Electromechanical Actuation Technology for the All-Electric Aircraft

Electromechanical actuation is a critical element that must be developed and verified to make the all-electric aircraft a viable concept. For several years the Flight Control Division of the Air Force Wright Aeronautical Laboratories has sponsored activities to demonstrate the credibility of electromechanical actuation systems (EMAS) for primary flight control actuation functions. The foundation for these EMAS activities and several electromechanical actuation development programs are described here. One involves the design, fabrication, and laboratory test of a rotary, hingeline electromechanical actuator. Another involves the development and flight test demonstration of a linear electromechanical actuator for controlling an aileron of a C-141 aircraft. A third involves the design and development of a linear electromechanical actuator for missiles having severe performance, temperature, and volumetric requirements. In addition, a brief summary of the results from two aircraft actuation trade studies compare the baseline (conventional) hydraulic flight control system with an all-electric airplane concept including quantitative comparisons of weight, reliability and maintainability, and life cycle costs.     

基于负刚度预载荷机构的锥形介电型EAP驱动器研究

为了便于对介电型EAP驱动器进行优化设计,针对介电型EAP驱动器进行建模是极其重要的.结合弹性大变形理论及Maxwell应力建立介电型EAP材料的机电耦合模型,分析一种可以提高驱动器性能的负刚度预载荷机构,在此基础上建立基于负刚度预载荷机构的锥形介电型EAP驱动器模型.通过对微分代数方程组的求解,分析预载荷机构对驱动器...     

一种民用飞机电作动舱门集中式控制方案研究

在未来飞机多/全电化和机电综合管理的发展趋势下,舱门作动器逐渐由机电作动取代了传统的液压、机械作动。针对目前民用飞机舱门分散式独立控制杂、乱、散的局面,提出一种用于电作动舱门的集中式控制方案。对该集中式控制方案下如何实现电机的伺服控制、舱门的并行控制以及接近传感器感应距离值的修改进行设计,并搭建舱门作动系统模拟装置及电...     

基于滑模变结构和扩张状态观测器的电动舵机复合控制方法

为提高电动舵机伺服系统的鲁棒性,同时解决实际工作中电动舵机不确定负载引起的跟踪精度低的问题,提出了一种采用指数趋近率的滑模变结构控制率结合扩张状态观测器对负载扰动进行实时估计的电动舵机的伺服控制方法,给出了控制器设计方法和试验验证。仿真和试验结果表明,与常规的滑模控制器相比,采用扩张状态观测器的变结构控制能有效提高电动舵机的跟踪性能。     

电动舵系统颤振影响因素分析

针对电动舵系统颤振问题,将舵系统简化为双惯量模型,并在该模型的基础上分析了舵系统颤振的原因.通过对舵系统传递函数以及单自由度碰撞振动系统力学模型的分析,得出传动机构刚度、间隙等非线性因素以及负载惯量对舵系统稳定性的影响,并分析了各因素造成舵系统颤振的原因.通过数学仿真,验证了所得结论的正确性,并针对颤振抑制提出了相应的改进措施.     

Modelling and simulation of flight control electromechanical actuators with special focus on model architecting,multidisciplinary effects and power flows

In the aerospace field, electromechanical actuators are increasingly being implemented in place of conventional hydraulic actuators. For safety-critical embedded actuation applications like flight controls, the use of electromechanical actuators introduces specific issues related to thermal balance, reflected inertia, parasitic motion due to compliance and response to failure. Unfortu-nately, the physical effects governing the actuator behaviour are multidisciplinary, coupled and nonlinear. Although numerous multi-domain and system-level simulation packages are now avail-able on the market, these effects are rarely addressed as a whole because of a lack of scientific approaches for model architecting, multi-purpose incremental modelling and judicious model implementation. In this publication, virtual prototyping of electromechanical actuators is addressed using the Bond-Graph formalism. New approaches are proposed to enable incremental modelling, thermal balance analysis, response to free-run or jamming faults, impact of compliance on parasitic motion, and influence of temperature. A special focus is placed on friction and compliance of the mechanical transmission with fault injection and temperature dependence. Aileron actuation is used to highlight the proposals for control design, energy consumption and thermal analysis, power net-work pollution analysis and fault response.     

