Modelling and analysis of vienna rectifier for more electric aircraft applications using wide band-gap materials

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive study on the switching effects of wide bandgap devices and the importance of power electronics in an aircraft application. Silicon (Si), silicon carbide (SiC), and gallium nitride (GaN) are wide bandgap devices that act as a power electronic switch in the AC-DC converter for More Electric Aircraft (MEA) applications. Therefore, it is important to observe their converting efficiency to identify the most suitable wide bandgap device among three devices for AC-DC converters in aircraft applications to provide high efficiency and high-power density. In this study, the characteristics of Si, SIC, and GaN devices are simulated using PSIM software. Also, this paper presents the performance of the Vienna rectifier for aircraft application. The Vienna rectifier using Si, SiC, and GaN devices are simulated using PSIM software for aircraft application. GaN with Vienna rectifier provides better performance than Si and SiC devices for aircraft applications among the three devices. It gives high efficiency, high power density, low input current THD to meet IEEE-519 standard, and high-power factor at mains.