Redundant Electrical Machine with Freewheeling Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electrical machines used in aircraft propulsion systems face reliability issues due to insulation failures in stator winding systems, which can lead to overheating and potential fires, especially when current continues to flow through faulty winding systems, posing a significant safety risk.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates multiple stator winding systems and partial rotors arranged in a redundant configuration with freewheeling devices and DC-isolation capabilities, allowing for safe disconnection of faulty systems to prevent current induction and overheating, ensuring continued operation with reduced power while minimizing fire hazards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single stator winding system is used, then the device complexity is low, but the reliability is insufficient due to insulation failures and fire risks
Solution Approach 1:
The stator winding system is divided into multiple independent winding systems (first stator winding system and second stator winding system), each capable of operating independently. This segmentation allows the machine to maintain functionality even when one system fails, thereby improving reliability without requiring a complete system redesign.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device is configured to detect faults in advance and switch from a faulty winding system to a healthy winding system before complete failure occurs. This preliminary action prevents catastrophic failures and fire hazards while maintaining continuous operation, thus improving reliability proactively.
2Reliability
If redundant winding systems are implemented, then the reliability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple stator winding systems are merged into a single electrical machine structure, sharing common components such as the rotor, control device, and housing. This merging approach achieves redundancy and improved reliability while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity by consolidating shared elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device is designed with multi-functionality, capable of controlling multiple independent stator winding systems and automatically switching between them based on fault detection. This universal control approach manages complex redundant systems through a single intelligent controller, reducing the need for separate control mechanisms for each winding system.
3Productivity
If current continues to flow through faulty winding systems, then the productivity is maintained, but the temperature increases leading to fire hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The fault detection and switching mechanism converts the potentially harmful situation of continued operation with faulty windings into a beneficial outcome by automatically isolating the faulty system and switching to a healthy system. This prevents overheating and fire hazards while maintaining productivity through seamless transition to redundant components.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device continuously monitors the status of stator winding systems and provides feedback to detect faults such as insulation failures. When a fault is detected, the system automatically switches to a healthy winding system, creating a closed-loop feedback mechanism that prevents overheating and fire hazards while maintaining continuous operation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enhances the reliability of electrical machines by preventing undesired current flow and overheating in faulty winding systems, reducing the risk of fires and maintaining functional operation even in the event of faults, thus ensuring safer and more reliable aircraft propulsion systems.
Implementation Method 1
the partial rotors and stator winding systems may electromagnetically interact with one another, so that the partial rotors and stator winding systems operate as electric motor units
Implementation Method 2
Each of the partial rotors is connected to the shaft with the aid of a respective freewheeling device in such a way that the respective first or second partial rotor may transmit a torque to the shaft only in one working direction of rotation of the shaft
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a particularly redundant electrical machine (10) for driving a means of propulsion (1) with increased reliability. The machine (10) comprises a plurality of independent partial rotors (210, 220) which are respectively coupled to a common shaft (200) by means of freewheel devices (510, 520) in order to drive said shaft and the means of propulsion (1) therewith in a working direction of rotation. The machine (10) also comprises a plurality of independent stator winding systems (111, 121), a stator winding system (111, 121) and a partial rotor (210, 220) being respectively associated with each other and arranged in such a way that they can electromagnetically interact with each other. The stator winding systems (111, 121) are successively arranged in the axial direction. Similarly, the partial rotors (210, 220) are successively arranged in the axial direction.