Analysis and implementation of multilevel inverter for full electric aircraft drives

Abstract

In modern aircrafts, hydraulic or pneumatic actuators have been already replaced with electric counterparts, but the advancement of the inverter and motor technology has made possible that the propulsion system can be powered by electrical sources. These high power requirements can not be efficiently fulfilled by using a typical two level converter; the multi-level converter represents a suitable solution for this application. This paper presents a cascaded H-bridge, a 9-level permanent magnet synchronous motor drive for full electric aircrafts. Harmonic analysis is presented considering different levels of a multi-level inverter. Simulation results and experimental validation with a test-rig confirms the accuracy of the proposed system.