Study on impedance characteristic of aircraft cables

Voltage decrease and power loss in distribution lines of aircraft electric power system are harmful to the normal operation of electrical equipment, and may even threat the safety of aircraft. This study investigates how the gap distance (the distance between aircraft cables and aircraft skin) and voltage frequency (variable frequency power supply will be adopted for next generation aircraft) affect the impedance of aircraft cables. To be more precise, the forming mechanism of cable resistance and inductance is illustrated in detail and their change trends with frequency and gap distance are analyzed with the help of electromagnetic theory. An aircraft cable simulation model is built with Maxwell 2D and the simulation result is consistent with the conclusions drawn from the theoretical analysis. The resistance of aircraft cables increases as a result of voltage frequency increases and gap distance decreases. The inductance of aircraft cables increases as a result of voltage frequency decreases and gap distance increases. The research results can be used as reference for the applications in variable speed variable frequency (VSVF) aircraft electric power system.