Design of Electrically Powered Morphing Winglet

Cycloidal and planetary gear drives are considered for the actuation of an electrically powered morphing winglet. A torque of 6723 N*m is required at the winglet hinge. The stepper motor selected as the electrical actuator is the HT34-487 stepper motor. This motor can provide a torque of approximately 6 N*m. The cycloidal drive consists of the selected stepper motor, a bevel gearbox, and a two-stage cycloidal gearbox. The bevel gearbox is used to change the axis of rotation of the stepper motor from span-wise direction to chord-wise direction. Stage one of the cycloidal gearbox contains an input shaft, two cycloidal disks with 180 degrees offset rotation, an eccentric cam and an output shaft. The cycloidal disks in stage one have 35 lobes, providing a gear ratio of 35:1. The second stage of the cycloidal gearbox consists of only one cycloidal disk with 34 lobes, providing a gear ratio of 34:1. The total gear ratio of the cycloidal drive is 1190:1. Material selection and FEA simulations are performed on the components in the cycloidal drive to ensure the selected materials can withstand the applied loads. A differential planetary gear drive is also considered to actuate an electrically powered morphing winglet. Spur gears are selected to be used as the sun and planet gears. A ratio of 180:1 is achieved in the planetary gear drive. Using gear tooth bending calculators, it is found that designing spur gears to withstand the loads of the electrically powered morphing winglet and to fit inside the dimensions of the wingbox is not feasible.

Design of Electrically Powered Morphing Winglet

Cycloidal and planetary gear drives are considered for the actuation of an electrically powered morphing winglet. A torque of 6723 N*m is required at the winglet hinge. The stepper motor selected as the electrical actuator is the HT34-487 stepper motor. This motor can provide a torque of approximately 6 N*m. The cycloidal drive consists of the selected stepper motor, a bevel gearbox, and a two-stage cycloidal gearbox. The bevel gearbox is used to change the axis of rotation of the stepper motor from span-wise direction to chord-wise direction. Stage one of the cycloidal gearbox contains an input shaft, two cycloidal disks with 180 degrees offset rotation, an eccentric cam and an output shaft. The cycloidal disks in stage one have 35 lobes, providing a gear ratio of 35:1. The second stage of the cycloidal gearbox consists of only one cycloidal disk with 34 lobes, providing a gear ratio of 34:1. The total gear ratio of the cycloidal drive is 1190:1. Material selection and FEA simulations are performed on the components in the cycloidal drive to ensure the selected materials can withstand the applied loads. A differential planetary gear drive is also considered to actuate an electrically powered morphing winglet. Spur gears are selected to be used as the sun and planet gears. A ratio of 180:1 is achieved in the planetary gear drive. Using gear tooth bending calculators, it is found that designing spur gears to withstand the loads of the electrically powered morphing winglet and to fit inside the dimensions of the wingbox is not feasible.

Selection Methodology of an Electric Actuator for Nose Landing Gear of a Light Weight Aircraft

Landing gear system of an aircraft enables it to take off and land with safety and comfort. Because of the horizontal and vertical velocity of aircraft, upon landing, the complete aircraft undergoes different forcing functions in the form of the impact force that is absorbed by landing gears, shock absorbers, and actuators. In this research, a selection methodology has been proposed for an electrical actuator to be installed in the retraction mechanism of nose landing gear of an aircraft having 1600 kg gross takeoff weight. Nose landing gear and its associated components, like strut and shock absorbers, were modeled in CAD software. Analytical expressions were then developed in order to calculate the actuator stroke, translational velocity, force, and power for complete cycle of retraction, and some were subsequently compared with the computational results that were obtained using MSC ADAMS®. Air in the oleo-pneumatic shock absorber of nose landing gear was modeled as a nonlinear spring with equivalent spring constant, whereas hydraulic oil was modeled as a nonlinear damper with equivalent damping constant. The nose landing gear system was modeled as a mass-spring-damper system for which a solution for sinusoidal forcing functions is proposed. Finally, an electrical actuator has been selected, which can retract and extend nose landing gear, meeting all of the constraints of aircraft, like fuselage space, aircraft ground clearance, locking loads, power consumption, retraction and extension time, and dynamic response of aircraft. It was found that the selection of an electrical actuator is based upon the quantification of forces transmitted to electrical actuator during one point load at gross takeoff weight. The ability of retraction and extension time, as dictated by Federal Aviation Regulation, has also been given due consideration in the proposed methodology as significant criteria. The proposed system is now in the process of ground testing, followed by flight testing in the near future.

Development of CENTS-RAS system using PLC improve water quality

Cheap Efficient Nursery Tank System - Recirculating Aquaculture System (CENTS-RAS) is an alternative hatchery system used in most places in Tanjung Demong Terengganu. Waste trap (Wastrap) is a system on CENTS-RAS to dispose of sewage and needs to be opened according to schedule to ensure water quality is at a good level. This requires employees to open the wastrap manually and in an orderly manner. Problems occur when the frequency does not occur regularly. Design and construction smart wastewater controlled by Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) to output electrical actuator ball valve fit in inlet water and wastrap installed in CENTS-RAS for maintaining good water quality. Disposal of dirty water as well as conversion with clean livestock water is systematically controlled based on the programmed time. Previously using manual methods for wastrap opening, fish survival and growth probably limit the production potential is around 78% -85%. After construction with smart system automatically regular scheduling with 4 time interval methods that have been set will work 24 hours a day for 50 days to ensure the conversion rate and life is high. Effectiveness water quality control were higher by implementing new design using automated methods.

Simulation of Electrical Actuator and Air Spring Actuator Controlled Suspension Systems for Automotive Vehicles

This article discusses methods to reduce the acceleration of a vehicle and increase its road holding ability. In the simulation using quarter car model, electric actuator and air spring based actuator are used as the main control elements. A three degrees of freedom system model is used in which the parameters for the tire, vehicle body and seat are considered. The required actuator force is calculated by a standard fuzzy controller. For analysing the performance of active suspension system, body acceleration and velocity are given as inputs to the controller according to ISO specified standards. Accelerations of the seat and vehicle body are used to judge the performance of the system.