Abstract
The process of filtration is critical to ensure long operative life to on-board hydraulic equipment, especially in rotating-wing application where the severe vibratory environment lead to accelerated wear of the mechanical components and hence an increased production of debris. Filtration is obtained by mechanically separating the physical contaminants from the hydraulic fluid by means of filters, which hence tend to clog under prolonged usage. Filter replacement has been so far pursued through scheduled maintenance strategy, which however have proven to be rather cost-ineffective. To transition to a Condition-Based Maintenance, new Prognostics and Health Monitoring frameworks need to be developed. The paper deals with the feasibility analysis of such a system based on a high-fidelity simulation environment, rigorous description of the operating conditions and state-of-the-art algorithms.
Highlights
The vast majority of the in-service aircrafts makes use of a centralized architecture to provide the hydraulic power needed to operate the actuators employed to regulate the behaviour of the flight control system, to retract and steer the landing gears and to provide additional functions
Some applications of Electro-Hydrostatic Actuators have recently emerged for fixed-wing vehicles, their application is still limited to back-up usage and do not avoid the need of a central hydraulic power unit; the same can be said for helicopters, where centralized architectures are still the safest and almost universally adopted solution to supply flight-control actuators
The centralized architecture is built upon the Hydraulic Power Control Modules (PCM)s, complex devices integrating the functions of several components to provide the intended flow-rate to the users, condition the fluid through filters and eventually heat-exchangers while ensuring a safe pressure level within the vehicle by means of properly placed relief valves and accumulators
Summary
The vast majority of the in-service aircrafts makes use of a centralized architecture to provide the hydraulic power needed to operate the actuators employed to regulate the behaviour of the flight control system, to retract and steer the landing gears and to provide additional functions. The paper deals with a preliminary study on the subject aimed at assessing the feasibility of such PHM system and highlight the most critical points to be addressed in further stages of the research, using an approach mutated from previous experience on electro-hydraulic actuators [3]. To meet these goals a dynamic model of the system is first presented and discussed; particular care is reserved to obtain an accurate representation of the uncertainties associated with the experimental measure and the physical processes.
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