Analysis of aeronautical servo-actuator models with "Elements": New multiphysics system simulation environment

The main objective of this Thesis is to analyse the numerical modelling of actuation systems for aeronautical applications, in particular for aircraft flight control. The Thesis involves the simulation of these system models in two different development environments, Elements and Simulink, with a comparison of the results. Elements is a brand new simulation tool, which was explored in depth during an internship at Hexagon MSC Software offices. Instead, the aim of this Thesis is to compare existing actuation system models developed in Simulink, a tool already established in the academic and industrial context, with the results provided by Elements simulations. After a necessary introduction on the field of interest, such as Systems Engineering and the different simulation environments, a chapter focusing on the theory of flight controls and aircraft actuation systems is submitted. Then, simple mass-spring-damper systems are introduced, with the purpose to explain with a practical example the main differences between Elements and Simulink. After that, a servo-actuator system is analysed from the point of view of Model-Based design, comparing simulation results from Elements with those from Simulink. Before presenting the results and final considerations, the Thesis will present an interesting work applied to the case study of the previously illustrated actuation system, realised with co-simulation between two different software, exploiting multibody and multiphysics analysis. Indeed, with strong connections to other Hexagon products, such as Adams, and openness to other tools, Elements offers a powerful simulation experience that supports early decision-making and system integration activities in the Aerospace, Automotive, Robotics, Energy, Heavy machinery and other industries.