Electromechanical actuators are widely used in miscellaneous applications in engineering such as aircrafts, missiles, etc. due to their momentary overdrive capability, long-term storability, and low quiescent power/low maintenance characteristics. This work focuses on electromechanical control actuation systems (CAS) that are composed of a brushless direct current motor, ball screw, and lever mechanism. In this type of CAS, nonlinearity and asymmetry occur due to the lever mechanism itself, saturation limits, Coulomb friction, backlash, and initial mounting position of lever mechanism. In this study, both nonlinear and linear mathematical models are obtained using governing equations of motion. By using the linear model, it is shown that employing a PI-controller for position and a P-controller for velocity will be sufficient to satisfy performance requirements in the inner-loop control of an electromechanical CAS. The unknown controller parameters and anti-windup coefficient are obtained by the Optimization Tools of MATLAB using nonlinear model. Results obtained from the nonlinear model and real-time unloaded and loaded tests on a prototype developed are compared to verify the nonlinear model.

In this paper, a mathematical model to simulate the pressure and flow rate characteristics of a spool valve is derived. To improve the simulation accuracy, the discharge coefficient through the spool valve ports is assumed to be a function of both the Reynolds number and the orifice geometry rather than treating it as a constant. Parameters of the model are determined using the data obtained by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses conducted on two-dimensional axisymmetric domains using ANSYS Fluent 15® commercial software. For turbulence modeling, shear stress transport (SST) k–ω model is preferred after a comparison of performance with the other available turbulence model options. The resulting model provides consistent pressure and flow rate estimations with CFD analyses and a smooth transition between different geometrical conditions. The ultimate aim of this study is to fulfill the need for a model to precisely determine the geometrical tolerances of spool valve components for optimum performance. Estimations of the developed model is compared with the experimental data of a spool valve, and the model is proved to be able to accurately estimate the maximum leakage flow rate, the pressure sensitivity, and the shapes of leakage flow/load pressure curves.

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Instead of using the tedious process of manual positioning, an off-line path planning algorithm has been developed for military turrets to improve their accuracy and efficiency. In the scope of this research, an algorithm is proposed to search a path in three different types of configuration spaces which are rectangular-, circular-, and torus-shaped by providing three converging options named as fast, medium, and optimum depending on the application. With the help of the proposed algorithm, 4-dimensional (D) path planning problem was realized as 2-D + 2-D by using six sequences and their options. The results obtained were simulated and no collision was observed between any bodies in these three options.

Hydraulic control systems are commonly used in helicopter main rotor control applications because of the agility of the system and operational capability under heavy loads. It is significant to obtain better performance from hydraulic control system to ease the helicopter control under heavy loads. In this study, a complete helicopter main rotor hydraulic control system is modeled by using MATLAB/Simulink® to simulate system responses. Kinematic model of helicopter input is obtained. Hydraulic interface of a Flight Control Actuator is obtained. Pitch (α) and Roll (β) angle of stationary swashplate is obtained. Finally, 3 degrees of freedom rotor equivalent model is obtained. To enhance the overall dynamic performance of the system, a PI controller is developed and implemented to the system by an additional actuator. Furthermore, feedback system is modified to have a more stable controller by adding a feedback actuator, to give position of equivalent rotor mass as feedback to Flight Control Actuator. It is concluded that adding a PI controller is highly beneficial in terms of extending the controllable frequency range. Furthermore, modified feedback system is found to be extremely beneficial by decreasing amplitude and improving overall dynamic characteristics.