Search Results (24)

This paper develops empirical relationships to estimate FAA/EASA and MIL-3013B rules-compliant take-off field performance for single and multi-engine aircraft. Recent experience with modern aircraft flight manuals revealed that popular empirical legacy methods are no longer accurate; improvements in tires and brakes lead to significantly shorter certified distances. This work relies upon a survey of current operational aircraft and extensive numerical simulations of generic configurations to support the development of a collection of new equations to estimate take-off performance for single and multi-engine aircraft under dry and wet conditions. These relationships are individually tailored for civilian and U.S. Military rules; they account for the superior capability of modern braking systems and the implications of minimum-control speed on the certified distance. Full article

Braking systems are essential to aircraft safety and operational efficiency; however, the variability of carbon brake wear, driven by the intricate interplay of operational and environmental factors, presents challenges for effective maintenance planning. This effort leverages machine learning classifiers to predict wear severity using operational data from an airline’s wide-body fleet equipped with wear pin sensors that measure the percentage of carbon pad remaining on each brake. Aircraft-specific metrics from flight data are augmented with weather and airport parameters from FlightAware^® to better capture the operational environment. Through a systematic benchmarking of multiple classifiers, combined with structured hyperparameter tuning and uncertainty quantification, LGBM and Decision Tree models emerge as top performers, achieving predictive accuracies of up to 98.92%. The inclusion of environmental variables substantially improves model performance, with relative humidity and wind direction identified as key predictors. While machine learning has been extensively applied to predictive maintenance contexts, this work advances the field of brake wear prediction by integrating a comprehensive dataset that incorporates operational, environmental, and airport-specific features. In doing so, it addresses a notable gap in the existing literature regarding the impact of contextual variables on brake wear prediction. Full article

This paper presents an innovative active monitoring strategy to manage asymmetry in aircraft flaps. Complex mechanical systems like high-lift devices may undergo a wide range of faults, such as a broken transmission torsion bar or wear and tear on control surface actuators just to name a few. These faults can alter the surface symmetry between the two sides of the wing, potentially leading to dangerous conditions. The proposed relative dynamic position control technique provides a more effective monitoring method to detect and identify flap asymmetry. Once the faulty side has been identified, the system activates the wingtip brakes to halt the uncontrolled flap. The remaining functional flap is then moved to match the braking point of the failed flap, reducing the asymmetry. This approach effectively manages the unwanted roll moment caused by flap asymmetry, thereby partially restoring the aircraft’s maneuverability post-failure. The proposed monitoring technique has been subjected to extensive testing under various operational and failure conditions with the use of a mathematical model, with both new and worn actuators, and considering a wide range of possible failure scenarios. Full article

Runway skid resistance is crucial for the safety of aircrafts. Despite being internationally regulated, investigation reports published by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the US National Transportation Safety Board indicate that 4.9–22% of runway excursion accidents are related to insufficient friction, or to friction overestimation. Consequently, based on this review of friction physics, aircraft accident reports, international runway surface regulation, and aircraft braking performance regulation, it was concluded that significant improvement in the management of runway surface characteristics can be achieved. Areas for potential improvement in the current systems for aircraft skid resistance include gaps in the operational reporting of prevailing runway contamination, as well as friction and surface texture measurement and interpretation protocols. Furthermore, aircraft braking performance regulations are not related to actual runway surface friction levels, resulting in reportedly good runways being found to provide inadequate aircraft skid resistance in certain conditions. Recommendations include improvements in the management of runway friction and texture measurement and analysis during pavement design, and through the service life of the pavement surfaces. Finally, the basis of an improved international runway surface engineering design and management system is outlined. Recommendations can reduce the risk of aircraft skidding accidents in the future. Full article

As the synthesis, modularization, and integration of avionics systems increase, the interconnections between systems and equipment within subsystems become increasingly complex, posing risks to the safety and reliability of the integrated avionics system. To address the risk of fault propagation due to functional cascade failures in integrated avionics systems, this paper proposes a discrete dynamic fault propagation analysis method, which was applied to an all-electric braking system to assess its feasibility. First, the architectural features of the Distributed Integrated Modular Avionics system are summarized. Subsequently, the constructed system layer model is described, establishing the function–resource hierarchical architecture. Subsequently, the behavior of cascading failure propagation in discrete dynamic systems is analyzed by integrating the cascading failure analysis method from SAE ARP 4761A and considering the coupling characteristics between system properties and functions comprehensively. This approach facilitates the development of a cascading failure propagation model for DIMA based on discrete dynamic systems. Finally, by using the all-electric braking system under DIMA architecture as a case study, key Core Processing Modules and failure-prone functions are identified. The findings reveal that within this system, CPM2 and CPM6 are particularly susceptible to failure propagation, and the automatic brake function is notably vulnerable. Data show that the system’s failure rate escalates markedly after $2\times {10}^4$ h of operation. Performing maintenance before reaching this threshold can further mitigate risks. This practice aligns with current international aircraft maintenance time regulations. The method proposed in this paper can be applied early in the allocation of DIMA resources to enhance security and support DIMA design. Full article

