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Unmanned Helicopter Flight Control Actuator Specification Through Mission Profile Analysis
Unmanned Helicopter Flight Control Actuator Specification Through Mission Profile Analysis
Abstract. Helicopter dronization is expanding, as for example with the VSR700 project, and
leads to the design and the integration of electromechanical actuators (EMA) into the primary
flight control system (PFCS). The PFCS is in charge of controlling the helicopter flight over its
4 axis (roll, pitch, yaw, vertical). It controls the blade pitch through dedicated mechanical
kinematics and actuators. The hydraulic technology has been conventionally used in actuators
for more than 60 years. On the other hand, the introduction of the EMA technology requires
the reconsideration of design practices right at development start. Indeed, the establishment
and synthesis of the specification need to deal with – new design drivers (high performance
points, wear, fatigue) and - new inherent technological imperfections (friction, inertia and
reduction ratio). To address these topics, this paper draws a list of the main EMA design
drivers to focus on along with a brief description of the main EMA components. Then, it
proposes indicators evaluated over a complete mission profile in time coming from
measurement on a given applicative helicopter flight. These indicators are chosen and
elaborated to provide an image of the design drivers responsible for rapid and gradual
degradations of the actuator components. Also, they give an idea of the importance taken by
the actuator imperfections into the global performance. Furthermore, we explain how mission
profiles are processed depending of data sources. Finally, through a comparison with a
standard aircraft mission profile, we emphasize the specificity of the helicopter application use
case.
1. Introduction
Figure 1. VSR700
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Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
11TH-EASN IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1226 (2022) 012100 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1226/1/012100
They actually control the helicopter in hands off mode such as following a GPS destination or
performing strategic approach to ground in special operative mission. Only one helicopter of Airbus
fleet (NH90) does not have any FCL, the hydraulic actuators (Direct Drive Valve DDV) are
commanded directly by 4 electrical torque-motors connected to the FCC (Flight Control Computer).
The hydraulic technology has been conventionally used in actuators for more than 60 years [1] [2]. A
new trend uses EMAs as substitutes to hydraulic actuators in PFCS of actual helicopters or as part of
Fly-By-Wire PFCS of new autonomous helicopters. This requires the reconsideration of design
practices right at development start. It is the case with the VSR700, an already proved light helicopter
turned into a drone by integration of electrical components, among them: 4 electromechanical
actuators (EMA) in the primary flight control system (PFCS).
1.3. Objectives
New design drivers (high performance points, wear, and fatigue) and new inherent technological
imperfections (friction, and inertia combined with reduction ratio) have to be considered. This paper
draws a methodology bringing a specification of EMA as a pre-process to preliminary sizing. The
helicopter application gives a dynamic loading spectrum and a vibratory/thermal environment which
are complex to simulate. Therefore, the methodology proceeds by the analysis of mission profiles
during real flight tests. To address this topic, we will first focus on EMA technology, its key design
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11TH-EASN IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1226 (2022) 012100 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1226/1/012100
drivers and propose indicators representing them. Then, we will deal with data processing for
estimating these indicators and develop a specification. Finally, we will compare aircraft vs rotorcraft
PFCS application in their respective EMA specification.
EMA technology already exists in the field of civil and military aviation for auxiliary functions
(non-critical in the sense of aviation safety) and/or back up functions (in case of failure of the critical
primary function) and in various industrial sectors for positioning workpieces or laboratory tools.
Right now, except for low-power and less safety-critical applications (flaps, slats, spoilers, trim
horizontal stabilizer), EMAs are not yet mature enough for primary flight controls because of their
lack of accumulated return of experience regarding : reliability & risk of failures due to jamming (in
mechanical transmission components), health monitoring (HM) & assessment, and thermal
management. However, research activities and development efforts carry on development of Power-
by-Wire (PbW) actuators at research level e.g. POA (Power Optimised Aircraft), MOET (More Open
Electrical Technologies), DRESS European projects, and VEGA space launcher TVC actuator.
