Grainger CEME

Toolset to Study Power Flow between Aircraft Systems

MSEE student Christopher Mak with adviser P. Krein

A toolset designed to study the power flow between various aircraft systems was created to improve the “system of systems” aircraft design, where complex aircraft systems are separated to minimize how systems interface with each other. Composed of various component models, the toolset is intended to allow end users, from students to professionals, the ability to quickly and easily design and analyze any aircraft architecture. The various component models have already been designed, but creating more accurate dynamical models and improving the user experience is an ongoing process. The synchronous generator model has been updated to include the temperature dependence that affects the windings resistivity and the dynamic response.

To improve the user experience, the toolset has been updated to a more recent version of MATLAB/Simulink. One of the advantages to the MATLAB/Simulink environment is the ability to customize the created component models with distinct images and property menus. New images for some of the component models have been added to easily distinguish them. Each of the component models has inputs and outputs that connect to the other models, as seen in Figure 1. These interfaces have been relabeled to make more apparent how component blocks are to be connected. Each of these steps is intended to help guide the user in creating a workable aircraft model. This research was funded by Rolls-Royce.

Figure 1: Connections between component models