Study on the dynamic interaction of multiple clearance joints for flap actuation system with a modified contact force model

To analyze the effects of clearance joint number and dynamic interaction on responses of the flap actuation system, a dynamic analysis model is proposed based on a modified contact force model. The modified contact force model can take contact properties with small clearance, heavy load, large contact area and variable contact stiffness coefficient into consideration for the flap actuation system. Numerical results show that the actuation system presents violent fluctuation due to the dynamic interaction between multiple clearance joints, and the clearance joint closest to the input part suffers more serious contact effects. Furthermore, the combination motion modes between the multiple clearance joints are helpful to judge and analyze the motion state and dynamic behaviors of actuation systems. These simulation findings can provide a theoretical foundation for the optimization design, control strategy and engineering experiments of the actuation systems with multiple clearances.