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Resource person Ali Khalid

Department of Aviation Management & Technology Superior University, Lahore.

By the end of this session , you will be able to:


Understand the basics of flight control system Understand the aircraft actuation system. Know about the advanced actuation concepts.

All set for systems? now lets start then

Flight Control System

Flight controls have advanced considerably throughout the years. In the earliest biplanes flown by the pioneers flight control was achieved by warping wings and control surfaces by means of wires attached to the flying controls in the cockpit.

Figure shows the multiplicity of rigging and control wires on an early monoplane.

The use of articulated flight control surfaces followed soon after but the use of wires and pulleys to connect the flight control surfaces to the pilots controls persisted for many years until advances in aircraft performance rendered the technique inadequate for all but the simplest aircraft.

When top speeds advanced into the transonic region the need for more complex and more sophisticated methods became obvious.
They were needed first for high-speed fighter aircraft and then with larger aircraft when jet propulsion became more widespread. The higher speeds resulted in higher loads on the flight control surfaces which made the aircraft very difficult to fly physically.

To overcome the higher loadings powered surfaces began to be used with hydraulically powered actuators boosting the efforts of the pilot to reduce the physical effort required.

This brought another problem: that of feel.

A further complication of increasing top speeds was aerodynamically related effects. The tendency of many high-performance aircraft to experience roll/yaw coupled oscillations commonly called dutch roll led to the introduction of yaw dampers and other autostabilization systems. The implementation of yaw dampers and autostabilization systems introduced electronics into flight control. Autopilots had used both electrical and air-driven means to provide an automatic capability of flying the aircraft, thereby reducing crew workload.

While there are many identical features between the fighter and commercial airliner examples given above, there are also many key differences. The greatest difference relates to the size of the control surfaces in relation to the overall size of the vehicle.

The fighter control surfaces are much greater than the corresponding control surfaces on an airliner.
This reflects its prime requirements of manoeuvrability and high performance at virtually any cost.

The commercial airliner has much more modest control requirements; it spends a far greater proportion of flying time in the cruise mode so fuel economy rather than ultimate performance is a prime target.

The pilots manual inputs to the flight controls are made by moving the cockpit control column or rudder pedals in accordance with the universal convention.
And you know what the universal convention right???

There are presently two main methods of connecting the pilots controls to the rest of the flight control system. These are: Push-pull control rod systems. Cable and pulley systems.

An example of each of these types will be described and used as a means of introducing some of the major components which are essential for the flight control function.

The key element in the flight control system, increasingly so with the advent of fly-by wire and active control units, is the power actuation.
Actuation has always been important to the ability of the flight control system to attain its specified performance. The development of analogue and digital multiplecontrol lane technology has put the actuation central to performance and integrity issues.

An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature (variable) of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity. for example, as resistance increases voltage drops down as shown in the figure.

In digital signal a continuous quantity is represented by a discrete function which can only take on one of a finite number of values. For example

Simple mechanical actuation.


Mechanical actuation with simple electromechanical features. Multiple-redundant electromechanical actuation with analogue control inputs and feedback.

The attributes of mechanical actuation are straightforward; the system demands a control movement and the actuator satisfies that demand with a power-assisted mechanical response. The BAE SYSTEMS Hawk 200 is a good example of a system where straightforward mechanical actuation is used for most of the flight control surfaces.

For most applications the mechanical actuator is able to accept hydraulic power from two identical/redundant hydraulic systems. The obvious benefit of this arrangement is that full control is retained following loss of fluid or a failure in either hydraulic system. This is important even in a simple system as the loss of one or more actuators and associated control surfaces can severely affect aircraft handling. The actuators themselves have a simple reversion mode following failure, that is to centre automatically under the influence of aerodynamic forces.

Mechanical actuation may also be used for spoilers where these are mechanically rather than electrically controlled. In this case the failure mode is aerodynamic closure, that is the airflow forces the control surface to the closed position where it can subsequently have no adverse effect upon aircraft handling.

