Modeling and Simulation of High Redundancy Linear Electromechanical Actuator for Fault Tolerance

摘要

High redundancy actuator (HRA) is a linear actuator, having the capability of inherent fault tolerance. It provides the fault tolerance by using a large number of small actuation elements that are attached in series and parallel arrangement within. These actuation elements will work collectively to form as a single HRA. During the usual operation, some of these actuation elements may get faulty. In this circumstances, the HRA will still work, but with a graceful degradation in its performance. This paper discusses the mathematical modeling of the single actuator based on electromechanical actuation elements and based on that, an HRA with nine actuation elements has been modeled. The results are simulated with the help of MATLAB/Simulink module under both faulty and healthy conditions. The obtained results show that there is no sudden failure of the HRA even though there are faulty elements present within the actuator.