Algorithm for the Optimal Design of a Fault-Tolerant Aircraft Power Transmission Network

Abstract

Aircraft manufacturers aim to decrease the fuel consumption based on reducing weight and increasing the subsystem efficiency. Hence, the electric power system (EPS) acquires great relevance because it must be efficient and lightweight. Any change in the EPS must not affect the aircraft’s electrical safety, which under a traditional decentralized EPS strategy is ensured by redundancy. Recently, several decentralized EPS strategies based on the introduction of multiport power converters have arisen. Such strategies meet the established safety goals since the aforementioned devices make it possible to recalculate the path to continue powering the loads in case of failure. However, the literature does not address how to connect such multiport power converters. The main contribution of this article is to present a low-complexity algorithm that minimizing the redundancy of wiring, provides a fault-tolerant power transmission network. This is done under a decentralized EPS strategy where multiport power converters are used. The proposed strategy is evaluated on Boeing 787 aircraft, where we compare the length of the cables both under a traditional decentralized network configuration (where the redundancy option is used to ensure the safety of operation) and in the network provided by our algorithm. A saving of 66.6% is obtained.