Feasibility Analysis and Comparative Assessment of Structural Power Technology in All-Electric Composite Aircraft

Abstract

Increasing environmental awareness and expected growth in air traffic over the next decades drive the need for the development of new technologies in the aviation industry. To meet established emission and noise reductions, all-electric aircraft are a promising technology. Yet, current battery technology is far from attaining the specific energy required to design economically viable commercial transport aircraft. To address this problem, much work is undertaken on improving the efficiency of individual components separately. Ongoing research on structural power technology however, focuses on combining load-bearing and electric energy-storage capabilities in a multifunctional material, promising considerable savings in overall aircraft mass. In this paper, a feasibility analysis and a comparative assessment of this technology in two small all-electric reference aircraft is undertaken. The Airbus E-Fan 1.0 and the Bristol Eco-Flyer are evaluated with respect to their mission performance and mass of material eligible for substitution with multifunctional material. Required specific energy and power of multifunctional material for these two-seater aircraft is calculated considering lower mechanical properties of multifunctional material and compared against state-of-the-art capabilities of multifunctional material. Finally, implications on mission performance, possible weight savings and on aircraft design are investigated. The results show that for a constant amount of carried energy, endurance gains of about 31 % are possible. The required minimal specific energy for multifunctional material in aircraft of the considered category is 51.8 Wh/kg and the required specific power is 103.3 W/kg for the same mission performance.