Indeed, EMAs offers interesting perspectives in terms of performance, maintenance, integration,
reconfiguration, ease of operation, and management of power ([2], [1]). It is particularly suitable for
actuation of landing gears and flight controls since they are one of the main energy consumers on an
aircraft.
EMAs can be classified into three architecture categories as display in Figure 6.
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11TH-EASN IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1226 (2022) 012100 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1226/1/012100
This study is reduced to a brushless DC motor ignoring the power electronic. As KDD, we have peak
torque (corresponding to iron sheet magnetic saturation & magnet demagnetization), continuous
torque (corresponding to continuous winding temperature limit), and rotating speed (linked to max
magnet attachment resistance and iron losses).
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11TH-EASN IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1226 (2022) 012100 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1226/1/012100
1
RMS acceleration 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √ ⋅ ∫ 𝑥̈ (𝑡)2 ⋅ 𝑑𝑡 RMS acceleration 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠 m/s²
𝑇
mean value of speed 1.5 1
representative of iron 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛 = √ ⋅ ∫|𝑥̇ (𝑡)|1.5 ⋅ 𝑑𝑡 iron speed 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛 m/s
losses 𝑇
ambient temperature 𝜃𝑎𝑚𝑏 °C
(*) to justify the use of RMS averaging, we display an equivalent motor temperature evolution over time by filtering the load
F(t) through a motor thermal model
For case 1, position data from rotational potentiometers includes an important level of noise (from
rotor & engine vibrations) and their derivatives (speed, acceleration) are inconsistent. Applying
conventional filtering methods is not convenient since noise removal introduces delays not coherent
with load data. An elegant solution is the Savitzky-Golay filter [9] which has two main advantages: -
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11TH-EASN IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1226 (2022) 012100 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1226/1/012100
it does not introduce any delay in filtered data and - its polynomial approach easily gives derivatives
up to the 5th order.
For case 2, The FCC command has to go through a filter which is representative of the actuator
dynamism. We propose to apply a 3rd order filter in order to represent the position loop bandwidth
and classical ratio of 5-10 between position and speed loops bandwidths [8].
5.1. Indicators
Some indicators need a few comments to be understood:
𝑅𝑎 and 𝑅𝐹𝑟𝑚𝑠 are respectively the ratios:
continuousinertiaload continuousexternalload
Ra = R Frms =
max inertiaload max externalload
For rolling fatigue [4][10]: we set up an equivalent dynamic load 𝐹𝑟𝑚𝑐 such as:
1
𝑁𝑒𝑞 ⁄3 𝐿𝑒𝑞
𝐹𝑑 = 𝐹𝑟𝑚𝑐 ⋅ ( 6 ) ;𝑁𝑒𝑞 =
10 𝑝
𝐿𝑒𝑞 the equivalent distance travelled, p a supposed relevant pitch ratio for the application.
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11TH-EASN IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1226 (2022) 012100 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1226/1/012100
For the inertia impact: we propose 2 indicators of the load produced by the inertia effect
normalized by the external load.
𝑅𝐽𝑚𝑎𝑥 is the ratio of the load produced by the max acceleration out of the max external load to
fight against. Be aware that max acceleration and max load might not appear at the same time.
𝑅𝐽𝑃𝑅 is based on the pair (𝑎𝑃𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥 , 𝐹𝑃𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥 ) which is the acceleration and the load maximizing
the power rate. It gives the load produced by the acceleration 𝑎𝑃𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥 normalized by the
external load 𝐹𝑃𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥 . Here, 𝑎𝑃𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥 and 𝐹𝑃𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥 appear at the same time on the mission profile.
One would thus expect those 2 indicators to be close to each other if the max acceleration and
load occur at the same time, but could be significantly different if the peak acceleration occurs
while the external load is smaller or the other way around.
For loss analysis:
The iron losses from hysteresis and Foucault current contributions are supposed to be expressed
by a Steinmetz-like formula (see 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛 Table 1) [11] [12]. 𝑅𝐼𝐿 is the ratio of the iron losses
produced by 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛 and the ones produced by the max transient speed 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 . 𝑅𝐼𝐿 gives an idea of
the importance of iron losses during operation (Figure 7).
