Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2023 - 20

Aeronautics
to keep it
" This is a high-speed machine, and
while
rotating
creating
MIT aeroengineers are creating a one-megawatt electrical motor that is a stepping stone toward electrifying
commercial airliners. Pictured are some industrial concepts for hybrid-electric aircraft. (Image:
Airbus SAS 2023)
ponents are: a high-speed rotor, lined
with an array of magnets with varying orientation
of polarity; a compact, low-loss
stator that fits inside the rotor and contains
an intricate array of copper windings;
an advanced heat exchanger that
keeps the components cool while transmitting
the torque of the machine; and a
distributed power electronics system,
made from 30 custom-built circuit
boards, that precisely change the currents
running through each of the stator's
copper windings, at high frequency.
" I believe this is the first truly co-optimized
integrated design, " Spakovszky
said. " Which means we did a very extensive
design space exploration where all
considerations from thermal management
to rotor dynamics, to power electronics
and electrical machine architecture
were assessed in an integrated way to
find out what is the best possible combination
to get the required specific power
at one megawatt. "
As a whole system, the motor is designed
such that the distributed circuit
boards are close coupled with the electrical
machine to minimize transmission
loss and to allow effective air cooling
through the integrated heat exchanger.
torque, the magnetic fields have to be
traveling very quickly, which we can do
through our circuit boards switching
at high frequency, " Spakovszky said.
To mitigate risk, the team has built
and tested each of the major components
individually and shown that it
can operate as designed and at conditions
exceeding normal operational
demands. The researchers plan to assemble
the first fully working electric
motor and start testing it in the fall.
Once the MIT team can demonstrate
the electric motor as a whole,
the design could power regional aircraft
and could also be a companion
to conventional jet engines, to enable
hybrid-electric propulsion systems.
The team also envisions that multiple
one-megawatt motors could power
multiple fans distributed along the
wing on future aircraft configurations.
Looking ahead, the foundations of the
one-megawatt electrical machine design
could potentially be scaled up to
multi-megawatt motors, to power larger
passenger planes.
" I think we're on a good trajectory, "
Spakovszky said. " We are not electrical
engineers by training but addressing the
2050 climate grand challenge is of utmost
importance; working with electrical engineering
faculty, staff, and students for this
goal can draw on MIT's breadth of technologies
so the whole is greater than the
sum of the parts. So, we are reinventing
ourselves in new areas. And MIT gives you
the opportunity to do that. "
For more information, contact Abby
Abazorius at abbya@mit.edu; 617-2532709.
Spacecraft
with Artificial Gravity Modules
A new approach for generating artificial gravity environments in space.
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
F
or both space tourism and space exploration,
there is an interest in generating
artificial gravity in space for entertainment,
recreational, and scientific
purposes, as well as to counter the health
concerns of extended exposure to a microgravity
environment. NASA Ames Research
Center has developed a novel
technology - a system and approach for
creating artificial gravity using a non-rotating
spacecraft with connected moving
20
modules, which can be used for habitation
and other purposes.
Conventionally, the approach of creating
artificial gravity in space was envisioned
as a large rotating space station
that creates an inertial force that mimics
the effects of a gravitational force. However,
generating artificial gravity with
large rotating structures poses problems,
including (1) the need to mass balance
the entire rotating spacecraft in order to
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eliminate or minimize rotational imbalance
causing gyroscopic precession/nutation
motions and other oscillations of
the rotating spacecraft; (2) the potentially
prohibitive cost, time and schedule to
build such a large rotating system; (3)
the need to mass balance the spacecraft
in real-time so as to minimize passenger
discomfort and structural stress on the
spacecraft; (4) the difficulty in docking
other spacecraft to the rotating spaceTech
Briefs, December 2023
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Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2023

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