There are many vehicles being developed which rely on electrically driven propellers/rotors for both control and propulsion. Based on these vehicles, it is hypothesized that there exists a size limit for speed-controlled propellers/rotors in terms of propeller/rotor diameter. To investigate this, a scaling method was created to allow for a vehicle to be created without being based on a specific mission or passenger/cargo requirement. Relationships were developed to size both the physical vehicle and the weight of the vehicle based on the propeller/rotor diameter. A simulation of a quadcopter was created for the vehicle and scaled with both propeller/rotor diameter and vehicle thrust-to-weight. The results from the simulation were then tested on a pass/fail system using three metrics to determine the size limit for speed-controlled propellers. These metrics included turbulence, disturbance rejection bandwidth, motor time constant, and rate requirements. These metrics were selected from historical design requirements and relevant literature. Based on the pass/fail of each metric the overall, size limit for speed-controlled propellers/rotors was determined. The disturbance rejection bandwidth metric was identified as the limiting metric with a maximum propeller/rotor diameter of 5 feet. It was also identified that turbulence and rate requirements are not the limiting cases for this design space.
","abstract_html":"<p>There are many vehicles being developed which rely on electrically driven propellers/rotors for both control and propulsion. Based on these vehicles, it is hypothesized that there exists a size limit for speed-controlled propellers/rotors in terms of propeller/rotor diameter. To investigate this, a scaling method was created to allow for a vehicle to be created without being based on a specific mission or passenger/cargo requirement. Relationships were developed to size both the physical vehicle and the weight of the vehicle based on the propeller/rotor diameter. A simulation of a quadcopter was created for the vehicle and scaled with both propeller/rotor diameter and vehicle thrust-to-weight. The results from the simulation were then tested on a pass/fail system using three metrics to determine the size limit for speed-controlled propellers. These metrics included turbulence, disturbance rejection bandwidth, motor time constant, and rate requirements. These metrics were selected from historical design requirements and relevant literature. Based on the pass/fail of each metric the overall, size limit for speed-controlled propellers/rotors was determined. The disturbance rejection bandwidth metric was identified as the limiting metric with a maximum propeller/rotor diameter of 5 feet. It was also identified that turbulence and rate requirements are not the limiting cases for this design space.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Thompson, David J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:08Z","subjects":["eVTOL","Urban Air Mobility","Speed-Control","Scaling","Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/621","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Thompson, David J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["eVTOL","Urban Air Mobility","Speed-Control","Scaling","Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/621"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["There are many vehicles being developed which rely on electrically driven propellers/rotors for both control and propulsion. Based on these vehicles, it is hypothesized that there exists a size limit for speed-controlled propellers/rotors in terms of propeller/rotor diameter. To investigate this, a scaling method was created to allow for a vehicle to be created without being based on a specific mission or passenger/cargo requirement. Relationships were developed to size both the physical vehicle and the weight of the vehicle based on the propeller/rotor diameter. A simulation of a quadcopter was created for the vehicle and scaled with both propeller/rotor diameter and vehicle thrust-to-weight. The results from the simulation were then tested on a pass/fail system using three metrics to determine the size limit for speed-controlled propellers. These metrics included turbulence, disturbance rejection bandwidth, motor time constant, and rate requirements. These metrics were selected from historical design requirements and relevant literature. Based on the pass/fail of each metric the overall, size limit for speed-controlled propellers/rotors was determined. The disturbance rejection bandwidth metric was identified as the limiting metric with a maximum propeller/rotor diameter of 5 feet. It was also identified that turbulence and rate requirements are not the limiting cases for this design space.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Envelope Analysis of Speed-Controlled eVTOL Urban Air Mobility Vehicles"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Thompson, David J."],"dc:description.abstract":["There are many vehicles being developed which rely on electrically driven propellers/rotors for both control and propulsion. Based on these vehicles, it is hypothesized that there exists a size limit for speed-controlled propellers/rotors in terms of propeller/rotor diameter. To investigate this, a scaling method was created to allow for a vehicle to be created without being based on a specific mission or passenger/cargo requirement. Relationships were developed to size both the physical vehicle and the weight of the vehicle based on the propeller/rotor diameter. A simulation of a quadcopter was created for the vehicle and scaled with both propeller/rotor diameter and vehicle thrust-to-weight. The results from the simulation were then tested on a pass/fail system using three metrics to determine the size limit for speed-controlled propellers. These metrics included turbulence, disturbance rejection bandwidth, motor time constant, and rate requirements. These metrics were selected from historical design requirements and relevant literature. Based on the pass/fail of each metric the overall, size limit for speed-controlled propellers/rotors was determined. The disturbance rejection bandwidth metric was identified as the limiting metric with a maximum propeller/rotor diameter of 5 feet. It was also identified that turbulence and rate requirements are not the limiting cases for this design space.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/621"],"dc:subject":["eVTOL","Urban Air Mobility","Speed-Control","Scaling","Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics"],"dc:title":["Envelope Analysis of Speed-Controlled eVTOL Urban Air Mobility Vehicles"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:08Z"}