EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ELECTRIC MOTORS AND JET ENGINES FOR BLENDED WING BODY FLIGHT TEST MODELS

In recent times, Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have demonstrated a significant potential as mean of concept validation in aerospace domain, an essential step before proceed with real scale testing. The Center for Aerospace Research (CfAR), specialized in production of Flight Test Demonstrators, recently has focused most of its efforts on the Blended Wing Body (BWB) scaled models on behalf of Bombardier. This new planes configuration consists of an hybrid shape with unique features able to match benefits from both flying wing and traditional aircrafts, making it a worthwhile object of study in the last few years. A first prototype made by CfAR is the 7% scale model (FTV7%) which is already under flight testing, while the other, the 16.5% model (FTV16.5%), is not ready to fly yet. Since an aeroplane is a combination of numerous systems and subsystems that interact with each other, these need to be tested and validated in order to get the predicted results. The objective of the present dissertation is to carry out a parallel design and development of propulsion system characterization for both FTV7% and FTV16.5% models. The first one mounts a pair of Electric Ducted Fan (EDF), while the other a couple of Jet turbine engines. The EDF motors have been ground tested obtaining useful performance maps and detecting unexpected vibrations. Concerning the 16.5% model, the efforts were addressed more on the design and development of an instrumented test bench, including a Labview Graphic User Interface (GUI). A preliminary design of the upcoming tests has been done too.