University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers are leading research to pave the way for hybrid-electric engines that power uncrewed aircraft systems.
University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers are leading research to pave the way for hybrid-electric engines that power uncrewed aircraft systems.
“While there has been a lot of work done on developing hybrid-electric engines for ground vehicles, like the Toyota Prius and many others, there hasn’t been much research on using hybrid engine systems in aircraft,” says David Rothamer, a mechanical engineering professor at UW–Madison and principal investigator of the multi-institutional team supported by $11.4 million from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory. “So as part of this project, we’ll work on optimizing hybrid systems for aircraft.”
A focus of the project will be to investigate ways hybrid aircraft systems can run reliably and stably on different types of fuel and in extreme environments.
To conduct missions, the U.S. military needs to transport jet fuel to locations around the world, which is expensive and logistically challenging, especially in conflict zones. Having the ability to run an aircraft on whatever type of fuel is readily available locally — be it diesel, jet fuel, gasoline or even ethanol — would greatly ease the Army’s fuel logistics burden.
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Image via Engine Research Center.
