Advanced Materials Research Vols 989-994 (2014) pp 2947-2950 Submitted: 2014-05-28

© (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland Accepted: 2014-05-29

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.989-994.2947 Online: 2014-07-16

Analysis of Aircraft Hydraulic System Failures

Wenguang ZHANG1, a, GuoMin LIN2, b
1
Department of graduate Xijing University, Xi’an, 710123, China
2
Department of graduate Xijing University, Xi’an, 710123, China
a
email: 935460009@qq.com, bemail: bgmlin@21cn.com,

Keywords: Aircraft hydraulic systems; hydraulic pipe; failures; Oil Pollution

Abstract. The hydraulic system of Aircraft is an important power organization and plays an
important role in the process of airplane operation. The failures of the airplane have the character of
concealment, complexity and uncertainty. So if the hydraulic system ran out of order it not only
cause huge casualties and economic losses, but also has a long and low efficiency maintenance
cycle. This text analyzes the common causes of the failures and the failures that newly appeared of
the aircraft hydraulic systems in detailed. Some of effective solutions have been proposed which
quicken accelerate the speed of fault diagnosis and improve the efficiency of aircraft maintenance.

Introductions
The failure of the airplane characterize by its concealment, complexity and uncertainty. Therefore
if the plane hydraulic systems go out of order, it will have a long and low efficiency maintenance
cycle. With the development of the modern aircraft industry, the hydraulic structures of the plane
are becoming more and more complex, it also increase the failure probability of the aircraft
hydraulic system.
Recently a new kind of diagnostic technology has been emerged. The method of the technology
is to giant information with the sensor and signal measurement technology. Using computer and a
variety of testing instrument to establish the mathematical model and dealing with the data. But
Mathematical model of the method is very complex in addition to its uncertainty and external
disturbance. In some cases, the model even cannot be established. So knowing common failures of
the aircraft and the corresponding solutions will significantly shorten the maintenance cycle, reduce
the maintenance personnel technical level and improve the economic benefits.

Division of aircraft failures

The paper analyzes the failures of the aircraft from aspects of oil pollution, hydraulic pipe
fracture, high oil temperature and leakage in detail. Some of the corresponding solutions have been
put forward in order to improve the maintenance efficiency.
Oil pollution. The oil pollution means that oil mix with solid particles, water, gas, chemicals
materials and some microbes etc. The most serious pollution is solid particle pollution. The foreign
statistical data shows that 60% contaminants coming into the hydraulic system when the installation
process. The pollutants draw into the system in the regular maintenance Accounted for 20% and the
granules produced by parts natural wear accounted for 20%. The Airplane crashes that caused by
hydraulic system failure be up to 90% [1].Therefore the solid particle pollution is the mainly
responsible for the trouble of hydraulic system, and it is also the key of routing maintenance.
The first source of the particle contaminants come from outside of the system. In the process of
assembly, disassembly and daily maintenance, some of the polyester fibers and solid particles will
attach to the piston rod, or through the vent pipe mouth coming into the oil tank and caused oil
pollution. The second kind of the pollution particle is cause by the parts wear. When the system
working in high temperature for a long time the oil would be oxidized and produce colloidal
sediment. The Third kind of Pollutant is residual pollutants. These contaminants have already

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2948 Materials Science, Computer and Information Technology

existed before the system assembled such as iron filings, welding slag and cotton fiber. It is difficult
to completely eliminate and would throughout the hydraulic system when the aircraft working [2].
Aircraft hydraulic system Components must be cleaned before installation with silk cloth instead
of cotton and linen material cloth. In order to avoid fiber stranded on the surface of the parts and
then introduce into the hydraulic system.
Oil filter should be used properly. The hydraulic oil filter should be selected according to
hydraulic system pollution level. Generally, there are three oil filters in the aircraft hydraulic
system, 1 for supply pressure pipeline, 2 for oil return pipeline. In order to avoid pollutants entering
the hydraulic system the oil should be infect into the system from filter whose absolute precision
above 3um. New type of filter element has been widely used in aircraft for the purpose of
improving the ability to filter out dust. Metal rubber is a new type of elastic and porous material and
made up of metal wire via special preparation process. It has the advantage of high bearing
capacity, anti-clogging ability and the pressure continuous adjustable performance of its throttling
pore. The new material has been used oil filter making.
Tube fracture. From analysis of aircraft accidents caused by hydraulic tube broken recent years
Aircraft maintenance engineer knows that the tube broken actually is a kind of fatigue fracture.

Fig. 1: Wrinkles in hydraulic pipe wall of airplane Fig. 2: The micro cracks on the tube bell mouth

Most of the damaged places are the area where there have stress concentration such as
unreasonable hydraulic pipeline designing, too much Bending or fold appear on the inside wall of
the oil-pipe (refer with: Fig. 1).The main reason of the tube broken is that the aircraft hydraulic
system working in the high pressure, big flow pulse, huge hydraulic impact and high-frequency
pressure oscillation environment. For this reason the oil tube of the system will fatigue breakdown
by suffering of radial vibration and bending vibration.
Firstly, the size and the material of the hydraulic tube must be chosen according to the pressure
requirements. In normal conditions, high pressure system should choose stainless steel tube and
aluminum tube. Rubber hose always used in low system and scavenge oil system. Much attention
should be paid to when choosing a hydraulic pipe; the surface of the tube must not have the obvious
machining tool, micro cracks and other defects. Fluorine plastic pipe can also be used in hydraulic
section where Stainless steel tube difficult to install or the places with big pressure pulsation and
vibration [3].
Secondly, in order to avoid the faction between the tubes, the proper gap should be keep between
them. In the process of installation do not install forcefully when the tube are not aligned, in case of
stress concentration and crack produced on the bell mouth and the surface of the bend(refer with:
Fig. 2) [4].Thirdly, a support frame should be installed at the area where prone to come about
resonance. It is the effective way to solve pipe resonance and avoid hydraulic pipe fatigue cracking.
 Advanced Materials Research Vols. 989-994 2949

