2021 24th International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS) Oct 31-Nov 3, 2021 | Hybrid, Korea
A Review of Electric Actuation and Flight Control
System for More/All Electric Aircraft
Junhyung Bae
School of Electronic and Electrical
Engineering,
Daegu Catholic University,
Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, Rep. of Korea
baejh80@cu.ac.kr
Abstract—In recent decades, the aviation industry has made
remarkable progress based on the development of different
types of aircraft. Recent aircraft have begun to employ a large
number of electrically powered equipment, as in the case of
electric vehicles. These aircraft are referred to as M/AEA
(More/All Electric Aircraft), and for civil aircraft, Boeing 787
and Airbus 380, began to apply these technologies significantly.
2021 24th International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS) | 978-8-9865-1021-8/21/$31.00 ©202110.23919/ICEMS52562.2021.9634663
Current aircrafts are being replaced by electrically powered
equipment without the use of engine bleed air, which is the main
source of secondary power, hydraulic systems and pneumatic
pressure. This not only simplifies aircraft design and reduces
weight, but also improves engine efficiency, making it an eco-
friendly aircraft that improves fuel consumption and reduces
pollutant emissions. In this paper, the author gave an overview
and review electrically driven subsystems and flight control
systems for M/AEA.
Keywords—M/AEA, Electric Actuator, Electric Brake System,
Electric Generator, Flight Control System
I. INTRODUCTION
The aircraft have been optimized for their performance
and economic feasibility through steady technological
development. A major concern in recent aircraft development
has focused on developing technologies to reduce
environmental pollution. The use of fossil fuels increases
environmental pollution due to carbon dioxide and nitrogen
oxide emissions, and carbon dioxide in particular provides a
serious cause for global warming, and various complaints are
continuing due to increased aircraft noise. As shown in the
figure 1, the current amount of carbon dioxide emitted from
aircraft is about 2-3% of the total emissions, which is not yet
large compared to other industries, but it is expected to
increase to 5% by 2025. These predictive values predict that
demand for aircraft boarding has doubled every 15 years and
will continue to maintain that trend [1, 2].
Considering this trend, there is a reason to reduce
environmental pollution in the aviation. Recently, there has
been a situation in which a carbon tax has been applied to
aircraft using airports. Efforts to reduce environmental
pollution worldwide have only begun, with the European
Union and the United States setting field-specific targets
through the Clean Sky and CLEEN (Continuous Low Energy,
Emission & Noises) program, providing a roadmap for the
development of aircraft and onboard equipment to achieve
those goals [3].
In line with this recent trend, aircraft with the M/AEA
(More/All Electric Aircraft) concept are emerging in terms of
aircraft internal mounting systems. The unification of various
types of power sources, such as hydraulic and pneumatic, into
electrical power provides good advantages such as reducing
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aircraft weight, simplifying aircraft design, reducing engine
fuel consumption, improving maintenance, and reducing
hazardous emissions. In other words, future aircraft will
gradually replace hydraulic actuators on primary flight control
surfaces with electric actuators following the trend of
electrification of aircraft systems. The electric actuator
performance requirements are affected by the flight control
law, which must meet a wide range of flight quality
requirements.
This paper introduces M/AEA concepts, and related
technologies. The M/AEA concepts are described in section II.
The M/AEA subsystems are described in section III. Finally,
the flight control system and its integration are described in
section IV.
II. CONCEPT OF M/AEA
The M/AEA concept has received much attention in recent
years and there have been several research activities for
M/AEA in the past few decades. In fact, the M/AEA was first
attempted on the German Focke-Wulf FW 190A aircraft in
1941, not on the latest trend. At that time, the aircraft was
equipped with electrically operated landing gears, flaps and
tail wings using servo motors, and techniques to control the
pitch of propellers with electric power. Several attempts were
made in the 1950s after World War II, with the main purpose
being to gain the advantage of simple mounting design by
using electrical power, and to reduce the risk of fire due to
leakage of hydraulic oil. In the 1980s, NASA attempted to
M/AEA the Lockheed L1011, and technologies applied at the
time include ways to minimize engine bleed air and hydraulic
use and new methods of generating electric power, and
electro-mechanical actuators instead of hydraulic ones.
