New electronic design for greener aviatio

In today's green aircraft technology development, active flow control (AFC) techniques are used to reduce noise, emissions and fuel consumption. Microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based piezoelectric actuators for AFC have strict requirements regarding the actuation voltage level and the capacitive load. However, commercial high-voltage amplifier components are mostly large and heavy or can only drive moderate capacitive loads.

Against this backdrop, scientists initiated the EU-funded project 'High voltage amplifier for MEMS-based active flow control (AFC) actuators' (HIVOLA) to develop a high-voltage application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), driving a number of piezoelectric MEMS-based actuators. These include micro synthetic-jet actuators and micro pulsed-jet actuators.

The developed ASIC consists of six high-voltage amplifier stages together with integrated electronics for temperature monitoring and phase-shift control. Furthermore, it drives high capacitive loads up to 600 nanofarad (nF) and enables operation voltages up to 300 V.

In particular, the ASIC design prevents undesired coupling to ensure full system functionality even in case of a single sub-circuit malfunction. In addition, each high-voltage stage is powered separately and can drive a maximum load of 100 nF. In the event of excessive heating, an integrated temperature control circuit stops sub-system operation.

The HIVOLA solution reduces space, weight and power consumption as it miniaturises the electronics in an ASIC, ensuring also high efficiency. Due to its successful development, in addition to actuation systems, such an ASIC can also find application in other aircraft products.