MEPCO SCHLENK ENGG COLLEGE,

AMATHUR POST,SIVAKASI.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN ELECTRICAL

DRIVES &POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS FOR
NEXT GENERATION AIRCRAFTS

NAME : E.VAITHYANATHAN

: N.MADHURANTHAGAN

YEAR &DEPT:III YEAR EEE.

CONTACT US: vaithy1586@gmail.com

: madhu89.eee@gmail.com
CONTENTS
 ABSTRACT

 INTRODUCTION

 FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM

o MECHANICAL FCS
o HYDRO MECHANICAL FCS

 ACTUATION

o ELECTROMECHANICAL ACTUATION
o ELECTROHYDROSTATIC ACTUATION

 NEXT GENERATION AIRCRAFTS

 CONCLUSION
Emerging technologies in electrical drives and
power distribution systems in future aircrafts
aircraft with the bus regulator is
presented. Development of reliable
power-by-wire actuation systems for
both aeronautical and space applications
Abstract: has been sought recently to eliminate
hydraulic systems from aircraft. Aircraft
It is projected that in future aircraft, all engineers have tested electrohydrostatic
power, except propulsion, will be actuators (EHAs), which combine
distributed and processed electrically. In electrical and hydraulic power, hence the
other words, electrical power will be
utilized for driving aircraft subsystems
currently powered by hydraulic,
pneumatic or mechanical means
including utility and flight control
actuation, environmental control system,
lubrication and fuel pumps, and
numerous other utility functions. These evolutionary "more electric aircraft"
concepts are embraced by what is known idea. Efforts are being made to replace
as the “More Electric Aircraft (MEA)” all the hydraulic systems with electrical
initiative. The MEA emphasizes the systems, which will lead to a new
utilization of electrical power as opposed technology called “All Electric
to hydraulic, pneumatic, and mechanical Aircraft”.
power for optimizing aircraft
performance and life cycle cost. It would Introduction:
eliminate the need for gearboxes and
transmissions since the power
Flight Control System
transmission is through electrical rather
than mechanical means, which reduces
A flight control system consists of the
the weight of the aircraft and increases
flight control surfaces, the respective
the fuel efficiency. Detailed analysis of
cockpit controls, connecting linkage, and
interaction between an Electro
necessary operating mechanism to
Mechanical Actuator (EMA) connected
cont4rol aircraft in flight.
to the DC bus of the power distribution
system in a next generation transport
Classification
Flight control systems (FCS) are
classified as follows:
 Mechanical FCS
 Hydro mechanical FCS (powered
flight control units (PFCU))
 Fly-by-wire FCS
Mechanical FCS:
The mechanical FCS is the most basic
designs. They were used in early aircraft
and currently in small aeroplanes where
the aerodynamic forces are not
excessive. The FCS uses a collection of
mechanical parts such as rods, cables,
pulleys and sometimes chains to transmit
the forces of the cockpit controls to the
control surfaces.
Hydro mechanical FCS
(powered flight control units
(PFCU)):
The complexity and weight of a
mechanical FCS increases considerably
with size and performance of the
airplane. Hydraulic power overcomes
these limitations
A hydraulic FCS has 2 parts:
 The mechanical circuit
 The hydraulic circuit
The mechanical circuit links the cockpit
controls with the hydraulic circuits. Like
the mechanical FCS, it is made of rods,
cables, pulleys, and sometimes chains.
The hydraulic circuit has hydraulic
pumps, pipes, valves and actuators. The
hydraulic pressure generated by the
pumps in the hydraulic circuit powers
the actuators. The actuators convert
hydraulic pressure into control surface
movements. The servo valves control the
movement of the actuators. The above
two-control system has a major
drawback that it contains heavy
mechanical circuitry, which increases
the weight of the system. To overcome
this drawback a new technology “MORE
ELECTRIC TECHNOLOGY IN
AIRCRAFT” was developed. The
aircraft in which this technology was
used was called “MORE ELECTRIC
AIRCRAFT”(MEA).
When describing the MEA, flight control
actuation systems can be considered to
involve two main technological areas:
fly-by-wire (FBW) and power-by-wire
(PBW). FBW technology comprises the
design, development and implementation
of electronics for flight control systems.
Electronic control provides flight control
and actuator control functionality
implemented using either centralized or
distributed architectures. Distributed
control systems reduce the processing
load on centralized flight control
computers, and offer more flexibility
during system architecture development.
A further benefit is the reduction in There are several different types of PBW
weight achieved by reducing harness actuators, including electrohydrostatic
size and component quantity. In recent actuators (EHA) and electromechanical
years, technological advancement has actuators (EMA). EHAs use a reversible,
centered on the FBW field, to the extent electrically driven pumpmotor to directly
that FBW control systems are now the pump self-contained hydraulic fluid to a
standard in today’s commercial and piston. This drives the ram in the same
military aircraft. Power-by-wire (PBW) fashion as a standard hydraulic actuator
actuation is the next major breakthrough (Figure 1(a)). An EMA has no internal
in aircraft control. Just as the fly-by-wire hydraulic fluid, instead using electric
flight control system eliminated the need motors to directly drive the ram through
for mechanical interfaces, power-by- a mechanical gearbox (Figure 1(b)).
wire actuators eliminate the need for Compared to an EHA, the EMA has
central hydraulic systems. Control power certain advantages. It is lighter, smaller,
comes directly from the aircraft and less complex than an equivalent
electrical system. This has several EHA because of the absence of an
advantages. Central hydraulic systems internal hydraulic system. Since there is
are complicated and difficult to no hydraulic fluid in the load path, the
maintain. Removing these systems EMA tends to be stiffer than an
would greatly reduce the amount of equivalent EHA. The EMA tends to be
support equipment and personnel more efficient because there are no
required to maintain and operate current windage losses or pump inefficiencies.
air and space vehicles. In addition, PBW Finally, since there is no leak potential
actuators have the potential to be more with an EMA, it is better suited to long
efficient than their hydraulic term storage or space applications.
counterparts. A central hydraulic system
must generate and sustain significant
hydraulic pressure (3,000 to 6,000
pounds per square inch) at all times,
regardless of demand. PBW actuators
only use electrical power when needed.
Finally, PBW actuation systems can be
made far more fault tolerant than those
depending on a central hydraulic supply.
Once a hydraulic line is compromised, it
usually leads to the loss of that entire
hydraulic circuit. As a result, multiple
hydraulic circuits are required to
maintain some level of redundancy.
With a PBW system, a failed actuator
can simply be switched off, isolating the
problem to a single surface.

