Professor Xibo Yuan, University of Bristol

Future aircraft will increasingly adopt electrical systems to replace actuation, fuel handling and cabin air pressurisation systems traditionally powered through hydraulic, pneumatic and mechanical means. This 'More Electric Aircraft' (MEA) offers significant potential to reduce aircraft energy consumption, and consequential lower fuel burn and emissions. With on-board electrical power generation capacity reaching 1.5MVA for new aircraft and future forecasts showing an upward trend with hybrid electric propulsion, aggressive power density targets are being set for the new electrical generators and power electronic equipment to be installed, e.g. 15 kW/kg for power electronics and 5 kW/kg for electric machines by 2025. This Fellowship will investigate the enabling and underpinning technologies for More Electric Aircraft in the area of high-density power electronics and electric generator systems, focusing on close structural and functional integration of power electronics and electrical machines. The aim is to increase the power density of such systems beyond the state-of-the-art and to devise advanced methodologies and tools that can be used for such systems. The research will capitalise on recent developments of wide-bandgap power semiconductors, multilevel converters, permanent machines, and multi-physics design. In tandem with enabling technologies development, next-generation aircraft starter-generator systems will be prototyped and tested to technology readiness level 3/4, comprising a highly-integrated multi-functional permanent-magnet generator and power electronic regulator technology. The technology advances will be benchmarked against the state-of-the-art wound-field starter-generator systems to demonstrate its potential to meet the future power weight goals with improved efficiency and reliability.