Aero-Propulsive Modeling and System Identification of a Distributed Electric Propulsion Flying Model

This contribution illustrates a novel approach to aero-propulsive modeling and system identification for Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) aircraft. The placement of multiple propellers along the wing leading edge significantly alters the flow field, affecting both performance and flying qualities. A direct modeling approach based on simplified theoretical formulations is insufficient to accurately predict the complex behavior of the aircraft. Therefore, model identification is necessary to achieve some insight on the phenomenon. Based on the identified model, the aim is twofold: to generalize the modeling for aircraft design and analysis, and to develop a high-fidelity simulation tool for control law synthesis and advanced applications. The flight test campaign supporting the identification activities was carried out through fully automated flight tests using the scaled DEP demonstrator SwitchMaster, as discussed in [1].