Types of PBW Actuators

Electromechanical Actuation
(EMA)
An EMA uses mechanical gearing to
couple an electric motor to a flight
control surface. This is achieved using a
rotary gearbox, and depending on the
actuation method required, can include
some form of rotary-to-linear
conversion, such as a ball screw. Electric
motors requiring a DC electrical supply
are typically used, although the addition
of a diode rectification stage will also
allow them to operate from an AC
electrical supply. Motor speed, direction,
and torque translate directly to speed,
direction, and load in the actuator.
Figure 1 shows an EMA currently being
developed by TRW for a high-power EMA system layout
flight control application. In its basic
form, the EMA is susceptible to certain
single-point failures that can lead to a
mechanical jam, and consequently
presents complications for flight
certification on certain surfaces.
Additional devices can be used to
mitigate against this failure mode, but in
doing so, complexity, cost, and weight
are increased. For these reasons, the
basic EMA is not suited for primary
flight control applications. However,
spoiler systems and secondary actuation
systems could accommodate EMA
technology.
Large EMA for High-Power flight
controls

Baseline Power System

Architecture

The proposed power distribution system

is built around a 270V DC distribution
bus. The typical baseline power system
architecture for a next generation aircraft
is shown in Fig. 1. It can be seen that the
key components that control the power
are the bidirectional power converters
(BDCs). A bus regulator provides an
interface between the starter/generator
and the distribution bus. Most of the
loads, including the actuators, are
regulated using bidirectional power
converters, which control and condition
the power from the DC bus.

With the proliferation of bidirectional

power converters and advanced actuators
in the power distribution system, it is
important to develop methods to analyze
the interaction between the different
subsystems. Due to the complexity of
the baseline power system and the large
number of subsystems, a sample power
distribution system, which captures the
essential features of the baseline system
but is not as complicated, is introduced.
The sample power system is represented
as a interconnection of a source and load
subsystem.
Sample Power Distribution
System
The sample power distribution system is
shown in Fig. 2. The source subsystem
represented by subsystem 1 consists of
an ideal three phase voltage source, a
three-phase boost rectifier to provide the
regulated 270V DC required by the DC
bus. The load subsystem represented by
Subsystem 2 is an electromechanical
actuator used to control the secondary
flight control surfaces on the aircraft.
The other loads on the DC bus are
modeled by a current source, or a simple
resistance.
The EMA model shown in Fig. 5 is
shown to include a DC motor with
constant field, a ball screw transmission
between the motor and the control
surface, and a model of the surface
dynamics. The motor voltage is
controlled by a PWM bidirectional buck
converter with an input filter. The EMA
is controlled by a multi-loop controller,
which includes a motor current, motor
speed, and the ball screw position
feedback loops.All of the other loads on
the bus are modeled by a resistor or a
current source.
Electro hydrostatic Actuation
(EHA)
In contrast to EMA, EHA (Figure 2)
uses fluidic gearing between the electric
motor and the surface actuator.
Hydraulic fluid provides an intermediate
means of transmitting power to the
surface. Here, a variable-speed electric
motor (typically DC) is used to drive a
fixed-displacement hydraulic pump,
which in turn, powers a conventional
hydraulic piston jack. Change in
direction is achieved by the use of a bi-
directional motor. A major advantage to
this approach is that the EHA operating
mode can be managed like a
conventional hydraulic actuator. This
approach is achieved using standard
hydraulic bypass or damping valves
(Figure 3); thus traditional active-
standby, or active-active, actuator
configurations can be readily adopted.
This capability makes the EHA more
suitable for primary flight control
applications than the EMA. Although
EHA technology reintroduces hydraulic
components and fluid, it is totally self-
contained within the actuator
assembly. Compared to traditional
hydraulic actuator systems, the
inconvenience of hydraulic
disconnection from aircraft supplies and
the complications of bleeding the system
during reinstallation are not encountered
during maintenance.

