Selecting the Best Electric Machines for Electrical Power-Generation Systems: High-performance solutions for aerospace More electric architectures

The electric machines (EMs) for high-performance electrical power-generation systems (EPGSs) play a significant role in the modern aerospace and military industries. This is particularly true in the area of More Electric Architecture (MEA) for aircraft, spacecraft, and military ground vehicles. The commercial aircraft business is moving toward no-bleed air environmental control systems, variable-frequency and dc power-distribution buses, and electrical actuation. A typical example is the Boeing 787 platform. The next-generation Boeing narrow-body airplane (the replacement for the 737) and the Airbus replacement for the A320 will most likely use MEA. Some ?military ?aircraft already use MEA for both primary and secondary flight control. Military ground vehicles have migrated toward hybrid electric technology. In those cases, the main propulsion is performed by electric drives. This demonstrates that substantial demand has arisen for improved electric power-generation performance. Future space vehicles will require electric drives for thrust-vector and flight-control actuation, demanding more high-quality electric power. These systems must be more robust and will offer greatly reduced operating costs and improved safety compared with Space Shuttle hardware.