The upwards trend for the use of electrical power on state of the art more-electric aircraft (MEA) has resulted in a significant changes to the electrical power system (EPS) for these platforms due to increased use of DC, higher voltage and power levels, and decentralized architectures. A dual trend is the increasing use of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) for aircraft structures, due to the superior mechanical properties of CFRP compared to metallic structures. However, the poorer electrical conductivity of CFRP results in the aircraft structure no longer being fully integrated with the electrical power system. There is a need to integrate these two systems to fully maximize the performance benefits of CFRP, and optimize the weight and volume of the electrical power system. A first step in this integration is to identify an appropriate fault management strategy, which enables the detection of higher resistance ground faults through CFRP. This includes the consideration of appropriate grounding topologies. This paper proposes the implementation of a high resistance grounding topology, which enables the detection and location of a fault via spectral analysis of the voltage across the grounding resistor. From this, implications for wider EPS and CFRP designs to enable the reduction in the use of bulky cable harnesses, providing the first step to CFRP becoming an integral part of the EPS, are discussed.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Grounding topologies for resilient, integrated composite electrical power systems for future aircraft applications




    Publication date :

    2019-08-01


    Size :

    4001122 byte




    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




    Grounding Topologies for Resilient, Integrated Composite Electrical Power Systems for Future Aircraft Applications

    Jones, Catherine E. / Sztykiel, Michal / Pena-Alzola, Rafael et al. | AIAA | 2019


    AIRCRAFT WING COMPOSITE RIBS HAVING ELECTRICAL GROUNDING PATHS

    WALKER STEVEN PAUL | European Patent Office | 2023

    Free access

    AIRCRAFT WING COMPOSITE RIBS HAVING ELECTRICAL GROUNDING PATHS

    WALKER STEVEN PAUL | European Patent Office | 2021

    Free access

    AIRCRAFT WING COMPOSITE RIBS HAVING ELECTRICAL GROUNDING PATHS

    WALKER STEVEN PAUL | European Patent Office | 2020

    Free access