eVTOL Longitudinal Thrust Vectoring for Failure-Induced Yaw Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electric aircraft, particularly eVTOLs, face safety concerns due to potential component malfunctions during flight, which can compromise the integrity and safety of the aircraft, passengers, and cargo, necessitating effective yaw force generation to maintain stability and control.
Innovation Solution
An electric aircraft design incorporating a fuselage with laterally extending elements, lift components, and a longitudinal thrust component configured to generate a yaw force, utilizing a flight controller and sensors to detect failures and determine necessary yaw corrections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional aircraft control systems are used without dedicated yaw force generation capability, then the aircraft structure can be simpler, but the aircraft cannot maintain stability and control when component failures occur
Solution Approach 1:
The longitudinal thrust component is designed to perform multiple functions: primary thrust generation during normal operation and yaw force generation during failure conditions. By configuring the thrust component to operate at angles other than parallel to the fuselage longitudinal axis, a single component serves dual purposes, eliminating the need for separate yaw control mechanisms and maintaining aircraft stability without proportionally increasing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The thrust component's orientation is made dynamic and adjustable rather than fixed. By enabling the thrust component to change its angle relative to the fuselage longitudinal axis, the system can adapt to different operational modes (normal flight vs. failure recovery), allowing stability maintenance through reconfigurable thrust vectoring without requiring multiple fixed dedicated components.
2Reliability
If the aircraft lacks yaw force generation capability, then the control system can be simpler, but the aircraft cannot ensure safe landing when component failures occur
Solution Approach 1:
The control system leverages the longitudinal thrust component's ability to generate yaw force through angular adjustment, allowing the same control mechanisms to manage both primary flight control and failure recovery scenarios. This multi-functional approach ensures safe landing capability is integrated into existing control architecture rather than requiring entirely separate dedicated systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains safety by dynamically changing the operational parameters of the thrust component, specifically its angular orientation. During failure conditions, the thrust component operates at non-parallel angles to generate corrective yaw forces, enabling safe landing without requiring additional hardware, only parameter adjustments within the existing system's operational envelope.
3Stability of the object's composition
If conventional thrust component configuration is used without yaw force generation capability, then the aircraft design can be more straightforward, but the aircraft cannot maintain stability during component failures
Solution Approach 1:
The thrust component is configured to serve dual purposes: maintaining aircraft stability during normal operation and generating yaw force during failure conditions. By enabling angular adjustment capability, a single thrust component replaces what would traditionally require separate stability control mechanisms, achieving enhanced stability without proportional increases in overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The thrust component transitions from a static, fixed-orientation configuration to a dynamic, adjustable-orientation system. This dynamic capability allows the component to adapt its thrust vectoring to maintain stability across varying operational conditions, including failure scenarios, without requiring multiple dedicated stability control components for each condition.
Data Source
AI summary
An electric aircraft for generating a yaw force includes a fuselage, a plurality of laterally extending elements secured to the fuselage, a plurality of lift components attached to the plurality of laterally extending elements, and at least a longitudinal thrust component attached to the plurality of laterally extending elements, wherein the longitudinal thrust component is configured to generate a yaw force.