Secondary Power Generation -- Tomorrow's Concepts and Today's Risks

This paper presents an overview of electric secondary power system configurations for future military and commercial aircraft. The overview includes a description of the salient elements of each configuration, as well as a comparative assessment of the near-term application risks. Configurations range from conventional 115 V, 3 phase, 400 Hz to engine integrated 270 Vdc systems. The Defense Systems Management College, Ft. Belvoir, VA methodology is used for risk assessment. The elements of risk for each configuration are identified and quantified to indicate areas of technical development in support of risk reduction.

The selected configurations are in keeping with those being actively pursued by the TriService/NASA Joint Planning Team (JPT) for More-Electric Aircraft (MEA), headed by the USAF Wright Laboratories (WL). Specific approaches for military fighter aircraft are described in the Northrop Military Aircraft Division Management and Distribution of More Electric (MADMEL) technology program and, for commercial transport aircraft, in the McDonnell Douglas Aerospace Power By Wire (PBW) technology program.