A holistic review of the current state of research on aircraft design concepts and consideration for advanced air mobility applications

Abstract

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) represents a collaborative vision shared by NASA, regulatory agencies, and global industry leaders, aimed at establishing a robust and reliable air transportation ecosystem, which is expected to facilitate safe and efficient movement of both people and cargo within urban, suburban, and regional environments. This paper presents a holistic review and analysis encompassing various aircraft designs, including different propulsion system designs and architectures (electric, hybrid electric, turboelectric, etc.), for different AAM aircraft applications, and state-of-the-art air traffic management, cybersecurity, and infrastructure strategies. Recent academic and industry literature on these aspects is critically reviewed and summarized, and a compilation of the aircraft models currently in development is also provided. The aircraft designs are categorized into a set of core groups, which include lift + cruise, tilt-wing, tiltrotor, multirotor, and rotorcraft, to analyze the existing literature systematically. For each of these core groups, literature on different propulsion system designs and architectures is reviewed and analyzed. Next, these core groups, including their variations based on propulsion system designs and architectures, are analyzed through a set of evaluation lenses. This provides a comprehensive insight into their respective strengths, weakness, and gaps in design considerations. The identified lenses include range and payload, performance, environmental impact, feasibility, traffic and infrastructure, noise, vehicle safety, and cybersecurity. Finally, directions for future research in AAM aircraft and overall ecosystem development are identified. In general, a more in-depth, quantitative analysis on the various evaluation lenses identified in this study and appropriate consideration to all these evaluation lenses at the design and development stage are highly recommended. This type of holistic approach will drive AAM aircraft designs towards convergence and help build an efficient, affordable, and sustainable AAM ecosystem.