3 Day Open Conference (at a glance)
3 Day Open Conference (at a glance)
Three purpose-built 120 seat auditoriums, integrated into the exhibits floor, provide visitors with a FREE TO ATTEND technical program of 100+ expert technical presentations from across the aerospace test, analysis & inspection communities. The 'Open Conference' will focus on new product & service innovations, technological developments & latest test/analytical/inspection methodologies.
Tuesday 18th November 2008
10.20 - 17.00
Auditorium 0
Auditorium 1
Tuesday 18th November 2008
10.20 - 10.30
Auditorium 1
Data Acquisition for Testing of Rotor-Configurations in Wind-tunnels
Tuesday 18th November 2008
10.30 - 11.00
Auditorium 1
Wind tunnel measurement applications require real-time data acquisition and monitoring across many channels, a challenge due to large amounts of data and processing. Bustec’s true 24-bit Sigma-delta digitizers provide sustained data rates in excess of 80MB/sec. The system includes 128 channels sampling at 100kHz, and allows the data to be monitored and then moved to a RAID system for storage and further processing. These 128 channels are directly connected to voltages or ICP sensors. Low-speed multiplexed ADCs and counters are also a part of the system.
Easy integration of digital high speed cameras for airborne applications
Tuesday 18th November 2008
11.00 - 11.20
Auditorium 1
Not just in airborne applications, film cameras need to be replaced now due to a lack of film supply plus the need for immediate availability of image data. Digital high-speed cameras with a built-in PowerPC like the AOS X-EMA can be configured so they behave similar to film cameras resulting in minimal modifications on the airplane as well as during the test procedure. Existing hand-shake routines can be duplicated by a number of programmable status lines. The airborne applications of high-speed cameras provide sensitive and often non-repeatable images; protecting valuable image data is a key factor. Compact Flash data interfaces allow copying the image sequences automatically to non-volatile memory cards possibly when the airplane returns from its mission to the home base. By building-in a NiMH Battery to the camera, the data can even be secured if the airplane power is turned-off in an emergency.
Understand the CANbus
Tuesday 18th November 2008
11.20 - 11.40
Auditorium 1
Best practices in the use of non-contact capacitive smart displacement, gap and hole sensors for aircraft and aircraft engines
Tuesday 18th November 2008
11.40 - 12.00
Auditorium 1
Latest feedback from end users in the development of "Next Generation" capacitive multiple stage Engine Rebuild Eccentricity and Fan Blade Length (longest blade) Measurement Systems based on Windows newest techniques using capacitive displacement gap and bore diameter sensor technology for aerospace applications including: Simultaneous eccentricity measurement of multiple HPC or HPT stages in engine production or rebuild using new LiniGage system based on Windows fan blade length and blade tip gap measurement for GE90, GENx, CF6, CF34, RR Trent and others using Portable "Electronic Feeler Gauge" gap instruments in carbon composite and metal aircraft structures. Automated mapping of bore diameter dimensions on fuselage and wing fasteners holes replacing time consuming split ball and other contact methods.
HBM introduces the latest version of its comprehensive data acquisition software, catman enterprise
Tuesday 18th November 2008
12.00 - 12.20
Auditorium 1
catman® Enterprise, part of HBM's family of highly successful data acquisition software products, is ideally suited for high-channel count applications such as those found in aerospace structural and functional test. This presentation, suitable for experienced and new users of catman® Enterprise alike, will focus on the new features available in version 5.0: Improved flexibility: Additional measurement mode: 3 sample rates New Technology support of optical systems SI40X/DI40X New VBAScript Editor Enhanced import functions (import of online calculations) Enhanced export of MC-Setup file to MS-Excel Many improvements in MD-Client
Life after VB 6 - protecting your test software investment
Tuesday 18th November 2008
12.20 - 12.40
Auditorium 1
With end of extended support for Visual Basic 6, many developers are looking for answers as to how to maintain their legacy VB 6 code, while creating new applications on supported software Microsoft platforms. Visual Basic .NET looks more like C++ than traditional Basic, making the move from VB 6 less than ideal but the move may be worth the effort. To effectively analyze if and which applications you should migrate to VB .NET, you must first understand the key components of .NET, the differences between VB 6 and VB .NET, and your options for migrating to .NET. In this article, discover the key elements of the .NET framework which provide significant benefits to engineers creating distributed applications, organizing large problems, or looking for maximum application performance. In addition, learn how to integrate or convert existing Visual Basic 6 applications into .NET to realize these benefits.
Evaluating different data storage organizational approaches
Tuesday 18th November 2008
12.40 - 13.00
Auditorium 1
As microprocessors are getting faster, storage capacity larger, and data acquisition hardware cheaper, engineers are producing more test and simulation data than ever before. The more date that is collected, the easier engineers can find trends and correlations in their models and decrease the iterations in the product design cycle. However, in order to take advantage of the tremendous amounts of data that is being collected, engineers must have a data storage approach that allows them to easily retrieve and compare data across multiple tests. When creating the test or simulation application, forethought and planning should be put into designing a data management approach that will meet the needs of the current project as well as scale over time to easily integrate new test parameters. There are a number of elements to consider when designing a data management solution. First, engineers must decide on a scalable file format for recording data. This could include ASCII, Binary, XML, and/or a database. This paper will examine each of these formats and considerations to take into account before choosing a format for a particular application. Also, once stored in a format, engineers must decide how best to centralize, organize, and easily retrieve the data for postprocessing. This paper will also discuss several approaches for centralized data management. Finally, this paper will introduce new technology for creating a hybrid approach to data storage and management.
MSE innovations in flow test instrumentation and data acquisition
Tuesday 18th November 2008
13.00 - 13.20
Auditorium 1
MSE’s innovative efforts in fluid mechanics instrumentation have lead to the development of a new processing engine for high frequency laser Doppler flow measurements. This has resulted in highly accurate results obtained from a small and portable signal processing electronics. The processor may be used for high frequency sensor output.
Lunch
Tuesday 18th November 2008
13.20 - 14.00
Auditorium 1
PANEL SESSION – Bell Agusta Helicopter BA609 TiltRotor - technical, pilot & certification focus
Tuesday 18th November 2008
14.00 - 15.20
Auditorium 1
PANELSESSION – Bell Agusta Helicopter BA609 TiltRotor - technical, pilot & certification focus.
Tuesday 18th November (Auditorium 1) 14.00 – 15.20 hrs
Renewable aviation fuels
Tuesday 18th November 2008
15.20 - 15.40
Auditorium 1
The initial goal of a program conducted at Baylor University in the late 90’s was the reduction in emissions of the current widely used Jet A fuel. Blend strengths up to 30% Biodiesel by volume were considered and tested for bench properties and for performance in a ground test engine stand. One blend was then selected and tested in a flight testing program conducted in a King Air A90. Results indicate that some emissions-reduction benefits are indeed obtainable while maintaining both performance and fuel economy. Biodiesel blends have considerable application as turbine fuel extenders. Today’s challenge is not only the environmental compatibility of the fuel but also its availability and costs.
Structures testing in a materials testing environment
Tuesday 18th November 2008
15.40 - 16.00
Auditorium 1
Standardized testing specifications have been applied to production lot testing of turbine rotating part materials to control test variables for many years. The application of these specifications and principles to Structures Testing will yield consistent control of the multiple variables inherent in component testing, The test specifications for controlling the LCF and HCF testing of materials for turbine rotating parts are primarily ASTM E-466 and E-606. Testing of Structures utilizing these specifications for control of the test will afford consistent accuracy and precision to the component test, as has been achieved in materials testing. The utilization of standardized structural test machine elements designed to impart the requirements of these specifications to the structure under test can reduce the overall cost of the test by avoiding the typical custom building of machine elements.
Automated non-contact measurements: Stress and strain, fatigue and modal analysis
Tuesday 18th November 2008
16.00 - 16.20
Auditorium 1
Polytec, the leading manufacturer of Laser Doppler Vibrometers considered to be the gold standard for non-contact vibration characterization of structures of all sizes will be presenting an exciting new development. The presentation will unveil the very first fully automated RoboVib Structural Test Station for full field 3D vibration analysis with an emphasis on EMA integration and CAE workflow. Some of the applications where non-contact measurements become indispensable are vibration analysis of light structures, hot surfaces, rotating structures, long range surveillance, submerged part-testing, or where you just need better data than what you get with conventional techniques. If your goals include reducing experiment-time, seamless FE-Experimental correlation, structural optimization, then you don’t want to miss this presentation!
Tuesday 18th November 2008
16.20 - 16.40
Auditorium 1
Large scale fuselage panel combined loads testing
Tuesday 18th November 2008
16.40 - 17.00
Auditorium 1
Overview of structural ground test methods and techniques. Information will include test setup photographs.
Auditorium 2
Tuesday 18th November 2008
10.20 - 10.30
Auditorium 2
Modeling and analysis support effective electro-mechanical systems integration
Tuesday 18th November 2008
10.30 - 11.00
Auditorium 2
Designing distributed systems now also requires a distributed set of tasks, with many disciplines and suppliers involved in the process, which brings new challenges to address, especially in communication and integration. The system integration phase is a frequent bottleneck. Bringing subsystems and components together into a single system can be a risky, trouble prone, and unpredictable process. Unanticipated problems found at this point in the program can require redesign of subsystems and components or even refinement of the systems requirements, usually resulting in long delays. Challenges include the combinations of electronics and control in the electro-mechanical interface, and interaction of mechanics, electronics and software. Designing a system in a modelled form and analyzing its characteristics in extreme operating conditions can help reveal problems early enough in the design flow to avoid expensive rework and major production delays.
Non-intrusive 1934b bus analysis and monitoring
Tuesday 18th November 2008
11.00 - 11.20
Auditorium 2
This presentation discusses the importance of non-intrusive 1394 bus analysis tools for usage in deterministic data networks. The dynamic bus arbitration scheme in 1394 results in a changing bus architecture whenever a conventional bus/protocol analyzer is added to the bus. While certain communication protocols (SAE AS5643) have been developed specifically to address this issue the fundamental challenge still remains: How can suitable test instrumentation gather data from the bus under test without affecting the system under test itself?
Dranetz-BMI's PMIT and electrical conductivity on aircraft skin
Tuesday 18th November 2008
11.20 - 11.40
Auditorium 2
Aircraft must be safe, because danger in the sky may lead to catastrophic events. The requirements for uncompromising safety must also be fulfilled under extreme weather conditions: very low temperatures, snow, hail and electrical storms. In particular electrical storms are a demanding challenge for aviation instruments and avionics in general. Aircraft are equipped with a conductive outer skin that allows them to function as a “Faraday Cage”. Such an electrostatic screen provides aircraft with sufficient protection against lightning.
Therefore the Aircraft’s Faraday Cage must be checked regularly and even the worst case scenario when an aircraft is struck by lightning must be taken in consideration.. If the aircraft skin has too much resistance the Faraday Effect may be partially eliminated, if struck by high energy lightning. Small resistance measurements of a few Milliohm must be recognized and recorded. This presentation discusses products and methods used to perform these mandatory tests
Wire crimp termination verification using ultrasonic inspection
Tuesday 18th November 2008
11.40 - 12.00
Auditorium 2
The development of a new ultrasonic measurement technique to quantitatively assess wire crimp terminations is discussed. The amplitude change of a compressional ultrasonic wave propagating through the junction of a crimp termination and wire is shown to correlate with the results of a destructive pull test, which previously has been used to assess crimp wire junction quality. Various crimp faults such as missing wire strands, incorrect wire gauge, incomplete wire insertion in connector, are ultrasonically tested, and their results are correlated with pull tests. Results show that the ultrasonic measurement technique consistently predicts good crimps when ultrasonic transmission is above a certain energy amplitude level. A prototype instrument for applying the technique while wire crimps are installed is also presented. Finally, an approach for applying this technique to multipin indenter type crimps will be discussed and preliminary results will be shown.
