
Development activities and test services:
- Static and fatigue of aircraft airframes, their parts and structural components
- Experimental evaluation of structures within research and development activities (e.g. evaluation of new types of materials, designs, joints etc.)
- Strength tests of metallic and composite structures with ambient conditions influence
- Residual static strength tests, residual life assessment for structures and equipment
- Aircraft airframe and their parts rigidity tests
- Overpressure static tests
- Certification tests according to airworthiness regulations
- Experimental investigation of the origin and fatigue cracks propagation in airframes, their components and construction nodes
- Testing of different joints technologies (rivets, gluing, welding) for construction nodes
- Stress and strain measurements, deformations and displacements measurements, stress and strain experimental analysis (strain gages, laser interferometry, photogrammetry, thermoelasticimetry, photostress analysis, brittle lacquers), NDT inspections
- Testing of structures for aging, corrosion and wear
- Impact resistance of aircraft structures (e.g. Bird Strike tests, hail tests, etc.)
- New test methods and procedures for developmental and certification work
- Development of specific test rigs, jigs and test stands for full scale, component and material testing
EQUIPMENT:
- Uniaxial electromechanical load machine TIRAtest 28500S (up to 500 kN)
- Aero 90 (24 channels) and Aero ST (10 channels) servo-hydraulic fully digitally controlled load systems
- Fatigue and static load machines (MTS, Instron Schenck, Tira, Inova, Amsler up to 2000 kN
- 18 channel IST Schenck Hydropuls servo-hydraulic load systems
- 6 channel IST Schenck Hydropuls servo-hydraulic load systems with working pressure 28 MPa and oil supply 160 lpm.
- 2 x 20 channel electro hydraulic MTS load systems
- 1 x 6 channel electro hydraulic MTS T-Rac load systems
- 100 hydraulic load actuators (range 1 – 1000 kN)
- Hydraulic oil supply station (working pressure 21 MPa, total capacity 1440 lpm)
- Load grid areas 30mx30m and 30mx60m, unified system of test load fixtures (upper grid assembly)
- Modular climatic chamber with two Testair climatic units for conditioning (max. temperature 80±1°C, max. relative humidity 90±5%)
- Modular climatic chamber cooled by liquid nitrogen (temperature -120°C/120°C)
- AMD-01, 02 length changes measure system
- Electro-hydraulic pneumatic overpressure system
- Multichannel data acquisition and stress and strain measure systems (Vishay, Schlumberger, HBM, BMC, DAQ National Instruments)
- Contactless systems for stress and strain and deformation measurements (Dantec Q-400, GOM ARAMIS 3D HS, PONTOS etc.)
Research projects:
- AERONEWS –“Health monitoring of aircraft by Nonlinear Elastic Wave Spectroscopy“, (2004-2008, FP6 EU, project No. 502927)
- ALCAS - “Advanced low cost aircraft structures“, (2005-2011, FP6 EU, project No. 16092)
- COMPOSITE RUDDRER - “Demonstrator of composite rudder of large transport aircraft under CS-25 regulation”, (2009-2013, MIT – TIP1, project No. FR-TI1/290)
- SONACA - “Fixed leading edge of composite wing of CS100 airplane“, (2009-2013, MIT – TIP1, project No. FR-TI1/291)
- ADATO - “Operational life increase of small transport aircraft using Damage Tolerance philosophy“, (2009-2013, MIT – TIP, project No. FR-TI1/475)
- SARISTU – „Smart Intelligent Aircraft Structures“, (2011-2015, FP7 EU, project No. 284562)
- KC-390 - “Pevná náběžná hrana letounu KC-390“, (2012-2015, MIT – TIP, project No. FR-TI4/600)
- AJT – “Pokročilé křídlo letounu AJT MPO – TIP4“, (2012-2015, MIT-TIP, project No.
FR-TI4/603) - MOSTA – “Modernizace malého dopravního letounu za účelem zvýšení efektivnosti a ekonomie jeho provozu“, (2010-2016, MIT-TIP project No. FR-TI2/557)
- CANAL – “Creating Nonconventional Laminates”, (2013-2017, EK - FP7, project No. 605583)
- AFLoNext -“2nd Generation Active Wing – Active Flow- Loads & Noise control on next generation wing“, (2013-2018, 7FP EU, project No. 604013)
- AIRFRAME – “Development of airframe for new generation of L-39NG“, (2016-2019, TAČR – Epsilon, project No. TH02010670 )
- WHEELS AND BRAKES – „Development of wheels and brakes for landing gears of small and medium-size aircraft“, (2018-2020, MIT-TRIO, project No. FV30270)
- MUTR – “Multipurpose test rig for transmissions gearboxes“, (2016-2020, JU – Clean Sky 2, project No. 717199)
Contact person:
Ing. Václav Horák, Ph.D., Head of Structural Tests, VZLU
tel: +420 225 115 225, e-mail: horak@vzlu.cz