Tsinghua team, China's first hybrid tilt-rotating eVTOL completes first phase of test flight
2024-08-10
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【Abstract】
Dream Aerospace Technology has become the first complete machine manufacturer in China and the second in the world in the field of hybrid tilt-rotating eVTOL.
The hybrid tilt-rotor eVTOL has high speed, long range, fast energy replenishment and low dependence. It can not only meet current urgent needs and quickly be put into application, but also maintain full competitive advantage in the future air traffic market.
Recently, Dream Aerospace Technology, founded by a Tsinghua team, successfully completed the first phase of test flights for its ton-class hybrid tiltrotor eVTOL (DF600), ranking first in China in terms of progress. It is the second hybrid tiltrotor eVTOL company in the world to enter the test flight stage after JOBY in the United States.
In June 2024, the hydrogen-electric hybrid eVTOL demonstrator of the world's leading US Joby company achieved a single flight of 523 miles (about 841 kilometers). At the end of 2023, the Chaparral C1 cargo drone (composite wing configuration) of the US ElroyAir made its first flight and landed successfully 57 seconds later. In this field, core power suppliers such as General Electric, Honeywell, Raytheon, and Safran have also been deployed for many years.
Figure 2 Joby hydrogen-electric S4 eVTOL (top) ElroyAir Chaparral C1 cargo drone (bottom)
Hybrid power is of great significance for the development of eVTOL and solving "range anxiety", just like the new energy vehicle industry. At present, the range of pure electric eVTOL is about 150-200 kilometers, and it is expected to increase to 300-400 kilometers by 2030, but it still cannot meet the needs of special transportation, emergency management and inter-city travel, and it is difficult to achieve short-distance and high-frequency economic operation when fast charging/battery replacement facilities are not perfect. Compared with multi-rotor and composite wing configurations, tilt-rotor can achieve faster and more efficient flight. The relevant technical solutions are gradually mature and their advantages are increasingly prominent. It has become the solution favored by most leading eVTOL companies, such as Joby, Archer and Wofei Changkong. Dream Chaser Aerospace Technology originated from the high-speed vertical take-off and landing aircraft team of Tsinghua University, and has been focusing on the research and development of hybrid tilt-rotor eVTOL. After completing the verification of key technologies and prototypes from 2018 to 2023, and the DF-600 engineering prototype rolled off the production line in early 2024, the company efficiently completed the first phase of work, including flight control and avionics closed-loop testing, structural strength and vibration modal testing, power system bench testing, range-extended power generation system calibration, electrical network ground joint testing, full-aircraft ground tethering testing, and rotor modal flight control parameter adjustment test flight, in just over six months, achieving breakthroughs from zero to one in many key technologies in China. In addition, work has been carried out on the function and durability of the tilting mechanism, power system sports car testing, and tilting transition state dynamics modeling, control law design, and the full-state test flight will be completed by the end of 2024. (Xianning News Network)