Embedded health monitoring strategies for aircraft wiring systems
Tuesday 18th November 2008
12.00 - 12.20
Auditorium 2
Health and usage monitoring of structures and active systems has received a wealth of attention in recent years. Microsystems are seen as a core technology for the realisation of these monitors as they offer the potential for multi-sensor integration with active electronics, wireless connectivity and in the future a self-powering capability. This paper focuses on solutions for aircraft wiring systems where in-situ detection of degradation and incipient failure would deliver improved safety and enhanced maintenance efficiency leading to a prognostic capability. Wiring onboard of legacy aircraft is becoming a liability due to prolonged in service life and an increasing possibility of both hard and intermittent wiring faults. The detection of such faults is often time consuming and problematic, resulting in higher maintenance costs and reduced aircraft availability. Several novel approaches are presented to the problem of wire degradation detection in terms of both test and monitoring strategies. Both electric and mechanical methods will be presented together with simulation and experimental results.
The National AeroSpace Training and Research Center: Conquering Aviation and Space Flight Dynamic Motion Environments
Tuesday 18th November 2008
12.20 - 12.40
Auditorium 2
Accurately recreating motion environments experienced by pilots and systems in air and space flight has historically been a challenge. Today about 80% of the mishaps that occur in aviation involve Human Factors. From highly trained military aircrews to today's civilian suborbital space travelers, crews require specialized Human Factors research and training. In addition, the ever expanding market of motion sensitive flight systems requires accurate dynamic environment simulation. The National Training and Research (NASTAR) Center offers a complete range of aviation and space human factors and dynamic environment training and research capabilities. NASTAR Center can generate authentic environments to provide unique test and operational training capabilities like no other facility. Current research and training activities include: - NASA & FAA Upset Recovery Research. - F/A-18 & F-35 tactical flight simulation research for USN & USAF. - Virgin Galactic space traveler training.
High Speed Digital Data Recorders with Turn-key Software
Tuesday 18th November 2008
12.40 - 13.00
Auditorium 2
There are several trends apparent in the data acquisition arena - analog to digital converter technology is improving, providing both improved bit resolution, and higher sampling rates for applications requiring large number of channels. This is especially challenging if the system requirement is to record the sensor data in real-time at rates exceeding 400Mbytes/ second with near real-time displays. GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms has been the one of very few companies to develop an integrated Digital Data Recorder (DDR) with a powerful turn-key software which provides out-of-the-box system solution. This presentation will discuss the system architecture and various available rack-mount and portable DDR systems. It will also present a layered software architecture with a middleware to support many different demanding applications.It will briefly discuss all supported aerospace applications and the benefits of such an architecture.
Aerodynamic design of the Lockheed Martin cooperative avionics testbed
Tuesday 18th November 2008
13.00 - 14.00
Auditorium 2
The use of recorder playback for high-speed testing
Tuesday 18th November 2008
14.00 - 14.20
Auditorium 2
A recorder has more then one function. It can be used to record data, but it can also be used to playback data. The data can either be from actual test scenarios or it can be generated data specifically designed to verify the avionics system performance under conditions not easily obtained in actual flight conditions. This presentation will describe the characteristics of a record / playback system that would support this type of testing. It will also cove the capabilities needed to generate data to provide multiple test cases in the lab. The presentation will focus on high-speed data such as that received from modern sensors. The same techniques presented can also be used for multiple low speed data streams.
Design for testability: A review of test methodologies applicable to the test of advanced electronic circuits
Tuesday 18th November 2008
14.20 - 14.40
Auditorium 2
There has been tremendous changes in the way Electronic Circuits Boards are designed and tested compared to a decade ago. Today's PCBs use Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA's), Digital Signal Processing (DSPs) and single chip micro controllers. The resulting complexity associated with board assemblies using current generation devices has spawned the development of a new generation of test equipment, incorporating new test methodologies. Test Capabilities required for the test of today's complex ICs include: 1) In-Circuit Test 2) Edge functional test 3) Emulation Methods 4) Bus Cycle Signature Analysis 5) Boundary Scan A review of Methodologies associated with required test capabilities will include a discussion of: 1) Applicability of Methodologies 2) Advantages of Methodologies 3) Limitations of Methodologies 4) Design Requirements for Methodology implementation 5) Test Program Development / Considerations
Fibre channel testing for avionic applications
Tuesday 18th November 2008
14.40 - 15.00
Auditorium 2
Modern verification methods for airborne FPGA / ASIC designs
Tuesday 18th November 2008
15.00 - 15.20
Auditorium 2
Over the last decade, complexity of FPGA/ASIC designs has grown at an astounding rate. While designing these complex electronic devices is difficult, thoroughly verifying them can be close to impossible -- unless you are using some of the more modern methods that have evolved to address these challenges. Come to this session to get an overview of some of the more recent breakthroughs in verification technology, and learn which techniques might be most applicable to your FPGA/ASIC devices.
Automated mass optimization of a horizontal stabilizer
Tuesday 18th November 2008
15.20 - 15.40
Auditorium 2
The aim of this paper is to present our efforts on automating the process of mass optimization of a horizontal stabilizer of a transport aircraft and also the optimization of the process itself. This process was carried out as a part of an internal study at DEP. This optimization of the supporting structure of the horizontal stabilizer was undertaken with the understanding that the aerodynamic optimization is a different study in itself. Thus with the outer shape i.e. the Numerical Master Geometry being frozen, mass reduction could be carried out by varying the layout of the supporting structure and also the areas of c/s of aerodynamic and mechanical load bearing components.
CAE driven design - getting the weight out
Tuesday 18th November 2008
15.40 - 16.00
Auditorium 2
In civil aircraft design, fuel efficiency is a key performance target which translates to finding an aircraft structure with minimum weight while satisfying the structural integrity requirements. The fierce competition in this market demands that every structural component of an aircraft - ranging from fuselage sections to ribs and brackets - is optimized with respect to its weight. Traditionally, this optimization loop is done via trial and error: a design is created within a CAD system (mostly by modifying previous designs) and in a subsequent task, the functional requirements are validated either by means of CAE or textbook formulas. Through experience, the design is modified various times until the requirements with respect to performance and weight are met. This approach lacks efficiency and repeatability and does not assure that an optimal design is created. The proposed process outlined in this paper starts with a design space, topology optimization technology which gives an optimum starting point for a component or system level design, and size and shape optimization for fine tuning the design. Various case studies from OEMs and aerospace suppliers around the world will illustrate that this approach called the CAE driven design process - delivers a competitive advantage by reducing weight, shortening development time, and increasing design robustness.
Multi-disciplinary design and optimization of an aircraft landing gear
Tuesday 18th November 2008
16.00 - 16.20
Auditorium 2
We will be presenting the multi-disciplinary design of an aircraft landing gear using HyperWorks. This landing gear is designed for aircraft landing and taxiing cases. For the landing event, the energy of the descending aircraft must be absorbed by the landing gear without generating reaction loads that exceed the design limit loads. This reaction load, as a function of landing gear stroke, is referred to as the Dynamic Load-Stroke Curve. In the first part of the design process, the damping characteristics of the landing gear are optimized such that the Dynamic Load-Stroke Curve never exceeds the Dynamic Load Envelope. MotionView is used for multi-body dynamics pre- and post-processing, MotionSolve is used for the multi-body dynamics analysis and HyperStudy is coupled with MotionSolve for optimization. Taxiing can be simulated as two discrete events: braking and turning. These events generate high stresses in the torsion links and lugs. In the second part of the design process we will be presenting the topology and shape optimization of these components such that the maximum stresses do not exceed 120ksi. HyperMesh is used for finite element modeling and OptiStruct is used for optimization.
A dual-oxide CMOS universal voltage level converter for power management in multi-supply system-on-chips
Tuesday 18th November 2008
16.20 - 16.40
Auditorium 2
Power management in aerospace system-on-chips
Various technology drivers have caused a transformation in the design and manufacture of Integrated Circuits (ICs) for military and aerospace markets. One of the drivers is the trend for digital ICs to use lower and lower power supply voltages, partially due to device scaling in finer geometry CMOS devices from several microns to submicron. We propose a Universal Level Converter (ULC) designed at 90nm technology, aimed at power management of system-on-chips which may be used for aerospace applications. The ULC is capable of up-conversion, down-conversion and completely blocking a signal. A dual-oxide power and delay optimized design of ULC is presented here.
Advancements in photogrammerty for speciality dimensional measurement
Tuesday 18th November 2008
16.40 - 17.00
Auditorium 2
Industrial Photogrammetry has expanded well be beyond its roots. Moving from land surveying to deformation studies to specialty applications. Some of these specialty application that will be discussed are Bent Tube Measurement, Gap & Flush (mismatch) measurement, Airfoil measurement, point cloud creation and Ultra high speed real time deformation analyses. Photogrammetry is expanding into area allowing tremendous advance in speed, accuracy allowing increases in productivity.
Flight Test Week - Auditorium 3
Tuesday 18th November 2008
10.20 - 10.30
Auditorium 3
Testing the New Gen split-runway airport sequencing to save jet fuel and avoid airlines having to pay for airport congestion
Tuesday 18th November 2008
10.30 - 11.00
Auditorium 3
To reduce airport delays and gridlock, in combination with ADS-B and RNP - the Split-Runway technology makes it possible to greatly increase runway capacity and save a tremendous amount of jet fuel in the process. To fully implement this innovative process testing at a number of locations is important and can be accomplished through simulation, virtual and flight testing. This of course is a timely effort and very important to the U. S. and world economy to continue our marvelous and developed air transportation system. If we do not act, than many airlines may go out of business effecting manufacturers of parts, support equipment and aircraft.
A400M Flight Test Program
Tuesday 18th November 2008
11.00 - 11.30
Auditorium 3
The A400M programme is the result of a commonly expressed need by 8 European air forces. These armed services asked for a new generation military airlifter. Finally the proposal from Airbus was choosen. This was the first military adventure for Airbus Industrie. Althogouh some of the companies partners had previous experience on the military transport business. As in other multinational programs a workshare of the qualification and certificacion task was agreed. An specific organization was stablished. In order to fulfil the requirement of both strategic and tactical mission performance, the A400M will be powered by new-generation TP400-D6 turboprop engines.The TP400-D6 is being developed, manufactured and supported by EuroProp International (EPI), a European joint venture company consisting of Rolls-Royce, Snecma Moteurs, MTU Aero Engines and Industria deTurbopropulsores (ITP).
Most of the parts of the aircraft were built in different Airbus factories all acroos Europe. As part of the workshare agreements the Final Assembly was asigned to Sevilla. Nevertheless the main Flight Test Center remains at Toulouse. One of the more interesting facts is the handling of both civil and military aspects on certification work.
This paper will show the planification of the Flight Test Program in the A400M program. The workshare of the flight testing between Toulouse and Sevilla. The number of prototypes and the different tasks for all of them.
