High performance 12 kW motor and drive for modern aircrafts

This paper presents a high performance 12 kW motor drive system for an aerospace application. In order to achieve higher power density and reliability, the system uses a PMSM motor, SiC MOSFET inverter, high performance PWM control, and liquid cooling with phase change material. A power density of 33 KW/KG was achieved for the power inverter and control electronics excluding the cooling loop, and an overall power density of 0.75 kW/kg motor and drive system. An efficiency of 98% for the power inverter and 91% for the motor and drive system was achieved. Test results up to 10 kW are presented in the paper. The paper also presents challenges in the implementation of the inverters using SiC devices.

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