This study presents an energy regeneration model and some theory required to construct a regeneration braking system. Due to the effects of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, there is increasing interest in the use of electric vehicles (EVs), electric bikes, electric bicycles, electric buses and electric aircraft globally. In order to promote the use of electric transportation systems, there is a need to underscore the impact of net zero emissions. The development of EVs requires regenerating braking system. This study presents the advantages of regenerative braking. This system is globally seen in applications such as electric cars, trams, and trains. In this study, the design specification, design methodology, testing configurations, Simulink model, and recommendations will be outlined. A unique element of this work is the practical experiment that was carried out using 1.5 Amps with no load and 2.15 Amps with a load. The discharge voltage was purely from the 22 W bulb load connected to the capacitor bank as we limited this study to the use of 1.5 Amps and it took 15 min for a full discharge cycle, after which no charge was left in the capacitor bank. The results showed that the discharge rate and charging rate for the regenerative braking system were effective but could be improved. The objective of this paper is to investigate how a supercapacitor works alongside a battery in regenerative braking applications. This study demonstrates that the superconductor used can deliver maximum power when required. Also, it can also withstand elevated peaks in charging or discharging current via the supercapacitor. Combining a battery with a supercapacitor reduces the abrupt load on the battery by shifting it to the capacitor. When these two combinations are used in tandem, the battery pack’s endurance and lifespan are both boosted. Full article

Traditional reliability analysis methods such as Reliability Block Diagram, Fault Tree Analysis, and Markov Analysis are all subjective methods whose results significantly depend on the analysts’ skills and experiences. A model-based reliability method is proposed for the wheel brake system by using the architectural analysis and design language (AADL). The wheel brake system is modeled based on the AADL, and the AADL Error Model Annex is applied to describe the fault propagation of the system. An information extraction approach is proposed for the AADL-based model, and rules for transforming AADL-based models to colored Petri nets are given according to the information extracted. The reliability analysis of the wheel brake system is conducted in terms of the Colored Petri Nets. Through Monte Carlo simulation and linear regression, it is inferred that the lifetime of the wheel brake system follows a Weibull distribution with shape parameter 1.303 and scale parameter 9.992 × 10³, and the accuracy of the method has been verified. In this study, the reliability analysis results are generated via the system model automatically; they do not depend on the analysts’ experiences and skills, and ambiguity among different analysts can be avoided. Full article

The traditional method of taxiing for civil aircraft, which relies on their engines, may be surpassed by the new method of towing taxi-out due to its superior advantages such as reduced energy consumption, lower emissions, and higher efficiency. However, the towing taxi-out system poses a challenge to lateral stability due to the concentration of mass at the rear, leading to severe instability when turning at high speeds. To address this issue, a nonlinear civil aircraft towing and taxiing system model and a linear four-degree-of-freedom civil aircraft towing and taxiing system reference model were established using TruckSim and Matlab/Simulink software. The fuzzy proportional–integral–derivative controller was utilized, with the braking torque of each wheel serving as the control variable and the real-time yaw rate difference and its rate of change as the fuzzy control input. The controller was compared and validated with a traditional PID controller. The results of the simulation showed that the fuzzy PID control has better nonlinear characteristics and stronger adaptability to operating conditions compared to traditional PID control, providing timely, effective, adaptive, and robust control effects for the vehicle dynamics model. Under the fuzzy PID control, the peak yaw speed of the civil aircraft decreased to 10 degrees per second under double-shift conditions, representing an increase of 23.1%. Furthermore, the lateral stability and safety of the towing taxi-out system were improved, as evidenced by the reduction in the yaw rate of the tractor and civil aircraft under the hook condition. The use of this controller provides valuable technical guidance and support for the practical development and safe application of the towed glide mode. Full article

During aircraft braking, the change of ground adhesion forces can cause forward and backward vibration of the landing gear, and the performance of the brake disc may exacerbate this vibration. In order to solve this problem, a rigid–flexible coupling dynamic model of a two-wheel strut landing gear considering the friction characters of brake discs with different materials and a hydraulic brake system model is established in this paper. The brake disc friction characteristics effect on the low-frequency brake-induced vibration of the landing gear given different brake disc materials and ambient temperatures is studied. It is shown that the C/SiC brake disc has a “negative slope” phenomenon between the friction coefficient of the brake disc and the wheel speed, and this variable friction characteristic has a great effect on the low-frequency braking-induced vibration of the landing gear. In addition, the variable friction characteristics of the C/SiC brake disc are easily affected by ambient temperature, while the friction coefficient of the C/C brake disc changes stably. Full article