Also the data link that will have to be deployed between the two flight test centers. The organizations responsible for the certification and qualification work will have to stablish a working structure to monitor all the flight testing. The first flight of A400M is scheduled for mid 2008, although this date could vary depending on the progress on the final assembly work.
The Dawn of Wireless F-16 Instrumentation: A Survey of Flutter Flight Testing With Advanced Subminiature Telemetry System Concept Demonstrator
Tuesday 18th November 2008
11.30 - 12.00
Auditorium 3
The instrumentation expert has always held a permanent chair at the test team table. Real-time analysis and post-flight review of test data is paramount to any conclusions or results derived from the data acquisition process. Instrumented aircraft are heavily modified with dedicated wiring to collect data from various points on test items, stores, or the aircraft itself. The modifications on these unique aircraft are costly to install and maintain and their resulting wiring requirements increase the likelihood of lengthy delays to test programs when problems arise. The development and integration of a wireless network-based miniaturized instrumentation system, the Advanced Subminiature Telemetry system (ASMT), is the solution the flight test community has been waiting for! The ASMT system is a revolutionary idea which, when perfected, will provide unobtrusive externally-installed sensors to collect flight test data. The miniaturized components are intended to minimize the effect on mass and physical properties of the test item while providing accurate, real-time performance information through a wireless network based system which is iNET-ready (Integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry). Additionally, the implementation of this technology will significantly decrease the logistical footprint of installation, maintenance, and system diagnosis. After considerable ground testing and product enhancements, the next step to make ASMT a reality was to validate the performance against a legacy system. Multiple ASMT accelerometers were externally-mounted on LAU-129 launchers using an electro-cleavable adhesive bond during F-16 flutter testing. The focus of the test was to observe low frequency limited-cycle oscillation data (LCO) in the 0-10 Hz range due to airframe response in a new flight configuration. The test verified that the external application of the accelerometers did not affect the LCO susceptibility of the launchers themselves while providing a side-by-side comparison of the ASMT data to the legacy instrumentation data. This parallel comparison measured the effects of latency and eliminated concerns over electromagnetic interference. The potential for full-scale implementation of the ASMT technology has now been demonstrated in F-16 flutter testing. This innovative network will revolutionize flight test instrumentation by reducing preflight logistic impacts, dropping instrumentation related mission aborts, and exponentially increasing instrumentation capabilities. Future applications may include store separations testing as well as high data rate applications in acoustics, pressure, and high frequency vibrations, but the door is now open to all applications in flight testing which require wireless, broadband instrumentation.
Lunch
Tuesday 18th November 2008
12.00 - 12.30
Auditorium 3
F-16 Aerial Demonstration Profile
Tuesday 18th November 2008
12.30 - 13.00
Auditorium 3
A technical evaluation and briefing of one of the finest single-ship airshows ever flown by LM test pilots, Bill Gigliotti and Troy Pennington. This is a presentation only
MA-31 Live Fire Testing, Safe Operations in an unsupported Environment
Tuesday 18th November 2008
13.00 - 13.30
Auditorium 3
Today, test organizations are working in a joint environment with other services and nations around the world. However, even in a joint environment, the majority of flight testing is fully supported by the new weapon system’s manufacturer. These organizations provide vital knowledge of a weapon system’s capabilities, design, and safety features throughout the flight test process. In spite of this, the 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base was tasked with the first live fire launch of a Russian MA-31 missile off a F-16, without any Russian support of the weapon system, in a multi-nation and multi-service test effort. Testing of such technology without the support of the home country resulted in a series of safety concerns and complex assumptions. Adding to the intricacy of the project was the number of stakeholders in the launch. The MA-31 target vehicle is an interesting example of the testing of foreign technology without manufacturing, design, or user support from the home country, along with joint component logistics within the test community. The MA-31 target vehicle is a converted Russian X-31 anti-ship missile procured by the US Navy via the Boeing Company. The missile was modified for use on test and training ranges. The X-31 was of special interest to the Navy, as it was known to be a lethal supersonic anti-ship missile capable of sea-skimming or anti-radiation missile profiles. The MA-31 target vehicle would be capable of training crews to combat this threat around the world. Limited numbers of missiles were procured; however, promises of more were made. Russian support of the project soon dwindled. Not long after the initial sale was made, Russia refused to support or sell any additional X-31 missiles to Boeing or the United States. Approximately a decade ago, only three MA-31 target vehicles remained in the US inventory. Due to decommissioning and unavailability of various fighter jets, Air Force F-16’s became the only airframe logically able to carry the missile; however this airframe/missile combination was un-tested. The amount of shielding on the battery squibs was unknown, leading to dangerous electromagnetic interference and compatibility concerns. Disassembly of the missile was known to be hazardous and would destroy missile functionality. Years of testing and modeling were underway to determine the feasibility of launching the last three target vehicles from a F-16. Despite multiple hurdles, US military concerns over the MA-31 flight profiles and radar signatures drove the launch of all three MA-31 target vehicles left in the inventory in December 2007. The objectives for the mission were a mixture of test and evaluation and test support- demonstrate a safe release of MA-31’s from a F-16 and present a missile target for Navy radars and Army Patriot Missile Batteries. Conservative assumptions and precautions ensured successful, safe operations in a complex, unsupported environment. This project reinforced that the test community must always plan for the worst case when no information is available. Notwithstanding, the shear volume of stakeholders in this project was taxing. Effective communication in such an environment was difficult, yet critical to mission success. This live fire mission provides an interesting case study of flight testing in the 21st Century.
Break
Tuesday 18th November 2008
13.30 - 14.00
Auditorium 3
Reconstruction of in-flight interior vibro-acoustic response
Tuesday 18th November 2008
14.00 - 14.30
Auditorium 3
Vibro-acoustic responses inside the fuselage of an in-flight business jet are reconstructed. Two microphone arrays were built to take acoustic pressure measurements inside the fuselage. One circular array was mounted on a track so that it could be moved in the longitudinal direction to measure the acoustic pressures along the circumference of the fuselage. Another planar array was used to measure the acoustic pressures on the closing surface of the fuselage in the bulkhead and cockpit positions, respectively. Over four thousand measurements of acoustic pressure were taken while the jet was flying at constant speed and altitude of 30,000 ft in the air. These measured acoustic pressures were taken as input to the Helmholtz Equation Least Squares (HELS) method to reconstruct the interior acoustic field, including the fuselage surface. The reconstructed normal surface velocities were checked with respect to the benchmark velocity spectra measured by the accelerometers mounted on the interior surface of the fuselage. This experiment demonstrates that HELS can be used to acquire a good understanding of vibro-acoustic responses inside an arbitrary interior region.
Filtering and Statistics of Flight Test Instrumentation Data
Tuesday 18th November 2008
14.30 - 15.00
Auditorium 3
The US Air Force Test Pilot School relies on flight test instrumentation data to validate aircraft performance and to test systems to their design specifications. Recorded data are sampled at relatively high rates and contain unavoidable noise, both atmospheric noise within air data measurements and vibration noise within accelerometer data. A pitfall of some data analysis techniques is to initially decimate the data to a more manageablesample rate; however, the consequence is a loss of information thus altering the statistically significance of any resulting data analysis. Alternatively, filtering is often applied to a data stream to remove high frequency noise, typically resulting in an artificially high confidence in the results. This paper intends to explore the impact of decimation and filtering on confidence
intervals and to analyze multiple data reduction methods to accurately capture the relative data content, as supported by statistical theory. Monte Carlo simulations will be performed to provide an initial assessment of the performance of the methods under consideration. Results will include analysis of actual flight test data to validate the proposed methods and used to illustrate the consequences of improper data analysis techniques.
Aerodynamic Design of the Lockheed Martin Cooperative Avionics Testbed
Tuesday 18th November 2008
15.00 - 15.30
Auditorium 3
The Lockheed Martin Cooperative Avionics Testbed (CATBird) is a heavilymodified B737-300 airplane. The CATB will be operated in the ExperimentalCategory as a testbed for JSF sensor operations and data fusion in anoperational environment. External modifications to the basic airplane includereplacement of the nose radome, addition of sensor wings on the forwardfuselage and strake antennas on the aft fuselage, and the addition of extensivespine and canoe antenna fairings over the airplane’s upper and lower fuselage.
The airframe has also been heavily modified internally to provide asimulated JSF cockpit and engineering and observer stations. The subject of thispaper is the aerodynamic design of the external aerodynamic modifications.The most critical external modification was the sensor wing/radome combination.The JSF radome completely replaced the airplane’s nose radome with a longer,chined structure. The aerodynamic fairing between the JSF radome and B737forward cockpit bulkhead was designed to minimize downstream disturbance,particularly at the existing pitot-static probe locations which were to bemaintained for CATBird.
Portions of the JSF wing leading edges (called ‘sensor wing’) were mounted onthe CATBird. The radome and sensor wing had to be installed on CATBird so asto maintain their geometric relationship on JSF. Consequently the sensorwing was required to be mounted on the forward fuselage ahead of the wing andengines, with possible negative effects on airplane stability and engine inletperformance.
Attaching the JSF LE section to the B737 required the development of chordwiseand spanwise fairings to complete the sensor wing loft. These sectionswere design for conflicting requirements. Reduction of the destabilizing effect ofsensor wing required minimum area. This became a requirement to minimizechord length, as the span was fixed by the JSF components. However, avoidingvibration and buffet in the airplane’s transonic operating environment placedupper limits on the airfoil thickness-to-chord ratio. Because thickness was fixedby the JSF part these two requirements produced conflicting design constraintson chord length.
The sensor wing loft was designed to use the JSF leading edge part, minimizethe stability impact, and avoid transonic flow separation. The airfoil design codeMSES and 3D analysis codes VLAERO+, VSAERO, and MGAERO were used. There is a reduction instability due to the sensor wing, which is accounted for in CATBird operation by achange to the aft cg limit (compared to the basic airplane). The predictedstability increment of this planform was later verified by wind tunnel and flighttesting. In addition, the sensor wing is free from vibration and buffeting over theoperational speed envelope of the CATBird.
The aft band antenna structure was designed to mount a portion of the JSFhorizontal tail and a separate sensor. Similar to sensor wing theremaining wing sections were designed using VSAERO and MGAERO tominimize the possibility of high speed buffet. The final loft was a compromisebetween the compound curvature aerodynamic loft and a simpler loft which wasmore easily manufactured.
The fuselage spine and canoe fairings were designed for minimum suction peaksto reduce aerodynamic loads and high speed buffet. The cylindrical constantcross-section was designed with the maximum curvature consistent with therequired footprint. The forward nose was designed to minimize suction peaksand the aft section designed to minimize the severity of the recovery pressuregradient.
Each external OML was developed through analysis and wind tunnel testing.Candidate lofts were developed and evaluated by aerodynamicists and structuralengineers. The resulting lofts were the simplest buildable shapes that producedthe minimum impact on the existing airplane.Flight testing of the modified airplane demonstrated that the impact on airplanestability was as predicted. The modifications did not create high speed buffet orvibration within the operating envelope of the modified testbed.
