Electric backup system and method for medium-sized propeller-driven aircraft

Abstract

The invention belongs to the field of aviation technology artificial flight control, and relates to an electric backup system and method for a medium-sized propeller-driven aircraft. Comprising a dual-redundancy steering column / disc / pedal force sensor, a control surface actuator, a backup flight control computer, a backup angular rate gyroscope and a set of backup steering column / disc / pedal displacement sensor, and the backup angular rate gyroscope and the backup steering column / disc / pedal displacement sensor are connected with the backup flight control computer through cables. The backup flight control computer is connected with the control surface actuator through a cable; and the dual-redundancy steering column / disc / pedal force sensor is connected with the backup flight control computer through a cable.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of artificial flight control in aviation technology, and relates to an electric backup system and method for a medium-sized propeller aircraft. Background Art

[0002] According to the requirements of the standards and specifications, in order to avoid common mode failures and single point failures of the fly-by-wire control system, a backup system independent of the normal system must be used. In the selection of backup systems, mechanical backup systems are gradually being replaced by electrical backup systems. Regardless of which backup system is selected, the backup system and the fly-by-wire control system should be completely independent, and the electrical backup system must also adopt a design that is not similar to the fly-by-wire control system.

[0003] Based on the safety considerations of medium-sized propeller aircraft, when using an electric backup system, a completely independent control system needs to be designed for the electric backup system to control the external power supply, command sensor, control command computer and servo. In order to solve the problem of normal system failure caused by failure of the onboard power distribution system, the electric backup system should use a backup power supply isolated from the normal system; in order to solve the problem of normal system failure caused by complete failure of flight control commands, the electric backup system needs to be equipped with a backup sensor; in order to solve the problem of complete failure of normal system command solution, the electric backup system needs to be equipped with a backup flight control computer; in order to solve the problem of complete electrical failure of the actuator controlled by the normal system, the actuator needs to be equipped with a backup electrical control coil and the power supply backup system control.

[0004] To sum up, the electric backup system should be equipped with a backup power supply, backup sensors, backup flight control computers, backup electrical control coils for actuators, etc. How to fully utilize the onboard resources to configure the electric backup system and further reduce the weight of the system while ensuring that the safety of the electric backup system is not degraded is the key goal of the present invention. Summary of the invention

[0005] Purpose of the invention: To provide an electrical backup system and method for a medium-sized propeller aircraft, so as to further reduce the weight of the flight control system while ensuring that the safety of the electrical backup system is not degraded.

[0006] Technical solution:

[0007] An electrical backup system for a medium-sized propeller aircraft comprises: a dual-redundant stick / plate / pedal force sensor, a control surface actuator, a backup flight control computer, a backup angular rate gyro, and a set of backup stick / plate / pedal displacement sensors, wherein the backup angular rate gyro and the backup stick / plate / pedal displacement sensor are connected to the backup flight control computer via cables, and the backup flight control computer is connected to the control surface actuator via cables; and the dual-redundant stick / plate / pedal force sensor is connected to the backup flight control computer via cables.

[0008] Furthermore, a set of backup driving command displacement sensors consists of three units, which are used to measure the displacement of the steering column, the displacement of the wheel, and the displacement of the pedals respectively.

[0009] Furthermore, the backup steering column / plate / pedal displacement sensor is a displacement sensor with a self-monitoring function.

[0010] An electrical backup method for a medium-sized propeller aircraft, the method being performed by means of the above-mentioned system, the method comprising:

[0011] Step 1: When the normal mode of the fly-by-wire is switched to the electric backup mode, the backup flight control system collects the control stick / disc / pedal force signals sent by the dual-redundant control stick / disc / pedal force sensors on the acquisition aircraft, the backup control stick / disc / pedal displacement command signals, and the backup angular rate signals from the backup control stick / disc / pedal displacement sensors;

[0012] Step 2: Assist in judging the validity of the backup driving displacement command signal through the dual-redundant steering lever / plate / pedal force signal, and determine the final backup driving displacement command signal;

[0013] Step 3: The backup flight control computer calculates the control law, performs servo control, and monitors according to the final backup driving displacement command signal and backup angular rate signal to achieve control of the control surface actuator.

[0014] Furthermore, in step 1, when switching from the normal fly-by-wire mode to the electric backup mode, it specifically includes: all actuator controllers fail or the pilot manually receives an instruction to switch to the electric backup mode.

[0015] Furthermore, step 2 specifically includes:

[0016] Step 21: If the dual-redundancy control lever / plate / pedal force signal is valid and the backup control lever / plate / pedal displacement sensor has not reported a fault, the backup control lever / plate / pedal displacement command signal is directly used;

[0017] Step 22: If the dual-redundant steering column / steering wheel / pedal force sensor is invalid, determine the status of the self-monitoring signal of the backup steering column / steering wheel / pedal displacement sensor. If the self-monitoring signal does not report a fault, use the backup steering displacement command signal of the steering column / steering wheel / pedal; if the self-monitoring signal reports a fault, the backup steering displacement command signal of the steering column / steering wheel / pedal takes a safe value.