Recently, the introduction of the M/AEA concept began in
commercial civil aircraft, making the most recent A380 the
first civilian aircraft to apply the M/AEA concept, followed
by the B787 with more M/AEA concepts than the A380. It
also made great efforts by the U.S. Air Force to apply the
M/AEA to fighters and large cargo aircrafts. In the 1990s,
many attempts were made to remove existing centralized
hydraulic devices and replace them with electric power [4].
The power sources used in existing aircraft can be largely
distinguished by hydraulic power, mechanical power,
pneumatic power, and electrical power. All of these power
sources are drawn from the engine, which affects fuel
consumption and engine performance. The energy of the
aircraft’s fuel is mostly converted by the aircraft engine into
the form of thrust, and the rest is converted into the four types
of power mentioned above. Pneumatic power uses high-
temperature, high-pressure bleed air drawn from the engine
compressor, which is mainly used in environmental control
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systems for air pressure and cooling and heating, and anti-
icing systems of wings. There is a risk because it is relatively
inefficient and is not easy to detect when leakage occurs.
Mechanical power is transmitted through the engine’s gearbox
and is used as the power for hydraulic pumps, generators, and
fuel pumps. Hydraulic power is created through a mechanical-
powered hydraulic pump and is used for flight control surfaces,
landing gears, and braking devices by operating the actuator.
The characteristic of this power is that it has a high power
density, which can produce very large power. On the other
hand, very heavy and inflexible piping work is required, and
the risk of leakage of hazardous and corrosive hydraulic oil is
inherent. Electric power uses power generated by generators
powered by engine mechanical power. Features consist of a
non-heavy structure and a very flexible wire. On the other
hand, the risk of fire due to short circuits is very high. Existing
aircrafts use these sources of power at the same time, with
each of them becoming more complex, increasing in weight,
increasing the risk of leakage, and less efficient when
operating interworking with each other. It is also very
inefficient in terms of maintenance and subsequent military
support.
Since the engine is primarily aimed at generating thrust,
the loss of thrust caused by the extraction of bleed air from the
compressor is greater than the rate of bleed airflow (compared
to the rate of flow into the engine core). This ratio of thrust
loss will increase as the bypass ratio of the engine increases.
The bypass ratio is about 1.4:1 for existing turbofan engines
and 4:1 for relatively new engines, but 10:1 for most recent
engines GEnex from GE and Trent 1000 from Rolls-Royce. In
addition, modern engines are highly sensitive to the amount of
bleed air extracted with a pressure ratio of 30 to 35:1. In
addition, the mechanical power of the engine to operate the
generator and hydraulic pump greatly affects the performance
of the engine. The maximum thrust requirement for a large
commercial aircraft with two engines is to be able to take off
with just the thrust of another engine during takeoff, so in
normal cruising, the engine usually operates at low power
conditions and pulling power from the engine in this condition
will adversely affect engine stability [5].
Thus, aircraft that have applied the latest M/AEA concept
are applying the design concept that uses electric power for
most of the required power instead of hydraulic power,
pneumatic power for existing aircraft. The application of this
concept has the advantage of reducing aircraft weight and
simplifying interior structural design by removing various
piping ducts needed when using hydraulic and pneumatic
power. Electrical power can be supplied according to the
power requirements of the equipment using various power
conversion devices, enabling efficient management. It also
has the advantage of being able to unify various ground
support equipment that fits various power sources into one
electric power supply device during ground maintenance. This
design concept is currently progressive and has been widely
applied to the most recent A380, B787 aircraft. Currently,
representative devices that have been replaced with electricity
include EHA (Electro-Hydraulic Actuator), EMA (Electro-
Mechanical Actuator), electric brake system, electric anti-
icing, electric ECS (Environment Control System), which
have replaced existing hydraulic actuators. In addition, as
power requirements increase, the development of new concept
power units (generators) is being carried out, and high voltage
(low current) systems are being applied to reduce weight.
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III. SUBSYSTEMS OF M/AEA
A. Electric Actuation System
Electrically powered EHA and EMA began to be applied
instead of the previously used flight control surface actuators.
