A fault tolerant electric drive for an aircraft nose wheel steering actuator

This paper describes the design and testing of a dual-lane electric drive for the operation of a prototype, electromechanically actuated, nose wheel steering system for a commercial aircraft. The drive features two fully independent motor controllers, each operating one half of a three-phase motor to produce an actuator capable of full operation in the event of an electrical fault. An isolated communications link between the controllers allows for consolidation of parameters to identify faults and synchronise outputs to ensure even load sharing. A selection of results is presented from motor dynamometer performance analysis and fully loaded output tests on an Airbus hydraulic test rig at Filton, UK.