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Aerospace & Defense, Research & Production Testing

A-Tech has a wide range of Sensors for Pressure, Gauging, Position, Force, Torque, Speed and Vibration as well as Indicators, Calibrators, Simulators, Data Acquisition, Pressure Scanning Systems, Load Control Systems and Simulation Test Systems.

A-Tech supplies physical and electrical measurement equipment to the Aerospace Industry.

Material Testing and Product Development

Measurement of Force, Torque, Strain, Linear & Angular Displacement, Vibration, Pressure, RPM etc. for various applications including:

HALT/HASS chambers
Destructive & Non-Destructive Testing
Tribology Cycle Testing
Calibration Rigs etc.

Strain Gauge Surveys

Stress & Strain Gauge measurements synchronously captured with Force, Torque and Deflection from Controlled Actuators. There are a range of Single and Multi-axis Force Sensors and a number of displacement.

Endurance Testing

There are force, torque, linear & angular displacement measurement, as well as pressure, speed and acceleration. These measurements are synchronous and can be combined with reactive force or torque loading on landing gear, flaps, slats, ailerons, rudder and elevator.

Wind and Ground Loading

These control systems that are intended to provide a Servo position control of an actuator (test article) during a simulated flight cycle while controlling the reactive force applied by a 2^nd actuator, to simulate the Wind Loading that the actuator (test article) would experience during operation in flight. In the case of a Nose Gear ( or main gear ) steering actuator, the reactive torque can be measured and controlled simulating the ground force experienced in taxi, take-off and landing.

Fatigue Testing

Force, torque, strain and displacement is synchronously captured with load control actuators. End-point measurements and cyclic profiles can be captured and trended over the duration of the testing.

Control Systems Testing

Sensors, devices and auxiliary systems can be simulated with analog circuits, digital circuits, regenerative signals and digital communication. The management of a systems controllers I/O can be simulated and synchronized using a number of co-processors that communicate on a high speed bus with deterministic data transfer.

Rotary & Linear Displacement Miniature & Precision Pressure Single & Dual Bridge Force Sensors Rotary & Reaction Torque Sensors

Actuator, Controls and OEM Sensor Simulation

Sensors that can be simulated include:

Proximity Sensors ( Vdc & ma)
Pressure Sensors ( mV), Transducers (Vdc), Transmitters (ma)
Force & Torque
Temperature Sensors (mV)
RVDT & LVDT ( Vac)
Encoder & Resolvers
Wheel Speed ( Vdc amplitude & frequency)
Servo Valve (ma)
Digital data communication on
CANbus, RS-232, RS-485, Ethernet and EtherCAT.

These systems compliment a number of analog and digital circuit developments and provide a flexible yet powerful platform that can be customized by our hardware and software engineers or by the user with our training and assistance.

Iron Bird and Integrated Systems Test Rigs (ISTR)

These tests incorporate a diverse range of measurements and control. The components that are measured and possibly simulated include:

Proximity Sensors ( Vdc & ma)
Pressure Sensors ( mV), Transducers (Vdc), Transmitters (ma)
Temperature Sensors (mV)
RVDT & LVDT ( Vac)
Encoder & Resolvers
Wheel Speed ( Vdc amplitude & frequency)
Servo Valves (ma)

Combine this with the wide range of digital data communication that can be CANbus, RS-232/485 and/or Ethernet.

The diverse type of parameters and the timing of the data exchange, results in a high level of complexity that has been the focus of our development for a number of years. The control system can accommodate a large number of simulated parameters and the Matlab^TM Simulink^TM model on a dedicated “Hardware in the Loop” (HiL) processor.

The imc Cronos data acquisition and control platform can accommodate multiple processors and encompasses data acquisition, control and simulation in one product. The hardware and software are highly integrated, and there are provisions for using other software and hardware with the imc Cronos system.

Multi-I/O Chassis Modular CPU & I/O Modules Multiple Processor & I/O Platform Integrated Measurement & Control S/W

Turbine Engine Test Cells

Pressure and temperature scanning systems synchronized with analog and digital sensors.

The range of sensor inputs include:

Thermocouple, RTD, Thermistor,
Pressure, Vacuum, Sensors and Scanners
Voltage, Current
Force, Torque, Strain
Displacement, Acceleration, Speed
Noise, Vibration

The multiple data sample rates; from slow temperature, to intermediate pneumatic pressures to high frequency acceleration, can be accommodated with one system. Systems can be as basic as 16 channels and grow into the thousands of parameters.

Development test cells with a high degree of flexibility, and production test cells with established operating procedures can be accommodated with modular hardware and software.

There are also a number of specialty high-temperature sensors we offer for engine testing, pressure, acceleration and displacement.

