Ground Vibration Testing (GVT) on F-16 Fighter Jets for Greek Air Force
Dr. Jeff Zhao & Jordi Gargallo of Crystal Instruments with Greek Air Force (blurred)
Crystal Instruments performed the commissioning, installation, and training of a Ground Vibration Testing System (GVT) for the Greek Air Force.
Ground Vibration Testing (GVT) involves the modal analysis of an aircraft and its sub-assembly components to analyze and detect any changes in their structural properties. The Greek Air Force will analyze the structure of their aircrafts using our complete solution to enhance the operation of their fleet.
Dr. Jeff Zhao & Jordi Gargallo of Crystal Instruments with Greek Air Force (blurred)
The GVT system installed in Greece includes 2 modal shakers and multiple input channels for connecting accelerometers. Crystal Instruments provides users with flexible and expandable systems to add new input channels and / or additional modal shakers as needed.
GVT (Ground Vibration Testing) fulfills an integral part of aircraft safety standards. GVT is not only used as a validation method but is also used to assist with changes in mechanical properties of the aircraft to optimize the design and enhance its structural performance.
Multiple accelerometers are mounted onto the aircraft. Multiple modal shakers are used to excite it and obtain multiple-reference frequency response functions (FRFs). The Spider-80M high-channel count data acquisition system efficiently handles these large channel test datasets.
Ground Vibration Testing System (GVT) for the Greek Air Forces
The modal shakers for GVT are typically attached to the aircraft wings and tail. It is also possible to attach a modal shaker to the fuselage of an aircraft. Several output excitation types (such as Random, Sine, etc.) can be used for these Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) modal tests.
The EDM Modal software is a complete testing and analysis suite that intuitively handles the geometry, measurement, and processing of these GVT modal tests. Various efficient curve-fitting algorithms are available for analyzing the MIMO FRFs to extract the modal parameters of an aircraft assembly.
The results exemplify the strong technical performance of Crystal Instruments Spider-80M high-channel count system combined with the efficiency of EDM Modal software to execute sophisticated GVT modal testing on complex aircraft structures.
Our partner in Greece, PARAGON, contributed to the success of the installation and training with their support, coordination, and strong technical knowledge. PARAGON and Crystal Instruments provide turn-key solutions for modal analysis, data acquisition and vibration testing for Greek market.
For more information on how our equipment can help you with structural testing solutions, dynamic signal analysis, data recording needs, and vibration testing please contact sales@go-ci.com.