Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Technical report
Topic: Analysing if blended wing body aircraft is good or bad for
VTOL technology (TASK 2)

0verview
Aircraft with advanced wing geometry, like the flying wing or blended wing body configuration, seems
to be the seed candidate of future aircraft. Compared with conventional aircraft, there are significant
aerodynamic performance improvements because of its highly integrated wing and fuselage
configuration.

On the other hand, due to its tailless configuration, the stability characteristics are not as good as
conventional aircraft. In this report we would learn whether VTOL technology is compaitable with
blended wing aircraft

Blended Wing Body aircraft concepts are often considered for the 2030 timescale, with the latest
being the MAVERIC concept by Airbus,

The design approach of BWB is to maximize overall efficiency by integrating the propulsion systems,
wings, and the body into a single lifting surface.

The blended-wing-body vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (BWB VTOL UAV)
combines the hovering VTOL capabilities of a helicopter with the efficiency of a fixed-wing aircraft.
The BWB utilizes a lift-generating fuselage that improves the lift produced by the aircraft, and
therefore improving the overall efficiency. The body allows for the propulsion system necessary for
VTOL to be housed in the fuselage.

CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Blended wing body
 Advantages
 Need
 History
 Aerodynamic Study of Blended Wing Body
 Overview
 VTOL technology in blended wing body aircraft
 Thrust Investigation of Ducted Propellers
 Aerodynamic Characteristic of VTOL Blended-Wing-Body
 DISCUSSION
 Conclusion
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

INTRODUCTION
In the present study, a hybrid fixed-wing multi-copter is of interest due to using a combination
of these different concepts. The multiple rotors allow for VTOL and hovering capabilities that
limit the need for runways and allows the craft to remain stationary over a given target.
Placement of the vertical flight motors in the body minimizes drag and makes it easier to
connect the motor to an internal fuselage structure. An addition of covers on the top and
bottom of the craft allows for a more streamline fuselage during forward flight.
Tilting rotors at the wing tips provide assistance in VTOL and in hover, and then can rotate for
horizontal flight and can improve the power efficiency and stability of the aircraft. The
configurations of hover and horizontal flight

BLENDED WING BODY DEFINITION and ADVANTAGES

A blended wing body (BWB), also known as blended body or hybrid wing body (HWB), is
a fixed-wing aircraft having no clear dividing line between the wings and the main body of the
craft.
The aircraft has distinct wing and body structures, which are smoothly blended together with
no clear dividing line.
This contrasts with a flying wing, which has a distinct fuselage, and a lifting body, which has a
distinct wings. A BWB design may or may not be tailless.
Advantages:

 The main advantage of the BWB is to reduce wetted area and the
accompanying form drag associated with a conventional wing-body junction.
 Due to a wide airfoil-shaped body, allowing the entire craft to generate lift
and thrust reducing the size and drag of the wings.
 It has Significant payload advantages in strategic airlift, air freight, and aerial
refueling roles.
 Increased fuel efficiency – by 10.9% better than a conventional widebody, to
over 20% than a comparable conventional aircraft.
 Lower noise – NASA audio simulations show a 15dB reduction of Boeing
777-class aircraft
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

History
In the early 1920s Nicolas Woyevodsky developed a theory of the BWB and, following wind
tunnel tests the Westland Dreadnought was built. It stalled on its first flight in 1924, severely
injuring the pilot, and the project was cancelled.

The idea was proposed again in the early 1940s for a Miles M.26 airliner project and
the Miles M.30 "X Minor" research prototype was built to investigate it. The McDonnell XP-
67 prototype interceptor also flew in 1944 but did not meet expectations.

NASA returned to the concept in the 1990s with an artificially stabilized 17-foot (5.2 m)
model (6% scale) called BWB-17, built by Stanford University, which was flown in 1997 and
showed good handling qualities. From 2000 NASA went on to develop a remotely controlled
research model with a 21-foot (6.4 m) wingspan

AERODYNAMIC STUDY
Design considered
For the series of tests regarding the aerodynamics of the blended-wing-body
experiments, two models were created, one with an aft-positioned body in respect to
the wings, and the other being a fore-positioned body in respect to the wings.
Figure defines the necessary variables required for each model. The dimensions of
each model are provided in table. For both the fore- and aft-BWB models, the wing
geometry defined by Cr, Ct, and A2 are kept the same, as well as the planform areas of
both models. For both models, the wing utilizes an Eppler 330 airfoil while the airfoil
body of the BWB models start as a NACA 0012 airfoil and transitions to the Eppler 330
to blend with the wing.
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

NOMENCLATURE
 alpha = Angle of Attack [°]
 D = Duct Diameter [in]
 CD = Drag Coefficient
 CL = Lift Coefficient
 CM = Moment Coefficient
 CL/CD = Lift-to-Drag Ratio
 CP = Power Coefficient
 CT = Thrust Coefficient
 H = Height above the ground
 Re = Reynolds number

Wind Tunnel used

Testing was conducted using the recirculating wind tunnel located in the Aerospace and Mechanical
Engineering department at the University of Arizona. The test section is 0.9 m by 1.2 m, and the free
stream velocity ranges from 0.3 to 83.8 m/s.

