EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON PROPULSION AND AERODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF A DUAL-BODY DISTRIBUTED ELECTRIC PROPULSION AIRCRAFT

Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) aircraft shows great potential for Green Aviation application because of its high energy efficiency propulsion system. However, compared with the traditional aircraft configuration which using fossil fuel like kerosene and gasoline, the DEP aircraft has shown a strong aerodynamic propulsion coupling phenomenon. In order to explore the aerodynamic propulsion coupling characteristics of DEP aircraft, a set of low-cost DEP aircraft aerodynamic/propulsion system ground-based testbed is designed, Then, the aerodynamic/thrust coupling characteristics of a DEP Technology Verification UAV are studied by ground experiment. The results show that the Electric Ducted Fan (EDF) provided the suction effect on the boundary layer which accelerates the air flow on the upper wing, leads to a larger pressure difference between the upper and lower wings then increases the Lift. And the phenomenon of the aerodynamic center moves backward should be paid attention to, it may attribute to the nonlinear increased Lift. The research results provide a reference for the overall design of DEP aircraft.