Pseudo Direct Drive electrical machines for flight control surface actuation

This paper presents an initial investigation into the application of magnetically geared Pseudo Direct Drive (PDD
^®
) electrical machines to the electromechanical actuation of an aircraft primary flight control surface. Different PDD winding topologies, normally adopted to achieve fault tolerance in conventional permanent magnet machines, are compared, in terms of reliability. Furthermore, the dynamic performance of the actuator employing a PDD is investigated, under healthy and fault conditions.