Diseño de la planta motriz eléctrica para la avioneta Diamond DA50-RG

Abstract

Nowadays, aviation has been directed to the search for alternatives that reduce the environmental impact caused by the burning of fossil fuels. One option that has been of growing interest in recent decades is to replace traditional combustion engines with electric motors since they do not produce emissions and are highly efficient. The first examples of this have been in light aircraft or small planes due to the ease and simplicity that they provide to carry out the change of the engine. For this, it is necessary to follow a design process, which consists of adapting an electric motor together with the propeller to its new work. Similarly, these modifications will involve flight tests to check if the performance of the aircraft has been negatively affected.

The design process of the electric power plant for the Diamond DA50-RG light aircraft began with the selection of the engine through a decision matrix taking into account the specifications of the aircraft's combustion engine. After that, the propeller was selected with the blade element theory, in which different propellers were tested until finding the most suitable for the established case. Finally, an analysis was performed to examine the performance of the plant under different conditions.

The results showed that the maximum speed of the aircraft decreased from 93 m/s to 88 m/s. A reduction of 154 kg of weight was obtained thanks to the change of the engine. The new power plant allows to generate an amount of thrust equivalent to ¼ or more of the maximum takeoff weight of the aircraft.