Thank you to Juan Alonso, Professor and Director of the Aerospace Design Laboratory at Stanford University, who presented So You Want to Be an eVTOL Designer? Fundamentals of Vertical Take-off and Landing Aircraft and Current Challenges at the Transportation Seminar Nov. 3, 2023.
Abstract: Recent concerns over the sustainability, efficiency, and safety of our transportation systems have led to the idea of Urban Air Mobility (UAM): connected networks of point-to-point air transportation services that are served by aircraft that can take-off and land as helicopters, but can fly long distances as fixed-wing aircraft. These eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) vehicles are sophisticated aircraft with many associated challenges including range/payload limitations, battery-electric propulsion systems, structural weight, vertical flight, transition to forward flight, safety under various operating conditions and incident/accident scenarios, and possibly partial or full autonomy. This talk explores, at an introductory level, the fundamentals of rotor and airframe aerodynamics, electric propulsion systems, aircraft performance in hover and forward flight, and configuration choices for modern eVTOLs that determine their viability as elements of a larger transportation network. In addition, we also describe the conceptual-level design framework we have developed at Stanford called SUAVE (suave.stanford.edu) that incorporates models of all the fundamental disciplines and combines them to both analyze the performance of an eVTOL throughout its mission and to optimize said performance to achieve a set of pre-specified requirements. The talk will end with a personal opinion of the maturity level of the most advanced vehicles in existence today and their potential to disrupt UAM in the coming 5-10 years.
Bio: Juan J. Alonso is the Vance D. and Arlene C. Coffman Professor in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics at Stanford University. He is the founder and director of the Aerospace Design Laboratory where he and his students specialize in the development of high-fidelity computational design methodologies which enable the development of Aerospace Systems that decrease or eliminate impacts on the environment. He is the author of over 250 technical publications on the topics of computational aircrafts, spacecraft design, multi-disciplinary optimization, fundamental numerical methods, and high-performance parallel computing. During the period spanning August 2006 - October 2008, Prof. Alonso was the Director of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program in Washington, D.C. where he was responsible for the entire portfolio of aerospace vehicles and vehicle technology research for the agency. He is an AIAA Fellow, and the recipient of awards such as the NASA ARMD Associate Administrator Award, and of the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal. He has served in countless councils such as NASA and FAA’s Advisory Councils, the Secretary of Transportation’s Future of Aviation Advisory Council, the FAA Office of Environment & Energy REDAC, and the International Council for Clean Transportation’s advisory council. At Stanford, he has made an impact by leading the committee that establishes the curriculum and organization for the new undergraduate program in the Aeronautics & Astronautics department.