and largely unexplored aerodynamic and aeroacoustic installation effects, new design rules and methods are needed and have started being developed in the recent years.

The objective of the course is to address from a multi-disciplinary perspective the various attributes that are affected by the hybrid or full electrification of small and large aircraft: architectural and aerodynamic design, propulsion systems, operational costs and safety, noise generation and power systems. Some of the socio-economical aspects associated with the advent of novel mobility paradigms will be considered as well, together with the regulatory and certification issues that are accompanying those changes.

The course is intended for researchers, young professionals as well as confirmed engineers, and will grant them the necessary skills for:

• the identification of a number of underlying factors including technology, business and sustainability for the pursuit of new environmentally friendly and efficient mobility solutions;
• the preliminary sizing process of a hybrid electric aircraft based on top-level aircraft requirements, including aero-propulsive interaction effects;
• the sizing and the analysis of the impact of new propulsion systems on the size, overall layout, and performance of the aircraft, considering large, small aircraft and eVTOL;
• the identification of the main sound generating mechanisms involved in propulsion systems, addressing both intrinsic contributions associated with thrust and blade design and non-intrinsic contributions due to installation effects, and providing a background about analytical tools that can be used at the early design stage;
• the identification of suitable power management strategies covering storage technologies (batteries, fuel cells, etc.), the transmission and recuperation of power for full electric and hybrid aircraft;
• the identification of the critical points with respect to aircraft airworthiness and certification.

The course Directors are Prof. Christophe Schram (VKI) and Prof. Roelof Vos (TU Delft).

Schedule

Tuesday 23 April 2019

- 09:00 Registration

- 09:15 Introduction
Amir S. Gohardani, Spring of Dreams Corp., CA, USA

- 10:30 Coffee break

- 11:00 Introduction (continued)
Amir S. Gohardani

- 12:15 Lunch

- 13:45 Aircraft Design
Roelof Vos, Technische Universiteit Delft, the Netherlands

- 15:00 Coffee break

-15:30 Aircraft Design (continued)
Roelof Vos

-16:45 End

Wednesday 24 April 2019

- 09:15 Aircraft Design (continued)
Roelof Vos

- 10:30 Coffee break

- 11:00 Architectural Design
Askin Isikveren, SAFRAN A.S. Group, France

- 12:15 Lunch

- 13:45 Operational Costs and Safety
Askin Isikveren

- 15:00 Coffee break

-15:30 Propulsion System Sizing for Small Aircrafts and eVTOLs
Carsten Braun, FH Aachen, Germany

-16:45 End

Thursday 25 April 2019

- 09:15 Aeroacoustics of Installed Propellers
Michel Roger, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France

- 10:30 Coffee break

- 11:00 Aeroacoustics of Installed Propellers (continued)
Michel Roger

- 12:15 Lunch

- 13:45 Power Systems for Hybrid and Electric Aircraft
Peter Malkin, Newcastle University, United Kingdom

- 15:00 Coffee break

-15:30 Power Systems for Hybrid and Electric Aircraft (continued)
Peter Malkin

-16:45 End

Friday 26 April 2019

- 09:15 Future Mobility Scenarios
Luciana Monteiro, Embraer, Brazil

- 10:30 Coffee break

- 11:00 Recent Developments Towards Personal Air Vehicles
Thierry Olbrechts, Siemens eAircraft, Belgium

- 12:15 Lunch

- 13:45 Regulatory and Certification Aspects
tbd

- 15:00 End