多电飞机作动系统的体系结构优化(英文)

多电技术的深入发展使得飞机上可选择的功率源和作动器种类越来越多,这导致在机载作动系统体系结构优化设计过程中出现了不同功率源和作动器组合的极端复杂性,传统的"试凑"法已无法完成设计任务。首先介绍了多电飞机飞控作动系统(Flight Control Actuation System,FCAS)的组成,计算了其可能的体系结构数量;其次提出了FCAS体系结构在安全性、重量和效率方面的评价指标,计算了全机各舵面均采用同类作动器时的评价指标值;最后对比分析了现有的各种多目标优化算法,采用遗传算法给出了多电飞机FCAS体系结构的多目标优化设计结果。对比传统的只采用阀控液压伺服作动器的作动系统体系结构,优化后的体系结构可以在满足安全可靠性要求的前提下使系统的重量减轻6%左右,效率提高30%左右。     

Design and experimental testing of a control system for a morphing wing model actuated with miniature BLDC motors

The paper deals with the design and experimental validation of the actuation mechanism control system for a morphing wing model. The experimental morphable wing model manufactured in this project is a full-size scale wing tip for a real aircraft equipped with an aileron. The morphing actuation of the model is based on a mechanism with four similar in house designed and manufactured actuators, positioned inside the wing on two parallel lines. Each of the four actuators used a BrushLess Direct Current (BLDC) electric motor integrated with a mechanical part performing the conversion of the angular displacements into linear displacements. The following have been chosen as successive steps in the design of the actuator control system: (A) Mathematical and software modelling of the actuator; (B) Design of the control system architecture and tuning using Internal Model Control (IMC) methodology; (C) Numerical simulation of the controlled actuator and its testing on bench and wind tunnel. The morphing wing experimental model is tested both at the laboratory level, with no airflow, to evaluate the components integration and the whole system functioning, but also in the wind tunnel, in the presence of airflow, to evaluate its behavior and the aerodynamic gain.     

基于Simplorer的机电伺服系统多学科协同仿真技术研究

航天机电伺服系统是一个高阶、非线性、强耦合的多变量系统。针对机电伺服系统单一仿真平台存在的仿真精度低以及多学科协同仿真存在的仿真效率低等问题,提出了在Simplorer的软件平台下建立功率变换部分的电力电子仿真模型,通过有限元分析和试验的方法确定电机和模拟负载装置的非线性参数特性曲线,实现电力电子、控制和电磁场的多学科协同仿真与虚拟试验。仿真与试验结果表明,所建立的协同仿真模型与试验结果的最大误差不超过15%,可提升机电伺服系统的参数优化设计能力和算法调试效率。     

电动舵机快速设计技术研究

针对电动舵机常用的几类典型结构,分析了电动舵机组成及设计流程,并对电动舵机各类零件形状特征信息进行分类,得到了尺寸关系模型.采用VB对CATIA软件进行二次开发,建立电动舵机各个典型零件的建模函数,并利用ACCESS建立了电动舵机零件数据库,实现了舵机产品零件的数字化快速设计.     

Reconfigurable fault-tolerant control for supersonic missiles with actuator failures under actuation redundancy

Aircraft undergoing actuator failures into under-actuation have been seldom studied in literature. Aiming at addressing actuator failures of Total Loss of Effectiveness (TLOE) as well as Partial Loss of Effectiveness (PLOE) resulting in different system actuations, reconfigurable Fault-Tolerant Control (FTC) is proposed for supersonic wingless missiles under actuation redundancy. The under-actuated system of TLOE failure patterns is solved by transformation to cascade systems through a ‘shape variable’. Meanwhile, actuator TLOE faults of different unknown failure patterns from proper actuation to under-actuation are accommodated by a reconfigurable adaptive law on a multiple-model basis. The backstepping technique with the Extended State Observer (ESO) method adopted as a basic strategy is applied to an established symmetric coupled missile system with actuator PLOE faults, modeling errors, and external disturbances. Additionally, the nonlinear saturation characteristics of actuators are settled by an auxiliary system with the Nussbaum function technique. The stability of the control system is analyzed and proven through Lyapunov theory. Numerical simulations are implemented in the presences of aerodynamic uncertainties, gust disturbance, and actuator failures. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method with satisfactory tracking performance and actuator fault tolerance capacity.     

