This project addresses the actuation system architecture of future All-electric
aircraft (AEA) with electrically powered actuators (EPA).
Firstly, the information of EPAs is reviewed, and then an electro-hydrostatic
actuator (EHA) and electro-mechanical actuator (EMA) are selected for further
system research. The actuation system architecture of Boeing and Airbus is
then presented as a conventional design where the new design concepts are
also researched and the distributed architecture was proposed as another
design trend. To find out which one is better, both of them are selected for
further research.
The easily available data makes the Flying Crane a better choice for the case
study. Stall load, maximum rate and power are the main elements for electric
actuator requirements and power consumption, weight, cost and safety are the
most important aspects for civil aircraft actuation systems.
The conventional and distributed flight actuation system design considered the
redundancy of systems and actuators, and also the relationship of the power,
control channel and actuator work mode. But only primary flight actuation
control system specifications are calculated since this data has better precision
and also the limited time has to be taken into consideration. Brief comparisons
of the two system specifications demonstrate that the higher power actuator
have has higher efficiency and distributed actuators could reduce the system
weight through reduce the system redundancy with a power efficiency decline.
The electrically powered actuation system for future aircraft design is a balance
between actuator number, system weight and power consumption
