Corona Extinction Voltage

High voltage spikes onto wires/cables can progressively degrade the insulation performance and lead to an insulation breach and/or create conductive paths through the insulation. Wires/cables with consistent insulation systems and without air gaps or voids in the insulation will typically have a higher corona inception voltage and a higher extinction voltage. The higher the voltage […] Read more

Creepage and Clearance

October 13, 2023 Chris Wollbrink

High voltage systems on aircraft will be more commonplace as the eVTOL market “takes-off.” One safety aspect that often comes up is the separation of the high voltage; often, this comes down to creepage and clearance distance of these systems. Read more

HV Connector Failures and Part Selection

June 2, 2023 Michael Traskos

With the current shift toward hybrid and electric aircraft, deeper understanding of high voltage connectors and their potential failure modes is required. In this article, we discuss failure modes and selection criteria for high voltage connectors on aircraft. Read more

Electric Aircraft Design Considerations

March 18, 2021 Michael Traskos

Electrical energy storage has reached a point where it is possible for the manned vehicle propulsion to use non-petroleum based energy. To achieve this goal, it has required a lot of research, design, and innovation that has pushed these vehicles to depend on high voltage electrical power systems and forego the use of hydraulics and pneumatics. If electrical aircraft are the aircraft of the future, what are the design factors that the EWIS community will have to address? Read more

The Potential 270VDC EWIS Component Failure Impact

June 27, 2019 Michael Traskos

The More Electric Aircraft (MEA) design concept has placed, and will continue to place, a greater importance on aircraft electrical power and the supporting Electrical Wiring Interconnection System (EWIS) to accomplish flight critical tasks. To take the greatest advantage of weight savings from using electrically powered components, higher voltages have been brought into the aircraft power architecture.

The goal of Lectromec’s research was to generate data of the potential impact of EWIS component failure. Even with high voltage systems having been fielded for a couple decades, much of the published research provides information on the failure of 115VAC and 28VDC power systems. This research performed by Lectromec sought to fill in that gap.

Superconductors and Wire Qualification

December 5, 2023 Chris Wollbrink

Discovery of a room temperature superconductor would have a tremendous impact on the aerospace industry and could result in lighter aircraft. In this article, we consider this impact and discuss steps that would need to be taken by the industry before a superconductor could be practically incorporated into aerospace applications. Read more

Minimum Coaxial Cable Bend Radius

November 15, 2023 Megan Chambellan

The impact of a coaxial cable’s bend radius is not well defined from an initial evaluation standpoint. Standard restriction on the minimum bend radius for coaxial cables has remained unchanged for over 40 years whereas materials and construction methods have seen great improvement. In this article, Lectromec measures the attenuation of a modern coaxial cable at different bend radii to identify the severity of the impact a tighter bend radius has on the performance of the cable. Read more

A Brief Explanation of Thermal Runaway

July 25, 2023 Laura Wishart

In this article, Lectromec provides a basic summary of thermal runaway and the specific challenges it poses in aircraft, specifically regarding the shift toward more electric vehicles and the historically limited available space available for electronics on aircraft. Read more

S&T 2022 Meeting Report

April 6, 2023 Michael Traskos

As in any scientific industry, aerospace across the globe benefits from the sharing of information and research. The annual S&T Electrical Systems and Wiring Inter-Agency Meeting is held each December with exactly this goal. The following are some highlights from the presentations and discussions from the 2022 meeting. Read more

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