Overview
Credible HYbrid eLectric Aircraft (CHYLA) aims to develop a landscape of opportunities and limitations of key radical hybrid-electric technologies (battery electric, fuel cell, but also considering non-drop in fuel technologies such as Hydrogen-H2, Liquified Natural Gas) and the "switching points" associated to scaling such technologies between different aircraft classes. These classes are: general aviation, commuter aircraft, regional aircraft, short-medium range and large passenger aircraft, where the focus is on up-scaling the key-technologies.
This landscape of design solutions is supported through a "credibility assessment" of assumptions underlying the application of these radical technologies, in different technology scenarios. Additionally, the impact of radical solutions will be assessed in terms of the viability of operations, economics and safety (certification). To achieve this, the project will use an approach of integrating novel airframe technologies with a hybrid electric energy network in order to apply credibility-based multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO). In order to provide feasible starting points for this landscape and the MDO, an integrated aircraft design approach will be used with physics-based design methods for the subsystem technologies.