Blended wing body (BWB) aircrafts have the potential to reduce fuel consumption by 20% compared to conventional airliners. However, BWB aircrafts have reduced control surface effectiveness due to their short fuselage length. This disadvantage is exacerbated at low speeds such as during take-off and landing.

To overcome this problem, this project explores the use of distributed electric propulsion (DEP) on BWB aircrafts. The DEP comprises multiple small motors on the aircraft wings' leading edges. Such a design can artificially increase the air speed over the wings to increase lift generated at low speeds.

Project Team

Student:

• Zou Mintai, Patrick (Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2023)

Supervisor:

• Brian Shohei Teo (teo.bs@nus.edu.sg)