Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) for Aerospace Servomechanisms: Proposal of a Lumped Model for Prognostics

Prognostics and health management of electromechanical actuators (EMA) must rely on affordable and representative simulation models to be effective in predicting the evolution of failures, so to identify them before they occur through the assessment of monitored parameters, leading to on-spot maintenance operations. In the last years, electromechanical actuators (EMA) and the related modelling and monitoring issues are subjected to a rising attention because of the design of next generation aircraft, based on the More Electric paradigm. In fact, especially in aeronautical fields (such as primary flight control systems), electromechanical actuators are progressively replacing traditional hydraulic and pneumatic systems because of their effectiveness and performances and, then, they are becoming safety-critical actuation devices: for prognostics and health management purposes of EMA, reliable and representative simulation models are needed in order to identify failures. In view of the above, this work proposes a multi-domain numerical simulation model of EMA, putting special attention on the fidelity of the numerical modelling of the inverter and of the related electromagnetic aspects; in particular, authors' research is focused on the modelling of the Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM), also known as Sinusoidal Brushless Motor. The choice of the multi-domain simulation is essential in order to enhance the behaviors of the said PMSM model and to overcome shortcomings related to the simplifying hypotheses that are typically considered in numerical models, which are commonly used also for prognostic analyses of electromechanical actuators.