Recent Developments of the Arrayed Controlled Turn-less Structures (ACTS) Motor

Abstract

The paper discusses the application of the Array Controlled Turn-less Structures (ACTS) motor for VTOL application. The motor enhances the three main competing characteristics of electric motors; namely specific power, efficiency and reliability. The motor arrays an ensemble of elemental turn-less motors which include turn-less elements each with their dedicated inverters which are operated in synchronism. The resulting small pole size enhances the power density, the enhanced conductor packing enhances the efficiency, and the massive parallelism enhance the reliability. Vertical takeoff requires much higher thrust compared to wing assisted takeoff. With limited on-board power, this higher thrust is presently provided by in ordinary larger propulsion disk area which reduces the craft aerodynamics, and the cruising Lift-to-Drag (L/D) ratio and accordingly the flight efficiency and range. The high specific power of the ACTS motor allows for a different scenario and thus craft architecture. By substantially increasing the takeoff power which is now possible with the higher specific power of the ACTS motor, the propulsion disk area can be substantially reduced, with the resulting greater streamlined, high L/D craft, and thus longer range. The paper discusses key aspect of the motor and inverter architecture and technology. Furthermore, it discusses its application to a high L/D VTOL and prospective performance.