Patent Application
20200172235
This disclosure relates in general to the field of aircraft, and more particularly, to a hybrid propulsion system for tiltrotor aircraft.
This section provides background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the disclosure. It should be understood that the statements in this section of this document are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Fixed-wing aircraft, such as airplanes, are capable of flight using wings that generate lift responsive to the forward airspeed of the aircraft, which is generated by thrust from one or more jet engines or propellers. The wings generally have an airfoil cross-section that deflects air downward as the aircraft moves forward, generating the lift force to support the aircraft in flight. Fixed-wing aircraft, however, typically require a runway that is hundreds or thousands of feet long for takeoff and landing.
Unlike fixed-wing aircraft, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft do not require runways. Instead, VTOL aircraft are capable of taking off, hovering and landing vertically. One example of a VTOL aircraft is a helicopter which is a rotorcraft having one or more rotors that provide lift and thrust to the aircraft. The rotors not only enable hovering and vertical takeoff and landing, but also enable forward, backward and lateral flight. These attributes make helicopters highly versatile for use in congested, isolated or remote areas. Helicopters, however, typically lack the forward airspeed of fixed-wing aircraft due to the phenomena of retreating blade stall and advancing blade compression.
Tiltrotor aircraft overcome this drawback by utilizing proprotors that can change their plane of rotation based on the operation being performed. Tiltrotor aircraft typically have a pair of nacelles mounted near the outboard ends of a fixed wing with each nacelle housing a propulsion system that provides torque and rotational energy to a proprotor. The nacelles are pivotable relative to the fixed wing such that the proprotor blades have a generally horizontal plane of rotation providing vertical thrust for takeoff, hovering and landing, much like a conventional helicopter, and a generally vertical plane of rotation providing forward thrust for cruising in forward flight with the fixed wing providing lift, much like a conventional propeller driven airplane.
An exemplary tiltrotor aircraft incorporating a high-speed hybrid propulsion system includes electric motors; two or more proprotors pivotable between a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) position and a forward flight position, each of the proprotors coupled to one or more of the electric motors; an electric generator electrically connected to the electric motors; and a convertible turbofan engine coupled to the electric generator through a drive shaft. The convertible turbofan engine is configured for example, in forward flight, to simultaneously operate in turbofan mode to provide forward thrust and turboshaft mode to power the electric generator. In forward flight, power may be primarily directed to turbofan mode with sufficient turboshaft power to energize accessories. In VTOL flight, all or substantially all power is directed to turboshaft mode for maximum vertical lift. In VTOL flight, some power may be directed to turbofan mode to generate forward thrust for a short takeoff for example to achieve a heavy takeoff capability.
An exemplary hybrid propulsion system for a tiltrotor aircraft includes two pivotal nacelles, each nacelle comprising an electric motor coupled to a proprotor; an electric aircraft system; an electric generator; an electrical bus electrically connected to the electric generator, the electric motors, and the electric aircraft system; and a convertible turbofan engine coupled to an electric generator through a drive shaft.
An exemplary method includes operating a tiltrotor aircraft having a hybrid propulsion system comprising a convertible turbofan engine having a core and a fan with inlet guide vanes, an electric generator coupled to the core by a drive shaft, proprotors located respectively with pivotable nacelles, each of the proprotors coupled to one or more electric motors, an electric aircraft system, and an electrical bus electrically connected to the electric generator, the electric motors, and the electric aircraft system; powering the proprotors in vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flight comprising directing electric power from the electric generators to the electric motors by operating the convertible turbofan engine in turboshaft mode and powering the drive shaft and electric generator; operating the tiltrotor aircraft in turbofan forward flight in response to operating the convertible turbofan engine in turbofan mode to produce forward thrust; producing excess electric power during the turbofan forward flight in response to directing power from the convertible turbofan engine to the drive shaft and the electric generator; and distributing the excess electric power to the electric aircraft system.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of claimed subject matter.
The disclosure is best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It is emphasized that, in accordance with standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.
