Surface Discharges Performance of ETFE- and PTFE-Insulated Wires for Aircraft Applications

Autor: Jordi-Roger Riba Ruiz, Maxence Boizieau, Tamerlan Ibrayemov, MANUEL MORENO-EGUILAZ
Přispěvatelé: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Enginyeria Elèctrica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Enginyeria Electrònica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. MCIA - Motion Control and Industrial Applications Research Group
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Materials; Volume 15; Issue 5; Pages: 1677
ISSN: 1996-1944
Popis: Compared to their predecessors, the next generations of aircrafts will be more electrified, require more electrical power and operate at higher voltage levels to meet strict weight and volume constraints. The combined effect of low-pressure environments, increased voltage levels and compact designs intensifies the risks of premature insulation degradation due to electrical discharge activity. This paper studies the resistance to surface discharges of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) and ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene), two insulation materials widely used in today’s aircraft wiring systems due to their outstanding properties, such as a wide temperature operation range and a high dielectric strength. The study is carried out in a low-pressure chamber, which was pressurized within the pressure range of 10–100 kPa that includes most aircraft applications. There is a compelling need for experimental data to assess the resistance of insulation materials to surface discharges at a very early stage as a function of the environmental pressure. Data on resistance to surface discharges in low-pressure environments for aeronautical applications are lacking, while most standards for insulation systems are based on tests under standard pressure conditions. The results provided in this work can be useful to design wiring systems for future more electric aircrafts, as well as to design fault detection systems for an early detection and identification of faults related to surface discharges. Therefore, the data and analysis included in this paper could be of great interest to design and develop insulation systems for wiring systems and standard assessment methods, as well as to design fault detection strategies for the early detection and identification of surface discharges for future generations of more electric aircrafts. This research was partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación de España, grant number PID2020‐114240RB‐I00 and by the Generalitat de Catalunya, grant number 2017 SGR 967.
Databáze: OpenAIRE