Dear Members of the IEEE Transportation Electrification Community,

It is my pleasure to bring to you this quarterly issue of the IEEE Transportation Electrification eNewsletter focusing on the transportation electrification and applications in aerospace as a Guest Editor.

As future aircraft move towards being greener, quieter, smarter and more affordable, it is anticipated that the electrification of the aircraft systems will shape the aerospace industry in the upcoming decades.

Steven Fletcher, Marie-Claire Flynn, Catherine E. Jones and Patrick J. Norman
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom

1.      Introduction

In both Europe and the USA, the aerospace sector is actively pursuing revolutionary design concepts to further improve the environmental impact of air travel. This is partly a result of increasing pressure on the industry from government and other organisations to reduce emissions, despite the continuing increase in air traffic [1].  The aggressive targets set by NASA and the EU [1, 2, 3] (e.g. the Advisory Council for Aviation Research and Innovation in Europe has a target of a 75% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 90% reduction of NOx emissions by 2050) cannot be achieved through marginal improvements in turbine technology or aircraft design. Rather, disruptive technologies and more innovative aircraft must be considered.

Ali Bazzi, Michael Stettenbenz, and Yiqi Liu
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

1.       Introduction and Motivation

Designs of conventional aircraft as well as more-electric aircraft (MEA) require an electrical power system with a large number of electric motors, generators, and drives. Whether these are in starters/generators, pumps, or in fly-by-wire systems that replace pneumatic and hydraulic systems, their availability is of major importance especially to safely complete a flight. Safety-critical applications such as MEA require high reliability and availability of these electric drive systems, including power electronic converters, electric machines, passive components, controllers, and sensors. Also, unless a motor drive is operated in open-loop, it requires some form of position, speed, current, and/or voltage sensing. Even with open-loop drives, current and voltage monitoring is available for data-logging or health monitoring purposes. In addition to aircraft electrical systems, many electric motor drives in other transportation applications are safety-critical and operate under severe environmental conditions, including those in electric and hybrid cars, electrical marine propulsion, and electrified railway systems. 

C. Jullien, E. Aubert, J. Genoulaz, A.Dieudonne

Abstract. This article presents an experimental validation of a harness distributing the filtering function and making the connection between a converter and a motor. This harness is both designed to have a common mode of reduced capacity and reduced shielding. This allows both to reduce the common mode current and the strain on power electronics. This offers weight reduction opportunities. Associated models are presented to simulate the entire power chain and provide validation.

Kiruba Sivasubramaniam Haran, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kaushik Rajashekara, University of Houston

The global aviation industry emitted 781 million tons of CO2 in 2015 [1], a number which is expected to rise as air travel grows rapidly in emerging markets. Without the intervention of new policies, global aircraft emissions are projected to triple by 2050 [2]. NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology Project (AATT) has defined ambitious goals for the next three generations of aircraft for commercial aviation to ensure the industry is sustainable [3].  Table 1 outlines the main targets for the different timeframes, with technologies attaining a technology readiness level (TRL)  of 4-6.

By:  Berker Bilgin, ITEC 2016 General Chair

ITEC 2016, held June 27-29, 2016, in Dearborn, Michigan,  brought industry, academia, and the general public together to discuss the advancements, opportunities, and challenges in transportation electrification – one of the most important technological, social, and economical transformative shifts of the century. ITEC 2016 had a comprehensive program with 12 distinguished keynote speakers, 5 professional training courses, 3 tutorials, 9 panel discussions, over 130 paper presentations, and a sold-out exhibition.


About the Newsletter

Editors-in-Chief

Jin-Woo Ahn
Co-Editor-in-Chief

 

Sheldon Williamson
Co-Editor-in-Chief

TEC Call for Articles 2023 - Advances in Charging Systems

The TEC eNewsletter is now being indexed by Google Scholar and peer-reviewed articles are being submitted to IEEE Xplore.

To submit an article click here.