Analysis of distributed electric propulsion on commuter aircraft

Distributed electric propulsion opens the design space for CS23 turboprop commuter aircraft. In a simplest way the typical twin-engine configuration could be modified by having in total four or six propellers facilitated by electrical power transfer. This work presents a preliminary aerodynamic design routine which enables the design of such variations, considering and evaluating aerodynamic propeller-wing interaction. A combined Blade Element Vortex Lattice Method is utilized in a trim procedure to iteratively design principal configuration parameters while still fulfilling the required force balancing at the design point. The approach uses the wing chord and the propeller blade design for trimming the vertical and horizontal force components of the configurations. The integrated propulsive efficiency of the different trimmed configurations can then be evaluated by comparing the required total power consumption. Selected configurations are compared with Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes simulations, modelling the propellers as Blade Element Actuator Disks.