Proportional fuzzy feed-forward architecture control validation by wind tunnel tests of a morphing wing

In aircraft wing design, engineers aim to provide the best possible aerodynamic performance under cruise flight conditions in terms of lift-to-drag ratio. Conventional control sur-faces such as flaps, ailerons, variable wing sweep and spoilers are used to trim the aircraft for other flight conditions. The appearance of the morphing wing concept launched a new challenge in the area of overall wing and aircraft performance improvement during different flight segments by locally altering the flow over the aircraft's wings. This paper describes the development and appli-cation of a control system for an actuation mechanism integrated in a new morphing wing structure. The controlled actuation system includes four similar miniature electromechanical actuators dis-posed in two parallel actuation lines. The experimental model of the morphing wing is based on a full-scale portion of an aircraft wing, which is equipped with an aileron. The upper surface of the wing is a flexible one, being closed to the wing tip; the flexible skin is made of light composite materials. The four actuators are controlled in unison to change the flexible upper surface to improve the flow quality on the upper surface by delaying or advancing the transition point from laminar to turbulent regime. The actuators transform the torque into vertical forces. Their bases are fixed on the wing ribs and their top link arms are attached to supporting plates fixed onto the flex-ible skin with screws. The actuators push or pull the flexible skin using the necessary torque until the desired vertical displacement of each actuator is achieved. The four vertical displacements of the actuators, correlated with the new shape of the wing, are provided by a database obtained through a preliminary aerodynamic optimization for specific flight conditions. The control system is designed to control the positions of the actuators in real time in order to obtain and to maintain the desired shape of the wing for a specified flight condition. The feasibility and effectiveness of the developed control system by use of a proportional fuzzy feed-forward methodology are demon-strated experimentally through bench and wind tunnel tests of the morphing wing model.     

马蹄形等离子体激励器强化气膜冷却效率机理

为揭示马蹄形等离子体激励器产生的等离子体气动激励提高气膜冷却效率的机理,选取常规圆形气膜孔冷却结构进行了数值模拟比较.结果表明:马蹄形等离子体激励器产生的等离子体气动激励效果可以使射流具有展向扩张能力,肾形涡对的大小及强度得到显著改变,同时受等离子体气动激励产生的下拉诱导和水平加速效果影响,射流贴壁性及覆盖区域大大提高,冷却效率得到强化;相对于圆形气膜孔冷却效果,马蹄形介质阻挡放电气膜冷却结构在吹风比为0.5,1.0和1.5时,冷却效率值相差最大处分别提高了165%,148%和500%.      

Adaptive Fuzzy Torque Control of Passive Torque Servo Systems Based on Small Gain Theorem and Input-to-state Stability

Passive torque servo system (PTSS) simulates aerodynamic load and exerts the load on actuation system, but PTSS endures position coupling disturbance from active motion of actuation system, and this inherent disturbance is called extra torque. The most important issue for PTSS controller design is how to eliminate the influence of extra torque. Using backstepping technique, adaptive fuzzy torque control (AFTC) algorithm is proposed for PTSS in this paper, which reflects the essential characteristics of PTSS and guarantees transient tracking performance as well as final tracking accuracy. Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy logic system is utilized to compensate parametric uncertainties and unstructured uncertainties. The output velocity of actuator identified model is introduced into AFTC aiming to eliminate extra torque. The closed-loop stability is studied using small gain theorem and the control system is proved to be semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded. The proposed AFTC algorithm is applied to an electric load simulator (ELS), and the comparative experimental results indicate that AFTC controller is effective for PTSS.     

弯扭复合大负载下电动舵机设计及性能试验研究

针对弯扭复合大负载工况下电动舵机快速性与稳定性匹配的问题,在分析有限空间质量约束下舵机设计要求的基础上,采用基于核心部件与系统仿真及试验验证相结合的手段,提出了一种高刚度高功率密度的抗弯扭复合大负载电动舵机设计方法。详细阐述了高功率密度伺服电机和高刚度传动机构的设计过程,并研制了工程样机。试验结果表明:该电动舵机伺服刚度与功率密度得到显著提升,在复合大负载工况下能够实现高动态高可靠稳定运行。     

