Duty Cycle Analysis to Drive Intelligent Actuator Development

The field of intelligent actuators has been emerging for mechanical systems (aircraft, robots, manufacturing systems, more electric vehicles, human rehabilitation systems, etc.) as the dual of the computer chip for electronic systems. The level of intelligence necessary will be driven by the increasing performance demands for these ever more complex and nonlinear mechanical systems. These demands are best illustrated by actual duty cycles such as that presented here for aircraft control surface actuators. A representative duty cycle is analyzed using four basic methods/objectives that can be applied both in the development of new design requirements and the support of subsequent operational decision making software to maximize performance, provide for fault tolerance, and for condition-based maintenance. Both thermal and durability analyses are conducted yielding results which a prospective designer can use to support design decisions for a wide range of applications including power-by-wire (PBW) aircraft actuators.