SAE Committee to Develop Standards for Aerospace Electrical and Electronic Systems Materials

Specifications will focus on meeting the demand placed on high-performance electrical systems

Published: Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - 12:00

(SAE International: Warrendale, PA) -- SAE has convened a new standards committee, AE-9, to write performance, reliability and testing standards for materials used in electrical/electronic systems for more-electric aircraft (MEA) and more-electric engine (MEE) applications, taking into account both pressurized and nonpressurized areas of the air vehicle.

The need for this committee arose from a panel debate held during the 2017 SAE Aerospace Standards Summit between leading materials experts from major airframe and engine manufacturers, along with research institutions.

Initially, AE-9, chaired by Al Lambourne of Rolls-Royce Plc., will concentrate on the need for advanced materials suited to electrical transmission and enhanced rationalized testing criteria.

The first three topics identified and confirmed for electrical materials standardization are:
• Permanent magnet corrosion
• Soft magnetic aging
• Capacitor materials and behavior

This new generation of SAE aerospace materials specifications focused on electrical systems design and supporting performance specifications will be dedicated to controlling or meeting the demand placed on high-performance electrical systems.

The first face-to-face meeting of AE-9 will be held in the United Kingdom, hosted by Rolls-Royce in Derby on June 28, 2018, and will be followed by a second SAE High Voltage Workshop, including panels on materials testing, in Toulouse, France, July 10–11, 2018, hosted by Saint Exupéry IRT.

AE-9 will support and compliment the SAE AE-7 Aerospace Electrical Power and Equipment and AE-8 Electrical/Electronic Distribution Systems standards committees under the overall strategic guidance of the SAE Electric Aircraft Steering Group (EASG).

“This exciting new committee bolsters the SAE standards advancing more-electric aircraft and hybrid-electric propulsion, adding an important new technical constituency in electrical materials—including those at the nano level—to the global SAE aerospace community,” says David Alexander, director pf SAE Aerospace Standards.

AE-9 chair Al Lambourne adds, “AE-9 will complement the existing SAE activities and help the aerospace industry to develop the materials, testing, and skill set required to make hybrid and more-electric air travel a reality.”

An SAE High Voltage Workshop organized by the SAE AE-7 committee was held March 20–22, 2018, in Seattle. The workshop reviewed the methods available to test components such as cables, connectors, circuit boards, motors, and power electronics used in higher voltage and more-electric aircraft.

The AE-9 committee is open to all interested parties from industry, government, research, and general interest. To join or for more information about SAE International’s AE-9 Committee, contact John Clatworthy at john.clatworthy@sae.org.

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SAE International

SAE International with headquarters in Troy Michigan, is a global association of more than 138,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive, and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International’s core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development. SAE International’s charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs including A World in Motion, SAE’s curriculum program that brings science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to life in the classroom, and the Collegiate Design Series.