The models are connected to a five-component external balance, which measures the normal, and
axial forces, and pitch, roll, and yaw moments. For this study, only the normal and axial forces and the
pitching moments were looked at. The balance pitch position is controlled with the Model Position
System Data Acquisition and Control Software.

For this experiment, the pitch angles were set from 0˚ to 30˚ at increments of 2˚. At each angle of
attack, force and moment measurements are continuously taken until they reach a set convergence
value set to 2%. The maximum run time at each angle is 1.5 minutes, so if the values do not converge,
the balance readings at the end of the run time are recorded.

Thrust Investigation
The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of ducted propellers in the BWB UAV during
takeoff and landing. Due to the close proximity of the these propellers to the ground during takeoff,
ground effects need to be taken into consideration. Also, the fact that the central ducts are close
together leads to jet flow interactions between the four motors when they are running
simultaneously.
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

For the tests regarding the effects of the ground on ducted propeller performance, the craft is
positioned at various heights given in terms of the diameter of a single duct

The 1580 series RCbenchmark thrust stand and dynamometer is utilized for obtaining force
measurements and current readings

Using the RCbenchmark, the thrust from the motors are found at the three different heights and the
thrust data is collected at increaments of 0.5 amps supplied to the system up to 5-6 amps

in order to understand the ground effects of ducted propellers in a blended-wing-body UAV, a pre-
existing UAV is utilized. From the thrust data obtained using the RCbenchmark, the CT values were
calculated and plotted for each motor running separately. CT is defined as

MOTOR 1

Figure shows the resulting CT values of Motor 1 at various heights given in terms of duct
diameter, which one duct diameter is given as 5 inches. The closer the UAV is to the ground
there is a slight increase in the CT values. The values at a height of 2 and 3 duct diameters are
similar to each other, and lower than at a height of 1D. This indicates that by a height of 2D,
the ground effects are negligible. In all three cases, an increase in motor RPM corresponds to
an increase in the thrust coefficient.

MOTOR 2

For the case of Motor 2, the CT values at heights of 2D and 3D are higher in comparison
to the 1D case. This is opposite of what is seen with Motor 1. At the larger heights, the
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

thrust coefficient values are similar to each other, which also indicate that at these
heights, there is no longer an effect due to the ground. Unlike Motor 1, which had better
CT values closer to the ground, Motor 2 experiences loss in thrust due to the ground.

MOTOR 3
For motor 3, the UAV at 1 duct diameter leads to lower CT than at height of 2 and 3 duct
diameters. As seen in the previous motor tests, the values of CT at positions of 2D and 3D are
much closer together than at the lower position. This is keeping up with the trend that at the
larger distances, there is no discernable impact on the performance of each motor due to the
ground. However, at a distance of 1D, unfavorable ground effects are observed through the
loss of thrust. At a height of 2D and 3D, the thrust coefficient decreases with an increase of
RPM, while at a height of 1D these values increase

MOTOR 4

It is seen that Motor 4 does not exhibit a similar behavior as the other three motors. The CT
values at heights of 1D and 2D are similar to each other, while at a height of 3D these values
are lower. At a height of 3D, CT slightly increases with RPM, and at 1D and 2D, they slowly
decrease
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Four Motor Test Results

When all four motors are running, it is expected that the resulting thrust should be larger due
to ground effects. Figure shows the resulting thrust at the three different heights. At a height
of 1D, the thrust values are slightly higher in comparison to heights of 2D and 3D. The lower
thrust values are from the VTOL UAV positioned at 2D. It is clear that closer to the ground,
favorable ground effects are experienced since there is an increase in thrust. However, at 2D,
there is a slight drop in thrust in comparison to a height of 3D.

Summary
During vertical takeoff and landing, a VTOL UAV can experience either positive
or negative ground effects. From thrust results obtained at 1, 2, and 3 duct
diameters, the change in thrust was found due to the changing position of the
VTOL UAV, and conclusions were drawn for the interactions of the jets between
each other.

Tests on individual motors provided insight on the thrust of each motor at the
three different heights. For Motor 1, located at the nose of the craft, the CT
value decreased as the distance from the ground increased, indicating favorable
ground effects. In the case of Motor 2 and 3, however, at a height of 1D, the CT
values were lower in comparison to 2D and 3D.
This is an indicator of adverse ground effects that could be attributed to the
motors being situated more in the body in comparison to Motor 1. Motor 4,
however, showed improved CT values when the UAV was closer to the ground.
With it being situated across from Motor 2, similar results were expected
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Aerodynamic Characteristic of Blended-Wing-

Body
Lift Coefficient
From the axial and normal forces obtained from the wind tunnel tests for angles of attack of
0˚ to 30˚, lift distribution curves can be plotted. From these plots, a comparison of the slope
of the lift curve, the stall angle, and the maximum lift coefficients can be made to compare
the performance of the aft- and fore-body models.

in both models, the lift slope is larger at 20 and 30 m/s than 10 m/s and the CL values are
higher compared to the 10 m/s case. However, CL values at an angle of attack of 0˚ are much
higher for both fore- and aft- models at lower velocities than higher.

At 20 and 30 m/s, the lift values of the fore-body model are higher , but they are roughly the
same for the aft-body model. An intriguing feature of the lift curves of the fore-body model is
that there is no typical stall behavior.