It is to be understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of various illustrative embodiments. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. For example, a figure may illustrate an exemplary embodiment with multiple features or combinations of features that are not required in one or more other embodiments and thus a figure may disclose one or more embodiments that have fewer features or a different combination of features than the illustrated embodiment. Embodiments may include some but not all the features illustrated in a figure and some embodiments may combine features illustrated in one figure with features illustrated in another figure. Therefore, combinations of features disclosed in the following detailed description may not be necessary to practice the teachings in the broadest sense and are instead merely to describe particularly representative examples. In addition, the disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.
Helicopters are incredibly useful aircraft allowing for vertical takeoff, hovering and vertical landing. However, helicopter speed and range performance falls far short of that provided by conventional fixed-wing airplanes. The development of tiltrotor technology has increased the speed rotorcraft speed to over 300 MPH (482 KPH) and extended range to approach the performance of conventional turboprop aircraft. Tiltrotor speed performance still falls short of what can be achieved by conventional jet propulsion aircraft.
Jet fighter/attack aircraft such as the AV-8B Harrier and F-35 Lightning utilize jet fan thrust to provide vertical takeoff, hovering and vertical landing, and can obtain speeds of over 600 MPH (965 KPH). However, the penalty for using jet fan thrust to provide vertical lift is a dramatically reduced useful payload, hover out of ground effect (HOGE) capability, and range performance. Reduced payload, HOGE, and range performance is a direct consequence of the increased horsepower required when using jet thrust to provide vertical lift. Dramatic increases to horsepower demands significantly high fuel consumption. The relatively efficient power loading (lb thrust per horsepower) of helicopters and tiltrotors allows for efficient vertical lift.
Referring to
In the rotary flight mode of aircraft 10, proprotor assemblies 20a, 20b rotate in opposite directions to provide torque balancing to aircraft 10. For example, when viewed from the front of aircraft 10 in proprotor forward flight mode (
Even though aircraft 10 is illustrated as having two engines fixed to the fuselage, it should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art that other engine arrangements are possible and are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, even though proprotor assemblies 20a, 20b are illustrated in the context of tiltrotor aircraft 10, it should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art that the proprotor assemblies disclosed herein can be implemented on other tiltrotor aircraft including, for example, quad tiltrotor aircraft having an additional wing member aft of wing 14, unmanned tiltrotor aircraft or other tiltrotor aircraft configurations.
Each proprotor assembly 20a, 20b includes one or more electric motors 40 connected to a proprotor gearbox 42 and proprotors blades 22 (
Generators 38 convert shaft 36 horsepower to electrical power that is fed to electrical bus 44. Electrical bus 44 may include electronics necessary to condition power, switch between power outputs, dissipate power, and/or otherwise selectively direct electrical power to systems. Electrical power can be selectively distributed by electrical bus 44 to electric motors 40 and one or more of the aircraft systems generally designated 45. Aircraft systems 45 includes without limitation electrical storage device 46 (batteries, capacitor), aircraft accessories 48, and power intensive systems 50 such as directed energy weapons. Electrical storage 46 may comprise for example a zinc/air type battery, a solid-state type battery, and/or a lithium-ion type battery. Electrical storage 46 may include a capacitor or supercapacitor of a polyaniline/graphene construction or any other suitable material and construction. Accessories 48 include internal and external lighting, communications equipment, avionics systems, and/or any other device or system that can be electrically powered. Directed energy weapons 50 may include without limitation electronic attack weapons, lasers, high-power radar, microwave beams, and particle beams.
The convertible engine horsepower is sized to provide for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). Due to the VTOL power requirement being higher than the cruise power requirement, significant power is available to apply power to an alternate device during cruise mode. For example, during cruise flight, the excess power produced by convertible engine 24 can be directed to shaft 36 horsepower to drive generator(s) 38 and to power a power-intensive device such as a directed energy weapon 50, charge electrical storage 46, and/or power an accessory 48. Electrical storage 46 provides additional capability for increased power during VTOL or other rotary operations by supplying additional electric power for short durations.