The existing hydraulic system is a centralized system that
supplies hydraulic pressure through piping to devices that are
needed by concentrating the hydraulic power generation part
of the hydraulic power generation is centralized. On the other
hand, EHA and EMA are a distributed system with separate
power to drive the actuator. Boeing is sticking to its
centralized hydraulic system, in contrast to its distributed
systems such as the A380 and F-35. In addition, the A380
aircraft used EHA and EBHA (Electric Backup Hydrostatic
Actuator) directly for the primary flight control, whereas the
B787 still uses conventional hydraulic operation methods.
Both B767 and B787 aircraft apply the concept of a hydraulic
system for three channels. In general, the hydraulic system of
three channels applied to B787 can be viewed as a more
conservative concept than if two electrical backups are fitted
to two channels applied to A380. Both aircraft use 5,000 psi
hydraulic pressure. Two types of electric actuators are shown
in figure 1 [6].
Fig. 1. Electric actuators. (EHA (left), and EMA (right)) [6]
The EMA typically consists of a mechanical operating
assembly and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) for
converting electrical energy into mechanical energy. The
flight control case requires a small variable speed servo motor
with high reliability, high power density and acceptable heat
dissipation. Several motor types may be suitable, three options
are PMSM, BLDC motor and switched reluctance motor [7].
Generally, the motor selection depends on the power supply
on board. For example, PMSM may be of the appropriate type
when the alternating current supply directly drives the servo
motor. The motor controller is used to control speed and
direction by electrical switches in winding through power
electronics. The EMA module is controlled by an ECU
operating on 28Vdc power from the power supply. Power
control determines motor current through voltage pulse width
modulation to the motor by position or torque command signal.
The position and load sensors in the EMA transmit
position/speed and load information to the ECU for position
feedback and current restrictions. In order to prepare for a
flight with a high external load, an additional temperature
sensor is installed in the controller housing near the connector
to record an external temperature rise and to warn of a high
temperature. Figure 2 shows the EMA controller module [8,
9]. The cascade control may be selected as the EMA controller.
The cascade control refers to a controller with a structure in
which several controllers for controlling the required physical
quantity, such as motor position, speed, and current, are
connected in series. The current controller typically include
integrator anti-windup method.
1944

Fig. 2. Schematic of EMA controller module. [8]
Figure 3 shows the ELGEAR (Electric Landing Gear
Extend and Retract) system implemented at Newcastle
University [6, 10]. A prototype actuator, including motor,
gearbox, and clutch have been developed by Goodrich.
Fig. 3. ELGEAR. (Newcastle University) [6, 10]
B. Electric Brake System
Typical braking devices are driven by hydraulic pressure
and supplied through hydraulic ducts from the main hydraulic
system of the aircraft. Hydraulic systems may leak or cause
fire. The current electric braking system is a more efficient one,
which is being applied to B787, and will be piloted to A330
of Airbus. Advantages of electric braking systems include the
elimination of complex hydraulic ducts to facilitate
installation and maintenance, and the wear of carbon disks, a
key component of the braking system, can be measured in real
time. Figure 4 shows the electric brake system applied to B787
[11].
Fig. 4. Boeing 787 Electric Brake System. [11]
A braking system with a complete EBAC (Electric
Braking Actuating Controller) was applied to the Boeing 787,
lightening the braking system and enhancing maintenance and
safety. EBAC is a braking method that uses an electric motor
type braking system, not a conventional hydraulic cylinder, to
apply pressure to the piston through the decelerator and ball
screw to contact the disc/pad. This method resolves
vulnerabilities such as leakage and fire of hydraulic pressure
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and provides easy maintenance, and allows rapid diagnosis of
failures, which is quick to cope with failures.
C. Electric Environmental Control System
An electrically powered compressor without the use of
bleed air supplies compressed air for the environmental
control system and cabin air pressure. Like most aircraft in
class, the B787 also has two air-conditioning systems and is
electrically powered, unlike other aircraft. Each air
conditioning system is equipped with a compressor powered
by two electric motors, each permanent magnet motor
consumes a power capacity of 125 kVA. Compressed air from
two compressors flows into one manifold before being
hydrated into the heat exchanger. The air temperature is
lowered by the air cycle machine of the environmental control
system and mixed with the recirculated air from the room to
produce the appropriate air temperature and supply it to the
room [5].