[0018] Furthermore, in step 1, the backup driving displacement command signal collected is specifically:

[0019] The pilot operates the control stick, wheel and pedal mechanisms in the cockpit, or operates the longitudinal trim switch of the horizontal stabilizer on the control wheel to drive the longitudinal trim mechanism to drive the control stick control mechanism to move, and operates the lateral and heading trim switches on the central control console to drive the trim mechanism to drive the control wheel and pedal mechanisms to move, thereby generating longitudinal, lateral and heading mechanical control displacements, which are collected and output to the backup flight control computer through the backup control stick / wheel / pedal displacement sensors.

[0020] Furthermore, the monitoring in step 3 specifically includes:

[0021] The backup flight control computer compares the actual control surface actuator output position with the calculated expected control surface actuator output position. If the difference is within the set error range, the control surface actuator is considered normal. Otherwise, the electrical backup system reports a control surface actuator failure, thereby realizing the monitoring function of the control surface actuator.

[0022] Beneficial effects:

[0023] An electric backup system for medium-sized propeller aircraft is proposed to further reduce the weight of the flight control system without degrading the safety of the electric backup system.

[0024] The safety of the system is ensured through redundancy design, ensuring that the failure of one hydraulic source or power supply will not affect the normal operation of the system; the redundant design problem of the driving command signal is solved, and the weight of the system is reduced; the signal of the driving force sensor is introduced to assist in judging the validity of the driving command displacement signal, ensuring the safety of the system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the basic power backup mode;

[0026] Figure 2 FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a power backup mode according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] To prevent failure of the onboard power supply and hydraulic source, the flight control system adopts a hydraulic energy redundancy configuration solution. Three independent power supplies (2 bus bars and 1 battery) and three hydraulic sources are configured with redundancy to ensure that the failure of one energy source does not affect the system operation, and the minimum control surface can still be controlled after the failure of two energy sources.

[0028] Under the influence of propeller slipstream, the control margin of the aircraft's main control surface is small. In order to improve the aircraft's flight stability, the designed electric backup system is equipped with a backup angular rate gyro to give the electric backup system a stabilization function, thereby improving the aircraft's flight stability in electric backup mode.

[0029] In order to prevent the failure of control commands in normal mode, that is, the failure of signal transmission between the on-board driving displacement sensor and the actuator controller, three electric backup driving command displacement sensors are designed to convert the pilot's control stick / plate / pedal mechanical displacement commands into electrical signals in the electric backup mode and provide them to the backup flight control computer, which then collects, solves and processes the commands.

[0030] In order to reduce the redundancy loss caused by the three electric backup driving command displacement sensors, the driving force sensor signal on the machine is introduced to assist in judging the validity of the only signal, thus ensuring the safety of the system.

[0031] The electrical backup system architecture of the present invention is a flight control battery + 1 backup flight control computer + 1 backup angular rate gyro (depending on the situation) + 1 set of 3 backup driving command displacement sensors.

[0032] like Figure 1 As shown, an electrical backup system architecture is a flight control battery, a backup flight control computer, a backup angular rate gyro and two sets (a total of 6 sets) of backup driving command displacement sensors, all of which transmit electrical signals through cables. The function of the two sets (a total of 6 sets) of backup joystick, steering wheel and pedal displacement sensors is to convert the mechanical displacement signals of the joystick, steering wheel and pedal collected by the driver into electrical signals, and transmit the mechanical displacement signals of the joystick, steering wheel and pedal to the backup flight control computer through cables. The backup flight control computer integrates the displacement signal and the angular rate signal collected by the backup angular rate gyro to solve the control law to control the deflection of the rudder surface.

[0033] like Figure 2 As shown, the present invention uses redundant optimization design to Figure 1 The power backup architecture is optimized to form Figure 2 The system architecture specifically adopts a flight control battery, a backup flight control computer, a backup angular rate gyro, and a set (a total of 3 sets) of backup driving command displacement sensors. The present invention only adds 6 wires and a branching module to split the original control stick / plate and pedal force sensor signals on the aircraft into two and send them to the backup flight control computer, and the weight increase is negligible. Figure 1 Compared with the electrical backup system architecture, one set (total of 3 sets) of backup driving command displacement sensors and their connecting cables to the backup flight control computer (about 30 wires) are reduced.

[0034] In summary, under the premise of ensuring that the safety of the electrical backup system is not degraded, the weight of the flight control system is reduced by reducing a set of backup driving command displacement sensors and their connecting cables.

[0035] When performing flight control, the specific steps are as follows:

[0036] Step 1: The pilot operates the control stick, plate, and pedal control mechanism in the cockpit, or operates the longitudinal trim switch on the horizontal stabilizer on the control panel to drive the longitudinal trim mechanism to drive the control stick control mechanism to move, and operates the lateral and heading trim switches on the central control console to drive the trim mechanism to drive the control plate and pedal control mechanism to move, thereby generating longitudinal, lateral and heading mechanical control displacements. The flight control computer calculates the comprehensive control law and outputs the control command of the control surface, thereby controlling the deflection of the control surfaces such as the aileron, elevator, rudder, spoiler and horizontal stabilizer to realize the aircraft control function;

[0037] Step 2: When all actuator controllers fail or the pilot manually switches to the electric backup mode, the system switches from the normal fly-by-wire mode to the electric backup mode. The backup command displacement sensor collects the aircraft's driving command signal, and the backup angular rate gyro collects the aircraft's three-axis angular rate signal, which is sent to the backup flight control computer as an input signal.

