Arc fault protections for aeronautic applications: a review identifying the effects, detection methods, current progress, limitations, future challenges, and research needs

Abstract

Arc faults are serious discharges, damaging insulation systems and triggering electrical fires. This is a transversal topic, affecting from residential to aeronautic applications. Current commercial aircrafts are being progressively equipped with arc fault protections. With the development of more electric aircrafts (MEA), future airliners will require more electrical power to enhance fuel economy, save weight and reduce emissions. The ultimate goal of MEAs is electrical propulsion, where fault management devices will have a leading role, because aircraft safety is of utmost importance. Therefore, current fault management devices must evolve to fulfill the safety requirements of electrical propelled aircrafts. To deal with the increased electrical power generation, the distribution voltage must be raised, thus leading to new electrical fault types, in particular arc tracking and series arcing, which are further promoted by the harsh environments typical of aircraft systems, i.e., low pressure, extreme humidity and a wide range of temperatures. Therefore, the development of specific electrical protections which are able to protect against these fault types is a must. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of electrical protections for aeronautic applications, identifying the current status and progress, their drawbacks and limitations, the future challenges and research needs to fulfill the future requirements of MEAs, with a special emphasis on series arc faults due to arc tracking, because of difficulty in detecting such low-energy faults in the early stage and the importance and harmful effects of tracking activity in cabling insulation systems. This technological and scientific review is based on a deep analysis of research and conference papers, official reports, white papers and international regulations.