The RMS averaging reflects the averaged motor heating over a mission profile. The load seen
by the motor 𝐹𝑚,𝑟𝑚𝑠 can be extended as developed in Figure 9. To identify better the inertia
impact on motor heating (Joules losses), we define 2 indicators 𝑅𝑃𝑅 and 𝑅𝑎𝑅𝑀𝑆 (Figure 9).
𝑅𝑎𝑅𝑀𝑆 reflects the inertial load alone. 𝑅𝑃𝑅 reflects the coupling of the inertial and external load
using the Power Rate.
The Power Rate is defined by:
𝑃𝑅(𝑡) = 𝑎(𝑡) ⋅ 𝐹(𝑡)
It is a conservative quantity throughout the mechanical transmissions considering ideal
efficiencies.
The equivalent masses 𝑀𝑒𝑞,𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡 and 𝑀𝑒𝑞,𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡 are supposed to be relevant orders of
magnitude already proved in these applications.
5.2. Comments
Aircraft application has got the heaviest load spectrum; here we note a factor of roughly 50. In both
applications, loads have to be maintained all along flight phases, so we expect and observe roughly
same levels of equivalent heating (ratio R Frms ) and fatigue (ratio R Frmc ).
Helicopter requires 3 times more position bandwidth with, during cruise flight, a longer stroke.
This should go with higher speed & acceleration (ratios 𝑅𝐼𝐿 & 𝑅𝑎 do not show it clearly). However,
we see it through much higher induced losses linked to high dynamism (𝑅𝑃𝑅 & 𝑅𝑎𝑅𝑀𝑆 ) and a similar
level of iron losses 𝑅𝐼𝐿 .
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11TH-EASN IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1226 (2022) 012100 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1226/1/012100
During transient phases such as take-off & landing, the inertia effect takes a significant part as
much in rotorcraft as in aircraft application. During the transient period of time, this effect is canceled
out by the EMA thermal time constant.
What’s more, if we focus on 𝑅𝐽𝑚𝑎𝑥 and 𝑅𝐽𝑃𝑅 :
- on rotorcraft side, we observe that the tail rotor actuator (TRA) suffers much more from
dynamism than the main rotor actuator (MRA). The difference of dynamism contribution is
significant. This involves higher losses, hence very high 𝑅𝑃𝑅 & 𝑅𝑎𝑅𝑀𝑆 on TRA compared to MRA.
Obviously, the TRA design will have to be driven by small intern inertia.
- compared to aircraft, the rotorcraft has an external load contribution much smaller than the
dynamism, hence 𝑅𝐽𝑚𝑎𝑥 and 𝑅𝐽𝑃𝑅 are higher on rotorcraft side and 𝑅𝑃𝑅 & 𝑅𝑎𝑅𝑀𝑆 smaller on aircraft
side.
Finally, we observe that 𝑅𝑃𝑅 < 𝑅𝑎𝑅𝑀𝑆 on TRA and 𝑅𝑃𝑅 > 𝑅𝑎𝑅𝑀𝑆 in MRA. This means that there is
a significant level of external/inertia load coupling on MRA.
All things considered, both applications have their own technical difficulties: for aircraft, heavy
loads; for rotorcraft, high dynamism which takes a significant importance in EMA design due to the
losses it induces.
6. Conclusion
This paper presented a data driven specification which built a parallel between measurement data on
flight and EMA technologies using indicators to estimate over mission profiles. Then, it highlighted
two interesting precautions: - the application of an elegant filter in case of noisy data, - the use of
statistics as safeguards for peak values in case of non-representative set of mission profiles. Finally,
the comparison aircraft/rotorcraft emphasized their main characteristics: high load for aircraft, high
dynamism for rotorcraft. What’s more, on rotorcraft, it showed a clear difference between the
specification for a main and a tail rotor actuator. Hence, the importance to take into accounts the speed
and the acceleration into the next step of the EMA preliminary study: sizing.
(*) for none disclosure, rotorcraft stroke/load values are given as a percentage of aircraft values
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11TH-EASN IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1226 (2022) 012100 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1226/1/012100
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