Turbo-electric and hybrid electric distributed propulsion (tedp) systems have the potential to greatly reduce noise, emissions, and fuel burn for future generations of aircraft. The tedp…

This federal contract award, NNX17AB22H, was issued by the Shared Services Center, a civilian federal agency, to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to conduct research on advanced control methods for turbo-electric and hybrid electric distributed propulsion (TEDP) systems. The $100,389.66 contract aims to develop nonlinear control techniques based on Hamiltonian dynamics and energy shaping to stabilize TEDP architectures, which have the potential to reduce noise, emissions, and fuel burn for future aircraft. The contract is not set aside and does not reference a larger contract vehicle. MIT, a private research university, is serving as the prime contractor on this research effort, which may be of use to other future systems that utilize TEDP technology.

Turbo-electric and hybrid electric distributed propulsion (tedp) systems have the potential to greatly reduce noise, emissions, and fuel burn for future generations of aircraft. The tedp architecture uses a combination of turbo-electric generators and storage elements to generate and distribute electrical power to the motor and fan assemblies, which produce propulsion. However, similar to terrestrial power systems, tedp will be susceptible to destabilization from sudden power disturbances. Advanced control methods are needed to stabilize the propulsion power system. Recent research into control of mechanical and electrical systems suggests that controlling the system in terms of its energy, rather than the classical approach of controlling forces, voltages, and currents, is more effective at protecting against large, sudden disturbances. This project will focus on extending previous nonlinear control methods to the propulsion systems. Specifically, the tedp system will be modeled in terms of its hamiltonian dynamics, which model energy, and controlled using passivity-based and energy shaping functions. Theory will be developed to guarantee stability, and rigorous simulation and testing will verify IT. This technique will allow aircraft using tedp architecture to operate safely, and IT may be of use to any other future systems that use tedp.