A Probabilistic In-Flight Thrust Estimation Process
Tuesday 18th November 2008
15.30 - 16.00
Auditorium 3
Jet engines installed thrust are estimated in-flight by deterministic processes that starting from measured parameters as pressures and temperatures, calculates, by many different ways, the intermediate turbomachine parameters up to the exhaust nozzle pressure and temperature from which, and the previously determined model nozzle coefficients, the engine thrust and air mass flow are calculated. These methods are industry standards well documented on SAE Reports AIR 1703A and AIR 5450. However, they demand deep cooperation between engine and airframe manufacturer, and are frequently subject of disagreement between parties and subject of contractual penalties. A new approach has been recently proposed on Paper SAE Brazil 2007-01-2542, the more stochastic approach, which in fact estimates the engine fan and core pressures and temperatures from initial engine air mass flow and gross thrust values. Using the Output-Error Method the values of gross thrust and air mass flow are iteratively updated by a modified Newton-Raphson algorithm minimizing the error between the fan and core calculated and measured air pressures, temperatures, and the engine fuel flow. The new technique solves in fact, by optimization, the backward formulation of the in-flight thrust determination problem. The advantages of the new technique over the traditional one is that it has stochastic properties allowing to process the noisy flight test data samples without previous data averaging in the time interval. The above referenced paper (SAE 2007-01-2542) presented the new technique and its application to a mixed flow turbofan engine. Present paper demonstrates the application of the new technique to a separate-stream turbofan showing that the results of the new and the traditional technique are very close. Although the technique has been developed and validated for real engine flight test data, the results here presented where derived from engine Deck (cycle model) data transformed to sampled data by application of noise whose characteristics have been extracted from real flight test data.
Tuesday 18th November 2008
16.00 - 16.20
Auditorium 3
Tuesday 18th November 2008
16.20 - 16.40
Auditorium 3
Tuesday 18th November 2008
16.40 - 17.00
Auditorium 3
Wednesday 19th November 2008
09.20 - 17.00
Auditorium 0
Auditorium 1
Wednesday 19th November 2008
09.20 - 10.00
Auditorium 1
Distributed, high resolution sensing techniques using optical frequency domain reflectometry
Wednesday 19th November 2008
10.00 - 10.20
Auditorium 1
The talk will discuss various sensing techniques such as Fiber Bragg Gratings and Rayleigh backscattering for parameter measurement in various environments. The talk will discuss the measurement principles,strengths,weakness and specific field use examples.
A versatile and scaleable system for small and large channel count data acquisition
Wednesday 19th November 2008
10.20 - 10.40
Auditorium 1
The CODA system from m+p international is a turn-key scaleable data acquistion system for a multitude of data acqustion and process monitoring tasks. The CODA system requires no programming, greatly reducing the time required to setup and acquire whatever type of data are required. The CODA software works with several different data acquistion front-ends giving it even greater flexibility to work with exisitng data acquistion systems or with the latest availbile systems.
Non contact precision displacement and position sensors
Wednesday 19th November 2008
10.40 - 11.00
Auditorium 1
Micro-Epsilon has been solving the most difficult measurement tasks for displacement, distance, position and temperature for 40 years. We provide the widest range of sensors, systems and test systems world-wide. Key technologies for precision non contact displacement measurements are eddy current, capacitive and triangulation technology. In each category Micro Epsilon is pushing the performance to its limits. Latest break throughs and new unique features offer the way for new and ever more challenging applications.
Microflown based in flight acoustic testing methods for helicopter cabin interior sound field analysis
Wednesday 19th November 2008
11.00 - 11.20
Auditorium 1
The Microflown two hot wires sensor has made acoustic particle velocity measurable quantity just as sound pressure. Close to a vibrating surface, acoustic particle velocity is also a good approximation of the normal structural velocity. A range of novel testing methods to solve cabin interior noise problems will be discussed. Socalled PU based sound intensity measurements are not susceptible to reflections as they occur in a cabin, and thus measurements can be done without the need to create anechoic conditions. Array applications include portable arrays for acoustic hot spot finding, distributed arrays for panel noise contribution analysis and the visualisation of 3 D sound intensity streamlines. Single probe applications include the in situ measurement of the acoustic absorption of materials on curved materials with high spatial resolution and the scan & listen method to make modes audible. First results of recent in flight helicopter cabin tests will be presented.
Dynamic ICP® pressure sensors for detection of combustion instability and high intensity acoustics in liquid, cryogenic, and solid rocket motor research
Wednesday 19th November 2008
11.20 - 11.40
Auditorium 1
Rocket motor combustion instability, commonly referred to screeching, is damaging, and often difficult hard to eliminate. Caused by acoustic resonances in the combustion chamber, it can lead to unstable resonant screeching that commonly leads to catastrophic failure by a break down of the thermal insulating boundary layer. It is rather difficult to model this phenomenon during rocket motor design. Dynamic ICP® pressure sensors are available to assist design engineers in studying combustion instability. The piezoelectric pressure sensors are rugged, hermetically sealed, and structured with acceleration-compensated quartz sensing elements that detect rapid pressure transients, pulsations, turbulence, noise, and spikes.
Water-cooled, Helium Bleed Series 122, 123 and 124, are designed expressly for measurement of combustion instability in rocket motors. They are ideal for rocket motor testing to verify the amplitude and mode of screeching instabilities during motor firings in addition to the amplitude and frequency of the pressure oscillations. They may also be used to determine the time required for complete combustion of solid rocket motor fuel as a function of pressure and oxidizer concentrations.
Cryogenic Series 102 are ideal for evaluation of low frequency oscillation, or chugging of fuel and oxidizer pump inlets, which can cause cyclic variation in thrust, and can damage payloads or the rocket. They are also useful for studying buzzing of liquid rocket injectors.
These devices monitor dynamic pressures while subjected to high static background pressure. ICP® output features on-board electronics to provide conditioned output signal and ease of use. Many physical configurations are available with various Aerospace Standard fitting sizes. Helium bleed protects the quartz sensor from intense heat, and also increases frequency response of the recess gas passage. Water cooling allows for maximum thermal stability and extends sensor operating temperature. This paper will discuss their effectiveness in helping the design engineer model rocket motor combustion instabilities.
True surface measurements or how to avoid the 1.2 m pole problem
Wednesday 19th November 2008
11.40 - 12.00
Auditorium 1
Measurement of fly-over noise is often performed with the microphone mounted on a 1.2 m vertical pole. It is well known that this method suffers from ground reflections which causes increased measurement uncertainty. This paper discusses how to avoid the most important source of measurement error in measurement of aircraft fly over noise e.g. errors caused by ground reflections. Based on results from tests carried out over a longer period of time together with the National Aerospace Laboratory NLR in the Netherlands, a comparison is done between real life results of surface pressure measurement of aircraft fly-over noise using different transducer types e.g. a 1.2 m pole with a free field microphone a flush mounted conventional pressure microphone and a surface microphone. The conclusion is that use of the surface microphone practically eliminates the error caused by ground reflections; however regulations may need to be altered in order to be able to formally comply.
Unique testing capability for future engines combustors
Wednesday 19th November 2008
12.00 - 12.20
Auditorium 1
CEPr, a test center of the French armament agency (DGA) offers to customers a full range of testing services either for development or certification activities. The presentation will be focused on a worldwide-unique combustion test facility named K11. This powerful tool provides real operating conditions for full annular combustors. Added to this performance, a brand new designed gas analysis system will be able to help engine manufacturers meeting next future requirements for greener engines.
Direct metal laser sintering applications in test engines
Wednesday 19th November 2008
12.20 - 12.40
Auditorium 1
This presentation will delve into the applications of a revolutionary technology called Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS). DMLS is an additive metal fabrication technology that is able to create highly complex, fully functional, high alloy parts in a fraction the time and at significantly reduced costs over traditional manufacturing technologies. Alloys such as Inconel 718, Cobalt Chromium (CoCr), Stainless 17-4, Maraging Steel and others have been successfully used in many sections of test engines. Parts produced are fully functional and meet the demanding conditions seen for both rotating and non-rotating hardware. This presentation will focus on how the technology works, applications where it can be used and case studies where it has successfully been incorporated.
Developing new propulsion technologies using low cost small to medium scale engine test facilities
Wednesday 19th November 2008
12.40 - 13.00
Auditorium 1
The development of new propulsion technologies can be potentially costly and time consuming. New nozzle shapes, use of new materials, cooling technolgies and flow control systems require testing in order to raise technology readiness levels and to validate design methodolgies. S & C Thermofluids Ltd has been working to develop gas turbine engine facilities which allow cost effective research of new engine technologies to be carried out. In this presentation, these facilities will be described and examples will be provided of the type of research work which has been carried out using them. The presentation will also include a description of how CFD design methodolgies compare with physical testing of this type.
Wednesday 19th November 2008
13.00 - 13.20
Auditorium 1
Wednesday 19th November 2008
13.20 - 14.00
Auditorium 1
PANEL SESSION: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
Wednesday 19th November 2008
14.00 - 15.00
Auditorium 1
PANEL SESSION: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter
Senior design and engineering representatives from
the F-35 Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter) program
will provide a focus on the developmental and test
engineering challenges and achievements of
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II Stealth multi-role
fighter program. Includes a review of the operational
and performance objectives and ends with Q&A
from the attending audience.
Advantages of MSE miniLDV for wind tunnel applications
Wednesday 19th November 2008
15.00 - 15.20
Auditorium 1
MSE has specialized in miniaturizing instrumentation ideal for fluid mechanics measurements. MSE’s miniLDV sensor provides high resolution, high accuracy, non-contact, linear measurements, ideal for turbulence studies. The miniLDV applications include, but are not limited to laminar and turbulent flows, aerodynamics, supersonic flows, turbines and automotive fluid dynamics, liquid flows, surface velocity and vibration measurements, flames and plasma as well as other high temperature environments.
Force measurement issues in test environments
Wednesday 19th November 2008
15.20 - 15.40
Auditorium 1
Testing of clamp-load in aircraft bolted joints
Wednesday 19th November 2008
15.40 - 16.20
Auditorium 1
The magnitude of clamp-load developed while tightening a threaded fastener, on an aircraft structure or any other structure, is controlled by numerous factors. The two main factors are the amount of torque applied to the fastener and the magnitude of friction generated as a result of the torquing. Understanding this interaction of friction and clamp-load will allow for the creation and development of an optimal level of clamp-load in the threaded joint. The personnel at Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC) have performed a wide variety of threaded joint testing using ultrasonic equipment to measure the bolt stretch that occurs during the generation of clamp-load in a threaded fastener. This paper will give a broad over-view of the relationship that friction has in the development of clamp-load and what factors affect it most. This paper will also present details of various threaded joint tests and the benefits of using ultrasonic equipment to measure the clamp-load.
Structural Testing of the Eclispe 500 at Southwest Research Institute
Wednesday 19th November 2008
16.20 - 16.40
Auditorium 1
Static structural testing of the Eclipse 500 was completed at SwRI in 2005 with the fatigue test currently ongoing. This presentation will present an overview of the structural certification test efforts, focusing on the unique challenges encountered designing and executing these tests for the Eclipse 500.
Improved wear resistance of polymer-based composites
Wednesday 19th November 2008
16.40 - 17.00
Auditorium 1
Polymeric materials can be scratched easily - as known to everybody who dealt with Teflon. At LAPOM we develop methods of improving scratch and wear resistance and of lowering friction by a variety of means which include creation of blends, microcomposites, nanocomposites, application of magnetic fields and irradiation. We use a variety of techniques to quantify the improvement - including microscratch testing, sliding wear, sled friction, pin-on-disk wear, pin-on-disk friction and Taber abrasion. Transparency is determined with a spherical spectrophotometer. New polymer- based materials with distinctly better tribological properties are thus developed for specific applications.
