Multi-port DC/DC converter for the electrical power distribution system of the more electric aircraft

In the framework of the More Electric Aircraft (MEA), an efficient and versatile electrical distribution is envisaged. In fact, increasing the electrical systems on-board without over-designing the generators would lead to great benefits in terms of weight reduction. However, keeping the generators galvanically isolated from each other is preferred for safety reasons. Quadruple Active Bridges (QABs) have been applied successfully in applications where multiple DC sources must share energy while maintaining the flexibility in the control as well as galvanic isolation. The use in the MEA has not been explored so far. Since the MEA will feature a DC distribution system with multiple loads and sources, this paper shows how the QAB can be successfully adopted to manage the distribution system in the case of different powers available from the generators (bus priority) and load/source disconnection. Simulation and experiments on a laboratory prototype show how the coupled magnetic structures enable flexible control without additional redundancy.