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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2519.PDF
TECHNOLOGY PROPULSION ROB COPPINGER / LONDON Radical rocket engine set for firing Success in trials could lead to demonstrator playing a key role in NASA's space exploration programme Firing tests of a rocket engine demonstrator that could become an upper stage for a future heavylift launcher, or a reusable vehicle's main engine, are to start in January. In development for 10 years, the Integrated Powerhead Demon strator (IPD) engine has a thrust capability of 250,0001b (l,110kN), similar to a Saturn V's third stage, and could be scaled up to be a new vehicle's main engine. To be tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, the pro ject is managed by the US Air Force Research Laboratory under its Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology programme, with support from NASA's Alabama based Marshall Space Flight Center. Unlike existing engines, the IPD's turbopump system pre-vapourises propellants before injection into the combustion chamber. This, claims Boeing's Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power, which supplies the turbopump, improves fuel mixing and provides finer fuel particles for more effective combustion, deliver ing its specific impulse more effi ciently. The engine also uses new materials that do not need protec tive coatings to avoid damaging oxi dation from the engine's high-tem perature oxygen environment. One IPD technology, hydrostatic bearings, is already being deployed on the Boeing/Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MBXX engine, which could be used on expendable launchers. Used in the turbopumps, the bearings move on a fluid film for less wear and better reliability. Donald McAlister, Boeing IPD programme manager, believes the IPD will play a part in NASA's Pro ject Constellation. "This prog ramme was part of NASA's next-gen eration launcher technology and is one of the few projects carried on for applications for the new space exploration initiative," he says. RESEARCH Variable nozzle to reduce noise A variable area nozzle for airliner engine exhausts could reduce noise substantially, according to researchers at the UK's University of Cambridge. Currently used on military engines during afterburner operation, the technology would require considerably larger nozzles for airliner engines. The fully open nozzle would have an exit area three times that of today's core exhausts to reduce engine noise significantly. "The nozzles would look very different to military ones. We are currently building models for conceptual tests and eventually we will have subscale models to test out the theories, perhaps within the next year," says Daniel Crichton, a postgraduate researcher. MATERIALS GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC Composites ageing to be studied on Starship Effects of ageing on composite air frames are to be assessed by the Wichita, Kansas-based National Institute for Aerospace Research (NAIR) using an early production Beech Starship. Manufacturer Raytheon Aircraft has donated the all-composite Starship, the eighth of only 53 built, to NAIR's Aging Aircraft and Composites laboratory. Evaluation of the airframe, built around 1990, is being conducted for the Federal Aviation Administration Center of Excellence for Composites and Advanced Materials at NAIR and the results will be used by the FAA to assess the ability of non destructive inspection (NDI) meth ods to detect flaws. During the first of two 15-month phases, NAIR will conduct NDI sur veys of the airframe and compo nents to look for flaws. Ultrasonic NDI will be used, and the institute also plans to look at the use of laser shearography, says Dr Dale Cope, director of the ageing aircraft research laboratory. In the second phase, a static load test of the Starship wing to destruc tion will determine whether its strength remains the same as when certificated. The focus will be on calendar ageing effects, and particularly the absorption of moisture by compos ites over time, Cope says, as the Starship is not a high-time air frame. The lab is evaluating cyclic ageing effects using a composite Boeing 737 stabiliser that saw 25 years and thousands of cycles of airline revenue service. NDI of the stabiliser has revealed delamina- tion of stringers and skin in the integrally stiffened panel, he says. BIOMETRICS ROB COPPINGER / LONDON Airbus plans new evaluation of fingerprint scanning technology Fingerprint-scanning technology tests are to be carried out on board a long-range Airbus aircraft early next year as part of plans by the European manufacturer to offer the system to its A380 customers. The tests will evaluate the tech nology's ability to control crew access to the aircraft, cockpit and flight data. Passengers' fingers could also be scanned as they board, instead of them showing boarding passes. The recording of who has boarded would enable rapid passen ger counts and instant identification of missing customers. However, issues with integrating scanning tests into the A380 test and certifica tion programme mean the technol ogy will be evaluated on existing long-range models. A source at Airbus says: "We have not yet decided which air craft, but it will be long range. We will be evaluating all the biometric technology we can find as soon as possible, probably early next year." Fingerprint scanning will be offered first because it is the most accurate, but there are other bio metric technologies, such as iris scanning, that may be considered in future. In mid-November, Airbus engineers met to identify possible suppliers of the fingerprinting technology. 28 30 NOVEMBER - 6 DECEMBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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