Its primary business is commercial and military aircraft accessories but the company also supplies parts for torpedoes and other systems. In an emergency, a RAT deploys from the bottom of the aircraft and supplies independent electric or hydraulic power, depending on its configuration. According to FAA regulations, all commercial aircraft must now be equipped with RATs. The company also make a series of flight control actuators, both rotary and linear, for various aircraft. A recent project, involving a slat actuator for a new Canadair Global Express commuter plane, offers a good example of Sundstrand's use of FEA in product design.
Slats are the moveable front part of the wing.
They allow a pilot to change the configuration of the wing to produce more lift during take off and landing. Slat actuators, mounted inside the wing, move the slats. The actuator for the Canadair plane is a linear ballscrew actuator with crossed shafts. Rotation of the input shaft causes the ballscrew length to change. In this type of actuator, when the implant shaft is turned one way, the actuator length increases causing the slat to deploy.