Reliability analysis of the flap mechanism with multi-pivots

The flap is an over constrained mechanism with multiple pivots, which assembled along a common axis on the wing. Practically, due to various errors and structure deformation caused by aerodynamic load, it´s hard to make sure that the pivots are coaxial. Some pivots which deviate from the axis will have undesirable impacts on the dynamic performance of the mechanism when the flap runs up and down. Severely, the mechanism will be seizure and the entire system will be failure. As one of the most important mechanisms in aircraft, the reliability of the flat is crucial for the safety and reliability of the aircraft, and it is of great significance to improve its reliability. In this paper, a highly parametric analytical model is developed using dynamic simulation software. Based on the model, the reliability of the mechanism is calculated by combining the means of Response-surface and Monte-Carlo simulation. Finally, the sensitivity analysis for driving torque provides some useful information for the flap reliability optimization.