H. Spark, Y. Gazmawe, F.J. Silvestre

The task to extend the range of electric-powered aircraft is becoming increasingly important for manufacturers as well as for the general operation, leading to an increased importance of the trajectory optimisation field. A trajectory for a full flight mission can be optimised and generated by means of non-real-time calculations. This global trajectory optimisation relies strongly on weather forecast data. It consequently differs from the reality in its prediction of the energy expenditure, where actual environmental conditions as horizontal and vertical wind differ from the forecast. Therefore, in this present work, a local optimisation is used additionally. This local optimisation improves the efficiency in terms of range using measurements and information of local wind conditions. The main task of the local optimisation is to use the local wind data to set the optimal speed to fly continuously. Additionally, an optimal climb angle is determined in climb phases. For a global system that uses predicted wind and aircraft performance to generate a trajectory for a full flight mission and the local optimisation to be combined, the global and local systems must work in a clear procedure. This paper describes possible solutions to this problem and investigates the achieved energy reduction using the combined setup. The global optimisation procedure is based on dynamic programming. A reduced-order flight mechanical model for the simulation of aircraft capabilities and energy consumption based on forecast data is introduced. Generating an offline-database of the aircraft performance with this model, only feasible trajectories are determined. Furthermore, the calculation time of the optimisation is predictable, in contrast to solver-based optimisation procedures. For the local optimisation, a method to update setpoints to adapt to local measured wind distributions in real-time is described. An automatic flight control system is able to track those setpoints. Nonlinear simulation results show that the achievable energy savings in a test mission using the combined optimisation are significant.

Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2023, Stuttgart

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V., Bonn, 2023

Conference Paper

englisch

21,0 x 29,7 cm, 11 Seiten

urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023111013084437075169

10.25967/610281

Electric Flight, Trajectory Optimisation, Guidance, TECS, Flight Dynamics Simulation

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Spark, H.; Gazmawe, Y.; Silvestre, F.J. (2023): Coupling of a Trajectory Optimisation Strategy to Local Optimal Setpoints for Electric Aircraft. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V.. (Text). https://doi.org/10.25967/610281. urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023111013084437075169.

10.11.2023