Simulation Models for Superconducting Components of the Electric Aircraft

In recent decades, a growing focus has been on reducing fossil fuel consumption and minimizing CO2 emissions in the transportation sector. The aerospace industry, which accounted for more than 2% of global carbon emissions in 2021, has taken measures to address this issue. One promising solution to achieve this objective is the development of fully electric aircraft (FEA). In this regard, superconducting technology offers promising advantages, including compactness, lightweight, and higher efficiency to speed up this transition. This work considers a superconducting propulsion system for an electric aircraft. Among the components, the modeling of resistive superconducting fault current limiter (RSFCL) and superconducting DC cable are studied. These models are simulated by MATLAB programming and SIMULINK, and the results are shown. The models analyze their electrical-thermal behavior in a short short-circuit and in normal operation conditions. Finally, a SIMULINK model containing the fault limiter and cable is simulated, and the results are presented. As a result, different models are compared and suitable designs are presented for both applications.