Distributed Electric Propulsion

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This project around distributed electric propulsion aims to build an aerodynamic understanding of the optimal configurations for distributed electric propulsion. Distributed electric propulsion involves placing small electrically driven propellers along the span of a wing and at the wing tip to improve aerodynamic efficiency. A combination of experiments and computational fluid dynamics will be used to determine the physical mechanism behind drag reduction in wing-tip propellers, and the way in which this is affected by the presence of leading-edge propellers. This will allow the design of an optimised full-wing geometry with increased lift and reduced drag to improve fuel burn. The main application for this is larger transport aircraft that cannot currently be electrified due to the limitations of current battery electric technologies.