Auditorium 2
Wednesday 19th November 2008
09.20 - 10.00
Auditorium 2
The iron bird for hydraulic and flight control systems testing of the M345 advanced trainer
Wednesday 19th November 2008
10.00 - 10.20
Auditorium 2
The presentation describes the iron bird of the Alenia-Aermacchi M346, which allows testing of the flight controls, hydraulics and landing gear systems. It also allows to perform troubleshooting of the problems that could arise during prototype flight trials. The iron bird provides the same installation for the aircraft components as in the actual aircraft. The control surfaces are represented by dummies having the same inertia referred to the hinge axis as the actual control surface. The connections between these dummies and the relevant actuators have a stiffness equivalent to that of the actual aircraft. The hydraulic loading system applies the aerodynamic loads directly to the control actuators. As the pilot in a simplified cockpit moves the controls to run through flight routines, the loading actuators produce loads appropriate to the flight conditions, as determined by dedicated software models . The iron bird operation, its hardware and software characteristics are presented.
Collaborative work and TP400 engine test data
Wednesday 19th November 2008
10.20 - 10.40
Auditorium 2
The TP400 development involves 4 major European companies : Rolls-Royce, Snecma, MTU and ITP. To address the issues of collaborative work in testing this engine, shared between all these companies, the Test Data Storage and Exchange System has been designed and setup. It is a test database accessed through the Internet by TP400 companies and subcontractors. This conference describes the general design of the system and its efficiency for collaborative work.
Multi-exciter testing per MIL-STD-810G
Wednesday 19th November 2008
10.40 - 11.00
Auditorium 2
The latest revision of this important Standard should be released by the time Aero Test America 2008 convenes. Several important features have been included in this major revision including the incorporation of MIL-STD-167 for Shipboard Vibration testing and the addition of Method 527, Multi-Exciter Testing. With recent improvements in field Data Acquisition and the dramatic improvement in Multiple-Input/Multiple-Output (MIMO) control systems, MIL-STD-810 for the first time has incorporated a detailed section devoted to concepts and considerations for using multiple shakers to more accurately excite prototype and production flight and field hardware. This presentation examines some of the recent developments in Multi-shaker testing of Aerospace hardware, Multi-shaker standards and Multi-shaker recommended practices.
Development of a common test rig for qualification and acceptance testing of a rotary gear actuator
Wednesday 19th November 2008
11.00 - 11.20
Auditorium 2
V I Engineering was contracted by Curtiss Wright Control Systems to design and build a test rig for both qualification and acceptance testing of a Rotary Geared Actuator (RGA). The test rig needed to integrate a high performance hydraulic system with custom linkages and a motion control system. The entire system also needed to be packaged within a small footprint appropriate for a production environment. The RGA was designed to drive an aircraft door hinge assembly. This application presented unique loading characteristics. A close collaboration with Curtiss Wright engineering staff was needed to define and ensure proper rig kinematics during the prototype phase of the RGA development project. One of the main purposes for the test rig was to aid Curtiss Wright in the qualification of the new actuator design. To perform design qualification, the test rig was required to apply more complex load profiles and static fatigue loads. Qualification functionality allowed the RGA to be run through worst case loading as well as multiple lifetimes of wear and fatigue to validate the new actuator design. The test rig's second purpose was to perform acceptance testing. The functionality required for this focused on automation and a user friendly interface. Once installed the RGA cycled through a suite of acceptance tests with minimal user interaction. Upon completion the test rig automatically generates an acceptance test data sheet.
The third dimension of random vibration control
Wednesday 19th November 2008
11.20 - 11.40
Auditorium 2
Random vibration testing is the industry workhorse for simulating the environment for a broad range of products. Tests are typically specified by defining a spectrum shape and overall RMS amplitude. The test controller then causes a measured reference acceleration to match these specified parameters. The controller forces a shaped-random response with a normal or Gaussian amplitude distribution. However, experience has shown that such tests may be too conservative for some product/environment combinations; the test does not produce the same damage statistics observed in the field. Adding a third control dimension provides more realistic random vibration tests that better match the damage potential of the actual environment. That third dimension is Kurtosis control, which matches the amplitude distribution of the test to that of the environment.
Evolutionary changes in horizontal shock testing
Wednesday 19th November 2008
11.40 - 12.00
Auditorium 2
As a result of the Army Research Laboratory's (ARL; Adelphi, MD) unique requirements to simulate extreme shock effects experienced by soldiers in combat vehicles, the Lansmont Corporation developed and installed a state of-the-art Horizontal Impact Test System (HITS). This presentation discusses the Army's simulation requirements, Lansmont's uniquely engineered shock system solution, and some of the generalized results that can be shared with a civilian audience. The overall goal of the Army was to use this new technology to improve the safety of soldiers exposed to crash and blast hazards inside vehicles. Similar use of this technology could be used within the aerospace industry to improve the safety and reliability of aircraft and airborne systems.
HarnesSYS - A complete modular software package for Electrical System Design
Wednesday 19th November 2008
12.00 - 12.20
Auditorium 2
HarnesSYS-LAHAV, divisions of IAI (Israel Aerospace Company) will present ANALYZER; A software module for automatic design and test validation for a complete aircraft wiring system, individual wire harness or a system level test. Some Characteristics: -Built-in graphic tools -Data integrity -Configuration management -Product support -Interface with external 3D geometry.
When failure is NOT an option: Interconnect systems metrology
Wednesday 19th November 2008
12.20 - 12.40
Auditorium 2
Interconnect systems, also known as connectors, are basic, necessary components in all aerospace systems. Without these components to carry power, signal, fiberoptic information, or fluids from subassembly to subassembly, a system cannot function. Although these interconnect systems may be secondary or tertiary in the design sequence of a system, they are a critical part of the success (or failure) of aircraft, spacecraft, marine or ground based vehicles. This paper describes many of the most common types of these interconnect systems. The paper also discusses the typical mechanical, electrical and environmental testing that is utilized to ensure proper performance and reliability. The paper hopes to bring forth an understanding that as simple as these interconnect systems may be, testing such as thermal cycling, shock, vibration, and mate cycling help ensure that signal or power failures do not occur in any critical system.
True EMI/RFI/Transient energy mitigation is achievable via connector modifications
Wednesday 19th November 2008
12.40 - 13.00
Auditorium 2
We are now working In a world were we have to reduce our standard engineering designs into smaller lighter packages, that not only meet the intent of the initially proposed design, but also comply with meet the testing requirements set forth in either MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-464, or RTCA-DO-160. On top of everything else, these smaller, lighter electronic units are being additionally asked to meet the testing requirements, without having the advantage of shielded cables or harnesses in order to save weight / space; and still mitigate externally driven transients that can couple onto the electronic equipment from either: RFI, EMI, EMP, or LIGHTNING driven sources. To accomplish this task is no small engineering feat, but through years of trial and error experience, coupled along with good engineering EMI design practices these design goals can now be readily achieved within a connector.
Combined acoustic and vibration closed loop control solution
Wednesday 19th November 2008
13.00 - 13.20
Auditorium 2
Acoustic and Vibration dynamic response testing is required for flight and space vehicles. Validation as well as Development depends on using closed loop controllers capable of applying these specialized conditions on test articles. A unique approach enables a single system to perform both closed loop acoustic control in 1/3 octave bands and vibration control. This allows the laboratory to maximize their investement and use the same tool for these very different applications. The acoustic control traditionally has been open loop - this approach uses real time 1/3 octave analysis and closed loop which insures the accuracy and safety of the part under test. Dual use as a vibration controller maximizes the investement and the common interface eliminates costly retraining. Designed in safety checks and advanced features protect the test article while validing the design. System design allows hundreds of channels to be acquired in real time.
Lunch
Wednesday 19th November 2008
13.20 - 14.20
Auditorium 2
Digital image correlation for use in the non-destructive analysis of aerospace materials, components and frames
Wednesday 19th November 2008
14.20 - 14.40
Auditorium 2
Since its inception, DIC has proven itself as an extremely powerful and flexible measurement tool for non-destructive testing in the Aerospace Industry. In recent years, this technique has continuously been reaffirmed as one of the preeminent methods for such testing in this field, as government agencies and industry leaders have consistently upgraded their equipment and software. With the inclusion of high speed cameras and vibration analysis software, the ability to study and discretely analyze aerospace materials, components, and frames has never been better. Adding the capability to monitor real-time progression of strains and displacements in 3-D can produce a method of analysis that is second to none, with the ability to fully control an experiment from start to finish without the need to load a sample to failure. As it evolves, DIC will continue to redefine the expectations of what can be accomplished through non-destructive testing in the industry.
Advanced optical measurement technology for NDE
Wednesday 19th November 2008
14.40 - 15.00
Auditorium 2
Composite materials have been used for many years in aircraft manufacturing on high stressed components as well as for the weight saving benefit. However, nowadays they are becoming commonplace leading to a greater need for internal and external aircraft NDI inspection. For composite materials, this inspection can be safety critical. The risk of impact damage due to FOD or even production process variations require faster and more capable inspection technologies. The existing technologies provide enough detection capabilities for known defects but are still time consuming and have some limitations. In principal, the ono-defect found areas are more than 90 % of the scanned surface and therefore a lot of inspection time is used to confirm this. It is therefore necessary for a fast and reliable inspection technology which can even improve on current detection capabilities. Shearography has been validated as such an inspection technique for aerospace components. This optical laser based measurement technology provides very fast and full-field inspection with a high sensitivity even on very complex structures. The average total inspection time of 10 seconds for an area of 100 square inch shows clearly the potential of Shearography for production and In-Field inspection. Shearography has proven to be capable detecting defects including okissing or Zero-Volume bondings, waving, crushed core, internal corrosion and many more with zero falls call.
Fast setting dimensionally stable measurement replication systems
Wednesday 19th November 2008
15.00 - 15.20
Auditorium 2
Dynamold`s DMR Series Flexible Replication Systems give you fast setting, dimensionally stable measurement of tooling,mold making dies, gears, prototype tooling, production parts and surface finish replications as well as a number of other applications.
Wednesday 19th November 2008
15.20 - 15.40
Auditorium 2
Shearography nondestructive testing of aircraft composites
Wednesday 19th November 2008
15.40 - 16.00
Auditorium 2
Shearography nondestructive testing is gaining rapid acceptance as a highly cost effective means for the production inspection of aerospace composites and sandwich structures. Shearography NDT was first commercially introduced by Laser Technology Inc. on the B-2 Stealth Bomber program for inspecting composite honeycomb panels that because of their unique design could not be inspected with ultrasonic C-Scan. Development of digital CCD cameras, the PC and small, high power solid-state lasers have led to dramatic performance improvements in shearography instruments and systems. Automated shearography scan systems can replace UT C-Scan for many applications and achieve throughputs from 10 to 50 times greater. Shearography is currently in use on a wide variety of aircraft including F-22, F-35 JSF, Cessna Citation X, Raytheon Premier I and the NASA Space Shuttle. This presentation will provide a brief background on shearography NDT technology and discuss these and other applic
Rapid detection of composite material defects with an infrared matrix laser vibrometer
Wednesday 19th November 2008
16.00 - 16.20
Auditorium 2
We describe a new type of laser vibrometer developed by Metrolaser Inc. for rapid acoustic resonance imaging of buried defects in composite materials. Many studies have shown that laser vibrometers are capable of detecting low amplitude surface vibration signatures associated with buried defects in composite materials under acoustic excitation. However, practical application of the technique is limited by the slow XY scanning approach employed in conventional single beam laser vibrometers and by the operational limitations which this approach imposes. The matrix laser vibrometer was developed to address these limitations in several ways, which are discussed in this presentation. The presentation will discuss the instrument architecture, inspection data from composite material testing, and future development plans for the technology.
