Effect of Coordination on Transient Response of a Hybrid Electric Propulsion System

Abstract

Thanks to its typical limited speeds and altitudes, Urban Air Mobility represents an interesting application for electric and hybrid-electric power systems. In addition, short-range requirements are compatible with limited performance of today batteries, conversely to their current inapplicability for commercial aviation purposes. For the present study, a parallel Hybrid Electric Propulsion System for a coaxial-rotor Air Taxi has been implemented in Simulink and tested on four different sets of operating conditions, with a transient signal as input for Power Lever Angle command. The goal of this investigation is to analyse transient behaviour of the hybrid electric propulsion system in question, to underline the role of electric motors in assisting thermal engine during transients, and, in particular, it focuses on the benefits deriving from the adoption of a coordination block which adapts torque split between the two power sources on the basis of actual engine response.

Keywords

• Urban Air Mobility
• Hybrid electric vehicles
• Transient response

Supporting Institution

Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research

Project Number

PON SMEA 03PE_00067_5

References

1. Donateo, T., De Pascalis, C., Strafella, L. and Ficarella, A., 2021, Off-line and On-line Optimization of the Energy Management Strategy in a Hybrid Electric Helicopter for Urban Air-Mobility. Aerospace Science and Technology, 113
2. Wang, C., Li, Y.G. and Yang, B.Y., 2017, Transient performance simulation of aircraft engine integrated with fuel and control systems. Applied Thermal Engineering, 114, pp.1029-1037