Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

The project is expected to address the increasing power demand in new and future aircrafts. Power convertersplay an important role in aerospace electric power systems, including engine starter, air compressor, and flightcontrol. With the increasing demand for more electric aircrafts, the current designs of power converters arefacing severe challenges in trying to maintain their small size while improving efficiency. In a more electricaircraft, the electric drive based systems have the advantages of control flexibility and reliability, but often havelarger size/weight and lower efficiency when compared to their hydraulic/pneumatic counterparts. The currentproject aims at three different aspects of power converter designs for aircrafts, including innovative powerconverter topology, magnetic designs of passive components, advanced thermal management systems and theoptimization of power converters and thermal systems. The project will optimize the power converter systemlevel designs to improve the efficiency, power density, and thermal performances. The project will directlycontribute to greener, more efficient, and safer aircraft.