Power flow analysis in electro-mechanical actuators for civil aircraft

One of the most recent trends in the aerospace industry is the increased use of electrical power in place of hydraulic, pneumatic and mechanical power. This study presents an analytical and experimental feasibility study regarding the application of an electro-mechanical actuator for the aileron of an aircraft using a real flight profile as a reference. The analysis is focused on the input power flow of the actuator converter, showing that the total amount of energy that would be regenerated into the aircraft power network is small and that the use of a bi-directional power flow converter has the advantage of reducing the size of the braking circuit. The investigation is carried out assuming a two-stage matrix converter as the candidate power conversion topology. However, many of the conclusions are equally applicable to other conversion topologies that are capable of bi-directional power flow.