Abstract Hybrid and fully-electric VTOL aircraft present promising solutions for urban traffic congestion but face challenges such as limited energy density and stringent thermal constraints, requiring effective thermal management. Optimizing onboard electrical energy in hybrid-electric aircraft is crucial and can be achieved through an effective power management strategy. This paper presents a design methodology for an integrated power and thermal management system (IPTMS) using a parallel hybrid-electric civil tilt-rotor aircraft modelled after the XV-15, as a case study. A multidisciplinary optimization platform is developed, integrating IPTMS optimization with rotor aerodynamics, flight dynamics, gas turbine performance, mission analysis, and electric powertrain models. The study evaluates direct air- and liquid-cooling options, incorporating Phase Change Materials (PCMs) for heat storage to identify the most effective solution. Design space exploration is conducted across varying degrees of hybridization (DoH) to assess performance with and without thermal management integration. The results indicate that lower DoH with air-cooling improves efficiency and reduces emissions, while higher DoH is limited by thermal load and payload constraints. For shorter-range, double-leg missions, air-cooling with PCMs demonstrated advantages, achieving up to 8.76% energy efficiency gains and emission reductions of 12.95% for CO2 and 1.66% for NOx. Although electrification improves energy use and emissions, conventional aircraft still outperform if payload constraints are lifted through enhanced payload allocation. This work provides a comprehensive framework for IPTMS design in hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft, balancing power and thermal management for efficient and sustainable operation.
Kang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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