Advancing High-Frequency Inverter Design in More Electric Aircraft: Challenges and Research Perspectives

The transition toward aircraft electrification not only reduces the carbon footprint but also advances sustainable aviation, propelling the future of aviation with enhanced performance and system integration. In the realm of more electric aircraft (MEA), traditional hydraulic, pneumatic, and mechanical systems are being replaced by motor-driven electrical architectures. High-frequency inverters are essential for driving these motors at very high speeds (<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$&gt;$</tex-math></inline-formula>100 kRPM). This article investigates the impact of the aviation environment on the design of high-frequency inverters, particularly considering the effects of low pressure, reduced air density, cosmic ray radiation, and a wide range of operating temperatures on semiconductor power devices and capacitive, resistive, and inductive components. The reduced air density at high altitudes makes cooling particularly challenging, highlighting the need for efficient thermal management systems. The study also explores electromagnetic interference, its generation and mitigation techniques while evaluating various pulsewidth modulation (PWM) technologies. Moreover, the article reviews the benefits and suitability of advanced multilevel inverter topologies for MEA applications. Finally, the article highlights the importance of innovative inverter topologies andPWM techniques that are better suited for MEA.