[0038] Step 3: The control stick / plate / pedal force signal sent by the backup flight control computer acquisition machine is used for auxiliary judgment. Since the reliability of the force signal sensor (double redundancy) is higher than that of the backup displacement sensor (single redundancy), if the control stick / plate / pedal force signal is valid and the backup control stick / plate / pedal displacement sensor has not reported a fault, it is considered that the backup driving displacement command signal of the control stick / plate / pedal is also valid, and the control stick / plate / pedal backup driving displacement command signal is directly used; if the dual-redundancy control stick / plate / pedal force sensor is invalid, the state of the self-monitoring signal of the backup control stick / plate / pedal displacement sensor is judged. If the self-monitoring of the backup control stick / plate / pedal displacement sensor has not reported a fault, the backup driving displacement command signal of the control stick / plate / pedal is used. If the self-monitoring of the backup control stick / plate / pedal displacement sensor has reported a fault, the backup driving displacement command signal of the control stick / plate / pedal takes a safe value, thus ensuring the safety of the system.

[0039] Step 4: The backup flight control computer integrates the collected input signals to perform control law calculation and servo control functions. The backup flight control computer compares the actual control surface actuator output position with the calculated expected control surface actuator output position. If the difference is within the set error range, the control surface actuator is considered normal. Otherwise, the electrical backup system reports a control surface actuator failure, thereby realizing the monitoring function of the control surface actuator.

Claims

1. An electrical backup system for a medium-sized propeller aircraft, characterized in that: include: Dual-redundant stick / plate / pedal force sensors, control surface actuators, backup flight control computer, backup angular rate gyro, and 1 set of backup stick / plate / pedal displacement sensors, among which the backup angular rate gyro and backup stick / plate / pedal displacement sensors are connected to the backup flight control computer via cables, and the backup flight control computer is connected to the control surface actuators via cables; the dual-redundant stick / plate / pedal force sensors are connected to the backup flight control computer via cables.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that A set of backup driving command displacement sensors consists of three units, which are used to measure the displacement of the steering column, the wheel and the pedal respectively.

3. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The backup steering column / plate / pedal displacement sensor is a displacement sensor with self-monitoring function.

4. An electrical backup method for a medium-sized propeller aircraft, characterized in that: The method is performed by means of a system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, and the method comprises: Step 1: When the normal mode of the fly-by-wire is switched to the electric backup mode, the backup flight control system collects the control stick / disc / pedal force signals sent by the dual-redundant control stick / disc / pedal force sensors on the acquisition aircraft, the backup control stick / disc / pedal displacement command signals, and the backup angular rate signals from the backup control stick / disc / pedal displacement sensors; Step 2: Assist in judging the validity of the backup driving displacement command signal through the dual-redundant steering lever / plate / pedal force signal, and determine the final backup driving displacement command signal; Step 3: The backup flight control computer calculates the control law, performs servo control, and monitors according to the final backup driving displacement command signal and backup angular rate signal to achieve control of the control surface actuator.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that In step 1, when switching from the normal telex mode to the electrical backup mode, the steps specifically include: All actuator controllers fail or receive a manual command from the pilot to switch to electric backup mode.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that Step 2 specifically includes: Step 21: If the dual-redundancy control lever / plate / pedal force signal is valid and the backup control lever / plate / pedal displacement sensor has not reported a fault, the backup control lever / plate / pedal displacement command signal is directly used; Step 22: If the dual-redundant steering column / steering wheel / pedal force sensor is invalid, determine the status of the self-monitoring signal of the backup steering column / steering wheel / pedal displacement sensor. If the self-monitoring signal does not report a fault, use the backup steering displacement command signal of the steering column / steering wheel / pedal; if the self-monitoring signal reports a fault, the backup steering displacement command signal of the steering column / steering wheel / pedal takes a safe value.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that In step 1, the backup driving displacement command signal collected is specifically: The pilot operates the control stick, wheel and pedal mechanisms in the cockpit, or operates the longitudinal trim switch of the horizontal stabilizer on the control wheel to drive the longitudinal trim mechanism to drive the control stick control mechanism to move, and operates the lateral and heading trim switches on the central control console to drive the trim mechanism to drive the control wheel and pedal mechanisms to move, thereby generating longitudinal, lateral and heading mechanical control displacements, which are collected and output to the backup flight control computer through the backup control stick / wheel / pedal displacement sensors.

8. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The monitoring in step 3 specifically includes: The backup flight control computer compares the actual control surface actuator output position with the calculated expected control surface actuator output position. If the difference is within the set error range, the control surface actuator is considered normal. Otherwise, the electrical backup system reports a control surface actuator failure, thereby realizing the monitoring function of the control surface actuator.

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