D. Electric Engines
The engines using electrical technology offer many
advantages [5].
1) Reduced bleed air flow
The larger the bypass ratio of the engine, the less bleed air
mass reduces engine performance and increases fuel
consumption.
2) Removal of auxiliary gearbox
Because the gearbox of the engine is very complex, if it
can be removed, the structure can be simplified and the weight
can be reduced.
3) Engine without oil
The engine’s oil system has complex configurations such
as pumps, filter units, and coolers. The power generation or
power conversion process in the engine’s generator emits a lot
of heat. The other method of supporting the engine’s rotating
body, electronic bearings, if applicable, can eliminate the oil
system, resulting in many advantages. There is now a lot of
research on electromagnetic bearings in the U.S. and Europe,
and many new technologies still need to be developed for this
technology to be fully applied. If this technology is
successfully applied to the engine, there will be an opportunity
to remove oil systems, gearboxes and related power units. The
current level of electromagnetic bearing technology requires
more technology development to be used. For example, not
enough to support a rotating fan when the blade is dislodged
during engine operation. However, this condition must be met
as one of the quality requirements of the engine.
4) IGV/VSV control
IGV (Inlet Guide Vane) and VSV (Variable Stator Vanes)
must be controlled in order to control the flow and flow of air
into the engine, which is achieved by hydraulic, pneumatic or
fuel pressure. Currently, researches are underway to replace
electricity instead of conventional methods.
5) Electrically driven fuel pump
Currently, engine fuel is supplied by a high pressure pump
driven by the engine. The size of the pump is usually
determined based on the engine start condition with a low
engine revolution, if the fuel supply exceeds the engine
requirement, the fuel must be returned to the pump entrance.
In particular, under cruise conditions, the pump’s supply is
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about five times higher than the demand, which results in a
very large energy waste. Therefore, if an electrically driven
pump is used, it can be optimized for the operating conditions
of the engine.
E. Electric Generator
M/AEA is a concept that integrates all power into
electricity, resulting in high electrical loads. Power must also
be converted to meet the power needs of various devices.
Two standard power sources for an aircraft are:
1) 115/200V AC (400 Hz, 3-phase): Three-phase power is
supplied to the 115V line, corresponding to 200V between
phases. Power is drawn from the single phase when necessary
and the corresponding electricity consumption rate for the
entire aircraft is maintained in a reasonable equilibrium.
2) 28V DC: It is used in most electronic devices and they
do not need a large amount of power. Direct current generators
are combined with electric starters in some institutions to
reduce overall weight and complexity.
Several power and generator types have recently been
applied to meet these needs. The types of generators are
described as follows [5, 12].
1) Integrated Drive Generators (IDG)
To provide AC power with a constant frequency, the
Constant Speed Drive (CSD) is the most commonly used
device. However, the device is very mechanically complex
and unreliable. Therefore, IDG (Integrated Drive Generator)
forms, which are a unified form of CSD and generator, are
currently being applied. The Boeing 777 is equipped with two
120 kVA IDGs.
2) Variable Speed Constant Frequency (VSCF) Generator:
The Variable Frequency (VF) generator is the cheapest
and most reliable device, but it has a disadvantage of not being
able to create power over 40-50 kVA. However, with the
development of the A380, four 150 kVA capacity VF
generators were fitted.
3) 230 VAC Power
230 VAC has been proposed as a way to improve 3-phase
AC power. Its advantage is that it can reduce the size and loss
of the wire. Most existing aircraft use 115 VAC/400 Hz of AC
power, which is a disadvantage that it cannot be applied
immediately yet. However, these shortcomings can be
addressed by dropping the voltage.
4) 270 VDC Power
The use of 270 VDC power began under the U.S. Navy.
This is because it can be easily generated from 200 VAC/60
Hz power sources used by current aircraft carriers. Generally,
the advantage of DC is that it is easier to connect in parallel
than AC power, and it is efficient and can provide constant
power. The use of 270 VDC in aircraft is that power-by-wire
technology such as EHA is possible. This allows for the
replacement of conventional hydraulics, which are complex
and heavy, and the recent F-35 uses power-by-wire flight
control using 270 VDC. However, the disadvantage of this
technology is that most of the constant speed motors use AC
power, and switching devices such as current contactors and
relays must be able to withstand high voltages.