We have specialized pressure sensors for Fuel, Oil, Hydraulics, etc. that are miniature, dynamic and/or precision. We also have a wide range of pressure scanners for dry air and wet fluid medium, that can be used in the facility and for flight testing.

Wet Pressure Sensors & Transducers

Sub-Miniature Miniature Pressure / Temperature General Purpose & Precision Differential Wet / Wet

Pressure Scanners and Data Systems

Dry Pressure Scanner Wet Pressure & Temperature Scanner Chassis Based Dry Pressure Scanner with Calibration Manifold

Engine Test Rig or Test Stands

These tests are very diverse in the physical and electrical parameters they need to measure, and tend to demand specific measurement capabilities. However this does not mean that the selection of instrumentation must be limited to specialty systems.

The range of sensor inputs are diverse and include:

Thermocouple, RTD,
Pressure, Vacuum
Force, Torque
Displacement, Acceleration, Speed
Noise, Vibration

The context of the testing typically needs simulation in the form of Temperature, Pressure, Speed, Flow, etc.

These systems can start as a few measurement channels and grow to hundreds of parameters and include digital communications such as ARINC, Serial, Ethernet and CANbus.

Flight Test Sensors, Instrumentation and Data Acquisition

Imc and A-Tech offer a complete flight test solution from the sensors in the air to post processing on the ground, with everything in between, all based around the IRIG106 standards.

Whether the Test System needs a fast or slow sampling rates, the extensive product spectrum enables a synchronous analog data acquisition with high resolution and high accuracy for all measurement needs. The integrated data collection includes measurements from KMT Telemetry devices, Pressure Systems Inc. pressure scanners, individual EFE Pressure Sensors ( miniature, general purpose & precision ), MMF Accelerometers, video, imc’s distributed CANbus modules and imc’s high speed analog / digital input modules. In addition a wide range of digital buses can be read, Ethernet, CAN, RS232, RS422, RS485, IRIG-B, ARINC-429, ASCB-D, (MIL-STD-1553B coming soon).

The complete flight test solution comes with CH7 down and up links for real time flight test setup from the ground on the fly. This next generation system is available today.

The imc measurement product range lends itself to the analog environment as it includes customer proven, high-precision 24-bit DAS technology which serves as the basis for their flight test data acquisition systems. These are paired with the imc/JDA developed ultra-flexible digital BUS data acquisition and processing systems in order to integrate almost any device into the imc/JDA flight test measurement systems configuration.

The sensor inputs include:

Thermocouple, RTD,
Pressure, Vacuum
Force, Torque, Strain
Displacement, Acceleration, Speed
Noise, Vibration

There is no need to compromise with the type on inputs, the sample rate or the real time display feedback.

There are a number of miniature and high-temperature sensors we offer for engine testing, pressure, acceleration and displacement.

Pressure Sensors and Transducers for Flight Testing

Miniature Pressure / Temperature General Purpose & Precision Differential Wet / Wet Wet Pressure & Temperature Scanner

Miniature Pressure Scanner Multi-Scanner FDS Flight Data System Ethernet Pressure Scanner Dry Pressure Scanner

Drop Testing

For drop testing or impact testing we have a range of sensors, telemetry and data acquisition that can be easily scaled from 8 parameters up to hundreds of parameters.

The sensor inputs include:

Pressure
Force, Torque, Strain
Displacement, Velocity
Speed
Acceleration

In addition we have the synchronized multi-axis force platforms, high-speed video and telemetry transmitters/receivers.

The synchronized data coupled with the drop test control, data processing and automated reporting capabilities provide state-of-the-art testing. This high performance has never been so affordable; and there is no compromising with the type on inputs, the sample rate or the real time operator display.

Flaps and Slats Actuation, Loading and Simulation

We provide control systems that are able to drive the flaps and slats under position control and provide the wind loading force on the control surface elements. The control can be scaled from 2 control channels to multiple groups of 8 control channels, that operate synchronously.

Each of the Wind Loading Control channels can have a unique Load Profile.

Acceptance Test Procedure, Accelerated & Automated Testing

Manufacturers of landing gear, control actuators or systems; there is a need to perform various tests for their products. The flight worthiness testing (endurance) and acceptance testing once in production (ATP) have placed demands on the test department to select equipment to support the programs that is capable of the various tasks, cost effective and efficient to use. To complicate these various tasks, there is a continuous change in sensing and control hardware/software that is to be tested and validated.

The tests can incorporate PID Control, and variable frequency LVDT excitation, and can be synchronized with other DAS. The graphical user interface can be used in a manual mode or an automated sequence with recording to all analog and digital parameters.