Hydraulic Motor Actuation System for Aircraft Flight Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern thin wing aircraft designs face challenges in routing mechanical drive shafts due to congested wing spars, leading to complex wiring and increased weight, reliability issues, and maintenance difficulties in prior actuation systems that rely on multiple motor controllers and torque tubes.
Innovation Solution
A hydraulic motor driven actuation system that eliminates torque tube routes by using a common hydraulic power source to drive multiple actuators, providing synchronous or near-synchronous motion and reducing component count, weight, and manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If individual servo-controlled electric actuators with multiple motor controllers are used at each actuation station, then actuation control is achieved, but system complexity and wiring complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual motor controllers into a single centralized controller that manages all actuators through a common hydraulic power source. This consolidation reduces the number of separate control units from multiple per actuator station to one central control system, thereby reducing wiring complexity and system complexity while maintaining actuation control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The single centralized controller performs multiple functions by controlling all actuators across different actuation stations through a common hydraulic power source. This universal controller replaces the need for dedicated motor controllers at each station, reducing overall system complexity while achieving comprehensive actuation control.
2Ease of operation
If individual servo-controlled electric actuators with multiple motor controllers are used at each actuation station, then actuation control is achieved, but system weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple heavy motor controller units into a single centralized controller and uses a common hydraulic power source for all actuators. This merging eliminates redundant components and their associated weights, reducing the overall system weight while maintaining full actuation control capability across all stations.
3Power
If torque tube routes are used to connect central power drive unit to actuators, then mechanical power transmission is achieved, but routing becomes difficult in thin wing designs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical torque tube transmission system with a hydraulic power transmission system. Instead of using physical torque tubes that require complex routing through congested wing spars, the invention uses hydraulic fluid delivery through lines to power actuators, eliminating routing difficulties in thin wing designs while maintaining effective power transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs hydraulic principles by using a common hydraulic power source that delivers pressurized fluid through hydraulic lines to multiple actuators. This hydraulic system replaces the mechanical torque tube approach, enabling flexible routing within thin wing structures without the constraints of rigid mechanical drive shafts.
4Ease of operation
If multiple motor controllers and associated components are used, then actuation control is achieved, but component count increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate motor controllers and their associated components into a single centralized controller system that manages all actuators through a common hydraulic power source. This consolidation reduces the total component count from multiple distributed controllers to one central control unit, simplifying the system while maintaining full actuation control.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The hydraulic motor driven actuation system enables efficient, lightweight, and cost-effective operation of aircraft actuators, improving system reliability and simplifying maintenance by using a single hydraulic power source to control multiple actuators, ensuring synchronous motion and reducing weight and complexity.
Implementation Method 1
a hydraulic control module fluidly connected to the extend port and the retract port of each hydraulic motor
Implementation Method 2
Each hydraulic motor may have an extend port and a retract port and the one or more adjustable components may be configured to move along a respective drive path
Data Source
AI summary
A control system may be used to control actuators that actuate movement of flight control surfaces of an aircraft. Each actuator is couplable to a flight control surface and includes a motion control assembly having a hydraulic motor and a drive path from the hydraulic motor to the flight control surface. Each hydraulic motor includes an extend port and a retract port. The system includes a hydraulic control module fluidly connected to the extend port and the retract port of each hydraulic motor and a controller operable to output hydraulic power from the hydraulic control module to the motion control assembly to actuate movement of the flight control surfaces. The controller is configured to identify an actuator that positionally leads the other actuators and reduce hydraulic power to the motion control assembly assigned to such actuator.