5) Switched Reluctance (SR) Generator
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SR generator is a device that operates as an engine starter
when the engine is started and switches to the generator after
the engine is started. It has the advantage of being able to
address two needs in one mechanical device. The device was
first mounted on the F-35 and tested on F-16 for technical
verification for the introduction of 270 VDC and SR
generators. For technical verification, an SR starter generator
of 270 VDC 80 kW was installed, and an emergency generator
of 270 VDC 15 kW was installed as an emergency power
source. The power generated by the starter generator is
converted to 270 VDC power using two converters, which are
supplied to 270 VDC EHA installed on the flight control
surface to operate the flight control surfaces.
IV. FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEMS AND ITS INTEGRATION
The electrical connection of the pilot’s control to the
aerodynamic surface instead of mechanically is referred to as
a fly-by-wire, which moves by EHA or EMA. Modern digital
control computers allow unstable aircraft to fly. The speed of
the control computer is high enough to make repeated
modifications as a result of aircraft instability, recognizing to
the pilot that it is a stable and highly sensitive fighter. For
civilian aircraft, maximum control response and unstable
aircraft are clearly not required, but fly-by-wire is still useful.
This is because rapid processing of information prohibits
control movements that can pose a risk to aircraft, increasing
safety. Computers may fail and the software may have errors,
so all computers essential for aircraft control should be treated
in triplets.
The process of designing the aircraft’s control system first
begins with the requirements for the control and control
systems according to the mission and use of the target aircraft.
The given requirements include quantitative information on
the range of errors and temporal behavior according to each
flight mode and reliability given by the probability of failure
relative to flight time. Once the configuration that meets the
requirements and the control rules to be applied are
determined, the modification continues while verifying
whether the requirements are met while developing the
prototype, preparing the mounting software, and conducting
the test evaluation.
With the rapid development of electronic technologies in
recent years, control of aircraft’s main systems is applying
electronic technologies. Moreover, with the increased
maturity and availability of electronic technologies, the
requirements for integrating electronic technologies into
aircraft are being met. By applying digital electronic control
to mechanical systems, it becomes more precise and can
predict performance degradation or failure. The most typical
example is the integration of flight control and engine control
systems. Through this example, real performance and
reliability have been increased, and several improvements
have been made in weight reduction and system integration.
In addition to the integration of flight control and engine
control, an aircraft management system is under development
that also incorporates other systems. Other systems that are
attempted to integrate include fuel systems, hydraulic systems,
secondary power, electrical systems, and environmental
control systems. Unlike in the past, these systems have further
improved performance by applying electronic control. By
integrating and operating multiple individual control systems
into a single digital control system, it has the advantage of
1946
being able to communicate between systems over a data bus [11] J. Liu, J. Yang, and Y. Xiao, “Study on electric brake system of civil
[9]. aircraft,” IEEE International Conference on Aircraft Utility Systems,
Oct. 2016.
As aircraft systems become diverse and complex, control [12] A. Barzkar, and M. Ghassemi, “Electric Power Systems in More and
theories are being studied to ensure more stable and precise All Electric Aircraft: A Review,” IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 169314-
performance. Various control theories have been studied over 169332, Sept. 2020.
the past decades, with theories such as robust control, optimal
control, fuzzy logic control, model predictive control, sliding
mode control, active disturbance rejection control, L1
adaptive control, etc. receiving particular attention. These
advanced control theories are being applied when high
precision and reliability are required after many trials and
errors in the field.
V. CONCLUSIONS
The advantages of M/AEA that eliminate complex
hydraulic and pneumatic systems and use electric power are
summarized as follows:
1) weight reduction due to removal of hydraulic and
pneumatic systems,
2) minimize engine bleed air to improve engine
performance,
3) use electricity to power and drive only when necessary,
4) improve fuel consumption,
5) enhance built-in test and self-diagnosis,
6) improve reliability and safety.
Although there are still technical problems that need to be
solved, it is expected to be solved in the near future.

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