Safety Topics: Flap Actuation Gearboxes

THE formal safety assessment of flying control actuation equipment is both an airworthiness requirement and a most powerful analytical tool for the definition of the equipment architecture and its detail design. A typical safety analysis is undertaken here on Airbus A330/A340 flap actuation gearboxes. These are associated with the trailing edge flap actuation system and Dowty in partnership with Zahnrad Fabrik, design and manufacture a sub‐system within the actuation system, consisting of the torque shafts transmission line, various gear boxes, overload protection devices, and the geared rotary actuators.