The demands for ‘more electric aircraft’ will increase the power distribution requirements of future aircraft electrical distribution systems. To increase safety and reduce aircraft maintenance times on the ground, there is also a need for system condition monitoring to quickly identify and locate any electrical faults which may develop. The work presented in this study forms an initial study into the use of power system harmonic impedance measurement for identifying and locating faults within power cables. The method is passive – that is, it does not require the injection of any test signals – and can be embedded into a centralised equipment controller to provide intelligent, real-time diagnostics. The method estimates the harmonic line–line self-impedance at strategic points in the distribution system by measuring load voltage and current at different load distribution points within the network. By combining the harmonic line–line self-impedance estimates the faults can be identified and located within a few cycles. This can, therefore, provide a ‘backup protection’ system, which does not require bus current measurement. It can also provide a measure of the fault location and could therefore be a significant aid to aircraft maintenance. The study derives the theoretical basis of the scheme and provides experimental results from a laboratory prototype to demonstrate the validity of this approach to detect and locate faults within the system.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Fault location for aircraft distribution systems using harmonic impedance estimation


    Contributors:
    Zhou, Q. (author) / Sumner, M. (author) / Thomas, D. (author)

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2012-12-01


    Size :

    11 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





    A Survey on Arc Fault Detection and Wire Fault Location for Aircraft Wiring Systems

    Liu, Guangjun / Cao, Yin Ni / Liu, Yugang et al. | SAE Technical Papers | 2008


    Aircraft electric system intermittent arc fault detection and location

    Yaramasu, Anil / Yinni Cao, / Guangjun Liu, et al. | IEEE | 2015


    Aircraft Actuator Fault Detection and Isolation using Piecewise Constant Fault Estimation Scheme

    Lee, Hanmin / Snyder, Steven / Patterson, Andrew et al. | AIAA | 2016