System and method for managing short-circuits in a meshed electrical energy distribution network of an aircraft

A node of a meshed electrical energy distribution network of an aircraft, the electrical energy distribution network comprising nodes to which at least one power source and equipment items to be powered can be connected by means of links, called external links, the nodes being connected to one another by inter-node links forming at least one mesh of the meshed network, each mesh being polygonal of an order greater than or equal to three, said node comprising:

• for at least one inter-node link linking the node to another node:
• a switch,
• a current limiter,
• means for measuring the intensity of a current circulating on said inter-node link,
• means for measuring a voltage drop on said inter-node link, a control unit configured to:
• acquire a current measurement on said at least one inter-node link, by the intensity measurement means,
• compare the current measurement with a predetermined current threshold and, if the current measurement exceeds this predetermined threshold:
• command the current limiter to limit the current on the inter-node link,
• acquire a measurement of a voltage drop on the inter-node link by the voltage measurement means,
• determine a time associated with the value of the voltage drop out of a plurality of times associated with different voltage drop values, each time being different from the other times and being less than each time associated with a voltage drop value less than the voltage drop value with which it is associated,
• check whether the voltage drop is still present after a time period equal to the time obtained, and
• if the voltage drop is still present after the time period equal to the time obtained, command the opening of the switch corresponding to this inter-node link so as not to allow the passage of an electrical current in this inter-node link on which the voltage drop has occurred.

A method for managing short-circuits in a meshed electrical energy distribution network of an aircraft, the electrical energy distribution network comprising nodes to which at least one power source and equipment items to be powered can be connected by means of links, called external links, the nodes being connected to one another by inter-node links forming at least one mesh of the meshed network, each mesh being polygonal of an order greater than or equal to three, wherein, at least one node comprises:

• for at least one inter-node link linking the node to another node:
• a switch,
• a current limiter,
• means for measuring the intensity of a current circulating on said inter-node link,
• means for measuring a voltage drop on said inter-node link,
• a control unit,
• the method comprises the following steps executed by the control unit:
• acquiring a current measurement on said at least one inter-node link, by the intensity measurement means,
• comparing the current measurement with a predetermined current threshold and, if the current measurement exceeds this predetermined threshold:
• commanding the current limiter to limit the current on the inter-node link,
• acquiring a measurement of a voltage drop on the inter-node link by the voltage measurement means,
• determining a time associated with the value of the voltage drop out of a plurality of times associated with different voltage drop values, each time being different from the other times and being less than each time associated with a voltage drop value less than the voltage drop value with which it is associated,
• checking whether the voltage drop is still present after a time period equal to the time obtained, and
• if the voltage drop is still present after the time period equal to the time obtained, commanding the opening of the switch corresponding to this inter-node link so as not to allow the passage of an electrical current in this inter-node link on which the voltage drop has occurred.