Modeling and Assessing Vulnerabilities of Aircraft Cyber–Physical Power Systems Based on Complex Network Theory

The work deals with the issues of new architecture in terms of power multi-pulse rectifiers based on the 12-, 24-, and 48-pulse rectifiers, compatible with the concept of a MEA. The subject of this paper is to present the analysis, the mathematical models and simulations of the operation of a advanced multi-pulse rectifiers, used in the field of energoelectronic power systems PES, both on civil aircraft of aircraft companies Airbus and Boeing (A-380 and A-350XWB, B-787), as well as on military aircrafts of Lockheed Martin (JSF F-35 and F-22 Raptor), compatible with the trend of more electric aircraft. Based on the above, in the final part of the paper the models and analysis of simulation waveforms of considered rectifiers was made and practical conclusions were drawn in terms of advanced power systems PES according to the concept of more electric aircraft.

The concept of More Electric Aircraft (MEA) aims to address the demand for efficiency, reliability and maintainability of today aerospace industry by means of an in-depth electrification of the currently hydraulic, mechanical and pneumatic on-board actuators. The high power density of electric actuators shall decrease substantially the aircraft weight as well as its fuel consumption and environmental impact. However, safety and reliability are primary drivers of this sector. This paper will review the main stress factors affecting the lifespan of insulation materials used in aerospace actuators, concentrating in particular to the influence of the low atmospheric pressure at high attitude and to the effect of wide band-gap power devices' short rise times on voltage stress in windings.

This article introduces the concept of More Electric Aircraft (MEA) and explores its potential advantages for manned aircraft. It outlines typical electrical power systems, loads, and future challenges in the aerospace industry. The importance of power electronics in enabling this shift in aircraft design is highlighted, along with examples of system designs. The MEA and the transition to electric vehicles have been extensively studied, aiming to reduce emissions and fuel consumption, aligning with similar objectives in automobiles. Conventional aircraft systems rely on various types of power—electrical, hydraulic, mechanical, and pneumatic—each with its drawbacks, impacting overall efficiency. The shift towards new electrical systems in future aircraft aims to enhance engine start, efficiency, emissions, reliability, and cost-effectiveness by replacing primary non-electric systems. The essay deeply examines evolving aviation systems, discussing potential innovations like gas-electric propulsion and electric taxis. It also delves into the application of the Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) method in Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) for addressing manufacturing decision challenges across diverse areas like cutting fluids, industrial robots, and material machinability. The study emphasizes the WASPAS method's effectiveness in precisely ranking alternatives across these scenarios and explores the impact of the parameter λ on its performance. Test results using the WASPAS method offer insights into classifying the best and worst aircraft alternatives.

More electric aircraft challenges: A study on 270 V/90 V interleaved bidirectional DC–DC converter

This paper proposes a static modeling and power flow calculation of the More Electric Aircraft (MEA) power system to study the stability and the fault analysis. Combined with the common land power system, the structure and characteristics of MEA power system are firstly illustrated and the static models are built. Then, on the basis of the alternate iteration method, the method to calculate and analysis the AC/DC hybrid MEA power system is described. Finally, the power flow calculation results and adjust strategy under different working period are showed with an example of Boeing 787. The simulation results showed that the programmed algorithm can accord with the characteristics of MEA power system and the power flow distribution and adjustment strategy are simple and clear.

The evolution of aircraft power systems has been driven by increasing electrical demands and advancements in aviation technology. Background: This study provides a comprehensive review and experimental validation of on-board electrical network development, analyzing power management strategies in both conventional and modern aircraft, including the Mi-24 helicopter, F-22 multirole aircraft, and Boeing 787 passenger airplane. Methods: The research categorizes aircraft electrical systems into three historical phases: pre-1960s with 28.5 V DC networks, up to 2000 with three-phase AC networks (3 × 115 V/200 V, 400 Hz), and post-2000 with 270 V DC networks derived from AC generators via transformer–rectifier units. Beyond theoretical analysis, this work introduces experimental findings on hybrid-electric aircraft power solutions, particularly evaluating the performance of the Modular Power System for Aircraft (MPSZE). The More Electric Aircraft (MEA) concept is analyzed as a key innovation, with a focus on energy efficiency, frequency stability, and ground power applications. The study investigates the integration of alternative energy sources, including photovoltaic-assisted power supplies and fuel-cell-based auxiliary systems, assessing their feasibility for aircraft system checks, engine startups, field navigation, communications, and radar operations. Results: Experimental results demonstrate that hybrid energy storage systems, incorporating lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, and photovoltaic modules, can enhance MEA efficiency and operational resilience under real-world conditions. Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of MEA technology in the future of sustainable aviation power solutions, highlighting both global and Polish research contributions, particularly from the Air Force Institute of Technology (ITWL).

