Pyrofuse Modelling for EVTOL Aircraft DC Protection University of Strathclyde

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Author/Creator:

ALTOUQ, Shadan, author.

Contributor:

Burt, Graeme

Fong, Kenny

Norman, Patrick

Conference Name:

AeroTech Digital Summit (2021-03-09 : Live Online, Pennsylvania, United States)

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource cm

Place of Publication:

Warrendale, PA SAE International 2021

Summary:

Contemporary trends are leading towards the electrification of aircraft for urban mobility applications. Accordingly, there is high demand for advancements in light-weight, high voltage technologies to enable the realisation of these new aircraft types. Driven by recent developments in the automotive industry, hybrid pyrofuse protection devices have emerged as one such new candidate technology. Pyrofuses offer rapid clearance of fault currents, and reduced cost and weight when compared to conventional mechanical breakers. In addition, compared to conventional fuses, they also have additional benefits such as excellent clearance of low fault currents, better cycling performance, lower conduction losses and the ability to tune the time-current curve to meet the host system characteristics. However, like conventional fuses, pyrofuses are non-resettable devices whose exclusive use for electrical protection could present potential operational hazards and certification challenges in aerospace applications. Accordingly, further investigation into their performance and potential implementation as part of a wider platform protection strategy is required. In particular, transient modelling of pyrofuse operation and restraint during system faults and other external transients is required. This paper offers the first complete design methodology to transiently model pyrofuse operation in MATLAB/Simulink, drawing characteristics from commercially available datasheets. This model is then utilised to undertake an initial protection coordination feasibility study for a candidate eVTOl electrical system architecture, exploring the associated device and system level operational capabilities and limitations. In particular, the results show that the pyrofuse can offer a good degree of nuisance-tripping resilience against transient events whilst providing quick clearance of short circuit faults. The paper concludes with a discussion on the viability and potential certifiability of pyrofuse technologies for the emerging eVTOL market, outlining the key issues requiring detailed consideration as part of future research in this area

Notes:

Vendor supplied data

Publisher Number:

2021-01-0041

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license