Introduction of a new, low-cost videoscope with joystick-controlled, 4-way articulation, and on-board image capture and video recording
Wednesday 19th November 2008
16.20 - 16.40
Auditorium 2
RF System lab. manufactures highly-portable videoscopes with joystick-controlled, four-way articulation. Features include one-click image capture and video recording, one-hand operation, and variable Illumination. Images and video can also be recorded directly to a PC or can be easily transferred to a PC via USB cable or removable memory card. We also produce high-resolution, CCD-based, direct digital radiography panels for NDE, up to 14" X 17" (48 mega-pixels). While our company is new to NDT/NDE, our products and technology have evolved from the medical and dental markets over the past 15 years. All of our products are extremely price competitive and easy to use.
Integrating ultrasonic data collection and analysis with metrology laser-based scanning system
Wednesday 19th November 2008
16.40 - 17.00
Auditorium 2
SURVICE was recently awarded a U.S. Government research grant to improve upon the current methods used to measure and repair damage to composite materials associated with next-generation aircraft. The patent-pending approach integrates state-of-the-art metrology hardware with ultrasonic sensing equipment to provide a data collection and processing system that can identify the extent of non-visible delamination within composite structures in the vicinity of otherwise visible combat damage to automate and expedite maintenance and repair activities.
Flight Test Week - Auditorium 3
Wednesday 19th November 2008
09.20 - 09.30
Auditorium 3
Wednesday 19th November 2008
09.30 - 10.00
Auditorium 3
Wind envelope expansion testing of the JAS 39 Gripen single and dual-seat aircraft
Wednesday 19th November 2008
10.00 - 10.30
Auditorium 3
All a/c must be able to operate in windy conditions, at least to somedegree. The most requiring task is often landing in turbulence and/or crosswind.Customer or authority requirements are often stated as allowed crosswind fortake-off and landing and flight test of some sort is regularly required to verify ordemonstrate the characteristics in those conditions.
The verification of the cross wind landing requirement for the JAS39 Gripensingle and dual seater a/c was performed as a build-up in turbulence and crosswind. Turbulence testing had the “lead” over cross wind testing, as had testingof the single seater over the dual seater.
A number of criteria to abort a landing or stop continued testing were stipulated.On-line calculations of turbulence and control surface activity, together withother things such as CHR, are examples of parameters used in those criteria.Testing was mainly performed at local airfields but to increase the possibilitiesto get the right wind conditions, the testing also involved a dual seater JAS 39Gripen stationed in South Africa. This required some extra liaison and logisticactivities in cooperation with the local test facilities.
Result wise, it was clearly noted that a single moderate disturbance at the“wrong time”, can trigger events and affect the landing performance more thanlarger disturbances at less critical altitudes or stages in a landing.Wind envelope expansion can be hard to achieve, giving the need for the rightconditions. An early preparation for alternate locations and extra high alert fordeployment should therefore definitely be considered.
A number of lessons were learned along the way, spanning from landingtechniques and wind reading to geographical turbulence profiles and tire wear.
Flight Test Sensors
Wednesday 19th November 2008
10.30 - 11.00
Auditorium 3
Strain Gage Installation – Quality, Reliability & Performance
Wednesday 19th November 2008
11.00 - 11.30
Auditorium 3
Statement of Problem: Edwards Simmons and Arthur Ruge were co-credited with inventing the modern strain gage in the late thirties, while it’s no longer a cutting edge technology, manufacturing processes have increased quality, precision of these engineering aids while simultaneously lowering the cost of strain gages. Strain gages have been in use by the engineering community for decades, and still prove to be an accurate and economical method for measuring stress and strains for the hundreds of measurements required on airframes and associated structures. Many of our loads measurements are buried in the airframe and inaccessible once the aircraft is assembled, so it requires an extreme level of quality control since there’s one opportunity to do it right. It was recognized very earlier on by Fort worth flight test that in order to insure the availability of actuate and dependable data, the strain gage discipline would need to be controlled and nurtured into what many people consider an art form as much as skill. At LM Aeronautics in Fort Worth, the strain gage lab approach is that the best technical processes and procedure are worthless unless you have a system that insures that they are being used and followed. These installations are inspected by a quality inspector, but prior to being presented to inspection, engineering has monitored every detail of the mechanics installation to make sure every installation was accomplished per the installation procedure and engineering instructions. As flight test requirements and test vehicles increase in complexity, there is pressure within the unique strain gage installation community to develop new, improve old, and react real time to problems encountered. A network of coordinated, trained and informed community of stain gage installation specialists must answer to these critical issues.
Objectives: The results achieved by the Forth Worth strain gage lab have been unquestionable; we currently have (5) F-16 loads aircraft that have been in service 20 to 25 years since there original instrumentation was installed. F-16A-271 is still being used for ground test using strain gage installation dating from 1979. How is this quality and sustainability achieved? It is not necessarily the processes or procedures, but more so a collaborative effort that engineering set up between itself and the installation mechanics, where engineering accepts the everyday hands on responsibility for the product.
Approach: Over the years when dealing with other manufacturers and vendors, there have been many approaches to develop strain gage installation into a discipline that produces high quality installations while assuring that the process skills are maintained and nurtured. But the approaches vary from the casual approach of picking it up through reading a book, to approaches that imbed the process into the manufacturing/production world where the installation expertise is quickly learned to get the job done and then lost. As program team make ups change develop and change again, and aircraft come together from sections fabricated on a global landscape, it becomes essential that sharing of process technology, lessons learned and developments within the industry merge together into a community that iteratively communicates on such issues as installation and process knowledge.
Results: The Fort Worth strain gage lab has maintained that in order for their mechanics to be proficient they must have constant training and repetition. Instead of 100 part time mechanics with questionable skills, due to the importance of this data it is preferable to have 10 highly skilled mechanics. Unfortunately, we’ve had to justify the way the strain gage lab does business at the start of every program and it seems to become more difficult each time.
Conclusions: If there is enough understanding of the uniqueness of this specialized niche and what it take to achieve and maintain it in today’s test world versus say today’s manufacturing world we feel that this skill can survive and produce the quality of data necessary to verify aerospace products now and in the future.
Lessons Learned: Lessons learned if properly managed within a globally coordinated stain gage community is one of the avenues that can facilitate better development and fabrication of the flight test vehicle. A perfect product will produce perfect results which sometimes may make or break further development of a particular aerospace vehicle.
Review of a Successful Distributed Networked and Modular FTI Implementation
Wednesday 19th November 2008
11.30 - 12.00
Auditorium 3
Recent years have seen a growth in interest and application of commercial networks to flight test. In particular, there has been a drive to replace proprietary or specialized busses in distributed flight test instrumentation (FTI) systems with Ethernet. This paper looks at a particular test program using an Ethernet based FTI installation.
The first A330 MRTT prototype completed Phase 1 of flight testing devoted to civil certification in Q1 2008. The FTI system consisted of thirteen Ethernet nodes distributed around the airframe. Each Ethernet node was dedicated to data acquisition, including avionic bus monitoring, various analog and digital parameters with system wide sampling synchronized by GPS. The certification took place over 3 months with the FTI system logging up a total of 63 flights and 202 flight hours. During this time, not a single flight had been delayed or cancelled due to a technical failure.
This paper describes the architecture of the FTI system used. The advantages of using a distributed networked and modular approach for a flight test instrumentation is discussed, in comparison with how the testing would have been carried out with a more traditional FTI bus. It proposes that the networked implementation contributed to the rapid and successful certification of the A330 MRTT phase 1.
Lunch
Wednesday 19th November 2008
12.00 - 12.30
Auditorium 3
F-35 JSF Test Pilot Overview
Wednesday 19th November 2008
12.30 - 13.00
Auditorium 3
Flexibity Needs Sound Process: The M346 Flight Test Program
Wednesday 19th November 2008
13.00 - 13.30
Auditorium 3
This paper deals with the AleniaAermacchi M-346 Advanced Trainer Aircraft flight test program, its objectives, achievements, technical and organizational constraints and challenges.
In particular the deployed flight test process will be reviewed with particular attention to the way flight clearances and limitations are generated, applied and managed by the test team.
The purpose of the paper is to discuss how proficiency of development and certification flight testing may be combined with demonstrations, displays and other not specifically experimental activities.
The Integrated Product Team approach, deployed by AleniaAermacchi for the M-346 development project, will be addressed as a flexible though robust program management and organizational solution, aiming at assuring safety and quality while respecting project milestones. Furthermore, the efficiency of the Flight Test Management process has been improved dramatically through the implementation of concurrent and distributed IT applications, assuring at one time respect of the company procedures and flexibility.
The status of the M-346 certification flight tests will be presented: some results obtained by applying the test process will be given. As an example, the initial Air-to-Air refuelling assessment recently completed will be analysed.In a continuing changing environment, with an increasing accent on flexibility and multi-tasking, only a robust and verified experimental process, shared among the organization and supported by the management, can lead to the respect of the assigned program targets.
Eclipse 500 Natural Icing Flight Test
Wednesday 19th November 2008
13.30 - 14.00
Auditorium 3
This will be a description of the Natural Icing Flight Test program for the Eclipse 500. Topics will include certification requirements, instrumentation, test methodology, safety planning, and test results.
Using a NOAA Database, GPS, and/or Pressure Altitude Measurements to Determine Height above Terrain
Wednesday 19th November 2008
14.00 - 14.30
Auditorium 3
For operational loads monitoring efforts to be successful, gathered data (normal acceleration, strains, etc.) must be correlated to flight condition. One important flight parameter is height above terrain (HAT). HAT data is routinely collected via the radar altimeter output. The problem arises when either (1) the subject aircraft has no radar altimeter or (2) the data collection suite cannot access data from the on-board radar altimeter.
The objective of this effort was to collect HAT data in the absence of radar altimeter information for an operational usage data collection effort on a U.S. Coast Guard HC-130H aircraft. The approach used a NOAA 30-arc-second gridded database of worldwide terrain heights in conjunction with on-board Global Positioning System (GPS) and pressure altitude measurements. During post-processing of data, the NOAA database was interrogated with the latitude/longitude information from the GPS to determine the elevation of the terrain beneath the aircraft. Knowing the GPS altitude at that point allowed the calculation of an acceptable estimate of HAT. These calculations were supplemented with similarly derived HAT calculations from aircraft pressure altitude, corrected for the last known field elevation where the weight-on-wheels sensor determined the aircraft was on the ground. GPS data were collected as an RS-232 stream by a parser module in the ACRA Control, Inc. model KAM-500 data acquisition unit. Data included position (latitude and longitude), altitude, ground speed, true course, and magnetic course. Pressure was sampled using a Honeywell Precision Pressure Transducer connected to a static pressure line on the left fuselage wall. Post-processing software was written by the author, and NOAA subroutines were integrated into the post-processing software for the interrogation of the terrain database.
The approach usually allowed an acceptably accurate calculation for HAT for the purpose of segregating the flight data by altitude bands. The accuracy of GPS in the vertical coordinate (as opposed to lat/long accuracy) was occasionally unacceptably poor, at which times the supplemental information from pressure altitude data became important. Moreover, over very rugged terrain, the interpolation algorithm used to interrogate the database “smooths” terrain heights to give incorrect HAT values. A flight path of the subject aircraft departing Colorado Springs airport and the associated calculated terrain heights and HAT data are shown in the paper.
