Durability and Structural Integrity Testing of Lightweight Structures

August 29, 2019  STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY, AEROSPACE

In the pioneering days of aviation, mechanical structures such as aircraft fuselages and wings were made from natural materials, for example wood. In the decades that followed, metals such as titanium, aluminum or a wide variety of alloys were used almost exclusively, increasing the stiffness/toughness-to-weight ratio.

With today's growing awareness of the impact of emissions on the environment, new material and design approaches, offering better performance at lower weight are constantly being developed and introduced. Being lighter, thus increasing efficiency, is now an important issue not only for aircraft, but for everything that moves, such as wind turbines, cars, trains, sporting equipment. 

The new lightweight structures place completely new requirements on structural integrity testing – both in simulation as well as physical testing. Assessing characteristics of materials, which often show a large scatter and more complex geometries is still a new playground for test engineers.

Are you interested to learn more about lightweight structures and how to cope with them? Explore our HBK Expert Dialog 'Mechanical Structures on a Diet' and dive into the new approaches and technologies and the impact of lightweight structures on our daily lives, and learn how to perform mechanical testing.

Owing to the seamless measurement chain of simulation tools for virtual testing, sensors, data acquisition hardware and software and analysis software; the complete validation process for the fatigue strength of materials and structures can be carried out with products from Hottinger Brüel & Kjær. The HBK toolchain helps you from design concepts to virtual testing, integration, and physical testing.

Design and Virtual Testing Solutions

• Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
• Modal Analysis 
• Driving Simulation

Physical Testing Solutions

• Sensors (Strain, Force, Torque, etc.)
• Data Acquisition Hardware and Software
• Integration into universal test machines
• Material Testing Services and Calibration Services

HBK is Your Reliable Partner for Structural Integrity Testing of Lightweight Structures

Bridging the Gap

• FEA-based structural durability analysis with DesignLife
• Powerful live-processing of incoming data with catman DAQ software
• Data analytics and collaboration on web-based Aqira platform

Unrivaled Openness

• Integration of QuantumX into Zwick Test or any other test machine
• Digital image correlation in parallel to tactile strain sensors by easy integration of GOM Aramis system
• Bidirectional communication with load control systems

Complete Physical Toolchain

• Comprehensive range of sensors
• Reliable and future-proof data acquisition hardware and software
• Carrier frequency, 3- and 4-wire strain sensor technology and TEDS support to increase the reliability of measurement data
• Hybrid strain measurement with optical and electrical sensors

Going the Extra Mile: Supplementary Service and Support

Our service and support team will assist you in all issues regarding your application. We offer: 

• A highly experienced project management team that adds value to your projects
• Calibration Services
• Seminars and Training by the HBK Academy
• 24/7 available HBMshop