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Liam Bailey
Head of Design Organisation, Bristol, United Kingdom contact form
Liam Bailey is AtkinsRéalis’ Head of Aerospace Engineering and Head of Part 21J Design Organisation. With extensive experience leading the development of assets from concept to manufacture, Liam is a trusted subject matter expert on the design and analysis of electric engines.
We asked Liam for his thoughts on some of the key questions facing the sector, as it journeys towards the adoption of electric power.
What are some of the technical challenges that come with rapidly developing this technology?
It doesn’t affect the job we do, but it does affect the context and perspective of it. Traditional aerospace is used to conservative processes and iterating slowly. In Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), everyone is working at such a pace, and development is so important to the future of each company, that progress is driven by doing things to the best of your ability and following best practice. This method means that the risk of making a mistake is higher – no one will get it right first time.
The speed of development introduces lots of challenges, as the gaps between iterations are larger. For example, when simulating aircraft performance and stability, it is hard to make large design changes and still consistently have a stable aircraft. It may be possible to push things too far and then have to bring the design back – but without this approach, evolution and growth would be near-impossible.
In your opinion, what is going well in the AAM sector?
In my experience of the current AAM landscape, there is a common and understandable drive from businesses to develop aircraft more quickly and cost effectively, drawing upon the design development timescales set by other industries such as automotive. This drive is fuelling the push to enable perceived improvements such as ‘digital certification’, with an increased reliance upon analytical simulation to support rapid design development and ultimately certification.
Concurrently, analytical simulation packages are becoming more powerful, linking design (via computer aided design (CAD)) and structural analysis (via finite element analysis (FEA)) together and in combination, with significantly improved run-times, increased complexity, and user-friendly interfaces. This is enabling users to iterate their designs quickly and efficiently.
What is a challenge for the sector?
The major challenge is demonstrating that these analytical simulations are reflective of, or at least conservative in comparison to, reality, with the only reliable and accepted verification method being physical testing, which is both costly and time-consuming and counteractive to the aforementioned aims. Since electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) designs and their operational use cases are generally novel and complex in nature, the level of verification required should not be underestimated.
Therefore, both new businesses with a lack of supporting evidence to validate their design processes, and even established businesses developing these novel and complex eVTOL designs, run the risk of quickly developing designs that fundamentally may not meet their requirements, or fail upon testing because their analytical assumptions were incorrect, ultimately resulting in a significant impact on cost and time. This does not mean that the traditional aerospace design process cannot be improved upon, but that effective technical and commercial risk management must be concurrently developed.
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In our magazine, Powering the Future of Flight, we explore the challenges – and the opportunities – electric engines bring to powering the future of flight.
Read James Richmond’s article on the key challenges facing electric engine designers, Andrew Caughey’s discussion of the considerations for integration into aircraft, and Adam Conner’s analysis of the state of the funding environment and how the UK can remain a front-runner in the sector.
As part of the Air Mobility Ecosystem Consortium (AMEC), we’re collaborating to explore the future of mobility, helping to revolutionise the way we travel and find new, greener ways to fly.
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By clicking "Accept" you acknowledge and agree that AtkinsRéalis is not responsible, and does not accept or assume any responsibility or liability whatsoever for, the data protection policy, the content, the data or the technical operation of the External Website and/or any linked websites and that AtkinsRéalis is not liable for the Terms and Conditions (or Terms of Use) of the External Website. Further, you acknowledge and agree that you assume all risks resulting from entering and/or using the External Website and/or any linked websites.
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