Power System Characteristics for More Electric Aircraft

It should not be surprising that more electric aircraft must meet significantly more difficult electrical power system requirements than were considered when today’s power distribution systems were being developed. Electrical power, no longer a secondary system, will become a critical element of the primary flight control system. Functional reliability requirements will be extremely stringent and can only be met by controlling element redundancy within a distributed power system. Existing electrical systems were not developed to have both the power system and the control/sensing elements distributed and yet meet the requirements of lightning tolerance and high intensity radio frequency (HIRF).

In addition, the operation of electric actuators involves high transient loading and reverse energy flows. Such phenomena were also not anticipated when power quality was specified for either 270 VDC or 400 Hertz ac power systems. This paper will expand upon the issues and discuss some of the technologies involved in their resolution.