In both the 20 and 30 m/s case, a local maximum is reached at 16˚, but instead of seeing a
decline in lift, the values remain fairly constant.
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Drag Coefficient
The aft-body model exhibits higher lift values, but this is not only one factor in determining
the optimal blended-wing-body configuration. Drag is another important parameter, and
unlike lift where maximum values are considered, the points of minimum drag are of interest.

A comparison of how each model performed at 10, 20 and 30 m/s are provided in Figure In
both the fore- and aft-body cases, the CD values at 10 m/s are higher than at the other
speeds. The CD values at 20 and 30 m/s remain minimal from 0˚ to 14˚ before sharply
increasing
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Stability and Aerodynamic Efficiency for Long Range Flight

For a flying wing aircraft, particularly with a VTOL UAV, it is undesirable to have
too much negative, or nose down, pitching moment about the aerodynamic
center. Due to the lack of a tail, it becomes increasingly difficult to compensate
for the downward pitch, making the craft unstable. The CM values of the BWB
models are given for 10, 20 and 30 m/s. The fore-body model has a region of
positive moment from about 12˚ to 23˚ at 10 m/s, 13˚ to 25˚ at 20 m/s, and 16˚
to 23˚ at 30 m/s. As can be seen in Figure, the pitching moment is just above or
below zero. For the aft-body model, CM is mostly negative for all three speeds.
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Lift to drag ratio

The lift-to-drag ratios are important parameters in determining the performance of each BWB
configuration. Higher CL/CD correlates to better efficiency during flight. For the BWB VTOL
UAV, a long range of flight is desirable, so the angle of attack where CL/CD is maximized is of
interest. From Figure, for both the fore- and aft-body models, CL/CD values are much lower at
10 m/s than the other cases. In the case of the fore-body, at 20 and 30 m/s, the CL/CD are
similar. For the aft-body, CL/CD values improve at higher speeds, which means that this
configuration becomes more efficient at higher speeds than lower. The fore-body
configuration is more advantageous because the same CL/CD is obtained at lower speeds,
which can provide better range for the UAV since less thrust is required to fly at conditions
where the lift is maximized and drag is minima,
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Discussion
Through wind tunnel experiments, the aerodynamic characteristics of the fore- and aft
blended-wing-body designs were obtained. When looking at the lift coefficients, the aft-body
configuration had better lift at Re of 2.4x105, and 3.6x105. Despite having lower CL values, in
comparison with the aft-body model, the fore-body model does not show typical stall
behavior. Instead, the lift values remain constant. The drag coefficient values of the fore-body
model were also lower. In terms of stability, the fore-body also performed better due to the
aft-body having mainly negative pitching moment coefficients. This is important because it
means the UAV would need to constantly utilize elevons to counter the tendency to nose-
down. A look at the lift-to-drag ratios of both body configurations shows that the fore-body
configuration has better CL/CD values at Re of 2.4x105 , while also doing slightly better than
the aft-body at Re of 1.18x105 . However, at Re of 3.6x105, the aft-body had better values for
CL/CD max. In both configurations, the stability and efficiency suffer at low Re. Both
configurations experience larger magnitudes of pitch down moments from angles of attack of
0˚ to 4˚, as well as lower CL/CD value.

From these results, it can be said that the fore-body model has better stability since it does
not require excessive use of control surfaces, such as elevons, to keep the craft level.

CONCLUSION

Research was done on a blended-wing-body VTOL UAV to understand the importance of the
shape of the planform on the aerodynamic performance, and to understand the interactions
of the distributed propulsion system used for VTOL and hover
Inspite of so many advantages of BWB aircraft while aerodynamics make them very appealing
to design and built there are several added concerns that when combined together leads to
problem

REFERENCE
https://scholars.direct/Articles/aerospace-engineering-and-mechanics/jaem-4-
020.php?jid=aerospace-engineering-and-mechanics

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jat/2018/7040531/

https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10.2514/6.2019-2291

https://scholars.direct/Articles/aerospace-engineering-and-mechanics/jaem-4-020.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_wing_body
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Technical report
Topic: TO WORK ON, LITERATURE SURVEY ON VTOL DESIGN AND
CONTROL SURFACE (TASK 1)

OVERVIEW:

Aircraft technology has been developing for over a century since the Wright brothers
built their first manned plane, through Sperry’s autopilot, until the 21st century when
the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) were invented.

The evaluation in the missions complexity of both aircraft and Unmanned Aerial
vehicles(UAV’s) and the increase in civilian air-traffic, with limited runways, have led
to the development of a new category of aircraft called as Transtitional aircraft also
known as Vtol aircraft.

The goal of this aircraft is to take advantages of both the characteristics of fixed wing
aircraft and rotorcraft.

Despite of this abundant knowledge on designing both this aircraft designing VTOL
aircraft has proven to be challenging.

INDEX:
 VTOL definition
 Advantages of VTOL
 UAV and its type
 History of vtol aircrafts
 Types of VTOL aircrafts
 Design of VTOL
 Assumptions made
 Operating envelope of vtol design aircraft
 Different VTOL design process
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

 Control architecture
 Block diagram of control architecture
 Control allocation
Engine of modern VTOL aircraft
Conclusion
 reference

VTOL AIRCRAFT
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can hover, take off ,and
land vertically.

