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Test Data at Aviation Velocity

One of the top challenges engineering teams in the aerospace industry face is coordinating data and designs across the globe.

MIT and NASA engineers test a 1/11th scale model version of the D8 airliner concept in the 14-by-22-ft. Subsonic Wind Tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center. Image courtesy of NASA Langley/Kathy Barnstorff.

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By Jim Romeo

January 1, 2015

A Northrop Grumman concept based on the “flying wing” design, with four Rolls Royce engines embedded in the upper surface of the wing to achieve maximum noise shielding, was among NASA’s studies into new aircraft. Image courtesy of NASA/Northrop Grumman.

United Technologies’ Aerospace Systems facility in Troy, OH plans to supply wheels and carbon brakes for Taiwan-based China Airlines. Its equipment will be used in China Airlines’ first A350-900 aircraft in 2016.

It’s an example of how, in aerospace design and production, the distance between vendor and customer can be any length—next door to thousands of miles away. Capitalizing on dispersed knowledge workers with specialized design and engineering skills, products in the aerospace industry are designed and produced from the best suppliers all over the globe.

The design process includes knowledge workers who are more collaborative than ever. This necessitates advanced applications to coordinate all the necessary steps in the design, testing and production process chain, giving way to advancements in software and database applications that the distributed team can access.

Test Results in Real Time

The swift and accurate completion of mechanical testing is critical, with results being analyzed by others on the team. Its scope ranges from characterizing material properties to validating final products. Ensuring safety is testing’s core mission, but testing also plays an important role in contributing to cost-effective design, and technological evolution and superiority.

MIT and NASA engineers test a 1/11th scale model version of the D8 airliner concept in the 14-by-22-ft. Subsonic Wind Tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center. Image courtesy of NASA Langley/Kathy Barnstorff.

Various paths in the design process are contingent upon test results. For example, trials and performance data may be the driving factor as to how a design engineer may proceed in developing a plan to extend the life of existing systems and improve the maintenance schedule of equipment. Test and performance data is also used to promptly receive the results of test data to understand the impact of system modifications; in fact, test data may be the driver of a go or no-go design decision.

ANSYS, Stanford and Honeywell Collaborate on Fuel-Efficient Aircraft Engines

Engineers from Stanford University, Honeywell International and ANSYS are working together with simulation software to create more energy-efficient aircraft engines at lower costs, according to a press announcement.

As demand grows for increased gas turbine efficiency, engine manufacturers are challenged with creating designs that operate at higher temperatures. But that becomes a significant challenge as temperatures approach the melting point of some engine component material. One established method for maintaining turbine blade temperatures at acceptable levels is to employ “film-cooling,” a technique in which cooler, compressor discharge air is detoured around the combustor then ejected from precisely machined holes placed over the surface of the turbine airfoil. Excessive use of compressor air for turbine film cooling can, however, reduce engine efficiency.

Historically, film-cooling-hole-placement on turbine airfoils has been optimized by elaborate experiments, sometimes necessitating engine testing. For decades, research engineers have been developing computer simulations of film cooling geometries with the ambition of reducing—if not eliminating—the need for expensive, time-consuming rig testing.

Stanford, with support from Honeywell and ANSYS, is performing a new type of testing with 3D magnetic resonance velocimetry to measure the velocity and concentration field in a test section. These methods measure the turbulent interaction of crossflow jets with the main flow. These data sets provide a benchmark against which ANSYS turbulence models and computational methods can be compared. The objective is to develop validated models, methods and best practices for prediction of film cooling.

“Our combined efforts are aimed at validating the turbulent mixing models in these tools over entire complex flow fields, something that has never been done before,” said John K. Eaton in a press statement. Eaton is the Charles Lee Powell Foundation professor in Stanford’s School of Engineering. “Conducting this testing over a wide range of film cooling conditions provides a comprehensive test of the predictive capability.”

Additionally, test information and data is used to avoid over-designing and creating complicated designs that adversely impact operational performance, and increase weight and subsequent cost. For these reasons, the speed of data access and data availability is key.

Testing and evaluation is used by independent sources to conduct an objective assessment of components and systems. Vendors and contractors with capable facilities, equipment and skills provide such testing.

The real-time access of performance testing data is a significant advantage to a dispersed design team. Because teams collaborate virtually, often across different time zones, data must be shared efficiently. One entity’s progress in design project may depend on ready access to performance and test data.

