The Development of Electromechanical Actuation for Aircraft Systems

Abstract

In the past electromechanical actuators have been used to operate and control functions that demanded reasonably low power whilst the more arduous requirements of secondary and primary flying control surfaces have been powered by hydraulic motors and drives. With the advent of rare earth permanent magnet electrical machines with greatly enhanced magnetic properties allowing higher powers to be achieved without significant increases in mass and dimension, together with the development of high voltage power electronic devices, it is now possible to extend the application of electomechanical actuation even to primary flying control surfaces. This paper highlights some design aspects in the development of electromechanical actuators (EMA's), draws attention to the several advantages of EMA's and their rare earth drive motors and addresses some of the problems that need to be tackled in order to achieve full certification for future aircraft.