Baselining a Functional Architecture for a Power Electronic Power Distribution System for Navy Vessels

The transition to the electric ship requires evolving from passive power regulation to active state anticipation with data linkage and controls between machinery and mission systems to become an agile power and energy system. Toward this, the Navy sponsored research initiatives are currently developing a new Power Electronic Power Distribution System (PEPDS) paradigm. A key enabler for a successful PEPDS R&D program is a well-developed and documented functional system architecture as the basis for collaborate research and subsequent future performance studies. The technical approach is to employ Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), to capture stakeholder needs, behaviors, structures, and measures for PEPDS in a system model. This work has recently baselined a functional architecture, which is a solution-independent description of what a system does, defining the trade space for design. The present paper provides an overview of the process, product, and prospects of that functional architecture.