This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including fixed-wing

aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such
as cyclogyro s/cyclocopters and tiltrotors

Some VTOL aircraft can operate in other modes as well, such as CTOL (conventional
take-off and landing), STOL (short take-off and landing), or STOVL (short take-off and
vertical landing)

Advantage of vtol aircraft over fixed wing

aircraft and rotorcraft

 VTOL aircraft are systems capable of flying as fixed wing aircraft or rotorcraft
as well as transition between these modes when desired.
 Operation in rotorcraft mode makes the aircraft possible to Vertical Take Off
and Landing , fly at low speeds in any direction , hover and perform some
difficult maneuvers.
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

 In the fixed wing mode , this aircraft can make a substantial increase in range ,
endurance, altitude , payload carrying capacity and maximum forward speed
compared to rotorcraft mode.
 Therefore this aircrafts have extend increase in flight envelope, mission and
performance compared to typical aircraft
 need to take-off and land from the runway is eliminated
 Very useful in limited aerospace and good operational flexibility
 Power required is miniumum.

History
The idea of vertical flight has been around for thousands of years and sketches for a
VTOL (helicopter) show up in Leonardo da Vinci's sketch book. Manned VTOL aircraft,
in the form of primitive helicopters, first flew in 1907 but would take until after World
War Two to perfect.

In addition to helicopter development, many approaches have been tried to develop

practical aircraft with vertical take-off and landing capabilities including Henry
Berliner's 1922–1925 experimental horizontal rotor fixed wing aircraft, and Nikola
Tesla's 1928 patent and George Lehberger's 1930 patent for relatively impractical
VTOL fixed wing airplanes with a tilting engines.

In the late 1930s British aircraft designer Leslie Everett Baynes was issued a patent
for the Baynes Heliplane, another tilt rotor aircraft. In 1941 German
designer Heinrich Focke's began work on the Focke-Achgelis Fa 269, which had two
rotors that tilted downward for vertical takeoff, but wartime bombing halted
development.
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

TYPES OF VTOL AIRCRAFTS

 The VTOL technology gained popularity through various rotorcraft designs in
the 1960’s and evolved as the aerospace industry nurtured. Several
configurations of rotorcraft have been developed and tested successfully in
the past, namely, Helicopters, Autogyros, Gyrodynes, Cyclogyros, and
Heliogyros.
 The success of rotorcraft with VTOL technology was followed by powered lift
designs using turbo fan engines with auxiliary/ augmented lift fans.
 There are main types of VTOL aircraft:
 Tiltrotor Aircraft
 Taillsetter Aircraft
 Quadplane Aircraft.
 Helicopters
 Gyrodynes,

ASSUMPTION
 The work IS DONE on tiltrotor aircraft that use the same propulsion system
during all flight modes. Additionally, the study is only concerned with aircraft
that use only electric or reciprocating propulsion systems. Although dealing
with any other type of aircraft or propulsion system separately is possible, it is
considered to be practically not possible to encompass all types in one design
methodology.
 The proposed work centers on the design of TA by only focusing on the
transition aspects from VTOL to fixed-wing.
 The transition is constraint to only take place in straight horizontal level
forward flight. Thus, we do not consider transition occurring in any other basic
or acrobatic flight mode such as banks, turns, climb or descent, barrel roll,
Cuban eight, etc.
 The aircraft’s transition is constraint to take place in the absence of turbulent
flows existing in the atmosphere. That is, in this paper, we do not consider the
effects of turbulent and cross flows such as cross wind gusts or wake flows
caused by (for example) aircraft flying in front of the aircraft of interest.
 The proposed method will be applicable to aircraft that have no or have a
small wing area under the rotors during hovering.
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Operating envelope of vtol design aircraft

 The flight envelope of the UAV platform is divided into the three following
flight modes, which was achieved by means of the collective angular
displacement of the two rear rotors
1. VTOL mode: this flight phase is intended for vertical climbing, descending, and
hovering. The flying platform works in a multirotor mode and the whole thrust
is derived from the four rotors. To minimize power consumption, after
reaching the required minimum altitude, the UAV platform immediately
proceeds to flight in the aircraft mode.
2. Transition mode: two rear propellers are tilted synchronously towards the
vertical direction, which in turn causes the horizontal speed of the aircraft to
increase. The angular position is controlled by changing the thrust of particular
rotors so that the airframe obtains a given angle of attack relative to the
incoming air streams. With the increase of the horizontal speed, the fixed
wings develop lift.
3. Aircraft mode: at this flight phase the UAV has a sufficient speed of
translational movement, which allows generating lift force. Under such
conditions the platform behaves like a conventional airplane, and aerodynamic
control surfaces, such as rudder, elevator, and ailerons, provide yaw, pitch, and
roll motions.