Use of Proteus to Flight Test the New AESA Radar for Global Hawk
Wednesday 19th November 2008
14.30 - 15.00
Auditorium 3
To complete Developmental and Performance Flight Testing of the MP-RTIP radar. timely results were required prior to availability of the larger RQ-4B. Results will affect the decision for LRIP production of the radar for the Global Hawk.
To use Proteus, an existing high-altitude testbed, owned by Northrop Grumman and operated by Scaled Composites. Proteus holds world records for altitude and payload in its class, and has carried a variety of payloads on high altitude missions.
Scaled and NGC Designed and built a pod to house radar, systems and instrumentation. With the radar first flown in September 2006, developmental testing will be completed in summer 2008, with Performance flights completed during the fall of 2008. Developmental testing has involved up to 3 flights per week
Generally 6 hour missions have been flown, giving about 4.5 hours radar testing time once the aircraft was on station.
Proteus has proved to be a reliable high-altitude testbed. Use of a manned aircraft has provided flexibility in using and changing airspace in real time. Proteus can repeat test points, and modify the flight routes in real time in response to ATC and weather changes. Maximum use has been made of Edwards facilities, airspace, ground arrays, ground movers and air movers. The unique Proteus airframe gave challenges in scheduling with replacement parts and annual inspections etc. Use of a single aircraft has meant scheduling down time for maintenance, software and radar upgrades. Weather has been an issue especially during the winter months, with high surface winds at Mojave coupled with turbulence aloft due to the winter jetstream.
Performance and Perception of Precision Approach and Landing Systems Aboard USS Harry S. Truman
Wednesday 19th November 2008
15.00 - 15.30
Auditorium 3
Interior Beamforming Measurements Using 3D-Microphone Arrays
Wednesday 19th November 2008
15.30 - 16.00
Auditorium 3
Conventional space, time and frequency selective analysis in cavities is nearly impossible and it is difficult to find multiple sound sources position in space. Traditional beam forming systems with planar microphone arrays do not give comprehensive information about the sound sources inside a cavity such as an airplane interior. The Acoustic Camera from GFaI was adapted to a spherical, acoustically transparent and Omni directional array and a new option allows mapping onto a common 3D-CAD-models of the object of interest, for instance an airplane cockpit. The advantages and disadvantages of 2D- and 3D-mappings are presented as well as positioning an array in the coordinate system of the 3D-model and in the actual cavity to be measured, the geometric and acoustic properties of microphone arrays which are applicable for complete 3D-measurements and mappings of cavities, and a practicable way of determining the array's position and direction related to the measurement object.
Wednesday 19th November 2008
16.00 - 16.20
Auditorium 3
Wednesday 19th November 2008
16.20 - 16.40
Auditorium 3
Wednesday 19th November 2008
16.40 - 17.00
Auditorium 3
Thursday 20th November 2008
09.20 - 12.30
Auditorium 0
Auditorium 1
Thursday 20th November 2008
09.20 - 09.30
Auditorium 1
Data acquisition and signal conditioning for diverse testing platforms
Thursday 20th November 2008
09.30 - 09.50
Auditorium 1
Data acquisition and signal conditioning for diverse testing platforms
Data acquisition and signal conditioning for diverse testing platforms
Thursday 20th November 2008
09.50 - 10.10
Auditorium 1
An overview of equipment options for a variety of applications and testing environments.
Engine surface noise source identification presentation
Thursday 20th November 2008
10.10 - 10.30
Auditorium 1
The Helmholtz Equations Least Squares (HELS) method is used to identify and analyze the relative contributions of different sound sources to the overall sound radiation from an engine, and examine the effectiveness of different oil pan designs on the resultant sound radiation from the engine. HELS is used to reconstruct normal acoustic intensity distributions on individual surfaces and provide the basis for sound power calculations. In many instances, the normal acoustic intensity on the side surface cancel each other because it has both negative and positive values, so they are not effective in sound radiation. In this case, the normal acoustic intensity on the bottom surface (oil pan), however, is always positive, which means that there is a net out-flow of the acoustic energy from the oil pan surface to the surrounding medium, and this is confirmed by the sound power calculations. HELS can be applied to any three dimensional object that is radiating sound.
Picture Perfect Measurements Using digital cameras for high-accuracy dimensional measurements in Aerospace
Thursday 20th November 2008
10.30 - 10.50
Auditorium 1
During the presentation, a short video will be shown demonstrating high-accuracy measurements using digital cameras. Aerospace measurement applications such as reverse engineering, part inspection and periodic inspection of tooling will be highlighted. The systems, known as V-STARS use high-resolution, high-accuracy photogrammetric cameras designed, manufactured, sold and supported by GSI and a dedicated worldwide distribution network. We are a turnkey solution provider. The system is especially advantageous when downtime is critical since set-up and tear down can often be done while production continues, and the acquisition time (time to take the photographs) is usually very short compared to other approaches. Another hallmark of the technology is its ability to work where other technologies can't. The system can be used on unstable flooring, lifts, cranes scaffolding, etc. Following the video, GSI will demonstrate the use of the V-STARS products in Aerospace applications.
Improving MRO performance using 3D vision systems
Thursday 20th November 2008
10.50 - 11.10
Auditorium 1
In aerospace industry, the need for increased efficiency and performance has led to a continuous improvement of blade maintenance and repair. In this paper, we explain how our close range digital photogrammetry-based 3D vision system allowed for a full automation of the Laser Welding cell for turbine blade repair and for the fully automated measurements of fan blades and IPC vanes. For the Laser welding repair, the Vision system was mounted on the robot arm, above the welding head of the cell. The 3D coordinates obtained are fed to the robot which drives the welding laser head. The fully automated fan blade measurement system was designed to provide a quick and accurate measurements of fan blades, significantly reducing the time needed for inspection and repair. This paper presents the technical challenges involved when designing such systems and shows how the vision system based on close range photogrammetry allows for fast, accurate and repeatable 3D measurements used for automated blade repairs and measurements.
Adaptive robotic control with metrology devices for correcting robotic drilling operations in process
Thursday 20th November 2008
11.10 - 11.30
Auditorium 1
This presentation will be of robotic drilling assemblies that have been introduced various aircraft manufacturing facilities to position kinematic robots for drilling and installing fasteners. Using metrology devices such as the Metris K-Series optical CMM, accuracies of the robots have been improved through studies to be under .2mm accuracies. Using the adaptive control previously from M-Cubed (now Metris UK), the robot is able to drive to a position and the adaptive control will read the position with LED`s on the part, the robot, and on the tooling to give a statement of where the position needs to move to in reality. This also takes into consideration any clamping onto the part of the end effector of the robot. If the position is incorrect, the adaptive control software releases the clamp and re-adjusts. This normally takes one iteration. In the presentation there will be a short video showing the process used within Airbus that has two robots controlled at the same time.
Innovative new tools for non-contact aerospace coating measurements
Thursday 20th November 2008
11.30 - 11.50
Auditorium 1
While material characteristics and recent advances in composite technology have made composites the aircraft material of choice, the rate of innovation in the development of improved means to precisely measure coatings and primer over varied metallic and composite structures -and fasteners contained therein - has not been as active. Based upon recent developments, the author will present the latest details and findings of new coating measurement technology test and development efforts and the applications that these new tools are best suited for. Results from various test and evaluation efforts will also be presented.
Cone bean computed tomography for aerospace engineering and test
Thursday 20th November 2008
11.50 - 12.10
Auditorium 1
This paper will focus on the testing and measurement processes for aerospace engineering and test that are allowed by employing Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) and 3D Image post-processing technologies and techniques. Engineering and test analysis procedures discussed include defect recognition, design tolerance, metrology methods, density measurements, stress and strain, CAD/CAM preparation and overall design illustration. The entire history of CBCT in aerospace will be covered, as well as current processes, expected results, and specific aerospace case studies. Other logistical topics discussed will include hardware configuration trade offs, software environments and integration, scanning optimization, integration of TQM processes, and documentation and representation of results.
Digital radiography for the aerospace industry
Thursday 20th November 2008
12.10 - 12.30
Auditorium 1
Film X-ray inspection has been a standard NDT process for the Aerospace Industry for decades. Weaknesses of film include the time and cost to process and the difficulty to store or transmit the final images. While Digital Radiography (DR) is less time-consuming and easier to distribute, the higher quality images traditionally provided by film far out-weighed the weaknesses. Recent advances in Digital Radiography will not only meet film image quality, but can exceed these requirements. Key considerations such as Signal to Noise Ratio, Contrast Sensitivity and Spatial Resolution must be taken into account. ASTM E2597 establishes a quantitative method to qualify digital detectors. This presentation will cover the latest DR technologies, the underlying technology, types of panels, integration speed, and appropriate applications. We will cover the new definitions for â?obad pixelsâ?ť that have recently been published, and explain how to compare between manufactures.
Increased inspection productivity through advances in Remote Visual Inspection (RVI)
Thursday 20th November 2008
12.30 - 12.50
Auditorium 1
Remote Visual Inspection (RVI) allows the inspection of objects or components in complex systems such as engines without disassembling the engine modules, surrounding structure or removing the engine from an aircraft. Recent advancements in optics, micro-processing and digital data management will be presented, with practical focus on instrument capability and inspection protocols for increased inspection productivity and automated report writing.
3D Scanning: Is It Right For Your Company?
Thursday 20th November 2008
12.50 - 13.10
Auditorium 1
Can a 3D scanner measure my product? How does 3D scanning actual work? How can 3D scanning save me time and money? The answer to these questions and many more will be answered in this presentation. This general session will provide an over view of this rapidly expanding technically and how it has entered many different industries and proven itself as a staple technology in the design and testing process.
Thursday 20th November 2008
13.10 - 14.00
Auditorium 1
Auditorium 2
Thursday 20th November 2008
09.20 - 09.30
Auditorium 2
Towards increasing the value of wind tunnel testing for airliner and bizjet projects
Thursday 20th November 2008
09.30 - 09.50
Auditorium 2
The introduction of new instrumentation and testing techniques has presented many opportunities to increase the value of wind tunnel testing to the quality and viability of future projects. We will discuss here the testing of one propulsion systems, like the open rotor and the VHBR, which are becoming important factors in the future medium-range airliner market (Airbus A320 / Boeing 737 successors), This activity is also linked with initiatives like the EU Clean Sky project, helping to develop more environmentally-friendly aircraft. We will also discuss how global PSP, PIV, and shockwave measurements can add value to the crowded bizjet market. The Aero Testing Alliance between ONERA (France) and DNW (Germany and the Netherlands) brings together a critical mass of competences, and ground test hardware (including the largest wind tunnels in Europe). Continual improvement has moved us towards increasing the value of wind tunnel testing for our customers, as will be described here.
Inexpensive powered controls with hinge moments for low-speed wind tunnel models
Thursday 20th November 2008
09.50 - 10.10
Auditorium 2
Two wind tunnel model designs are described that allowed for remotely positioned horizontal stabilizer incidence, elevator position and rudder position. All three axes had strain gage sensors for measuring hinge moments. These wind tunnel models allowed for run rates nearing 200/shift at the University Of Washington`s Kirsten Wind Tunnel.
