Architecture-based fuel system conceptual design tool for hybrid-electric aircraft

Abstract

The design of hybrid-electric, distributed electric, and unconventional aircraft requires improving existing conceptual design methods. In particular, hybrid-electric aircraft require more integration between the traditional propulsion system and the aircraft systems (i.e., the electrical power system, flight control systems, fuel system). Traditional conceptual design methods for aircraft systems rely on statistical data and focus mainly on weight estimation. This paper focuses on the fuel system, which shifts its role towards an energy storage system for hybrid-electric aircraft. This paper compares existing traditional weight estimation methods, proposes an updated empirical method and a new architecture-based approach. This architecture-based approach estimates the fuel system weight based on individual subsystems and major components from information available in conceptual design. The validation and the application to a hybrid-electric regional aircraft case study are presented to illustrate the capability of the new method. In summary, the architecture-based approach for the fuel system enables more detailed subsystem analysis as required in the next generation of multidisciplinary optimization frameworks, such as analysis of certifiability, safety, reliability, and thermal analyses.