An Overview of High Specific Power Electrical Machines and Drives Technologies for Electrified Aircraft

The aviation industry is looking to electrify aircraft propulsion to reduce carbon emissions. Though more electrical aircraft technology is reasonably mature, large transport-class electrical aircraft, high power, high specific power and reliability remain challenging, especially machine topologies and thermal management for high specific power electrical propulsion system. In this paper, different machine topologies are discussed, along with some enabling technologies, such as advanced materials and loss reduction techniques. Furthermore, thermal management and aggressive cooling technologies, including air-, liquid-, phase-change, and cryogenic cooling, which significantly aid high specific power, are studied. Challenges and opportunities related to the overall system integration are also presented.