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.     

火星进入舱开伞弹伞载荷动力放大系数研究与试验验证

Firstly, the analytical formulas of the dynamic magnification factor with the pulse time of the response spectrum of a single degree of freedom system under the rectangular and half sine pulse are derived. Then the parachute inflation and ejection low frequency high shock load dynamic simulation model of the Mars entry vehicle is built based on abaqus explict dynamics, and the influence of the shock load shape, load time and load damping are analyzed. Finally, the experiments of the opening parachute load suspension impact dynamic load and the parachute load real parachute impact dynamic load are carried out.The results show that the structure responds decline when the shock load time is less than  1 ms , and the static equivalence load becomes steady when the load time is longer than 5 ms; the dynamics equivalence load of the parachute inflation is about 1 time than static because of the smooth time wave, but the parachute ejection’s is about 1~2 times than static due to the steep rectangle wave.      

Best practices for model-based and simulation-aided engineering of power transmission and motion control systems

This paper deals with the modelling and simulation of aircraft systems, in particular for power transmission and control. It is intended to review, propose and disseminate best practices for making model-based/simulation-aided engineering more efficient at any phase of the system life cycle. The proposals are aimed at creating value, not only by increasing the performance of the product under study but also by shortening the time to market, capitalizing knowledge, mitigating risks and facilitating concurrent engineering. The needs associated with the engineering activities are firstly identified to define a set of requirements for the models. Then, these requirements are used to drive the considerations leading to model development, focusing in particular on the process, modelled physical effects, modelling level, model architecting and concurrent engineering. The third part deals with the model implementation, giving special consideration to the different types of models, causalities, parameterization, implementation and verification. Each part is illustrated by examples related to safety critical actuators.     

Motion prediction of an uncontrolled space target

Capturing an uncontrolled space target is a tremendously challenging research topic. Target capture by a space robot can be well planned according to predicted motion of the target. In this paper, motion prediction of an uncontrolled space target is studied and a motion prediction algorithm is proposed. In the proposed algorithm, firstly a method for identifying the parameters of motion state and inertial property of the target is established; and then through substituting the identified parameters into the dynamic equations of the target, the motion of the target can be predicted as the solution of the equations. In the identification of the parameters, the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is applied. In order to support the UKF, a method for estimating noise level of the observation data is developed, so our motion prediction algorithm is noise adaptive. A practical convergent criterion is also designed to determine the time when the estimated result of the UKF is accurate enough, such that the predicted motion is credible enough. After that, the accuracy of the prediction is further improved by an optimization method. In the end of this paper, numerical simulations are done to verify the validity of the proposed motion prediction algorithm. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm is able to predict the motion of the target precisely.     

Non-intrusive reduced-order model for predicting transonic flow with varying geometries

A Non-Intrusive Reduced-Order Model (NIROM) based on Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) has been proposed for predicting the flow fields of transonic airfoils with geometry parameters. To provide a better reduced-order subspace to approximate the real flow field, a domain decomposition method has been used to separate the hard-to-predict regions from the full field and POD has been adopted in the regions individually. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has replaced the Radial Basis Function (RBF) to interpolate the coefficients of the POD modes, aiming at improving the approximation accuracy of the NIROM for non-samples. When predicting the flow fields of transonic airfoils, the proposed NIROM has demonstrated a high performance.     

气动引力辅助的火星自由返回轨道设计方法

为更准确地描述大气飞行过程，提出一种三段式大气飞行模型，将大气飞行段分为下降段、平飞段和上升段，使用大气飞行角和航迹角描述飞行过程，并建立了相应的计算模型。对“地球-火星-地球”、“地球-火星-金星-地球”和“地球-金星-火星-地球”自由返回轨道序列的优化结果表明，三段式模型可以准确描述气动引力辅助过程，同时气动引力辅助技术可以有效提升自由返回轨道性能，如减少转移时间，降低燃料消耗等。     

Reliability estimation of mechanical seals based on bivariate dependence analysis and considering model uncertainty

The reliability estimation of mechanical seals is of crucial importance due to their wide applications in pumps in various mechanical systems. Failure of mechanical seals might cause leakage, and might lead to system failure and other relevant consequences. In this study, the reliability estimation for mechanical seals based on bivariate dependence analysis and considering model uncertainty is proposed. The friction torque and leakage rate are two degradation performance indicators of mechanical seals that can be described by the Wiener process, Gamma process, and inverse Gaussian process. The dependence between the two indicators can be described by different copula functions. Then the model uncertainty is considered in the reliability estimation using the Bayesian Model Average (BMA) method, while the unknown parameters in the model are estimated by Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. A numerical simulation study and fatigue crack study are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the BMA method to capture model uncertainty. A degradation test of mechanical seals is conducted to verify the proposed model. The optimal stochastic process models for two performance indicators and copula function are determined based on the degradation data. The results show the necessity of using the BMA method in degradation modeling.     

Dynamic performance of a C/C composite finger seal in a tilting mode

The complex operating state of aeroengines has an impact on the performance of finger seals.However,little work has been focused on the issue and the dynamic performance of finger seals is also rarely studied.Therefore,a distributed mass equivalent model considering working conditions is proposed in this paper for solving the existing problems.The effects of the fiber bundle density and the preparation direction of the fiber bundle of a C/C composite on the dynamic performance of a finger seal are investigated in rotor tilt based on the proposed model.The difference between the C/C composite finger seal performances under the rotor precession and nutation tilt cases is also investigated.The results show that the fiber bundle density and the preparation direction of the fiber bundle have an influence on the dynamic performance of the finger seal as rotor tilt is considered,and the dynamic performance of the finger seal is different in the two kinds of tilting modes.In addition,a novel method for design of finger seals is presented based on the contact pressure between finger boots and the rotor.Finger seals with good leakage rates and low wear can be acquired in this method.     

Fractional order modeling and control of dissimilar redundant actuating system used in large passenger aircraft

In this paper, a methodology has been developed to address the issue of force fighting and to achieve precise position tracking of control surface driven by two dissimilar actuators. The nonlinear dynamics of both actuators are first approximated as fractional order models. Based on the identified models, three fractional order controllers are proposed for the whole system. Two Fractional Order PID (FOPID) controllers are dedicated to improving transient response and are designed in a position feedback configuration. In order to synchronize the actuator dynamics, a third fractional order PI controller is designed, which feeds the force compensation signal in position feedback loop of both actuators. Nelder-Mead (N-M) optimization technique is employed in order to optimally tune controller parameters based on the proposed performance criteria. To test the proposed controllers according to real flight condition, an external disturbance of higher amplitude that acts as airload is applied directly on the control surface. In addition, a disturbance signal function of system states is applied to check the robustness of proposed controller. Simulation results on nonlinear system model validated the performance of the proposed scheme as compared to optimal PID and high gain PID controllers.