Recent advancements in the power electronic device technologies, such as wide-band-gap devices including Silicon-Carbide (SiC) and Galium-Nitride (GaN), are acting as an enabling factor in development of compact power electronic systems. More specifically, the concept of More Electric Aircraft (MEA), which requires the aircraft's pneumatic systems to be replaced by electrical systems, can therefore greatly benefit from these emerging technologies in reduction of weight and volume of the aircraft such that range of aircraft can be increased. Various functions of aircraft e.g. actuation and engine-starting in MEAs are performed by power electronic converter based systems. With SiC and GaN devices, converters with densities even up to 70kW/L are easily achievable only when the envelope of the converter is cubical and not restricted. However, in case when a specific envelope is provided by the aircraft manufacturer, the component selection, layout and the design of power electronic converter to achieve high power density, within the restricted envelope, becomes extremely challenging. This paper presents the design of a circular-shaped 17.5kW/L – 97.6% efficient-SiC based two-level (2L) inverter for aircraft applications. Furthermore, the feasibility and design of the converter are supported by the experimental results rated at a power of 13kW.

Air travel is the main focus of attention with respect to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. This creates the necessity for having environmentally friendly flights to facilitate local and global transport. To address this issue, several initiatives are being taken by the aircraft industry to promote the use of electrical power to drive most of the aircraft systems and subsystems that were conventionally driven by hydraulic, pneumatic and mechanical systems. The development of aircraft designs with improved performance to make them more efficient and environmentally-friendly is the motivation underlying the concept of More Electric Aircraft (MEA). In this context, this paper reviews some of the notable MEA initiatives undertaken by the aerospace industry.

In this paper a More Electric Aircraft (MEA) electric power system is modeled and simulated with a fuel cell/battery hybrid Auxiliary Power Unit (APU). Fuel cell/battery hybrid power source is connected at the AC-load bus bar of 200-VAC and 400-Hz. Due to the DC output of the hybrid power source, a 12-pulse inverter is used at the output of the APU. The two output voltages of the generator-channel inverter and the hybrid-source inverter must be synchronized. The output of the fuel cell is controlled using a DC/DC boost converter to provide the aircraft DC bus voltage of 270-V. The battery is controlled by using a bidirectional DC/DC converter to provide the excess load when necessary and be charged from the fuel cell during normal operating conditions. To make the aircraft electric power system compatible with the aircraft standards, an active power filter (APF) is connected at the synchronous generator terminals. The APF reduced the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the generator voltage and current to be within the standard values. The studied aircraft electric power system with the proposed fuel cell/battery hybrid system is simulated without and with the presence of the APF and it is found that the APF reduced the voltage and frequency transients of the system and improves the aircraft electric system performance.

The push towards the concept of More Electric Aircraft (MEA) and More Electric Engine (MEE) has introduced new challenges in the electric machines design. In fact, the eventual integration of the electric starter/generator directly into the engine envelope would allow to remove any accessory gearbox, leading to a potential improvement of the overall reliability and efficiency of the system with a consequent reduction of the environmental impact. However, the integration of an electric machine within the turbo-fan engine requires a completely new design approach, since conventional materials cannot withstand the high temperatures up to 500°C usually found in such harsh environment.In this paper a survey on the main materials that can be used for electrical machines operating at high temperature (hot spot 500°C) is presented, illustrating their key characteristics and the main manufacturing challenges related to the operation in a such hostile environment.

