Electric Aircraft

Solution Overview

Multiphysics Simulation for Aircraft

Electric aircraft, whether eVTOL or hybrid-electric, rely on batteries, thermal management, environmental controls, and propulsion working as one system. A weakness in any one of these affects safety, certification readiness, and program viability. GT-SUITE models these systems together in a single multi-physics environment, covering ePowertrain, battery electrochemistry and aging, thermal management, environmental control, fuel and cryogenic systems, landing gear, and 3-DOF/6-DOF flight dynamics, including FLIGHTLAB integration for rotorcraft and eVTOL applications.

The FAA certification demanding evidence that physical testing alone cannot efficiently provide, GT-SUITE runs detailed simulations in minutes to de-risk designs before hardware is built. The platform supports full-electric, hybrid-electric, and hydrogen fuel cell programs across all stages of development, from early concept exploration through design validation and certification support activities.

Autonomous driverless aerial vehicle fly across city, 3d render

Schematic of Lithium-Ion Battery Operating Mechanism

Application Highlights

Integrated Aircraft Systems

Predict range, state-of-health, and aging of electrified propulsion systems
Optimize vehicle energy management across full flight missions
Verify thermal management designs and control strategies from individual components to complete systems
Simulate complete electrical and thermal systems, including motors, power electronics, batteries, fuel cells, piston engines, and gas turbines
Model 3-DOF and 6-DOF flight dynamics for any flight mission profile
Validate battery and thermal system behavior using proven, physics-based modeling approaches
Develop and optimize control algorithms using a comprehensive controls library with finite state machines in GT-SUITE, or co-simulate with Simulink
Analyze and optimize results with intuitive post-processing and built-in optimization tools

V-model Systems Engineering workflow for electric vehicle (EV)

Interact with our eVTOL model and learn more about GT-SUITE capabilities

Advanced Features

Advanced Modeling Capabilities

High-fidelity battery, thermal, and electrical modeling for optimized aircraft system performance.

Electrochemical Battery Modeling for Flight

Predict state of charge, state of health, and capacity fade at the cell level using physics-based electrochemistry, giving electric aircraft programs accurate battery performance data before a single pack is built.

Battery Aging and State of Health Prediction

Model capacity fade and state of health using physics-based electrochemistry, calibrated against test data including discharge curves and HPPC results. Electric aircraft programs get aging estimates across the mission profile early enough to inform fleet planning and airworthiness decisions.

Battery Thermal Runaway and Safety Analysis

Model cell-to-pack thermal runaway propagation in minutes, enabling electric aircraft designers to evaluate pack geometry, thermal barriers, and safety margins well ahead of physical testing.

Full ePowertrain Integration, Battery to Rotor

Simulate the complete electric propulsion chain, from battery cell through inverter, motor, and rotor, within a single multiphysics environment, capturing coupled interactions that isolated tools cannot detect.

Coupled Flight Dynamics and Propulsion Simulation

Integrate GT-SUITE's detailed electric drive system models with FLIGHTLAB's rotorcraft and eVTOL flight dynamics to diagnose coupled airframe-propulsion instabilities and optimize mission range and flight safety.

Controls Development Across MiL, SiL, and HiL

Build and validate control strategies using GT-SUITE's controls library, including finite state machines, then move from model in the loop through software in the loop and hardware in the loop as the design matures. Co-simulation with Simulink lets teams refine energy management and thermal control logic before committing to hardware.