Different aircraft design process

 Generally, aircraft design process includes four major phases:
a. Conceptual design.
b. Preliminary design.
c. Detail design.
d. Test & evaluation

Conceptual design
 UAV conceptual design is selecting the aircraft’s configuration, and to reduce
the diverse complexities associated with transitional systems, three proposed
configurations have been introduced and compared against each other.
 This step has been based on the available literature results, to identify the
most suitable configuration.
 The configurations are:
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

 1. Three lifting surfaces configuration with central ducted fans (Configuration

1).
 2. Conventional wing-tail configuration with ducted fans at wingtips
(Configuration).
 3. Box-wing configuration with central ducted fan (Configuration)
 Based on the preliminary design of the three-tiltrotor aircraft configurations,
the box-wing is selected as the best alternative to use in the proposed
research. The wings of the selected aircraft are arranged in a similar
geometrical configuration as AVY’s transitional aircraft (Figure 6B) and uses
two tilting rotors besides the fuselage

VTOL preliminary design

a mathematical approach is developed using variations of the typical mathematical
formulations used in the independent design of fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft.
Such formulations are then combined to find a meeting point where both types of
aircraft merge targeting tiltrotor VTOL.
A. Rotorcraft sizing
B. Hovering flight
C. Vertical climb flight
D. Hover ceiling
E. Transition flight sizing
F. Fixed-wing sizing
G. Stall speed

Design requirements
 The UAV design process was initiated by identifying the desired
design requirements including the mission profile and required
mission specifications.
 The envisioned goal is for the UAV to achieve high speed,
enhance its operational range, while maintaining its current
VTOL capabilities including its unique pitch hover and
maneuver abilities in confined spaces.
 Mission profile A typical mission profile of the UAV can be
described in a sequence of six steps as illustrated
 1) Take-off (either vertical or as a fixed-wing).
 2) Hovering.
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

 3) Transition from helicopter flight mode to fixed-wing flight

mode.
 4) Cruise as a fixed-wing UAV.
 5) Transition from fixed-wing flight mode to helicopter flight
mode.
 6) Landing.

Control architecture of VTOL aircraft

The flight control system consists of many control modes such as manual control
mode (MANUAL), altitude control mode (ALTCTL), position control mode (POSCTL),
and mission control mode (MISSION). MANUAL, ALTCTL, and POSCTL require pilot
participation for control.

In MISSION, the UAV performs the programmed mission sent by the ground control
station without the participation of pilots. The control architecture in MISSION
adopts a time scale separation principle consisting of a navigation loop, a position
loop, an attitude loop, and the mixer.

The estimator adopts an extended Kalman filter algorithm that uses rate gyroscopes,
accelerometers, a compass, GPS, airspeed and barometric pressure measurements to
estimate the position, velocity, and angular orientation of the UAV. The estimator
sends these parameters to each loop. The navigation loop is responsible for the
autonomous navigation functionality, which accepts missions and turns them into
lower level navigation primitives such as the position commands and speed
commands

BLOCK DIAGRAM
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Control allocator
 Mixer system is used for control allocation
Example: tiltrotor transition
 As motor tilts mixer geometry is applied.
 Roll/yaw coupling occurs.
 Reduced control authoritry during transitions.
ADVANTAGE:
 Controllers remain independent from specific vehicle configurations.
 More precise control during transitions.
 Fault tolerant control
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Engine used in modern vtol aircraft

 VTOL engine is dead weight during forward (“normal”) flight
 VTOL aircraft usually has a dedicated vertical lift system
 In forward flight, this engine is a dead weight; it doesn’t do any work and adds
weight to the airplane, limiting its speed and maneuverability. Most of the
time, this is just an unacceptable penalty.
 Vertical lift requires vastly more energy than taking off and flying with wings
 When you’re purely using the vertical lift system, you’re fighting the entire
weight of the aircraft. By simple physics, the lift you need to generate must be
greater than the weight of the airplane in order to takeoff. It’s so much more
efficient to use wings where you only need a fraction of the energy to takeoff
or fly.

Conclusion:
The proposed approach is a simple and straightforward methodology to generate an
efficient tool for selecting the most important preliminary sizing parameters for VTOL
systems.
By using the proposed mathematical formulations, the performance constraints of
the FW, rotorcraft, and transition flight modes are integrated into a single tiltrotor
design chart.
This methodology enables rapid and manual selection of the most favorable
preliminary sizing parameters without the complexities associated with the
traditional numerical optimization methods

Advantages and Future developments The VTOL technology is a huge trade off in
certain design constraints and in VTOL design aircrafts tiltrotor design is mainly used
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

to design and VTOL control surface are complex then conventional aircraft control
surface but is suitable for all type of flying mode.

REFERENCE
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jat/2018/7040531/
http://medcraveonline.com/AAOAJ/AAOAJ-02-00047.pdf
https://worldwidescience.org/topicpages/v/vtol+aircraft+design.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTOL
https://www.colorado.edu/faculty/kantha/content/vertical-take-and-landing-
vtol
https://youtu.be/37BIBAzD6fE
https://youtu.be/4GfqB7P6uAE
https://www.quora.com/Why-didnt-we-see-many-VTOL-aircraft-in-the-history-
of-aircraft-development
Name: Rithik Gowda M REG NO: M12105AE01

Technical report
Topic: Working of fuel cell in aviation
(TASK 3)

OVERVIEW
hydrogen fuel cells are emerging as a high-potential technology that offers significant
energy efficiency and decarbonisation benefits to a range of industries—including
automotive and heavy transport. In a strategic partnership with automotive systems
supplier ElringKlinger, Airbus is investing to mature fuel cell propulsion systems for
the aviation market.
Fuel cells are generally utilized for secondary power generation, since in cases where
they are not using fossil fuels – a possibility only for high temperature fuel cells – pure
hydrogen has to be generated by using primary energy sources. Working fuel cell
systems have already been developed by many companies in the automobile,
electronics, and power generation industries. These systems have to be improved
before they can compete on the market with existing technologies, by extending their
lifetime and significantly reducing their cost.

