Browse Topic: Power electronics
This paper proposes a highly integrated 3-in-1 e-Propulsion unit that exceeds current state-of-the-art power density, utilising low-risk, high TRL technologies. The design process of the e-Propulsion unit is outlined, including the development of a high integrity, fault-tolerant system design targeting DAL-A safety levels. The resulting system concept embodies redundancy throughout the electrical system - two sets of windings in the motor and redundancy built into the power electronics create a robust and efficient architecture. The electrical machine is connected to an optimised single stage planetary gearbox to realise output shaft speed and torque suitable for an eVTOL or eCTOL type application. Both systems are cooled and lubricated by a standalone cooling loop.
Within this paper redundancy concepts on electric propulsion systems - consisting of electrical sources, inverters, electrical machines, gearboxes and drag generation units - are discussed. In a first steps different possible concepts are explained. In a general section considerations on the possible concepts are made, with a special focus on the design of the inverters, electrical machines and gearboxes. Advantages and disadvantages are shown and therefore some general assumptions on possible applications discussed. Later, two engineering examples for the concepts of shared drag generation unit and shared electrical machines with inverters are shown. The functionality is shown on measurement examples and experiences made during the design and testing phases are given. Finally, a new concept to reduce the risk of failure propagation in multi-wound motors is shown and discussed.
The paper discusses the application of the Array Controlled Turn-less Structures (ACTS) motor for VTOL application. The motor enhances the three main competing characteristics of electric motors; namely specific power, efficiency and reliability. The motor arrays an ensemble of elemental turn-less motors which include turn-less elements each with their dedicated inverters which are operated in synchronism. The resulting small pole size enhances the power density, the enhanced conductor packing enhances the efficiency, and the massive parallelism enhance the reliability. Vertical takeoff requires much higher thrust compared to wing assisted takeoff. With limited on-board power, this higher thrust is presently provided by in ordinary larger propulsion disk area which reduces the craft aerodynamics, and the cruising Lift-to-Drag (L/D) ratio and accordingly the flight efficiency and range. The high specific power of the ACTS motor allows for a different scenario and thus craft architecture
LaunchPoint Electric Propulsion Solutions is developing mission-optimized electric propulsion systems. Unlike traditional aircraft development where designs are often driven by available propulsion systems, the relative simplicity of electric propulsion opens up the possibility that bespoke propulsion components may be developed and optimized for a particular vehicle configuration and mission. Electric propulsion is new to many aerospace designers and there is not yet a good body of knowledge about the performance of electric propulsion components. LaunchPoint aims to fill this gap by developing user-friendly physics-based electric propulsion models for multi-disciplinary optimization in vehicle/mission designs. To date, the existing vehicle configuration studies have largely used curve fits of existing electric propulsion components that do not accurately capture all of the relationships between motor and power electronics size, mass, efficiency, voltage, torque, and rpm and how those
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