High-Performance Electromechanical Actuator Dynamic Heat Generation Modeling

All-electric aircraft is a high-priority goal in the avionics community. Both increased reliability and efficiency are the promised implications of this move. But, thermal management has become a significant problem that must be resolved before reaching this goal. Electromechanical actuators (EMAs) are of special concern. Advanced analysis technologies such as the finite element method (FEM) and intelligent control systems such as field-oriented control (FOC) are being used to better understand the source of the heat and to eliminate as much of it as possible. This paper describes the nonlinear, lumped-element, integrated modeling of a permanent magnet (PM) motor used in an EMA. The parameters, including nonlinear inductance, rotor flux linkage, and thermal resistances and capacitances, are tuned using FEM models of a real, commercial actuator. The FOC scheme and the lumped-element thermal model are also described.