辅助动力装置系统进气风门位置控制设计与研究

辅助动力装置系统进气风门位置控制子系统用于地面和空中控制辅助动力装置进气风门的打开和关闭,通常由控制器,作动机构(电动作动器和连杆机构)组成。辅助动力装置系统进气风门位置控制子系统的设计是辅助动力装置控制系统设计的一部分,和辅助动力装置进气风门设计、进气风门气动载荷计算分析及辅助动力装置进气道设计同步进行,相互影响。对某型飞机的辅助动力装置系统进气风门位置控制设计方案进行了介绍,该风门位置控制采用单独的风门控制器,降低了辅助动力装置FADEC(Full Authority Digital Electrical Controller,全权限数字电子控制器,简称FADEC)软硬件设计复杂度,简化了接口设计;并且设计了一种新型辅助动力装置系统进气风门作动机构,该作动机构安装/拆卸方便,可达性好;具有力矩放大功能,且该机构可调节,能输出不同大小的力矩。该进气风门位置控制子系统经过型号验证,对后续型号研制具有较强的指导性。     

The All-Electric Fighter Airplane Flight Control Issues, Capabilities, and Projections

The prime issues raised in any all-electric airplane discussion are (1) is the electric power system as reliable and trustworthy as a hydraulic power system; (2) can electromechanical flight control actuators perform satisfactorily, i.e., can the performance match that of hydraulic actuators; (3) can redundant electromechanical actuation systems (EMAS) be designed to equal the flight safety reliability of dual tandem hydraulic actuators; and (4) can satisfactory solutions be found or developed for dissipating the heat generated in actuators and power controllers. The first question should be inconsequential since it is assumed that the all-electric aircraft will be equipped with a fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system (FCS) which is already dependent upon an uninterrupted supply of electrical power. Design studies and hardware already developed show that the answer to question (2) is that EMAS outperform hydraulic actuators, particularly under load. The answer to question (3) is not as clear primarily because the issue has not been addressed in any depth. As posed the answer must be yes, but with the proviso that the weight might be greater than currently predicted. Studies have shown that we can cope with the heat dissipation issue addressed in question (4) in the case of motors and inverter/power controllers. The projections regarding usage of EMAS and the future of the all-electric airplane must be based on the type of vehicle (small subsonic transport, large transport, or military tighter) and the economics involved.     

A fault-tolerant triple-redundant voice coil motor for direct drive valves: Design, optimization, and experiment

A direct drive actuator (DDA) with direct drive valves (DDVs) as the control device is an ideal solution for a flight actuation system. This paper presents a novel triple-redundant voice coil motor (TRVCM) used for redundant DDVs. The TRVCM features electrical/mechanical hybrid triple-redundancy by securing three stators along with three moving coils in the same frame. A permanent magnet (PM) Halbach array is employed in each redundant VCM to simplify the system structure. A back-to-back design between neighborly redundancies is adopted to decouple the magnetic flux linkage. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) method is implemented to optimize design parameters based on the analytical magnetic circuit model. The optimization objective function is defined as the acceleration capacity of the motor to achieve high dynamic performance. The optimal geometric parameters are verified with 3D magnetic field finite element analysis (FEA). A research prototype has been developed for experimental purpose. The experimental results of magnetic field density and force output show that the proposed TRVCM has great potential of applications in DDA systems.     

自抗扰控制技术在电动舵系统中的应用

针对无刷直流电机驱动的位置伺服系统,介绍了其自抗扰控制器设计的基本思路与实现过程。通过扩张状态观测器的动态补偿提高了电动舵机的鲁棒性,同时对系统闭环特性进行了分析,并对结果进行了仿真计算与实验研究,最后给出了自抗扰控制技术在快速响应电动舵机中的应用结果。     

Analysis of the dynamic performance of an electro-hydrostatic actuator and improvement methods

As a kind of actuation mechanism for power-by-wire (PBW) actuation systems of more/all electrical aircraft, an electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) is a highly integrated local hydraulic actuation system. It is a volume control system consisting of a motor, a pump, an actuator, etc., which has features of high efficiency and reliability. However, the poor dynamic characteristic is one of the main factors restricting its wide application in aircraft. In this paper, the reason for the poor dynamic characteristic of an EHA is revealed from the perspectives of the natural frequency characteristic and the power requirement, respectively. In other words, the insufficiency of the motor output power at a high frequency is the main factor causing the poor dynamic characteristic of the system, and methods which include increasing the maximum output torque of the motor, reducing the rotational inertia of the motor-pump group, and adopting a double-motor-pump group configuration are proposed in this paper, by which the dynamic characteristic of the system can be improved. The feasibility of those methods are verified by simulations. Finally, the dynamic characteristic is tested on an EHA prototype, and results show that saturation of the output torque of the motor is the main factor restricting the dynamic characteristic of the EHA system.