Project description
A novel simulation suite will power our transition to advanced all-electric aircraft
Much as carbon capture and storage can help us meet emissions reduction goals during the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, hybrid aircraft consisting of conventional hydraulic and pneumatic systems with increasingly electrical components are assisting the transition to all-electrical aircraft. To make the final leap to all-electric, though, electrical power transmission will have to accommodate significantly higher voltages and currents. The EU-funded HIVACS project will assimilate the best simulation models into a platform that will enable design and manufacturing optimisation of aerospace cable systems for high performance and safety of future high-power electrical aircraft.
Objective
Current research and development is focusing on propulsive energy components for hybrid aircraft. This will open the path to an all-electrical aircraft. Power levels are predicted to be between 2 and 4MVA for hybrid systems and up to 40MVA for all electrical systems. This will require the transmission of electrical power across the airframe at previously unseen scales. This will not be possible without the development of power dense and safe cabling systems that operate at higher levels of voltage and current. To this end, the objective of HIVACS is to bring together a coherent suite of experimentally validated simulation models to permit the design exploration and optimisation of future aerospace cable systems to allow the aeronautical industry to meet the high-power design requirements of future aircraft programs. The project will also provide recommendations for future standardisation to the relevant standard committees and identify key axis for further development. After performing a state-of-the art review, a requirements and Failure Mode Effect and Analysis (FMEA) will be performed on the design and manufacturing processes on a selection of designs. A range of existing models will be used to assess the performance of these designs with these being adapted to the aerospace environment. The models will be validated by comparison to experimental test bench activities undertaken on existing cables. Once the models are qualified and accepted by NEXANS as being appropriate for adoption in an industrial setting, they will be used in a design optimisation process to determine optimal geometry and sizing of the candidate cables and predict their expected performance. With an optimum cable design, two cable types will be produced using different manufacturing techniques. Both will be tested and qualified. The project will draw upon existing test bench facilities and also develop a specific thermal test bench for thermal cycling ageing.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineering
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringaircraft
- natural sciencesmathematicspure mathematicsgeometry
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringaeronautical engineering
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
CS2-IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
31400 Toulouse
France
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.