This article presents estimation models for the model-based preliminary design of electromechanical actuators. Models are developed to generate all the parameters required by a multi-objective design, from a limited number of input parameters. This is achieved using scaling laws in order to take advantage of their capability to reflect the physical constraints driving the actuator’s component sizing. The proposed approach is illustrated with the major components that are involved in aerospace electromechanical actuator design. The established scaling laws provide the designer with parameters needed for integration into the airframe, power sizing, thermal balance, dynamics, and reliability. The resulting estimation models are validated with industrial data.

This paper presents a methodology for the optimal preliminary design of electro-mechanical actuators. The main design drivers, design parameters and degrees of freedom that can be used for preliminary design and optimization of electro mechanical actuator are described. The different types of models used for model-based design (estimation, simulation, evaluation and meta-model), and their associations are presented. The process preferred for its effectiveness in terms of flexibility, and computational time is then described and illustrated with the example of a spoiler electromechanical actuator. The proposed approach, based on meta-models obtained using the surfaces response methods and scaling laws models, is used to explore the influence of anchorage points and transmission ratio on the different design constraints and the overall mass of the actuator.