Review of high power and high voltage electric motors for single-aisle regional aircraft

Abstract

This paper presents a review of the state of the art in electric propulsion for regional aircraft in the MW range. The implications surrounding the implementation of this technology, such as the need of high-power density or the use of high-voltage at high-altitude, are presented. Along with the challenges, the available technologies to face them are reviewed. Those are, as follows, the emerging new motor topologies for this purpose, the winding technologies, the materials employed for electric motors for aircraft propulsion and the ground-breaking use of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) as a high-power density enabler. Finally, a conclusion is presented gathering the main ideas of the paper.