Outline of the method for prediction of lifetime achieved by ayionic hydraulic drives operated under real field conditions

The presented approach to predict lifetime of avionic hydraulic drives belongs to a priori (accelerated) methods as by its nature it does not reeuire to continue tests until a hydraulic subassembly or drive reaches its boundary value of a structural parameter. The method uses distributions of a random variable with time-dependent variance as models for lifetime prediction. Variations of structural parameters over a discretional period of time are described with use of the Gaussian distribution with the assumption that the course of the process when the structural parameters are subject to deterioration comprises the entire probabilistic characteristic that defines resistance of the hydraulic drive to a wear and tear process. In that context distributions of characteristics for variations of structural parameters were determined for a selected period of time and it served as a basis to find out parameters for the distribution of the defect-free operation time. The completed functional and design decomposition of an example avionic hydraulic drive made it possible to obtain a hierarchical description of the hydraulic drive, to identify its structural parameters that are available during the drive operation as well as to define a set of measurable out put parameters of a system, a module (a hydraulic system) and a block (a hydraulic subassembly). The set of measurable output parameters attributable to the hydraulic system in question is described with use of mathematic equations that result from fundamental equations for hydraulic systems dynamics, i.e. the mass conservation law, the principle of momentum and angular momentum conservation as well as the energy conservation law.