Topology comparison of superconducting AC machines for hybrid-electric aircraft

TL;DR

This paper analyzes superconducting electric machines for hybrid-electric aircraft, demonstrating that fully superconducting designs can significantly outperform partially superconducting ones in power-to-weight ratio using an analytical, multi-physical model.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analytical framework for evaluating superconducting electric machines, including electromagnetics, thermal, and structural aspects, specifically applied to aircraft propulsion.

Findings

Fully superconducting machines can achieve 3.5 times higher power-to-weight ratio than partially superconducting ones.

The model accurately predicts key performance indicators like mass, efficiency, and cooling needs.

The approach supports design optimization for superconducting motors in aerospace applications.

Abstract

Electric machines with very power-to-weight ratios are inevitable for hybrid electric aircraft applications. One potential technology that is very promising to achieve the required power-to-weight ratio for short-range aircraft, are superconductors used for high current densities in the stator or high magnetic fields in the rotor. In this paper, we present an indepth analysis of the potential for fully and partially superconducting electric machines that is based on an analytical approach taking into account all relevant physical domains such as electromagnetics, superconducting properties, thermal behavior as well as structural mechanics. For the requirements of the motors in the NASA N3-X concept aircraft, we find that fully superconducting machines could achieve 3.5 times higher power-to-weight ratio than partially superconducting machines. Furthermore, our model can be used to calculate the relevant KPIs such as mass, efficiency and cryogenic cooling requirements for any other machine design.