Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

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