Uploaded May 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Parts in the NASA interview series:
- Part 1 - New aerodynamic concepts: youtu.be/m4rysu8LlLM
- Part 2 - Propeller design: youtu.be/UDZBqDQGU8o
- Part 3 - Battery and component cooling: youtu.be/ieB541felas
- Part 4 - Electric flight experience: youtu.be/pGn07UTVKBg
In this third part of our video interview series with NASA on the X-57 Maxwell Electric Aircraft, we dive into the details of cooling.
The X-57 requires around 90-100 kW in cruise versus 250 kW during take-off. This variation in loading strongly determines the sizing, the cells, the layout etc. of the battery.
Everything is directly air cooled on the airplane. The battery is passively cooled. The cooling of the inverters and motors poses quite a big challenge. They reach their operating temperature within seconds, so it's important to minimize the amount of rejected heat as well as understanding the cooling requirements across the flight envelope.
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The AirShaper videos cover the basics of aerodynamics (aerodynamic drag, drag & lift coefficients, boundary layer theory, flow separation, reynolds number...), simulation aspects (computational fluid dynamics, CFD meshing, ...) and aerodynamic testing (wind tunnel testing, flow visualization, ...).
We then use those basics to explain the aerodynamics of (race) cars (aerodynamic efficiency of electric vehicles, aerodynamic drag, downforce, aero maps, formula one aerodynamics, ...), drones and airplanes (propellers, airfoils, electric aviation, eVTOLS, ...), motorcycles (wind buffeting, motogp aerodynamics, ...) and more!
For more information, visit airshaper.com
Parts in the NASA interview series:
- Part 1 - New aerodynamic concepts: youtu.be/m4rysu8LlLM
- Part 2 - Propeller design: youtu.be/UDZBqDQGU8o
- Part 3 - Battery and component cooling: youtu.be/ieB541felas
- Part 4 - Electric flight experience: youtu.be/pGn07UTVKBg
In this third part of our video interview series with NASA on the X-57 Maxwell Electric Aircraft, we dive into the details of cooling.
The X-57 requires around 90-100 kW in cruise versus 250 kW during take-off. This variation in loading strongly determines the sizing, the cells, the layout etc. of the battery.
Everything is directly air cooled on the airplane. The battery is passively cooled. The cooling of the inverters and motors poses quite a big challenge. They reach their operating temperature within seconds, so it's important to minimize the amount of rejected heat as well as understanding the cooling requirements across the flight envelope.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The AirShaper videos cover the basics of aerodynamics (aerodynamic drag, drag & lift coefficients, boundary layer theory, flow separation, reynolds number...), simulation aspects (computational fluid dynamics, CFD meshing, ...) and aerodynamic testing (wind tunnel testing, flow visualization, ...).
We then use those basics to explain the aerodynamics of (race) cars (aerodynamic efficiency of electric vehicles, aerodynamic drag, downforce, aero maps, formula one aerodynamics, ...), drones and airplanes (propellers, airfoils, electric aviation, eVTOLS, ...), motorcycles (wind buffeting, motogp aerodynamics, ...) and more!
For more information, visit airshaper.com
