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Uncontrolled rectifiers are featured heavily in aircraft electrical power systems performing a number of the power conversion and conditioning functions. Detailed modeling and simulation of these and other converters as part of a wider aircraft power system, whilst accurate, can be very computationally intensive, resulting in impractically slow simulation speed. One potential solution to this issue is the use of average-value converter models, which offer a much lower computational requirement and can utilize larger time steps. Of the average-value diode rectifier modeling methods presented in the research literature the parametric method is particularly well suited to system-level simulation because it can be readily derived to represent all modes of rectifier operation. To date however, published results utilizing this methodology have been limited to simpler power system architectures.

Distributed electrical propulsion for aircraft, also known as turbo-electric distributed propulsion (TeDP), will require a complex electrical power system which can deliver power to multiple propulsor motors from gas turbine driven generators. To ensure that high enough power densities are reached, it has been proposed that such power systems are superconducting. Key to the development of these systems is the understanding of how faults propagate in the network, which enables possible protection strategies to be considered and following that, the development of an appropriate protection strategy to enable a robust electrical power system with fault ride-through capability. This paper investigates possible DC protection strategies for a radial DC architecture for a TeDP power system, in terms of their ability to respond appropriately to a DC fault and their impact on overall system weight and efficiency.