Direct-Drive Electric Motor for STARC-ABL Tail-Cone Propulsor

A direct-drive, electric motor has been developed to power the tailcone propulsor for the NASA STARC-ABL aircraft. Reduced-order optimization was used to explore three propulsor concepts and converge on a motor topology that meets the STARC-ABL's power density and efficiency requirements. Subsequent studies using high-fidelity finite-elements analysis were conducted to obtain the final motor rated for 2.6 MW, 11 kW/kg, and 98% efficiency. Reliability concerns related to turbo-electric aircraft have been addressed by introducing a segmented motor powered by parallel inverters to protect against open-circuit faults. The suspension system for the integrated motor and fan has been designed to account for thrust forces experienced during flight and an upstream motor configuration has been designed for assembling the propulsion system onto the fuselage for flight testing.