A fault tolerant drive for high speed permanent magnet machines

Abstract

High speed electrical machines are replacing existing subsystems in aircraft. Electrical drives need to have high availability and good power density to be considered a viable replacement. To achieve high availability fault tolerance is added to the system design. Power density is increased by spatial integration of subparts. Fault tolerance extends to both machine and power electronics design. By use of low frequency modulation in a high speed, multiphase, fault tolerant drive, losses are reduced. High efficiency and power density result. The air cooled converter will be subjected to varying atmospheric conditions during flight. Low air pressure reduces cooling capacity at high altitude and requires increased air velocity to keep temperatures stable.