Introduction to Aircraft Design and Aviation Systems (ENG3005)

Prof. Eric Cheng

Chapter 1: The electrical system of aircraft

1. Introduction

 The electrical systems used in the aircraft has been improved in the last many years
with the progress of power electronics. Many of the electrical system in an aircraft
will AC, DC and both. There are high voltage and low voltage in an aircraft and
usually the high voltage is for higher power and low voltage is for lower power such
as the entertainment, control electronics.

 Typical system uses

 28VDC
 115V (Phase) 400Hz.
 270V DC

Fig 1 shows the simplified configurations:

Fig 1: Typical configuration of an Aircraft electrical power system

In the diagram:

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Introduction to Aircraft Design and Aviation Systems (ENG3005)
Prof. Eric Cheng

 Generator is the main power source in an aircraft, it generate the electrical power
to all electrical power utility.
 APU is the auxiliary power supply
 TRU is the transformer rectifier
 DC/DC converter is to electrical equipment to converter Dc voltage to another DC
voltage
 Inverter is a unit to converter DC voltage into AC voltage

2. Basic Electric Quality

The aircraft uses both DC and AC. The typical low voltage is 28VDC. The typical high
voltage is 115VAC.

The relationship between Phase voltage and line voltage is:

= √3

Where VL is the line voltage. Vp is the phase voltage

= √2

where is the peak value equal to √2 times of the rms value Vrms

For example:

The typical voltage of 115V in aircraft is the phase voltage. Therefore its line voltage is
therefore:

= √3 = √3 × 115 = 199

3. The frequency used in aircraft:

The typical frequency of the electrical system used in aircraft is 400Hz, whereas
the frequency used in home, office in most cities is 50Hz or 60Hz.

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Introduction to Aircraft Design and Aviation Systems (ENG3005)
Prof. Eric Cheng

Why higher frequency is used in aircraft. It is originated from the weight

requirement.

3.1 Energy stored in Inductor:

The energy E stored in inductor L is

1
=
2

where I is the current. The power PL processing by the inductor is:

1
= =
2
Therefore for the given amount of power being processing or handled, the higher the
operating frequency, the smaller the L.

3.2 Energy stored in capacitor

Similarly, for the energy E stored in capacitor C is

1
=
2

where V is the current. The power PC processing by the inductor is:

1
= =
2
Therefore for the given amount of power being processing or handled, the higher the
operating frequency, the smaller the C.

For an electrical system, the most heavy or largest size and critical components are
inductor, capacitor and transformer. The transformer is also a typical of inductor.
Therefore higher operation frequency is used, the less is the size and the weight. This is
very important rule in aircraft power system. The rough calculation can be seen that the
use of 400Hz instead of 50Hz, the size can be reduced to 1/8. 400Hz is a compromise
because higher frequency will generate high loss in ac loss such as eddy current loss and
core loss.

3.3 The power

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Introduction to Aircraft Design and Aviation Systems (ENG3005)
Prof. Eric Cheng

The power handled in aircraft varies from tens of kVA to hundreds of kVA. The
difference between kVA and kW is as follows:

The active power P (in W) = VI  power factor

VI is the product of the voltage and current and is called the appearance power, the unit
is VA. Power factor is complicated. It depends on the harmonics and the phase angle 
between the voltage V and current I.

For higher power:

The active power P in kW and the corresponding appearance power is kVA

In ideal case, the power factor is 1.0. In most of the systems the power factor is less 1
and typical value is 0.9 or less. Therefore when power factor is less, for the same (active
or real) power handled, the current is larger. The consequence is that the cable,
conductor is needed to be larger. The generator in an aircraft is also larger.

Fig 2: Correlation among the voltage V, current I, phase angle  and power P.

4. Generator

Function of AC Generator Control Unit (GCU):

 Overvoltage
 Undervoltage
 Under/over-excitation
 Under/over-frequency
 Differential current protection – short circuit or overcurrent protection

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Introduction to Aircraft Design and Aviation Systems (ENG3005)
Prof. Eric Cheng

A Generator Control Breaker (GCB) is tripped when over current or phase

imbalance is detected and it disconnects the busbar from the generator

5. Generator types

5.1 DC generator

 Generate 28V DC or 270VDC

 Use commutator for the polarity switching to provide DC output
 Voltage fluctuation is regulated by field current control.
 Shunt wound winding is more common
 Usually power rating is limited to 400A or 12kW because of the brush wear and
conductor size.

Fig 3: Shunt wound DC generator

5.2 AC generator

There are 3 main contenders:

 Constant frequency using an IDG

 Variable frequency

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Introduction to Aircraft Design and Aviation Systems (ENG3005)
Prof. Eric Cheng

 Variable speed constant frequency (VSCF)

5.2.1 Constant frequency using an IDG

 IDG=Integrated drive generator

 Use constant speed drive (CSD) to control and fix the mechanical to the
generator.
 Use complex constant speed drive (CSD)
 Very few company supply the CSD or IDG

Fig 4: Integrated drive generator (IDG)

5.2.2 Variable frequency

 Simple method to generate the electrical power

 Variable electrical frequent output
 Typical vary between 380Hz to 720Hz.
 Variable frequency has certain impact to other electrical system
 Use in many system because of the cost, reliability and maintenance.

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Introduction to Aircraft Design and Aviation Systems (ENG3005)
Prof. Eric Cheng

Fig 5: Variable frequency generator

5.2.3 Variable speed constant frequency (VSCF)

 Conversion of variable frequency of the generator to constant frequency by

power electronic circuit
 Typical circuit includes:
 AC-DC-AC converter,
 Cycloconverter
 AC-AC matrix converter
 Need test on robustness and not 100% mature

Fig 6: VFCF

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Introduction to Aircraft Design and Aviation Systems (ENG3005)
Prof. Eric Cheng

5.3 Example of the Generators

Generator Civil aircraft Military aircraft

Model Power Model power

IDG/CF B777 2x120kVA

A340 4x90kVA

B737NG 2x90kVA

MD-12 4x120kVA

B747-X 4x120kVA

B717 2x40kVA

B767-400 2x120kVA

Do728 2x40kVA

VSCF F-18E/F 2x60/65kVA

(Cycloconverter)
VSCF B777 2x20kVA
(AC-DC-AC)
MD-90 2x75kVA

VF Global Ex 4x40kVA

Horizon 2x20/25kVA

A380 4x150kVA

270VDC F22 Raptor 2x70kVA

Lockheed- 2x50kVA
Martin JSF
X-35A/B/C