NASA Glenns Susanah Kowalewski prepares a cruise motor controller for screening. Credit: NASA.
During a current test at NASAs Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, each of the flight motor controllers made it through while operating inside a test chamber under the series of temperature levels they might encounter throughout flight with a safety margin used (minus 11 to 147 degrees Fahrenheit).
Delegated Right: Glenns Jarred Wilhite, Emily Belovich, Andrew Smith, and Susanah Kowalewski collect information of the X-57 cruise motor controllers during thermal cycle tests. Credit: NASA.
The screening team carefully kept an eye on temperature level reactions of the power components and the control elements inside the controllers, making certain they stayed within their permitted temperature range limits of the components. Close monitoring makes sure the cruise motor controllers will perform correctly during piloted research flights.
Credit: NASA/Jef Janis.
Now that ground tests have actually validated the controllers under the most severe temperature conditions anticipated in flight, the X-57 team is one action better to integrating all of Maxwells systems and ensuring that they can interact– one of the greatest difficulties for an airplane, especially an one-of-a-kind X-plane.
An upcoming Flight Readiness Review at NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is the next major action prior to research study flights take location.
This artists principle image reveals NASAs first all-electric X-plane, the X-57 Maxwell, in its final configuration, flying in cruise mode over NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. In Mod IV test flights, X-57s high-lift motors will shut off throughout cruise mode, and their prop blades will fold into the nacelles to lower drag. The motors will reactivate and use centrifugal force to spin the blades back out to supply required lift for landing. Credit: NASA Langley/Advanced Concepts Lab, AMA, Inc
. NASAs X-57 Maxwell all-electric aircraft reached another milestone toward its very first flight with the effective thermal testing of its cruise motor controllers.
Thermal testing is necessary because it verifies the operability, workmanship, and design quality of the controllers– important parts for offering power to X-57s experimental electric motors. These complex systems have temperature-sensitive parts and must have the ability to hold up against extreme conditions during flight.
Credit: NASA/Carla Thomas.
The cruise motor controllers convert energy kept in the aircrafts lithium-ion batteries to power the aircrafts motors, which drive the props. The controllers use silicon carbide transistors to deliver 98% performance throughout high-power take-off and cruise, implying they do not produce excessive heat and can be cooled off by the air flowing through the motor.
In Mod IV test flights, X-57s high-lift motors will shut off throughout cruise mode, and their propeller blades will fold into the nacelles to reduce drag. The motors will reactivate and utilize centrifugal force to spin the blades back out to provide essential lift for landing. NASAs X-57 Maxwell all-electric aircraft reached another turning point towards its very first flight with the successful thermal screening of its cruise motor controllers.
