MAE students take on challenge to design compressor assembly for unmanned aircraft

MAE students take on challenge to design compressor assembly for unmanned aircraft

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Media Contact: Tanner Holubar | Communications Specialist | 405-744-2065 | [email protected]

Students in the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology's School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineeringrecently worked on a project to develop an engine to power a unique unmanned aircraft made by W9er Engineering. 

Overseen by Dr. Kurt Rouser, an MAE associate professor, the challenge students undertook was to design a compressor assembly retrofitted to a small gas turbine engine to supply high-pressure air for an aircraft dubbed "The Projector." 

The partnership between OSU and W9er Engineering was made possible through funding from a Small Business Technology Transfer Research grant, which provides a percentage of funding to university research.  

Rouser said students were focused on crafting a way to generate airflow at a rate and pressure needed for the vehicle to takeoff,and said the vehicle is unique in how its rotors operate.  

"What makes that vehicle so unique is the power and propulsion system," Rouser said. "It has lifting rotors, so it is very similar to what has been done with other vehicles that have lifting rotors. How it drives the rotor is what is so unique."

Rouser said a turbine engine was selected for this vehicle instead of a piston engine. There are practical considerations that give turbine engines an advantage for this application, such as low-vibration and high-altitude operation.

In a turbine engine, the turbine and compressor are on the same shaft and rotate together with the turbine driving the compressor. The combustor sits in between the turbine and compressor. The compressor prepares air flow for combustion, which flows through the turbine, which drives the compressor. It creates a cycle known as the Brayton Cycle.  

Dr. Kurt Rouser shows the inner workings of a compressor assembly MAE students designed that would fit a small gas turbine engine for an unmanned aircraft.

"Rather than using a piston engine to drive this we are going to use a turbine engine," Rouser said. "The turbine engine has a better power-to-weight ratio than a piston engine. Even though a turbocharger might be more efficient for a car application for a piston engine, the problem is a piston engine has a lower power-to-weight ratio, and for the aircraft, weight and volume are critical because you must lift it off the ground."

Students first did an analysis to figure out which air pressures, mass flow rates and shaft rotational speeds would be needed for the aircraft system. They discovered that a turbocharger from a car met the requirements but adds significant weight to the engine itself.  

A car turbocharger would not make sense to use in such an aircraft, but components of one will be used to demonstrate that a turbine engine can generate the mass flow rates and pressures needed for W9er's aircraft.  

With this phase of research now complete, the required deliverables have been completed and the application for phase two has been submitted. Rouser said he hopes to know late this fall if the next phase becomes available.

In the second phase, students would run the engine to demonstrate its capability, then build a lightweight version of the compression system to be compatible with the aircraft.  

Rouser said a version of the turbocharger has been designed, but it is similar to an automotive one. The in-house test rig design allows for manipulation of the rotational speed of the compressor and how it maps the mass flow rates and pressures.  

"We could tailor our own," Rouser said. "We have already designed it, but our tailored design is very similar to the automotive one. The compressor is frankly not that big of a challenge, but the housing, that is something we have not really done before. We have the know-how, but we have not actually designed a housing, but that is something we could do on our own."

Rouser said there are many possibilities if phase two were accepted, such as potentially doing an end-to-end system with the engine for the aircraft.  

"I would start with the commercial parts that we already have, work on the compression system first and then with remaining funding and capacity, maybe even design our own turbine engine so that everything is unique to the needs of W9er engineering and their projector aircraft," Rouser said. 

Rouser is proud of the work his students perform. He said their hard work and dedication are examples of OSU's mission as a land-grant university.

"We are developing these sorts of technologies and getting them out into the world to benefit society," Rouser said. "But the second thing we are doing is developing talent, which then graduates and goes off to work at several top companies." 

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