Design and Flight Qualification of a Flying Capacitor Multilevel Converter for Electric Aircraft Applications

Abstract

Multilevel switched-capacitor converters, such as the flying capacitor multilevel (FCML) converter, offer high energy density and efficiency, over a wide voltage range, making them suitable for applications in electrified aircraft. However, concerns of reliability due to the increased number of active and passive components have limited the use of high-level count converters in aircraft applications. This work addresses the challenges of designing a high-level count converter with the goal of extremely high efficiency and power density, with maintained reliability and flight readiness. We present detailed component selection and design techniques to achieve this goal, along with a high-performance 28.2 kW/kg, 99.52% efficient high-voltage dc-dc step-up power converter for experimental validation. Finally, we demonstrate successful completion of critical flight qualification testing of the hardware prototype, including thermal, shock and vibration.