Co-Design of Integrated Propeller and Inner Rotor PMSM for Electric Aircraft Application

A co-design of an electric aircraft powertrain optimization is investigated in this paper. Number of propulsors, gear ratio, propeller and motor geometry are considered as system design variables. Optimization of the system design for high overall system efficiency and low mass is attempted with considerations for winding temperature, current density, iron flux density, and machine aspect ratio. The powertrain was sized to deliver thrust according to a simple set of mission requirements at desired flight speed for a representative passenger aircraft. The results suggested that small propulsor counts are optimal for low weight and high efficiency, and that an ideal propeller speed exists for a given co-design problem