FUEL CELLS
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel
(often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair
of redox reactions.

Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel
and oxygen (usually from air) to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery
the chemical energy usually comes from metals and their ions or oxides that are
commonly already present in the battery, except in flow batteries. Fuel cells can
produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.

Hydrogen is the basic fuel, but fuel cells also require oxygen. One great appeal of fuel
cells is that they generate electricity with very little pollution–much of the hydrogen
and oxygen used in generating electricity ultimately combine to form a harmless
byproduct, namely water.
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HISTORY
In 1838, judge-turned-scientist Sir William Grove came up with a novel idea: to
construct a cell consisting of two separate sealed compartments, each of which was
fed by either hydrogen or oxygen gas. At the time, he called his invention a “gas
voltaic battery.” Unfortunately, it did not produce enough electricity to be of much
use. It remained a scientific curiosity until the 20th century, when English engineer
Francis Thomas Bacon matured the original idea to develop the world’s very first
hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell in 1932.

Bacon cell has been used in NASA space programs since the mid-1960s to generate
power for satellites and space capsules.

In 1955, W. Thomas Grubb, a chemist working for the General Electric Company (GE),
further modified the original fuel cell design by using a sulphonated polystyrene ion-
exchange membrane as the electrolyte. Three years later another GE chemist,
Leonard Niedrach, devised a way of depositing platinum onto the membrane, which
served as catalyst for the necessary hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction
reactions. This became known as the "Grubb-Niedrach fuel cell“.

FUEL CELL DESIGN

Fuel cells come in many varieties; however, they all work in the same general manner.
They are made up of three adjacent segments: the anode, the electrolyte, and
the cathode. Two chemical reactions occur at the interfaces of the three different
segments. The net result of the two reactions is that fuel is consumed, water or
carbon dioxide is created, and an electric current is created, which can be used to
power electrical devices, normally referred to as the load.
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At the anode a catalyst oxidizes the fuel, usually hydrogen, turning the fuel into a
positively charged ion and a negatively charged electron.

The electrolyte is a substance specifically designed so ions can pass through it, but
the electrons cannot. The freed electrons travel through a wire creating the electric
current. The ions travel through the electrolyte to the cathode. Once reaching the
cathode, the ions are reunited with the electrons and the two react with a third
chemical, usually oxygen, to create water or carbon dioxide.

DIFFERENT TYPE OF FUEL CELLS

1. ALKALI FUEL CELL

2. Molten Carbonate fuel cells (MCFC)
3. Phosphoric Acid fuel cells (PAFC)
4. Solid Oxide fuel cells (SOFC)
5. Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells

ADVANTAGES OF FUEL CELLS

High Efficiency- when utilizing co-generation, fuel cells can attain over 80% energy
efficiency
Good reliability- quality of power provided does not degrade over time.
Noise- offers a much more silent and smooth alternative to conventional energy
production.
Environmentally beneficial- greatly reduces CO2 and harmful pollutant emissions.
Size reduction- fuel cells are significantly lighter and more compatible.
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Disadvantages of Fuel cells

Expensive to manufacture due the high cost of catalysts (platinum)
Lack of infrastructure to support the distribution of hydrogen.
A lot of the currently available fuel cell technology is in the prototype stage and
not yet validated.
Hydrogen is expensive to produce and not widely available
Despite being the most plentiful ingredient in the Universe, hydrogen does not
exist on its own, so it needs to be extracted from the water via electrolysis or
insulated from carbon fossil fuels. Both of these methods need a notable
amount of energy to accomplish
Hydrogen is a highly combustible fuel source, which causes obvious safety
concerns. Hydrogen gas burns in the air at concentrations varying from 4 to
75%

WORKING OF FUEL CELLS

There are several kinds of fuel cells, and each operates a bit differently. But in general
terms, hydrogen atoms enter a fuel cell at the anode where a chemical reaction strips
them of their electrons. The hydrogen atoms are now "ionized," and carry a positive
electrical charge. The negatively charged electrons provide the current through wires
to do work. If alternating current (AC) is needed, the DC output of the fuel cell must
be routed through a conversion device called an inverter.
Oxygen enters the fuel cell at the cathode and, in some cell types (like the one
illustrated above), it there combines with electrons returning from the electrical
circuit and hydrogen ions that have traveled through the electrolyte from the anode.
In other cell types the oxygen picks up electrons and then travels through the
electrolyte to the anode, where it combines with hydrogen ions.
The electrolyte plays a key role. It must permit only the appropriate ions to pass
between the anode and cathode. If free electrons or other substances could travel
through the electrolyte, they would disrupt the chemical reaction.
Whether they combine at anode or cathode, together hydrogen and oxygen form
water, which drains from the cell. As long as a fuel cell is supplied with hydrogen and
oxygen, it will generate electricity.
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WORKING OF hydrogen FUEL CELLS

Similar to batteries, a fuel cell is a device that converts energy stored in molecules into electricity
through an electrochemical reaction. Composed of two electrodes (an anode and a cathode)
separated by an electrolyte membrane, a typical hydrogen fuel cell works in the following way:

Hydrogen enters the fuel cell via the anode. Here, hydrogen atoms react with a catalyst and split into
electrons and protons. Oxygen from the ambient air enters on the other side through the cathode.