EHA Control Schematic

Benefits of electrically powered
Actuators:

The potential benefits of electric

actuation at a system level have been
well publicized.
Electric actuation can offer:
Electrohydrostatic Actuators (EHA)
 Improved aircraft maintainability:
 Fewer hydraulic components are
required,
 Faster aircraft turnaround,
 Fewer spares and tools are
needed,
 Improved fault-diagnosis through
built-in test (BIT).
 Improved system availability and
reliability:
 Electrical distribution is more
practical and offers system
flexibility with respect to
reconfiguration Ñ a capability
previously difficult to achieve
using hydraulics,
 Improved mean-time-between-
Large EHA failures (MTBFs) through
removal (electromechanical
actuation or EMA) or on-demand
usage (electrohydrostatic
 actuation or EHA) of hydraulic
components.
 Improved flight safety Ñ in the MEA
configuration, improved system
safety is achieved through dissimilar
actuator power supplies and
subsequent avoidance of common
mode failures.
 Reduced system weight Ñ weight
saving, achieved through the
replacement of entire hydraulic
systems, including pumps,
distribution networks (pipes and
fluid), and valve blocks, by electric
systems.
The main benefit is the reduction of
aircraft operating costs, for example,
reduced fuel cost (as a result of reduced
weight), and lower maintenance costs
(quicker turnaround). However, before
such benefits can be realized, additional
work is required to improve the
technology and provide the appropriate
application platforms to introduce the
technology into service.
Furthermore, the aircraft maintenance
industry must realign its infrastructure so
that it can reap the benefits of electric
technologies.
Some additional benefits of both EMA
and EHA actuators are:
 Low quiescent power
consumption during standby
operation,
 Rapid start-up response,
 Can be easily adapted for use
with AC or DC electric supplies,
 Insensitive to supply frequency
variation of AC electric supplies.
EHA versus EMA?
An alternative to EHAs, are
‘electromechanical actuators’ (EMAs),
in which the motor torque is
mechanically amplified and transmitted
to the control surface using a gear set,
screw or other mechanical transmission
device, can be seen as an alternative.
Indeed, as far as complexity, weight,
reliability and maintenance requirement
are concerned, EMAs are potentially
more attractive than EHAs, at least for
low power applications. In particular, all
hydraulic technology relevant problems
are obviously eliminated from the EHA
configuration. However, in the three
following areas EHAs are still preferable
to EMAs:
The jamming probability of an EMA
used in a primary flight control
application is difficult to predict and
substantiate from existing in-service
experience. Jamming probability of an
EHA, can be directly assessed from the
current servo control experience, and
shown as ‘extremely improbable’ if
properly bypassed. In contrast, the
jamming probability of mechanical
systems incorporating hundreds of gear
teeth and screw mechanisms is
questionable and present-day experience
in secondary flight control applications
may not be directly transferable to
primary flight controls, due to very
different duty cycles in particular
Wear of the mechanical transmissions
components may result in control
surface ‘free-play’ or other non-
linearities, which may generate
unacceptable limit cycles
The introduction of an EHA in parallel
with regular servo control in the basic
more-electric architecture described
above is easier than an EMA. EHAs can
easily be made reversible in standby
mode, they can incorporate identical
damping devices to those currently used
for flutter protection, and they can be
built with many components common
with the adjacent servo control such as
the piston, cylinder, associated position
transducer or the accumulator. In an
obvious move to spread the technical as
well as financial risk, Airbus has called
on the talents of several companies for
the design, production and supply of the
many actuators on this mammoth
aircraft. Specifically, the A380 aileron
and elevator EHAs, as well as rudder
EBHAs are purchased from Goodrich,
while Messier-Bugatti will supply the
associated EHA pumps. Meanwhile, the
spoiler EBHAs are from Liebherr, which
supplies its own pumps. Phil Hudson,
Goodrich VP engineering for actuation
systems notes: “The electronic EHA
concept can also be designed to serve
more functions than simply motor
control. It can serve as a smart actuator
controller in its own right and be part of
a distributed control system or to control
a set of multiple actuators. Another
benefit is that this distributed technology
puts intelligence local to the actuation
elements in a control system and can
substantially reduce harness weight and
improve fault detection and isolation.”
Maintenance benefits are also
substantial. Power-by-wire EHA
actuation units are line-removable with
