TY - JOUR
T1 - A route to sustainable aviation
T2 - a roadmap for the realization of aircraft components with electrical and structural multifunctionality
AU - Jones, Catherine E.
AU - Norman, Patrick J.
AU - Burt, Graeme M.
AU - Hill, Callum
AU - Allegri, Giuliano
AU - Yon, Jason
AU - Hamerton, Ian
AU - Trask, Richard S.
N1 - © 2021 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting /republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
PY - 2021/5/6
Y1 - 2021/5/6
N2 - Increased electrification of aircraft power systems has been widely presented as a route toward meeting environmental and emissions targets for aircraft performance, via more-electric aircraft and future hybrid-electric aircraft concepts. In parallel, the superior mechanical performance of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) has resulted in its increasing use for aircraft structures. The relatively low electrical conductivity of CFRP compared to traditional aluminum structures and copper conductors limits the use of structural CFRP structures as electrical elements, so separate systems are needed. This adds structural mass and volume to a system, negating some of the benefits of using CFRP. Closer integration of the composite structure and electrical power system (EPS), with an ultimate goal of achieving components with multifunctionality (combined thermal, electrical, and structural functionality), offers a route toward the light-weighting of these systems, thus supporting improvements in aircraft performance. This article presents a roadmap to achieve this multifunctionality, supported by the combination of introducing definitions for different levels of multifunctionality, associated design thresholds, and trades between the EPS and CFRP materials/structures. Existing multifunctional (MF) electrical-thermal-structural CFRP-based solutions are contextualized within this roadmap. This enables the realization of viable routes for developing MF systems for the strategic focus of future research efforts.
AB - Increased electrification of aircraft power systems has been widely presented as a route toward meeting environmental and emissions targets for aircraft performance, via more-electric aircraft and future hybrid-electric aircraft concepts. In parallel, the superior mechanical performance of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) has resulted in its increasing use for aircraft structures. The relatively low electrical conductivity of CFRP compared to traditional aluminum structures and copper conductors limits the use of structural CFRP structures as electrical elements, so separate systems are needed. This adds structural mass and volume to a system, negating some of the benefits of using CFRP. Closer integration of the composite structure and electrical power system (EPS), with an ultimate goal of achieving components with multifunctionality (combined thermal, electrical, and structural functionality), offers a route toward the light-weighting of these systems, thus supporting improvements in aircraft performance. This article presents a roadmap to achieve this multifunctionality, supported by the combination of introducing definitions for different levels of multifunctionality, associated design thresholds, and trades between the EPS and CFRP materials/structures. Existing multifunctional (MF) electrical-thermal-structural CFRP-based solutions are contextualized within this roadmap. This enables the realization of viable routes for developing MF systems for the strategic focus of future research efforts.
KW - aircraft electrification
KW - aircraft electrical power systems
KW - carbon fiber composites
KW - multifunctional materials
UR - https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6687316
U2 - 10.1109/TTE.2021.3078118
DO - 10.1109/TTE.2021.3078118
M3 - Article
SN - 2332-7782
VL - 7
SP - 3032
EP - 3049
JO - IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification
JF - IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification
IS - 4
ER -