The positively charged protons pass through the porous electrolyte membrane to the cathode. The
negatively charged electrons flow out of the cell and generate an electric current, which can be
used, for example, to power an electric or hybrid-electric propulsion system.

In the cathode, the protons and oxygen then combine to produce water.

WORKING OF FUEL CELLS IN AIRCRAFT

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HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS IN AIRCRAFT

Hydrogen combustion aircraft and hydrogen fuel cell aircraft are the two broad hydrogen
propulsion systems under consideration. Seven publicly known hydrogen-propelled aircraft
are currently in development, all of which employ fuel cells.
HYDROGEN FUEL CELL (HFC) AIRCRAFT
HFC aircraft could potentially offer a "true zero" solution for GHG emissions. The only output
of fuel cells is water, which eliminates CO2 , NOX, SOX, CO, HC and soot emissions. However,
the water produced – around nine kilograms for every one kilogram of hydrogen reacted –
would have to be released, and water vapor is also a GHG with the potential to cause
contrails and Aviation Induced Cloudiness (AIC).
This is critical as hydrogen fuel cell aircraft can only be considered "true zero" solutions if
they eliminate contrail/AIC emissions. Research suggests that due to the pure nature of the
hydrogen and oxygen electrolysis reaction in a fuel cell, any impurities are likely to be
minimal, significantly reducing the density of nucleation points and thus the impact of
contrail/AIC formation. Furthermore, flying at lower altitudes could make the impact of the
water vapor on global radiative forcing less significant, by constraining flights to remain
within the troposphere where water vapor emissions are much less harmful (below 8-12
kilometers in altitude, varying by latitude and time of year).
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APPLICATIIONS
 Bacon’s fuel cell was such a success that it has been used by the space
industry to power satellites and rockets for space exploration programmes,
including Apollo 11, since the 1960s. As the story goes, then-US President
Richard Nixon famously said: "Without you Tom, we wouldn't have gotten to
the moon.”
 Today, hydrogen fuel cell technology is being used for a variety of applications,
including to:
 provide emergency backup power to critical facilities like hospitals.
 replace grid electricity for critical-load facilities like data centres.
 power a variety of transportation modes such as cars, buses, trains and
forklifts.
 The number of fuel cell vehicles like Toyota myriad, Honda FCX clarity,
Mercedes Benz F-Cell, Hyundai ix35 FCEV.
 As 2020 Olympics is going to held in Tokyo, Japan. The Japan govt. aims to
install 35 hydrogen gas stations in the city with aim to have 6000 fuel cells
based cars on the roads and increased the quantities of fuel cell based buses
in Tokyo.
 A number of aircrafts like HY4, Lockheed CL-400 sultan are based on fuel cell
technology which emits zero carbon emission.

FIVE CHALLENGES
 AIRCRAFT AND ENGINE REDESIGN
 HYDROGEN STORAGE
 SUSTAINABLE HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
 INFRASTRUCTURE
 COST

CONCLUSION
Despite several decades of broad technological homogeneity in aerospace and
aviation, the future looks more complex as the industry grapples with the
challenge of sustainability. While smaller aircraft can electrify, and long ranged
aircraft will likely be constrained to Sustainable Aviation Fuels, it will be the all-
important narrowbody/Middle-of-the-Market sector where hydrogen will be a
strong candidate for future propulsion. In this category, OEMs will have to
prove that hydrogen is more viable than hybrid-electric solutions, and airlines
will have to verify that the cost of adopting this technology is justified amidst
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growing sustainability concerns. Alongside Electrical Propulsion and SAFs, we

see a clear role for hydrogen in helping address the challenge of sustainable
aviation, and executives should allocate resources to ensure its potential is
explored

REFERENCES
 file:///C:/downloads%202/roland_berger_hydrogen_the_future_fu
el_for_aviation.pdf
 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2019.00035/full
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen-
powered_aircraft#:~:text=A%20hydrogen%20aircraft%20is%20an,el
ectricity%20to%20power%20a%20propeller.
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell
 https://americanhistory.si.edu/fuelcells/basics.htm
 https://www.britannica.com/technology/fuel-cell
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Technical report
Topic: VARIOUS WAY TO INCREASE FUEL CELL
EFFICIENCY (TASK 4)

OVERVIEW

Fuel cell efficiency is a topic that has given rise to much confusion in the
literature. One measure of efficiency is simply the practical cell-output voltage
divided by the thermodynamically reversible voltage at the stated temperature
and pressure of operation. This indicates how much free energy is lost by
inefficiencies in operating the fuel cell stack, without regard to how much of the
enthalpy of the reaction is liberated as heat (the TΔS term). For purposes of
calculating overall energy efficiencies, it is necessary to compare the electrical
output of the cell stack (in joules) with the enthalpy of the cell reaction, which
for hydrogen fuel equates to the heat of formation of water.

