EASIER's consortium members
The EASIER project, which is ending, was funded by the European Commission to tackle the Flightpath 2050 goals set across the European aviation field.
“The vision set out in Flightpath 2050 goals stresses the need for an innovation-friendly environment relying on strong, sustainable and coherent investment in research and innovation and enhanced governance, funding and financing structures.”[1]
EASIER responds to the Flightpath 2050 goals via EMC solutions and Thermal Management. These enablers are conditional on electrical propulsion systems for safety and efficiency. The enabling effect of CO2 and NOx reduction is indirect via weight reduction, which affects emission and overall aircraft performance in range, number of passengers or payload.
Challenges presented by aircraft electric propulsion require the development of new airborne technologies that enable expanding the electrification technology trend already impacting other areas, like ground transportation or the autonomous generation/usage of electricity from renewables, to efficient and economical air transportation. EASIER brought together a multidisciplinary team from different institutions.
Collins Aerospace in Ireland feedback:
Collins Aerospace in Ireland as a coordinator, has led EASIER to achieve a clear path for technologies in future electric aircraft. The results were only possible with the support of the other partners. The synergies developed in EASIER on EMI and thermal from understanding the theory and models towards the actual application have been critical to the development of optimized solutions. The experience of Collins Aerospace has been highly positive on this program, and further collaboration with the partners is expected in the future, particularly in the context of Clean Aviation, where Collins is taking an essential role in leading solutions on aircraft electrification, where EASIER solutions could be applied.
In EASIER, Collins Aerospace activities were related to electrical architectures, power electronics and optimization. The main achievements have been on the definition of new filtering solutions for power electronics and guidelines to minimize the size and volume of this solution achieving a 50% weight reduction on the filters against the state-of-the-art. In addition, the collaboration with NLR on thermal activities has yielded integration improvements on the power converters of more than 20%. Finally, the integration and optimization of the architecture and the spirit of collaboration of all partners have yielded a comprehensive study of the optimization of architectures based on the technologies developed in EASIER.
NLR experience feedback:
Modelling and simulation of Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and thermal effects are essential to assist during the design, assessment and trade-offs of newly proposed technologies. Therefore, Royal NLR - Netherlands Aerospace Centre has developed simulation models to assess the performance of the EASIER power feeder and power electronics solutions, which demonstrate the reduction of radio frequency (RF) emissions. As proof of the pudding is in the eating, the solutions have also been validated by a dedicated ground-based demonstrator at NLR’s EMC facility. Next, NLR’s thermal team has designed and tested two-phase cooling solutions for power electronics, resulting in a 68% volume reduction compared to single-phase cooling. Finally, simulation models for the thermal optimization of power feeders have been developed and validated, contributing to the weight optimization of EASIER power feeder solutions.
Working on the EASIER project has been an extremely beneficial and joyful experience for NLR. In EASIER, we had the role that we excelled in bridging the gap between universities and industry. It has been both a prolongation of known cooperation (FE, Evektor and UT) and an excellent opportunity to team up with new partners (such as Collins ART and EMAG). EASIER allowed us to extend our thermal and EMC capabilities in electric flight and transfer existing knowledge on space cooling applications towards the aviation industry. We are happy that cooperation is continued through multiple other European projects (such as H2020 ADENEAS and CA HECATE).
FE experience feedback:
GKN Fokker Elmo, as partner, experienced the project as fruitful and joyful. The project developed scalable solutions for all aircraft sizes, fitting well with Fokker Elmo’s position to supply power feeders for electric drivelines to all aircraft types and sizes. Fokker Elmo cherishes the eco-system with industry, research institutes and universities. The collaboration with Collins, NLR and Evektor contributed to the results and the competencies developed in the EMC and thermal domain. The results will be matured in an upcoming collaboration with the EASIER partners in jointly participated European projects like H2020 ADENEAS, CA HECATE and CA SWITCH.
EVEKTOR experience feedback
The EASIER project helped Evektor move the development of the Sportstar EPOS+ small all-electric aircraft closer to commercialization. The road to this goal is still long, but the knowledge gained from working on this project and collaborating with other partners has made it much more manageable.
We hope that the experience and results of our joint work will be translated into further activities (both research and commercial) that will lead to a more robust ability of all project participants to face future challenges (not only technological).
University of Twente (UT) experience feedback:
Our participation in the EASIER project has been a valuable experience for the University of Twente. We focused on EMI filter design optimization through simulation and measurements as part of the project. The project allowed us to explore approaches to enhance performance only available in Aerospace circumstances. Through collaborative efforts with our partners, we contributed to the development of innovative solutions in the field of electric flight. The knowledge gained from this project with respect to mitigating EMI on the non-propulsion distribution system has expanded our understanding and expertise in the field of EMC for More Electric-Aircraft (MEA), understanding noise sources and victims in the context of electric aviation, positioning us for future challenges and opportunities. We appreciate the opportunity to work alongside experienced industrial and research partners such as Collins ART, Evektor, FE, and NLR, and contribute to the project's overall objectives. Regarding code-based optimization, EMI filter miniaturization, and the better assessment of emission levels in the MEA environment.
The EASIER Consortium held its Final event on the 24 of May, 2023, in Marknesse, Netherlands. The project started in June 2020 and ended in May 2023. A trans-disciplinary consortium brought together experts from different institutions, providing the necessary expertise and capacities to develop the project. The following seven organizations, located in 5 European countries, participated as partners in the EASIER consortium :
- Ireland: Collins Aerospace Ireland (coordinator)
- Netherlands : Fokker Elmo, NLR, University of Twente
- Czechia : Evektor
- Poland : EmagDesign
- France : ARTTIC
[1] European Commission, Flightpath 2050, europe’s vision for aviation, maintaining global leadership & serving society’s needs, European union 2011