New options for quickly and inexpensively creating wind tunnel and flow bench test models
Thursday 20th November 2008
10.10 - 10.30
Auditorium 2
The cost and time required to create wind tunnel and flow bench test models effectively limited the number of design variations that could be evaluated, resulting in suboptimal designs. Recent improvements in additive fabrication (RP) technology have provided the means to create accurate test models at a fraction of both the cost and time required by conventional methods. As a result, several design alternatives can be evaluated simultaneously, and more design iterations can be made, allowing an optimum design to be reached faster and at lower cost. Appropriate AF methods and materials will be reviewed and case histories presented.
Fluid dynamics - the future necessity of wind tunnel improvement
Thursday 20th November 2008
10.30 - 10.50
Auditorium 2
Wind tunnels have developed well over the last century but current, and definitely, future needs have caused their current features to be lacking. Wind tunnels that can meet the requirements of vehicles and products as they really exist in nature need to be designed and placed into practice. E.g., going forward with a vehicle design that can only be partially tested is no longer an option. A tremendous amount of both money and more importantly time, is wasted on these poorly tested products. Better wind tunnels can solve these testing problems and the end result would be having better designed products and improved efficiency and productivity leading to increased profits. In a world where the only way corporations have thoughts of increasing profits is through layoffs and outsourcing, newer, more creative ways of saving both time and money such as wind tunnel improvement, are needed now.
Wind tunnel data acquisition machinery modernization
Thursday 20th November 2008
10.50 - 11.10
Auditorium 2
Wright Patterson AFB has utilized WTITs INERTIA application coupled with COTS equipment to automate data acquisition of a large number of parameters with in existing wind tunnel facilities; these facilities include Vertical, Mach and sub-Mach chambers. WTI was contracted to supply a system to retrofit existing chambers and controls with sophisticated and complex real-time acquisition that provide an intuitive user interface to allow the operator to define the channels to acquire, the rates, build the GUI, and define the data logging as well as allow real-time edits on the fly.
Rapid manufacturing of external control surfaces for a (1:8 scale) wind tunnel model made by Windform® GF SLS powders
Thursday 20th November 2008
11.10 - 11.30
Auditorium 2
The construction of a (1:8 scale) wind tunnel model for the 609 Tilt Rotor. Control surfaces were constructed using the Windform GF material, a composite of Aluminum and Nylon manufactured using Selective Laser Sintering Technology.
PANEL SESSION: Future Employment in Aerospace
Thursday 20th November 2008
11.30 - 12.30
Auditorium 2
Learn how key staff from Lockheed, Bell and Vought Aircraft Industries left their competitive cloaks at the door and developed two cutting edge training programs to increase the pipeline of qualified workers for the aerospace manufacturing industry, facilitated by the local Workforce Board. Hear about challenges and opportunities faced by those who created the DFW regional aerospace cluster, starting in 2002, including representatives from the aerospace business, a Chamber of Commerce, and the Workforce Board. See materials used and hear about techniques applied to reach out to middle school and high school students to make them aware of career opportunities in the high-growth, high-wage aerospace manufacturing industry.
Thursday 20th November 2008
12.30 - 14.00
Auditorium 2
Flight Test Week - Auditorium 3
Thursday 20th November 2008
09.20 - 09.30
Auditorium 3
Approximate Method for Determining the Optimum Hose Length for a Trailing Cone System
Thursday 20th November 2008
09.30 - 10.00
Auditorium 3
System Wide Synchronization in Network-Based Data Acquisition Systems and its Effect on Sampling Simultaneity
Thursday 20th November 2008
10.00 - 10.30
Auditorium 3
Real-Time Collection of High-Data
Thursday 20th November 2008
10.30 - 11.00
Auditorium 3
Recording data during test flights is important whether thing proceed as expected or not. The recorder must be the principles of SWaP in that it must be small in Size, low in Weight, and use little Power. In addition to these characteristics the recorder must accurately capture in real-time the required data. We will describe the characteristics of a rugged, small recorder that is suitable for installation on an aircraft. The characteristics will include not only the functionality required, but also the requirement to not compromise the capability of the aircraft or the mission it must perform. The recorders are used to capture activities on the aircraft and accurately time stamp the data for accurate analysis of the aircraftâ?Ts performance. Signals that could be recorded include network traffic (Ethernet, Serial RapidIO, InfiniBand, Fibre Channel, etc.) and high-speed sensor data (Serial FPDP).
Flight Testing Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (SPK) Blend Fuels with USAF Military Aircraft
Thursday 20th November 2008
11.00 - 11.30
Auditorium 3
In Early 2006, the Secretary of the Air Force directed that a flight demonstration be conducted by the end of fiscal year 2006 using a manned aircraft with Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) alternative fuel. Fuel property analysis indicated that an equal mix of the F-T fuel with JP-8 should be pursued for the flight demonstration since it met all JP-8 specification requirements. The United States Air Force intends to certify the F-T Blend for its entire fleet by 2011.
The B-52 certification used a traditional systems engineering approach that included preliminary analysis of the fuel properties and aircraft materials compatibility, small scale demos, uninstalled and installed ground tests, flight tests and post flight inspections. This traditional approach would require significant cost and repetitions if it were accomplished on all USAF aircraft being certified. As a result, this process has been refined and is documented in a new Military Handbook. The refined process utilizes a knowledge gap analysis approach to determine areas of concern for each specific platform. This process is expected to save time, money and effort compared to the more traditional systems engineering approach.
Ground and in-flight engine and aircraft data utilizing both JP-8 and F-T Blend were gathered and compared in order to understand the differences in engine and aircraft operation impacts caused by the F-T Blend fuel. Analysis included aircraft fuel quantity indicator systems, fuel system compatibility, engine starting, throttle transients, engine cruise performance, and operationally representative maneuvers. Pilot comments were also gathered to record operational differences from a flight crew p
This paper will discuss F-T and F-T Blend fuel properties as compared to JP-8. It will also present the test approach used for the B-52 and how the approach was revised for the C-17 aircraft and future USAF aircraft. Also discussed will be generic test results showing how engine and aircraft operation were impacted when operating on the F-T blend fuel.
Aircraft Stall Speed Determination using Stochastic Filtering Approach
Thursday 20th November 2008
11.30 - 12.00
Auditorium 3
Lunch
Thursday 20th November 2008
12.00 - 12.30
Auditorium 3
WRC 2007 Success for Flight Test Telemetry - Use It or Lose It
Thursday 20th November 2008
12.30 - 13.00
Auditorium 3
Flight Test Telemetry was awarded access to additional spectrum at the World Radio-Telecommunication Conference last Nov. WRC 2007 agenda item 1.5 gave access to an additional 1.4GHz for flight test telemetry. This was a major success for the flight test community. We need to occupy this spectrum to protect it from international encroachment. If we do not use this spectrum, we will likely lose it.
Flight Test Leadership; Managing from a "Box of Chocolates"
Thursday 20th November 2008
13.00 - 13.30
Auditorium 3
Flight Test leadership principles and practices today are continually being bombarded with ideals from today’s latest management philosophies. Many old school business practices of cost plus type contracts, or close the door developments, have now been replaced by expertly developed programs structured with little to no room for error. Flight test programs are no longer overlooked by program managers who now mandate strict reporting and performance initiatives. Within this culture of manage the program or lose it, today’s flight test leaders are rapidly dividing there attention; once focused mostly on technical performance and safety, they are now being required to be savvy in other aspects of management. Flight test leaders historically needed to have a strong technical background rounded out by personal professional experiences. But today’s leaders must be experts in areas like earned value management, performance based logistics, subcontract management, systems engineering, resource planning, career development planning and cost account management; topped off by extensive “soft management skills”. The challenges of the new model for a flight test leader deals with the issues of how to acquire the correct mix of skill and experiences, which are of the most importance, and how does that balance with the mission of safe effective test execution.
The objective of the presentation is to provide food for thought to not only the up and coming leaders within flight test, but also to the companies who will ultimately manage the careers of these leaders. While no leadership development approach is a perfect solution to meet all requirements, experience shows that there are some fundamental development areas needing our focus in order for our newest flight test leaders to be successful amongst the extraneous demands placed on them by customers or even their own subordinate flight test personnel.
Flight test has the potential to be exciting; and somewhat like a box of chocolates, you never know what you might get into on a daily basis. But the box of chocolates has changed in today’s demanding environment for flight test leaders. The emphasis of the dilemma loiters around which skill sets are now necessary; and is there a method to the madness for how existing and up and coming leaders acquire the right skill in time for the next management challenges. It’s a fundamental chicken and the egg concept. For young leaders, choosing the correct training and work experiences that will ultimately make them suitable to interact within today’s business model presents a complex dilemma. For existing leaders trained through the old school combative approach to leadership, the pressure to perform within today’s leadership model presents its share of challenge, stress and anxiety. The box of chocolates concepts presents a contemplative look at how we grow and enhance today’s flight test business leaders so that they can successfully manage within an arena where their performance can determine the ultimate consequences.
Program results are showing that the better test programs are being judged not only by their effectiveness in test but also by how closely they manage cost and schedule and how effectively they communicate with their employees, other leaders and program customers.
The ability to review and approve a stack of run cards no longer becomes the bench mark of an effective flight test leader. A full spectrum of leadership skills; systems engineering knowledge, developing and tracking to technical program baselines, and effective communication skills are just a few of the necessary skills of today’s flight test leadership.
Programs which consume flight test services are being cancelled due to a look at one earned value chart by an overseeing customer. Flight test experiences real time are revealing that the foundational cost necessary to complete verification and validation of the test vehicle; once untouched by such things as program cost and schedule challenges, are now being discretely managed and extensively challenged just as any other developmental IPT. Existing flight test leaders are moving fast to become program managers as opposed to relying on technical expertise as a sole management attribute. Future leaders are scurrying to fill their “box of chocolates” with a varied array of styles; some appeasing to the pallet and easy to digest, some not so.
Terence A. Martin is currently employed with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas as an Aeronautical Engineering Manager. He completed graduate level studies in Systems Engineering and is currently studying Systems Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School. He has accumulated aeronautical experience as a pilot and flight test professional. Terence stays active in military reserve aviation and enjoys educating youth on the opportunities in engineering and aviation.
Terence and his wife Angie are both originally from south Louisiana. They have four children, daughter Colby, daughter India, and twins, daughter Elle and son Terence Jr. Outside of flight test and aviation, Terence stays active in coaching, and enjoys world traveling and outdoor activities with his family.
Terence has been an active member of the North Texas SFTE chapter since 1996.
Sailplane Aerotow Takeoff Performance Evaluation Through Model Validation
Thursday 20th November 2008
13.30 - 14.00
Auditorium 3
USAF Test Pilot School (TPS) staff members conducted a flight test program to determine the takeoff and climb performance of the TG-15A Duo Discus at maximum gross weight, high density altitudes, and calm wind with the USAF Academy CC18-180 Top Cub tow plane. In the paradigm of Predict-Test-Validate, a mathematical model was constructed to predict takeoff performance during the buildup in glider gross weight. After flight test, the model was adjusted to match the test results at the test conditions. Flight test data were standardized using the model to support conclusions about the feasibility of operations.
This paper discusses the simple instrumentation used, including a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)-enabled GPS for Time-Space-Position Information. The approach to takeoff testing is detailed. The process for estimating performance models from published data is discussed, along with the methods used to model the takeoff and initial climb and factors for adjusting that model. The final results of the model matching are shown, and a t-distribution is fitted to the standardized data. Details for calculating the Student’s t probability distribution function are also included.