Electrical Analysis of High-Speed Homopolar Inductor Alternator Using FEM

Aircraft systems rely on more and more electrical power. In unmanned air vehicles and defense crafts, instead of using a single source of power, a number of electrical power sources are used for specific auxiliary applications like jammer, compressor in addition to the dedicated alternators used for propulsion. This auxiliary power unit needs large volume density. In order to enhance the performance of auxiliary power units, new generation machines with high power density are preferred. Several machines have been developed for these applications have their own demerits. Most of them have additional power electronic circuits and are less reliable, have less power density, and cannot be operated at very high speed. This paper introduces the high-speed, high-power density, high-reliability alternator that can be used as an auxiliary power unit in aircrafts. A high-speed homopolar inductor alternator is a machine with special construction, which can be operated without power electronic circuits. It can be mounted on the shaft of a high-speed propeller, as a prime mover for the alternator with a constant voltage or current to excite the field winding. Three types of performance analysis, such as magnetic, electric, and thermal analysis are required to confirm the possibility of the use of HSHIA as auxiliary power units in aircraft systems. This paper has discussed the electromagnetic analysis of HSHIA with various load conditions and power factors. From this analysis, HSHIA has confirmed it is suitable for aircraft systems as an auxiliary generator.