Electrification of aircraft will be an important technological contributor towards the reduction of the environmental impact, CO2, NOx and noise emissions in aircraft transportation.
Power electronics is essential to convert electrical energy efficiently and to power and control generators, motors and other electrical energy users on board. Efficient and reliable power electronics is an important enabling technology for the electrification of aircrafts. MuSiCA, sponsored by the Clean Sky program, aims to design and deliver an innovative multilevel power electronics module, an essential building block for the construction of high efficiency converters for on-board electric energy conversion systems.
Power electronic equipment must maximise efficiency, reducing losses, while minimising weight and volume.
The power electronics modules developed within MuSiCA use novel Silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor devices which offer higher power density than the conventional silicon (Si) ones and thus offer the potential to reduce the volume and weight of power module packaging. By using SiC semiconductor devices, higher power density with smaller module package size have been achieved. However, the use of novel fast switching SiC devices comes with several challenges in manufacturing, thermal management, optimization of design and layout to guarantee reliability and reduce unwanted parasitic behaviour. All these issues have been carefully considered in MuSiCA to deliver a power module with high efficiency, good thermal and electrical performances while demonstrating mature manufacturing methodologies achieving a manufacturability readiness level MRL 6. The developed power modules use 1.2kV devices, supporting converter voltages up to 1080V enablig future more electric aircrafft platforms. The devices are rated at 300A, enabling converters with output power above 100kW with power density above 17kW/kg.
The main objectives of MuSiCA have been to package SiC devices and associated gate drive in a manufacturable and reliable power module package to enable SiC technology to meet its full potential and demonstrate its competitiveness against current solutions. Hardware demonstrators have been built and tested comprehensively, including tests on a Clean Sky 2 motor drive test bed. The main achievement of the project is the demonstration of the manufacturability and reliability of the proposed power modules technologies while guaranteeing low weight and volume with the ultimate aim of contributing to the reduction of CO2, NOx and noise emissions in aircraft transportation.
