Modelling and analysis of vienna rectifier for more electric aircraft applications using wide band-gap materials

This paper presents a comprehensive study on the switching effects of wide bandgap devices and the importance of power electronics in an aircraft application. Silicon (Si), silicon carbide (SiC), and gallium nitride (GaN) are wide bandgap devices that act as a power electronic switch in the AC-DC converter for More Electric Aircraft (MEA) applications. Therefore, it is important to observe their converting efficiency to identify the most suitable wide bandgap device among three devices for AC-DC converters in aircraft applications to provide high efficiency and high-power density. In this study, the characteristics of Si, SIC, and GaN devices are simulated using PSIM software. Also, this paper presents the performance of the Vienna rectifier for aircraft application. The Vienna rectifier using Si, SiC, and GaN devices are simulated using PSIM software for aircraft application. GaN with Vienna rectifier provides better performance than Si and SiC devices for aircraft applications among the three devices. It gives high efficiency, high power density, low input current THD to meet IEEE-519 standard, and high-power factor at mains.

Design and Structural Analyses of a Reciprocating S1223 High-Lift Wing for an RA-Driven VTOL UAV

In the design stage of an aircraft, structural analyses are commonly employed to test the integrity of the aircraft components to demonstrate the capability of the structural elements to withstand what they are designed for, as well as predict potential failure of the components. This research focused on the structural design and analysis of a high-lift, low Reynolds number airfoil profile, the Selig S1223, under reciprocating inertial force loading, to determine the feasibility of its use in a new reciprocating airfoil (RA) driven VTOL UAV. The material selected for the wing structures including ribs, spars, and skin, was high-strength carbon fiber. The wing was designed in SolidWorks, while finite element analysis was performed with ANSYS mechanical in conjunction with the inertia forces due to the reciprocating motion of the wing and the lift and drag forces that were derived from the aerodynamic wing analyses. The structural stress and strain determined under the loading conditions were satisfactory and the designed wing could sustain the high reciprocating inertia forces in the RA-driven VTOL UAV module. The results of this study indicate that the Selig S1223 airfoil profile, due to its superior performance at low Reynolds numbers, high-lift, and reduced noise characteristics at low angles of attack, combined with the use of the high strength carbon fiber, proves to be an excellent choice for this RA-driven aircraft application.

Multifold Bandwidth Improvement in Conformal Patch Antenna for Aircraft Application Using Corrugated Edge Coupling

In the high-speed Internet of Things (IOT) era, the aircraft on-board is one of the few places that lacks high speed network access. The speed of this communication link between the ground station and the aircraft is limited by the transmitting antenna power, cost, latency and available infrastructure. The Direct Air to Ground (DATG) is a much-guaranteed technique which can provide a high-speed link between the ground station and aircraft. This paper describes a novel conformal microstrip patch antenna design which provides fourfold increase in bandwidth. As the bandwidth of an antenna mounted on the fuselage of aircraft is crucial to achieve higher data rate, this antenna performance is promising and suits better for DATG application. The proposed antenna with a size of (6.81 X 7.21cm) achieves a bandwidth of ~700MHz (5.032GHz to 5.73GHz) and max Gain of 9.53dB with max radiation efficiency of 93%. As this antenna is to be mounted on the aircraft fuselage, a substrate material, RT duroid 5880 with a thickness of 0.787mm is selected to have better conformability, low loss and high gain. This paper explains the different performance metrics involved in the DATG system and derives the specification for the proposed antenna structure. Also, the detailed structural analysis with the support of parametric and Characteristic Mode Analysis (CMA) is provided to get the physical insight of the designed antenna.

Low-Emissions Technology Development for Auxiliary Power Unit Combustion Systems

The aircraft Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) is required to provide power to start the main engines, conditioned air and power when there are no facilities available and, most importantly, emergency power during flight operation. Given the primary purpose of providing backup power, APUs have historically been designed to be extremely reliable while minimizing weight and fabrication cost. Since APUs are operated at airports especially during taxi operations, the emissions from the APUs contribute to local air quality. There is clearly significant regulatory and public interest in reducing emissions from all sources at airports, including from APUs. As such, there is a need to develop technologies that reduce criteria pollutants, namely oxides of nitrogen (NOx), unburned hydrocarbons (UHC), carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke (SN) from aircraft APUs. Honeywell has developed a Low-Emissions (Low-E) combustion system technology for the 131-9 and HGT750 family of APUs to provide significant reduction in pollutants for narrow-body aircraft application. This article focuses on the combustor technology and processes that have been successfully utilized in this endeavor, with an emphasis on abating NOx. This paper describes the 131-9/HGT750 APU, the requirements and challenges for small gas turbine engines, and the selected strategy of Rich-Quench-Lean (RQL) combustion. Analytical and experimental results are presented for the current generation of APU combustion systems as well as the Low-E system. The implementation of RQL aerodynamics is well understood within the aero-gas turbine engine industry, but the application of RQL technology in a configuration with tangential liquid fuel injection which is also required to meet altitude ignition at 41,000 ft is the novelty of this development. The Low-E combustion system has demonstrated more than 25% reduction in NOx (dependent on the cycle of operation) vs. the conventional 131-9 combustion system while meeting significant margins in other criteria pollutants. In addition, the Low-E combustion system achieved these successes as a “drop-in” configuration within the existing envelope, and without significantly impacting combustor/turbine durability, combustor pressure drop, or lean stability.