Design and optimization of high performance electromagnetic brake for heavy-load electric aircraft erection equipment

Aircraft erection equipment is the core servo system for space aircraft launching platform, pulling the space aircrafts from horizontal to vertical position. Traditionally, hydraulic cylinder is used as the actuator. However, it suffers from weak maintenance and environment adaptability, which leads to high fault rate during lifespan. As the development trend of all-electric drives, electric erection equipment is generally getting matured and ready to replace traditional hydraulic solutions. Focusing on electric erection equipment, its reliable braking ability is essential for operation safety, especially in high speed and heavy-load applications. In this paper, a high static and dynamic performance electromagnetic brake is proposed to deal with heavy-load emergency stop condition. Firstly, the load characteristics of equipment is analyzed covering whole stroke. Based on that, the principle of electromagnetic brake is explained in details. Based on comprehensive constraints of operation voltage, response time and static brake torque, the optimization of brake is discussed. Finally, the simulation and experiment results are provided. It is expected to provide a safe and high reliability method for novel electric aircraft erection system.