Moving towards a more electric aircraft
Summary (2 min read)
INTRODUCTION
- Conventional aircraft architectures used for civil aircraft embody a combination of systems dependent on mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical sources.
- The resulting conventional equipment is the product of decades of development by system suppliers.
- This kind of energy is conventionally used to power the " Hydraulic power, which is transferred from the central hydraulic pump to the actuation systems for primary and secondary flight control; to landing gear for deployment, retraction, and braking; to engine actuation; and to numerous ancillary systems.
- Their drawbacks are a heavy and inflexible infrastructure and the potential leakage of dangerous and corrosive fluids.
- The leak is generally difficult to locate and once located it cannot be accessed easily.
ECS
- Approaches to on-board energy power management and drive systems .
- * Substituting hydraulic actuators for electromechanical actuators.
- This reduces weight and decreases maintenance and production costs.
Central Hydraulic Pump
- Also, reliable high integration and safety of the electrical power system leads to the use of distributed generation and control architecture.
- The advantages of More Electric systems are not confined to aircraft.
- Other transport systems, such as marine propulsion, are also moving in this direction [4] .
- The next sections briefly discuss a general overview of the electrical power generation system and electric drives on the MEA, especially with regard to the flight controls.
- A brief introduction to the safety aspects of the flight controls has also been included.
ELECTRONIC POWER SYSTEMS
- The first factor to take into account is the large amount of power electronics for power conversions and power users that MBA will involve: at least 1.6 MW for a next-generation 300 pax aircraft.
- Improved, high-efficiency electric circuit topologies are also the subject of on-going research.
- In a MEA, current engine accessories that derive power form gearbox mounted pumps will be replaced with electronically-driven electrical machines.
- By this way, variable-frequency power generation increases reliability of the whole system.
- Reduction of an aircraft's multiple secondary power subsystems to a single electric subsystem is another challenge under development.
ELECTROMECHANICAL ACTUATORS
- Subsystems of the MEA include power electronics, power controllers, converters, inverters, and associated components, which have a direct impact on the viability of the MEA, especially in the case of control actuators.
- A large number of actuators have been studied, most of them electromechanical except flight control actuators due to the showstopper jamm-ing case.
- One result of this on new aircraft such as the Airbus A380 or Boeing B7E7 is the replacement of the hydraulic circuits by EHA networks.
- The objective is to reduce production and maintenance costs.
I-
- EMA technologies are already being used in aeronautics, but for safety reasons they are limited to Secondary Flight Controls or military aircraft [7].
- Dual redundant power drive electronics providing motor drive, speed closed-loop, and control management can help to overcome this issue.
- Moreover, advanced digital systems make automatic checking for faulty signals easier, which allows damaged channels to be identified and disconnected before they can jeopardize the safety of the whole aircraftalthough control redundancy is needed to ensure sensor and actuator control even under fault conditions.
- As is easily seen, the backbone comprising the communication subsystem is a critical component for distributed control systems.
- Redundant channels are often used for protocols aimed at achieving fault tolerance against more bus failures.
CONCLUSIONS
- Historically, there has been a desire to use electrical power as the single motive force for all non-propulsive onboard aircraft functions.
- By generally reducing hydraulic parts and the weight of the power systems in aircrafts, the MEA concept aims to bring about significant changes in power management and use, which up to now have not been technologically possible.
- The common goal is low-cost, high-performance and safe electrical power components.
- " 50% fewer unexpected delays due to failures in the power systems. * A power electronics weight reduction of about 50%. " Enhanced competitiveness, production improvement, and technology validation.
- Other sustainable transport systems can also take advantage of the advances in this area.
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Citations
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Cites background from "Moving towards a more electric airc..."
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