Airbus Develops Hybrid-Electric Aircraft System
Aerospace engineers are developing a next-generation electrical system for commercial aircraft. Illustration courtesy Airbus
FARNBOROUGH, England—Engineers at Airbus are leading a joint effort to develop a next-generation electrical system for commercial aircraft. Other participants in the LEIA (Large Scale Integration Demonstrator of Hybrid Electrical Architecture) project include suppliers such as Collins Aerospace, GKN Aerospace, MTU Aero Engines, Pratt & Whitney and Safran.
The goal of LEIA is to advance high-voltage generation and distribution for short-to-medium range aircraft. It builds on the successful completion of the SWITCH project, which focused on hybrid-electric power train subsystems and reached a key milestone in July when Collins Aerospace completed integrated laboratory testing.
Research is being conducted at the Airbus Sustainable Technology and Engineering Projects laboratory in Ottobrun, Germany, where engineers are focused on aircraft-level integration testing, including design, battery interfacing and energy-management systems. They are testing electronic controllers, generators, motors, power distribution equipment and other critical aircraft systems.
"Our progress in developing hybrid-electric technologies and our move into the LEIA demonstrator marks a pivotal shift in how we design the future of flight," says Karim Mokaddem, head of aircraft of tomorrow research and technology at Airbus. "By moving to integrated, intelligent hybrid-electric architectures, we are actively laying the physical and digital foundation for the next generation of aircraft.
“This evolution demonstrates that the future of aviation is about more than just new power sources,” claims Mokaddem. “It is also about the new ecosystems that will manage them."
According to Mokaddem the LEIA project aims to “design and integrate nonpropulsive electrical systems to improve engine off-take efficiency and enable flexible energy management while minimizing overall system weight.”
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