Oliver Family is the Overall Aircraft Design Leader of the Airbus E-Fan X demonstrator. The E-Fan X is a hybrid-electric technology demonstrator being developed by Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemens based on a British Aerospace 146 regional airliner. The driver behind the E-Fan X demonstrator is that current aircraft designs have converged to a near-optimum, and with existing technologies, it is difficult to meet the stringent sustainability goals in terms of CO2/NOX emissions and reductions in noise. New technologies, such as electrification, are therefore required to achieve these goals.
As we have seen on other episodes of the podcast, electrification of aircraft is currently a hot topic with new start-up companies promising to disrupt and revolutionise the regional aircraft market. In this environment, one may assume that incumbents like Airbus are too slow to react to a changing technology landscape. As you will hear in this episode, nothing could be further from the truth. The E-Fan X project is structured as a separate entity within Airbus with the explicit mission of challenging Airbus’ legacy business. As you will hear, the consequences of integrating an electric propulsion system on a regional aircraft run much deeper than mere calculations about battery power density and battery longevity. In fact, it’s the secondary effects that we rarely think, hear and read about, such as thermal management of batteries; the interaction between pilots and new control systems; and the challenges of new certification protocols, that are especially challenging. So in this episode, Oliver and I discuss:
- what exactly the E-Fan X demonstrator aims to achieve
- the main technical and economic challenges of electric aircraft
- and how electrification widens the design envelope for engineers
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This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is sponsored by SAMPE North America. SAMPE is a global professional society that has been providing educational opportunities on advanced materials for more than 70 years. SAMPE’s network of engineers is a key facilitator for the advancement of aerospace engineering by enabling information exchange and synergies between aerospace companies. To find out how SAMPE can help you learn more about advanced materials and process visit SAMPE’s website, or consider attending one of SAMPE’s conferences, such as CAMX, the largest and most comprehensive composites and advanced materials event for products, solutions, networking, and advanced industry thinking.
This episode is also sponsored by StressEbook.com, which is an online hub for you if you are interested in aerospace stress engineering. StressEbook.com provides world-class engineering services and online courses on the stress analysis of aircraft structures, as well as a free ebook and blog. No matter if you’re a junior or senior structural analyst, stressEbook.com provides you with the skills and know-how to become a champion in your workplace.
Selected Links from the Episode
- Airbus announcement on the E-Fan X
- Airbus on the future and importance of electric flight (Link 1 and 2)
- Royal Aeronautical Society article on the E-Fan X
- Rolls Royce video on the E-Fan X engines
