Abstract:
Environmental and operational requirements will get more and more challenging in the future. Helicopter and power plant manufacturers face this with new helicopter and powertrain concepts. Currently, more electric and all-electric aircrafts are investigated. Research has shown that an all-electric helicopter is not feasible right now. But hybrid concepts may be possible. In a retrospective view, new technologies and improvements rarely find application at the forecasted time. Because of that, four different future helicopter powertrain concepts are discussed with a technology level achievable in 15 to 20 years. The powertrain concepts are compared to a baseline powertrain with two conventional gas turbines at a future technology level. The powertrains are combined with three different generic helicopters of two weight classes. The helicopters represent an expectable technology level of the year 2030. The masses of the powertrains are evaluated and compared. Challenges of realization are identified. With a helicopter performance tool the helicopters and powertrains are simulated with respect to payload range capabilities and mission related performance. The results are discussed. Hybrid powertrain concepts are only feasible for lighter helicopters. Diesel engines are too heavy for high power requirements. Also batteries have to get lighter and more powerful to meet aviation requirements. An intermediate step can be the further development and improvement of gas turbines for power supply.