Project description
Lightweight components for future high-power generators in electric aircraft
Hybrid-electric propulsion systems or fully electric ones will be enablers of the new aircraft under development by the aerospace industry to achieve significant reductions in CO2 emissions. The successful realisation of such aircraft will largely depend on the development of propulsion motors with power densities an order of magnitude higher than existing ones. The EU-funded LIFT project is supporting this endeavour by various innovations applied to the LIFT machine, including passive-component lightweighting, innovative high frequency windings, together with a targeted thermal management approach using oil-spray cooling. The aim is to make them part of future hybrid-electric aircraft architectures such as those targeted in Clean Sky 2’s large passenger aircraft programme.
Objective
LIFT will deliver a beyond state of the art solution for lightweight non-active components for a megawatt range electrical machine proposed for Clean Sky 2 Large Passenger Aircraft IADP work package 1.6.1 as defined in the Topic Description JTI-CS2-2017-CfP07-01-4.
As stated in the Topic Description, the non-active parts of electrical machines contribute to 30-40% of the weight of the machine. LIFT proposes a number of solutions to reduce the mass and the weight of these non-active parts ranging from using composites or metal foams to corrugated structures that are all within the expertise of the University of Nottingham. In total, our preliminary workings illustrate that it is possible to deliver a mass and weight saving of at least 50% using a combination of technologies without significantly diminishing performance.
As a result of the research and innovation activities within the project, UNOTT foresees the generation of new knowledge in the following areas:
· An innovative MW-class generator with a record power density in excess of 25kW/kg will be developed
· Innovative thermal management systems will be developed exploiting the voids within lightweight materials
· A new family of lower-noise e-machines will be incepted, taking advantage of the voids within lightweight materials
· Development of novel mechanical models and advanced manufacturing methods for cylindrical lattice materials as required for e-machine designs, backed up by experimental testing
· The power density boundaries and limitations charts for future aerospace PM machines will be established for different speeds
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcomposites
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringaircraft
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectrical engineeringpower engineering
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringaeronautical engineering
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineeringadditive manufacturing
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
CS2-RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
NG7 2RD Nottingham
United Kingdom