AUTOMATED DATA SYSTEM FOR HELICOPTER STRUCTURAL FATIGUE TESTING

Abstract

Helicopter structural fatigue testing requires the monitoring and precise control of physical input loads along with the collection and analysis of large quantities of static and dynamic data. This paper describes an automated, on-line system specifically designed to structurally test a full size helicopter airframe. Microprocessor controlled shakers apply dynamic loads to the test article and simulate a typical flight profile, e.g., take-off, climb, cruise, descent, hover and landing. A minicomputer based automated data system acquires up to 128 measurement channels consisting of outputs from accelerometers and strain gages with an overall data system throughput rate of 50,000 samples per second. The test engineer can select various operational and data processing formats from computer stored menus. Data tables in engineering units plus graphical displays of time histories or spectral information are also available. The system can be run in a variable data burst mode or in a continuous monitor mode.