At block 56, aircraft 10 is operated in a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) mode in which proprotor assemblies 20a, 20b are rotating in a substantially horizontal plane to provide a lifting thrust. Convertible engine 24 is operated in turboshaft mode providing shaft horsepower through driveshaft 36 to generator 38. In turboshaft mode, inlet guide vanes 34 may close fan 32 so that forward turbofan thrust is not created and power is directed to shaft 36 only or turbofan thrust is minimized and turboshaft power is increased. Generator 38 produces electricity to power electric motors 40 to rotate proprotor assemblies 20a, 20b. If electric power is produced in excess of the power necessary to drive electric motors 40 and proprotor assemblies 20a, 20b, the excess power can be directed to aircraft systems 45, in particular, electrical storage 46 and/or electric accessories 48. In VTOL flight, all or substantially all power can be directed to turboshaft mode for maximum vertical lift. In VTOL flight, the majority of power may be turboshaft power for vertical lift and some power directed to turbofan mode to generate forward thrust for a short takeoff capability, for example to achieve a heavy takeoff.
At block 58, aircraft 10 is operated in proprotor forward flight mode as illustrated for example in
At block 60, aircraft 10 is operated in turbofan forward flight mode as illustrated for example in
At block 64, convertible engine 24 simultaneously provides lifting thrust (VTOL mode) or forward flight thrust and shaft horsepower generating electric power distributed to one or more aircraft systems 45.
At block 66, a directed energy weapon 50 is fired. In an exemplary embodiment, directed energy weapon 50 is fired with aircraft 10 operating in proprotor forward flight mode using electrical power produced by generator 38 and convertible engine 24 in excess of the electrical power required to operate electric motors 40 and proprotor assemblies 20a, 20b. In an exemplary embodiment, directed energy weapon 50 is fired with aircraft 10 operating in turbofan forward flight mode using electrical power produced by generator 38 and convertible engine 24 in excess of power supplied to turbofan 32. In an embodiment, electric power from electrical storage 46 is distributed to directed energy weapon 50.
Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or states. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include such elements or features.
In the specification, reference may be made to the spatial relationships between various components and to the spatial orientation of various aspects of components as the devices are depicted in the attached drawings. However, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art after a complete reading of the present application, the devices, members, apparatuses, etc. described herein may be positioned in any desired orientation. Thus, the use of terms such as “inboard,” “outboard, “above,” “below,” “upper,” “lower,” or other like terms to describe a spatial relationship between various components or to describe the spatial orientation of aspects of such components should be understood to describe a relative relationship between the components or a spatial orientation of aspects of such components, respectively, as the device described herein may be oriented in any desired direction. As used herein, the terms “connect,” “connection,” “connected,” “in connection with,” and “connecting” may be used to mean in direct connection with or in connection with via one or more elements. Similarly, the terms “couple,” “coupling,” and “coupled” may be used to mean directly coupled or coupled via one or more elements.
The term “substantially,” “approximately,” and “about” is defined as largely but not necessarily wholly what is specified (and includes what is specified; e.g., substantially 90 degrees includes 90 degrees and substantially parallel includes parallel), as understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art. The extent to which the description may vary will depend on how great a change can be instituted and still have a person of ordinary skill in the art recognized the modified feature as still having the required characteristics and capabilities of the unmodified feature. In general, but subject to the preceding, a numerical value herein that is modified by a word of approximation such as “substantially,” “approximately,” and “about” may vary from the stated value, for example, by 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, or 15 percent.
The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that those skilled in the art may better understand the aspects of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure and that they may make various changes, substitutions, and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. The scope of the invention should be determined only by the language of the claims that follow. The term “comprising” within the claims is intended to mean “including at least” such that the recited listing of elements in a claim are an open group. The terms “a,” “an” and other singular terms are intended to include the plural forms thereof unless specifically excluded.
