Fault-tolerant step-down DC-DC converter for Aircraft applications

Various control circuitries in an aircraft are housed on printed circuit boards. These control circuitries usually consist of microcontrollers or programmable logical devices to carry out execution of instructions based on various control parameters. The control circuitries are responsible for the smooth functioning of an aircraft and are responsible for various controlling actions such as fuel control, auxiliary power unit control, flight controls and navigation systems control. The programmable logic devices need to be supplied by a reliable power supply. As a failure in their operation could lead to catastrophic consequences. The power electronic circuitries involved in these power supplies contain semiconductor switching devices and they are vulnerable to failures. Hence an inherit fault tolerant capabilities of a DC-DC step-down converter is explored in this paper. This fault-tolerant converter provides more reliable operation than regular power converters for aircraft control and embedded system applications. In this paper, the authors have conducted literature survey, carried out a study and simulation of the aircraft electrical distribution system and then integrated the fault-tolerant converter.