Technical Paper
Opportunities and Challenges for Electric-Drive Systems on Aircraft
1984-10-01
841627
Traditionally, aircraft systems have relied upon bleed air from the main engine as the primary energy source for environmental control systems (ECS) and anti-icing systems. With the next generation of engines, bleed air may not be available to the extent utilized in the past. Electric drive systems are now being considered as viable alternatives for ECS. Electric drives are also being considered for traditional hydraulic drives in applications such as engine fuel pumps, and flap actuators. Several aspects of electric drive systems consisting of permanent-magnet motors (PMM's) and solid-state power electronics for the primary generation or secondary control of electric drives on aircraft are discussed in this paper. For power distribution, conventional 120/208-v, 3-phase, 400-Hz; 270-vdc, variable frequency/constant voltage, and variable frequency/variable voltage systems are the primary candidates.