Video
Abstract
The deployment of electric propulsion for large commercial aircrafts to reduce their fuel use and emissions has been proposed in light of the potential for significant environmental and economic benefits. We discuss, in this presentation, the various modeling issues in the development of a high-power-density, high-frequency permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) drive system to meet the stringent weight requirements in aircraft applications. The very high specific power is due to the deployment of a multiple-pole, ‘iron-less’ topology in the PMSM. A salient characteristic is the switched mode power electronics converter to drive the PMSM. The presence of a broad harmonic spectrum in the machine excitation currents is due to low synchronous inductance and the pulse width modulation (PWM) process, which result in additional electromagnetic losses. We describe the modeling of these additional losses to allow the assessment of temperature rise impacts and the machine efficiency. We developed a synthesized modeling method based on the drive output voltage spectral analysis to represent with high fidelity the various loss components and to analyze the effects of different PWM algorithms, machine nonlinear characteristics and drive design parameters on the total machine losses. The method is instrumental in the optimal selection of the drive design parameters to obtain the minimal system weight with a high drivetrain efficiency.