Leakage. Aircraft hydraulic system is using liquid oil as the working medium, so it has been
accompanied by the problem of oil leakage from the date of the birth. The reasons that cause
hydraulic system leakage and corresponding solution showed as below.

Fig. 3: Connectors can’t be totally matched Fig. 4: The complex layout of aircraft hydraulic pipe

Firstly, untight seal of connection join would cause pipe leakage. Screw the pipe connection
tightly when connect hydraulic pipe line. But screw too tight will destroy interface of the screw
thread and lead to leakage. The tightening force usually ensured by the torque spanner in
engineering. Unmatched thread of the connectors can also result in leakage in system. In the process
of installation and maintenance of the airplane, different criteria thread cannot be matched and some
threading connector with same size can’t be matched together because of their different pitch and
number (refer with: Fig. 3).
Secondly, sealing ring failure can also lead to leakage. This is mainly because the bad sealing
environment. Hydraulic oil has the character of corrosive especially when system works for a long
time in high temperature. The high temperature oil will accelerated the oxidation and corrosion loss
of the rubber sealing ring. So in the aircraft daily maintenance the sealing ring should be checked
out and replaces them when they have defects.
Thirdly, unqualified maintenance behavior can also give rise to leakage. During the pipe
installation, tightening torque does not conform to the requirements and inappropriate tools using
will cause causing hydraulic system leakage, therefore, in the process of daily maintenance must be
carried out accordance with the manual strictly.
High oil temperature. In the hydraulic system, high oil temperature will also lead to the
oxidation and decomposition of hydraulic oil. It is also the important source of oil pollution. The
high oil temperature will aggravate aging failure of the sealing device. So high oil temperature is an
important reason that causes hydraulic system failure. The reason of high oil temperature and the
corresponding solution shown as blew.
Firstly, unreasonable layout designing of the attachment will rise system temperature. Because
the hydraulic pump working through drive of the engine rotor rotation, many hydraulic accessories
and tubes are installed around the engine compartment. The engine will generate lots of heat and
rising the temperature around when it working. Secondly, the complexity of the tube line and too
much turning will cause oil hit in the process of flow, a lot of kinetic energy is converted into heat,
which is an important reason of high temperature of hydraulic system oil(refer with: Fig. 4).
In currently aviation industry, there are two solutions to control hydraulic system temperature.
The first way is to increase heat dissipation and the other method is to reduce the energy loss. In
general machinery, the tank capacity could be increased in order to accelerated heat dissipation. But
the planes have a strict requirement of space. So the method of increasing the capacity of the tank is
not feasible in the aircraft. At present, the most successful technology is to arrange the export
2950 Materials Science, Computer and Information Technology

pipeline of the pump to the lower temperature area (the plan wings) and then go back to tank. Using
AMESim simulation software to analyze the thermal characteristics of airplane hydraulic system,
the result shows that the temperature of back pipe line which arrange at wing drop nearly 8 degree
[5]. So some of the hydraulic accessories and pipeline should be arranged in the places where the
environment temperature is lower. For the catheters that have to install in the high temperature
environment, heat insulation measures should be taken to control the oil temperature. If the heat
mainly comes from the radiation of engine, insulation board with lower black degree coefficient or
multilayer insulation measures can be used to reduce the heat [6].

Conclusion
Solid particles pollution of oil, pipe fracture, oil leakage and high temperature can lead to aircraft
failure and causing serious consequences. In order to avoid the occurrence of the above problems,
effective measures is not confined to the daily maintenance but also embrace the process of aircraft
designing, parts producing and assembling. Before the designing, some method should be prepared
to deal with the failures with high probability. To the problems that have already happened the
maintenance technicians should take measures according to the method proposed.

References
[1] Lailin DU. The particle pollution of plane hydraulic system and maintenance [J]. Hydraulics
Pneumatics & Seals. 2010 (5) 12-15.
[2] Dong ZHENG. Particle pollution of airplane hydraulic system and maintenance [J]. Science and
technology innovation and application. 2013 (3) 126.
[3] Lipeng DU. Hydraulic filters multiple-pass test technology present state and perspective [J].
Machine Tool & Hydraulics. 2013 (9) 176-178.
[4] Zhizhu ZHAO. analysis of Aircraft hydraulic system failure causes and countermeasures[J].
Equipment Manufacturing Technology. 2011 (4) 191-193.
[5] Yanyan LUO. Xinmin WANG, Analysis of influence of hydraulic line on the system heat load
[J]. Hydraulics Pneumatics & Seals. 2013(9)36-39.
[6] Xiuxia WANG. Aircraft hydraulic system temperature control method [J].Fluid Power
Transmission and Control. 2009 (1) 40-42.
Materials Science, Computer and Information Technology
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Analysis of Aircraft Hydraulic System Failures

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