only mechanical and electrical
connections to the aircraft, which
eliminates the need to refill or bleed
systems of hydraulic fluids as is required
with central hydraulics. Since power-by-
wire actuators are self contained and
remotely located at the surfaces, the area
exposed to damage is greatly reduced.
Additionally, power-by-wire actuators
can be designed as position sensitive,
which means that the actuators provide
only the flow and pressure necessary to
move and hold the actuator in a desired
position. Conventional central-hydraulic
systems are configured to produce
continuous pressure. Flow is metered at
each actuator, which can lead to a large
consumption of power and generate
unwanted heat. William Schley, R&D
supervisor, Parker Aerospace, Controls
Systems Division explains that EHAs
only consume power on demand.
Specifically, they consume power in
proportion to the power delivered to the
load. In contrast, a conventional EVSV-
equipped hydraulic servoactuator
consumes power in proportion to output
speed, allocating power to output load as
needed, with the remainder of the power
being dissipated through pressure drop
(heat) across the main control valve.
Whilst hydraulic actuators become more
efficient the more they are loaded, loads
are typically low during most of a
flight.” Another important advantage of
electric actuators is survivability.
Ballistic or explosive damage to an
electric power distribution system or
actuator usually does not cause loss of
function of that entire channel,
particularly if the damage is peripheral.
In a hydraulic system, depending on its
design, even a small leak can cause a
major loss of function and/or fire.
Although some electric actuators contain
hydraulic fluid, the system as a whole is
still usually more survivable. For now,
these more advanced failure
management functions are being
provided by the EHA and its variants.
EHA combines the best of electric
actuation and conventional hydraulics
for a hybrid design approach, which is
more fault tolerant than most current
EMAs. Moreover, EHAs are
mechanically simple, and immune to
gear train jams. The typical long-term
storage capability for EHA is 10 years
plus.
Next-Generation---All-Electric and secondary flight control surfaces.
Aircraft: The consequential increase in electrical
power demand has major implications
for electrical power generation and
The “All-Electric” aircraft is a concept
distribution systems. Thus, a significant
that emerged in the 1970s and has
amount of work is still needed to address
engendered a large amount of research
the consequences of distributing many
activity. An all-electric engine, which
electrical actuators around an aircraft,
could replace current aero gas turbines,
and the consequential start-up, steady
would drive all accessories electrically,
state, and peak demands required of
via a distribution network, from
aircraft electrical power supplies.
motor/generators embedded in the
It is clear that the migration to electric
engine spools. Extending the function of
actuation systems is affecting both civil
the motor/generators to include service
and military markets. As described
as active magnetic bearings would
previously, the replacement of a single
facilitate deletion of the oil system. The
hydraulic system by an electric
all-electric concept thus offers a huge
substitute is a major step in the transition
scope for both engine and airframe
to all-electric technologies. It is quite
reconfiguration and operational
evident that the demands being made on
improvements, with studies indicating
aircraft generators and distribution
benefits of overall weight reduction,
architectures will increase considerably
increased reliability, easier
to meet the needs of this migration. A
maintainability, reduced operating costs
company named TRW has already
(including reduced fuel burn), and
developed products to meet the current
enhanced safety.
demands envisioned by PBW and has
programs to ensure that it will meet any
future demands required by the all-
electric aircraft. Finally, it is envisioned
that once in service, electric actuator
technology and electrical system
architectures will improve the
Conclusion:
commercial viability and in-service
reliability of the airframes to which they
Beginning with the scenario of a single are fitted. These improvements will
hydraulic power supply replaced by an undoubtedly drive the adoption of
electric one, it is possible to establish the greater levels of electric actuation on
relativity and scale for the changes future aircraft.
required in the migration toward the
“All-Electric” aircraft concept. On a
small civil airliner, typically a minimum
of five electric actuators would be
needed to provide one lane of electrical
control for the primary flight control
surfaces. If all hydraulic systems were
converted to electric, in excess of 20
electric actuators would be needed to
provide complete control of all primary