The aircraft anti-skid braking system (AABS) plays an important role in aircraft taking off, taxiing, and safe landing. In addition to the disturbances from the complex runway environment, potential component faults, such as actuators faults, can also reduce the safety and reliability of AABS. To meet the increasing performance requirements of AABS under fault and disturbance conditions, a novel reconfiguration controller based on linear active disturbance rejection control combined with deep reinforcement learning was proposed in this paper. The proposed controller treated component faults, external perturbations, and measurement noise as the total disturbances. The twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm (TD3) was introduced to realize the parameter self-adjustments of both the extended state observer and the state error feedback law. The action space, state space, reward function, and network structure for the algorithm training were properly designed, so that the total disturbances could be estimated and compensated for more accurately. The simulation results validated the environmental adaptability and robustness of the proposed reconfiguration controller. Full article

In this paper, a relative threshold event-triggered based novel complementary sliding mode control (NSMCR) algorithm of all-electric aircraft (AEA) anti-skid braking system (ABS) is proposed to guarantee the braking stability and tracking precision of reference wheel slip control. First, a model of the braking system is established in strict-feedback form. Then a virtual controller with a nonlinear control algorithm is proposed to address the problem of constraint control regarding wheel slip rate with asymptotical stability. Next, a novel approaching law-based complementary sliding mode controller is developed to keep track of braking pressure. Moreover, the robust adaptive law is designed to estimate the uncertainties of the braking systems online to alleviate the chattering problem of the braking pressure controller. Additionally, to reduce the network communication and actuator wear of AEA-ABS, a relative threshold event trigger mechanism is proposed to transmit the output of NSMC in demand. The simulation results under various algorithms regarding three types of runway indicate that the proposed algorithms can improve the performance of braking control. In addition, the hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experimental results prove that the proposed methods are practical for real-time applications. Full article

A high-quality and secure touchdown run for an aircraft is essential for economic, operational, and strategic reasons. The shortest viable touchdown run without any skidding requires variable braking pressure to manage the friction between the road surface and braking tire at all times. Therefore, the manipulation and regulation of the anti-skid braking system (ABS) should be able to handle steady nonlinearity and undetectable disturbances and to regulate the wheel slip ratio to make sure that the braking system operates securely. This work proposes an active disturbance rejection control technique for the anti-skid braking system. The control law ensures action that is bounded and manageable, and the manipulating algorithm can ensure that the closed-loop machine works around the height factor of the secure area of the friction curve, thereby improving overall braking performance and safety. The stability of the proposed algorithm is proven primarily by means of Lyapunov-based strategies, and its effectiveness is assessed by means of simulations on a semi-physical aircraft brake simulation platform. Full article

In order to deal with strong nonlinearity and external interference in the braking process, this paper proposes a robust self-learning PID algorithm based on particle swarm optimization, which does not depend on a precise mathematical model of the controlled object. The self-learning function is used to adapt to the diversity of the runway road surface friction, the particle swarm algorithm is used to optimize the rate of self-learning, and robust control is used to deal with the modeling uncertainty and external disturbance of the system. The convergence of the control strategy is proved by theoretical analysis and simulation experiments. The superiority and accuracy of the method are verified by NASA ground test results. The simulation results shows that the adverse effect of the external disturbance is suppressed, and the ideal trajectory is tracked. Full article

The landing gear system has the task of bearing the weight of the aircraft, bearing the impact load, and providing the braking function in the process of the aircraft taxiing, take-off, and landing. There are many parameters in the aviation brake pressure servo valve-controlled cylinder system (ABPSVCS) which will have a significant influence on the dynamic behavior of the system. Sensitivity analysis is an effective method to analyze the influence of system parameters on system characteristics, especially for nonlinear systems. The trajectory sensitivity method based on the description of system state space is used for the parameter sensitivity analysis of the ABPSVCS. By grouping various parameters for sensitivity analysis, the law of parameter sensitivity of each group is obtained, and the results are verified by experiments. The results can lay a theoretical and experimental foundation for the related research work of the aviation brake pressure servo valve. Full article

The E-LISA research project, under way within the Clean Sky 2 framework, has the objective of developing an innovative iron bird dedicated to executing tests on the landing gear of a small aircraft transport equipped with an electro-mechanical landing gear and electrical brake. Such tests include the simulation of complete landing procedures under different operating conditions such as runway friction, presence of periodical defects along the runway, variable aircraft weight, and approach speed. To this end, the iron bird requires novel solutions in both its architecture and its control scheme. This paper details an innovative solution that is being implemented in the E-LISA iron bird to enable the execution of tests on a landing gear, reproducing the effects of any type of runway irregularity. First, the rig architecture is presented in detail, with particular care toward the hybrid position/force control system that manages its operations. Then, a simulation model is introduced with the objective of verifying the control system stability and the test rig capability to reproduce on the test articles the effects produced on the landing gear leg of periodical runway irregularities. Simulations results are presented, highlighting the stability of the proposed control scheme and providing a preliminary assessment of the system performances. Full article