METHOD 1
In a finding that could lead to better fuel cells and clean energy technologies,
scientists have discovered that squeezing a platinum catalyst a fraction of a
nanometre nearly doubles its activity.
A nanosize squeeze can significantly boost the performance of platinum
catalysts that help generate energy in fuel cells, according to scientists at
Stanford University in the US.
The team bonded a platinum catalyst to a thin material that expands and
contracts as electrons move in and out, and found that squeezing the platinum a
fraction of a nanometre nearly doubled its catalytic activity.
The new technique can be applied to a wide range of clean technologies, Wang
said, including fuel cells that use platinum catalysts to generate energy, and
platinum electrolyzers that split water into oxygen and hydrogen fuel.
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“there tuning technique could make fuel cells more energy efficient and
increase their power output," said Yi Cui, a professor of materials science and
engineering at Stanford.

METHOD 2
Improving mantacturing process:
The first development is an improved fuel cell manufacturing process. The type
of fuel cell used is called polymer membrane. companies have learnt how to
produce fuel cells without using a finished membrane. This reduces the cost of
the process. Most importantly, it allows the necessary additives to be
introduced into the membrane, which allow fuel cells to operate, for example, in
a hot or vice versa, a frosty climate.
coatings
Secondly, companies can find effective coatings and the technology for applying
them to bipolar fuel cell plates. Bipolar plates are a very important component
of a fuel cell. Increased requirements are applied to them referring to thermal
and electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, weight and size. BM Power
produces light titanium coated bipolar circuit plates, which are very efficient and
which no one makes in the market.

To use best catalyst

Manufacturers should also know how to make a catalyst with a lower platinum
content, but providing the same fuel cell power as standard catalysts.
Consequently, it is possible to optimize the cost of our product.
Finding best engineering solutions
hydrogen fuel cells must contain a whole set of unique engineering solutions,
such as a reducer, an automatic voltage regulator, and others systems. This allow
us to offer a complex fuel system into almost a boxed product. Our customers
can use hydrogen fuel cells in Plug and Play mode: they are easy to install,
connect and manage. Customers can even provide quick maintenance on his
own. Our systems are easily assembled and disassembled, and we supply a
repair kit and an assembly tool.
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Performance—
To improve fuel cell performance, R&D focuses on developing ion-exchange
membrane electrolytes with enhanced efficiency and durability at reduced cost;
improving membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) through integration of state-
of-the-art MEA components; developing transport models and in-situ and ex-
situ experiments to provide data for model validation; identifying degradation
mechanisms and developing approaches to mitigate their effects; and
maintaining core activities on components.

INCREASING EFFICIENCY OF SOLIDE OXIDE FUEL CELLS

Researchers have determined a key step in improving solid oxide fuel cells, a
promising clean energy technology that has struggled to gain wide acceptance
in the marketplace. The researchers determined a way to improve one of the
primary failure points for the fuel cell, overcoming key issues that have hindered
its acceptance.
An SOFC is made of solid materials, and the electricity is created by oxygen ions
traveling through the fuel cell. Unlike other types of fuel cells, SOFCs don't
require the use of expensive metals, like platinum, and can work with a large
variety of fuels, such as gasoline or diesel fuel.
When gasoline is used for fuel, however, a carbon-based material tends to build
up in the fuel cell and stop the conversion reaction. Other chemicals, in
particular sulfur, can also poison and stop the reactions.
In their study, the WSU researchers improved understanding of the process that
stops the reactions. Problems most often occur at a place on the anode's
surface, called the triple-phase boundary, where the anode connects with the
electrolyte and fuel.
The researchers determined that the presence of an electric field at this
boundary can prevent failures and improve the system's performance. To
properly capture the complexity of this interface, they used the Center for
Nanoscale Materials supercomputer at the Argonne National Laboratory to
perform computations.
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The researchers studied similar issues in solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs),
which are like fuel cells that run in reverse to convert carbon dioxide and water
to transportation fuel precursors
The work provides guidance that industry can eventually use to reduce material
buildup and poisoning and improve performance of SOFCs and SOECs.

CONCLUSION
Scientists at the EPFL have now introduced a new approach to increase fuel-cell
efficiency and lifespan. Scientists used an anode off-gas recirculation fan driven
by a steam turbine that runs on steam-lubricated bearings.
Researchers at MIT have developed a practical and physically-based way of
treating the surface of materials called perovskite oxides, to make them more
durable and improve their performance. These materials are promising
candidates to serve as electrodes in energy-conversion devices such as fuel cells
and electrolyzers. This surface treatment could solve one of the major
challenges that has hindered widespread deployment of fuel cell technology
that, when operated reversibly, can present a promising alternative to batteries
for renewable-energy storage.
The new findings are being reported today in the journal Nature Materials, in a
paper by MIT Associate Professor Bilge Yildiz of the departments of Nuclear
Science and Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, former MIT
postdoc Nikolai Tsvetkov, graduate students Qiyang Lu and Lixin Sun, and Ethan
Crumlin of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

REFERENCE

https://www.techexplorist.com/novel-way-increase-fuel-
cell-efficiency-lifespan/30415/

https://news.mit.edu/2016/extend-life-improve-performance-
fuel-cell-electrodes-0613

https://impakter.com/bmpower/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/1607181422
18.htm
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