Bringing Data Together

This demand has driven firms like Intertek to develop products that address the need for data sharing and collaboration.

The company recently introduced eReporting Pro. This software enables inspection data and reports to be promptly available after their completion. Traditionally, data reporting for performance testing and evaluation takes time to complete, then put into the proper discernible format, and made available. eReporting Pro allows the report data to be aggregated while at the customer’s worksite. Accurate reports are generated in real time as they are completed, according to the company.

Intertek’s user interface is tablet-friendly. Data may be entered locally on the floor of the test site and the results sent while at the customer’s facility.

Airbus, which has about 52,000 people at 16 sites in France, Germany, the UK, and Spain, has followed suit with another vendor. The company relies on partnerships with major companies around the world and has a network of 1,500 suppliers in 30 countries. Airbus manufactures the A380, the largest passenger jet in the world. It consistently captures around 50% of all commercial airliner orders, and it has about 6,700 aircraft in service. To expedite and improve their time-to-market, it recently deployed Oracle Secure Global Desktop for access to secure test flight performance data, available in real time.

The aero-acoustic propulsion lab at the NASA Glenn Research Facility in Cleveland includes an anechoic testing environment for engine component research and development that is 65 ft. high and 130 ft. in diameter. Image courtesy of NASA.

Such reports are valuable in making supply chain decisions promptly. Specifc parts, components, material and composites are specified with regard to weight, cost, temperature, tensile strength and other parameters, based on performance test data. Designers validate their designs with the performance test data.

Performance Testing For All

Dassault Systemes has developed a collaborative test platform called Test To Perform. This application focuses on key needs for today’s aerospace design teams and demonstrates a solution to the growing demand for accurate and real-time test data. Stakeholders participate virtually to access critical test and performance data for successful project management and design accomplishment.

In contemporary engineering design, data silos are everywhere, and are often not linked, causing disjointed and awkward communication between teams. United Technologies may design and fabricate components in Ohio for China Airlines customers in Taiwan or other Asian locations. However, communicating between all players, in real time, may be a challenge. Companies have vendors, suppliers and cross-functional teams located in distant geographical locations. In addition, many subject matter experts may be sole participants contracted for their expertise and working from a remote location. All are key players in the complex and sophisticated designs of today’s globally competitive aerospace market.

Material, equipment and system testing is commonly contracted to companies and organization with specific test equipment and competencies that allow things like fuel tanks, lighting susceptibility, shock testing and other requirements to be accomplished. However, a firm may be located anywhere—and sometimes near a project facility where other designers are not located. Thus, the test facility may have easier access to the material and equipment being tested, but the rest of the design team may not.

The disparity of design professionals has been a longstanding challenge to design team harmony. With significant disparity, design projects may not progress as well as they could or as quickly as they should.

Dassault’s Test to Perform was developed to address these concerns and integrate test teams with engineering and program management professionals. It helps break down the “silo effect” and provide accessible, real-time visibility for all. It also provides an audit trail of what was tested when and how. Through Dassault’s visual capabilities, digital mockups may be viewed and used by the team.

For example, design professionals are able to simulate actual cockpit conditions and ultimately govern the test process using a lean model. This subsequently improves efficiency, keeps programs and projects on budget and schedule, and delays costly back tracking.

Test To Perform is a specific solution that enables sharing services and collaboration among engineering teams. This, in turn, unifies communication among cross-functional groups involved in the design process, and can lead to a more efficient and cost-effective design process.

National Technical Systems Inc. (NTS), a provider of test and engineering services, offers similar solutions. An enhanced version of NTS’ LabInsight web application was developed to meet customer demands for secure access to reports and other important data used in the engineering design process.

The portal was created in compliance with ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) to enable sensitive data access. “NTS was the first testing and engineering services company to create a secure, online customer portal six years ago and it has evolved to become a valuable tool for our customers,” said Jason Youmazzo, director, Customer Experience.

“Much like the banking industry, the airline industry and other service providers that communicate regularly with customers through web-based applications, our LabInsight application will deliver 99% of all our work-related information to our customers,” Youmazzo added. “Our focus ... is to provide instantaneous access for our customers to all data, project reports, project status, testing progress and video; in short, everything that we do for them. We know from our customers that this provides tremendous value when we are running tests and saves an incredible amount of time, while creating a seamless collaborative effort.”