Conceptual design of a hybrid light helicopter

This thesis examines the possibility of implementation of a series hybrid propulsion system for ultralight helicopters on the example of Famà KISS 216M one-engine civil rotorcraft. The power required by the helicopter is evaluated along the standard flight mission, firstly, for the original architecture, and then for the hybrid proposal. To compute the performance, the Newton’s iteration procedure was applied in the MATLAB environment. Proposed components for the series architecture were found on the Internet in the open access. Wankel engine was suggested to be placed as an energy generator. The efficiency of new system was estimated. Even though the losses of the series proposal are 14%, the fuel consumed over the chosen mission profile was found to be reduced by 40 % in comparison with the original scheme. The takeoff weight increment was assumed to be 50 kg. It is shown that all technologies are already at a good level and can be implemented together in a hybrid mechanism. Finally, the parametric analysis was conducted, and discussed 27 possible mass and power variations due to the change of specific values of fuel consumption, specific energy of the batteries, and the power-to-weight ratio of internal combustion engine.