The concept of More Electric Aircraft (MEA) has gained a lot of attention from researchers recently. For such an application, two of the pivotal requirements are having a power dense and energy efficient propulsion system. To that end, in the design procedure of the electric motor and its drive system, high power density and efficiency over the entire operating range is the ultimate goal. Thus, the integration of the electric motor and drive system into a single unit has been introduced as an effective method to meet the design objectives. Therefore, this paper presents the design procedure of a module of an Integrated Modular Motor Drive (IMMD). Electrothermal design of the GaN single phase full bridge inverter module has been conducted and the results are discussed. The analysis includes the thermal investigation of the WBG semiconductors by sweeping the number of parallel devices in each switch position at different switching frequencies. Furthermore, a single drive PCB module is designed and evaluated in ANSYS Q3D for parasitic extraction. Finally, double pulse test (DPT) is performed to verify the optimal design of PCB busbar.

The increasing awareness of the environmental risks and costs due to the growing demand in aviation has prompted both academic and industrial research into short-term and long-term technologies which could help address the challenges. Among these, the more electric aircraft has been identified as a key design concept which would make aircraft more environmentally friendly and cost effective in the long run. Moreover, the notion of free-flight and optimised trajectories has been identified as a key operational concept which would help curb the environmental effects of aircraft as well as reduce overall costs. The research in this paper presents a methodology in which these two concepts can be coupled to study the benefits of more electric aircraft (MEA) flying optimised trajectories. A wide range of issues from aircraft performance, engine performance, airframe systems operation, power off-take penalties, emission modelling, optimisation algorithms and optimisation frameworks has been addressed throughout the study. The case study is based on a popular short haul flight between London Heathrow and Amsterdam Schiphol. The culmination of the study establishes the advantage of the MEA over conventional aircraft and also addresses the enhanced approach to the classical aircraft trajectory optimisation problem. The study shows that the operation procedures to achieve a minimum fuel burn are significantly different for a conventional aircraft and MEA. Trajectory optimisation reduced the fuel burn by 17.4% for the conventional aircraft and 12.2% for the more electric compared to the respective baseline cases. Within the constraints of the study, the minimum fuel burn trajectory for the MEA consumed 9.9% less fuel than the minimum fuel burn trajectory for the conventional aircraft.

Based on the analysis and mathematical models of synchronous electric machines (motor/generator), basing on permanent magnets, presented in this paper, the main importance of alternator AC power sources in the form of starter/generator (for conventional aircraft) and in the form of integrated unit starter (motor)/AC synchronous generator S/G AC (with respect to advanced aircraft concept in terms of more electric aircraft) was highlighted. Additionally, through the analysis and selected simulations of the on-board autonomous power supply system of the modern aircrafts, sources of electrical energy (synchronous motor/generator, integrated unit starter/AC generator) were located in board autonomic power system ASE (EPS, PES). Main components of this system are the electro-energetic power system EPS and the energo-electronic power system PES. In addition, the analysis and exemplary simulations of main electricity sources based on mathematical models have contributed to highlighting the main practical applications in accordance with the concept of MEA.

The subject of the paper is to present an analysis, a mathematical model and simulation of a 36-pulse energo-electronic rectifier in terms of AC/DC electrical energy conversion, in line with the trend of a more electric aircraft. The key purpose of the paper is to develop a rectifier model in the context of adapting it to use in an on-board autonomous power supply system in the field of PES system of a modern aircraft, compatible with the concept of a more electric aircraft. The developed 36-pulse rectifier model was analyzed, confirming with simulation tests, using technical solutions of rectifiers, used both for civilian aircrafts (Airbus, Boeing) and their hit products (A-380 and A-350XWB, B-787), as well as modeling on technical solutions in the field of military aviation of the group (Lockheed Martin) in the field of JSF F-35 and F-22 Raptor aircrafts. In the final part of the work, based on the analysis, mathematical model and simulations accomplished in the Matlab/Simulink programming environment, the final practical conclusions were drawn.

Simulation and transient analysis of conventional and advanced aircraft electric power systems with harmonics mitigation