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Magnetics for aerospace and defense power

Airborne and ground power conversion, where the paperwork is part of the part. Altitude, temperature extremes and traceability are not add-ons to the specification here. They decide the insulation system, the material set and often the size.

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Where the magnetics sit

The stages, and what goes in each one.

400 Hz systems

115 V 400 Hz aircraft power, transformer rectifier units and autotransformers.

The magnetic: Line frequency transformers where the core material and the window are set by the 400 Hz flux, and weight is a real constraint rather than a preference.

28 V and 270 V DC

Isolated DC-DC conversion across the standard bus voltages.

The magnetic: DC-DC transformers and output chokes, with insulation designed for the bus and for the altitude the platform reaches.

Radar and pulsed loads

Transmit stages with high peak power and low duty cycle.

The magnetic: Pulse transformers and energy storage chokes designed around peak current, volt-second product and rise time rather than around average power.

Filtering

Conducted and radiated emissions to the platform requirement.

The magnetic: Common mode and differential chokes, with the material chosen for the frequency band that is actually failing.

What decides it

What actually drives the design here.

Altitude

Air is a weaker insulator at low pressure. A creepage and clearance table that is fine at sea level can corona at altitude, so the insulation system is designed for the pressure the platform sees.

Minus 55 degrees C

Cold matters as much as heat: potting compounds stiffen, expansion mismatch grows, and the material set has to survive the full cycle rather than the hot end of it.

Traceability

Which core, which wire, which lot. The record is part of what you are buying, and it has to exist from the first prototype rather than be reconstructed later.

Vibration and shock

Windings supported and encapsulated so that nothing moves against the core under the qualification profile.

The shape of it

Standards, range and typical parts.

Design references
MIL-STD-981, MIL-PRF-27 and DO-160 as the requirements that shape the design
Temperature
Minus 55 to plus 125 degrees C, depending on materials and insulation class
Construction
Vacuum impregnated, varnished, potted in resin or in an aluminium housing
Typical parts
400 Hz transformers, DC-DC transformers, filter and storage inductors, pulse transformers

Questions

Aerospace and defense, the usual questions.

Do you design to MIL-PRF-27 and MIL-STD-981?
We use them as the requirements that shape the design: the construction, the insulation system, the materials and the testing are chosen against them, and the first proposal says which of their requirements is driving your size or weight. Formal qualification is run on the finished part.
How does altitude change the design?
Low pressure lowers the breakdown strength of air, so clearances that pass at sea level can corona at altitude. That pushes toward solid insulation, encapsulation and larger spacings. Tell us the maximum altitude and whether the equipment bay is pressurised, because the answer differs.
Can you supply full material traceability?
Yes. Core, wire and insulation lots are recorded, and we supply the documentation the applicable standard calls for. That record exists from the prototype, not from the production order.
Can you build a replacement for an obsolete military magnetic?
Yes. If no drawing survives, we reverse engineer from a physical sample and rebuild it as a form, fit and function replacement, then tell you honestly where the modern material set differs from the original.
Is there a minimum order?
No. Aerospace and defense programmes often need one unit, or five, and the same drawing scales to production later without a redesign.

Start here

Send us your aerospace and defense spec.

A schematic and a waveform are enough to start. You get a first design proposal with estimated losses, the inductances, the dimensions and the expected hotspot temperature, before you have spent anything.

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