The majority of modern aircraft use electrical signalling and hydraulically powered (electro hydraulic) actuators for a wide range of applications with varying degrees of redundancy.
The demands for electro hydraulic actuators fall into two categories: simple demand signals or autostabilization inputs.

Simple electrical demand signals are inputs from the pilots that are signalled by electrical means. For certain non-critical flight control surfaces it may be easier, cheaper and lighter to utilize an electrical link.
An example of this is the airbrake actuator used on the Bae system 146; simplex electrical signalling is used and in the case of failure the reversion mode is aerodynamic closure.

In general, those systems which extensively use simplex electrical signalling do so for auto stabilization. In these systems the electrical demand is a stabilization signal derived within a computer unit. The simplest form of auto stabilization is the yaw damper which damps out the cyclic cross-coupled oscillations which occur in roll and yaw known as dutch roll.

Modern flight control systems are rapidly moving towards fly-by-wire solutions as the benefits to be realized by using such a system are considerable.
These benefits include a reduction in weight, improvement in handling performance and crew/passenger comfort. Concorde was the first aircraft to pioneer these techniques in the civil field using a flight control system jointly developed by GEC (now BAE SYSTEMS).

In the civil field the Airbus A320/A330/A340 and the Boeing 777 are introducing modern state-of-the-art systems into service.

A simplified block schematic diagram of a multipleredundant electro hydraulic actuator is shown

1.

2. 3.

The solenoid valve is energized to supply hydraulic power to the actuator, usually from two of the aircraft hydraulic systems. Control demands from the flight control computers are fed to the servo valves. The servo valves control the position of the first stage valves that are mechanically summed before applying demands to the control valves.
The control valves modulate the position of the control ram.

4.

LVDT measures the difference between 1st stage actuator and the control ram, these signals are fed back to FCS.

The actuation implementations described so far have all been mechanical or electro hydraulic in function using servo valves. There are a number of advanced actuation concepts under development that may supplant the existing electro hydraulic actuator. These may be categorized as: Direct drive actuation. The Electro Mechanical Actuator (EMA). The Electro Hydrostatic Actuator (EHA).

In the electro hydraulic actuator a servo valve requires a relatively small electrical drive signal, typically in the order of 10 15 mA.
In the direct drive actuator the aim is to use an electrical drive with sufficient power to obviate the need for the servo valve/first stage valve. The main power spool is directly driven by torque motors requiring a higher signal current, hence the term direct drive.

The electromechanical actuator or EMA replaces the electrical signalling and power actuation of the electrohydraulic actuator with an electric motor and gearbox assembly applying the motive force to move the ram.

In the EHA an electric motor in each actuator drives a self-contained hydraulic system comprising pump and reservoir which provides the motive force to power the control surface to the demanded position. Once the control surface attains the demanded position the system locks up and no further power is required while that control position is held. This has significant potential for use in highpower/sustained load applications such as a fore-plane or stabilizer actuator, whereas an EMA would require power to hold the control surface position.

A common feature of all three new actuator concepts outlined above is the use of microprocessors to improve control and performance.

The introduction of digital control in the actuator also permits the consideration of direct digital interfacing to digital flight control computers by means of data buses (ARINC 429/ARINC 629/1553B).

DIRECT DRIVES

EMA, EHA

They emphasize concentration upon the continued use of aircraft hydraulics as the power source, including the accommodation of system pressures up to 8,000 psi.

On the other hand lend themselves to a greater use of electrical power deriving from the all-electric aircraft concept.

Shows the generic example of the main control loops as they apply to aircraft flight control, flight guidance and flight management

The inner loop provided by the FBW system and the pilots controls effectively control the attitude of the aircraft. The next outer loop is that affected by the Autopilot Flight Director System (AFDS) that controls the aircraft trajectory, that is, where the aircraft flies. Inputs to this loop are by means of the mode and datum selections on the Flight Control Unit (FCU) or equivalent control panel. Finally, the Flight Management System (FMS) controls where the aircraft flies on the mission; for a civil transport aircraft this is the aircraft route.

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