Freighter exposed to oscillations as part of preparations for flight.
Airbus has carried out ground vibration testing on the A350 freighter, modelling the twinjet’s dynamic response ahead of its maiden flight.
The tests were conducted in June, says the airframer, which is to use two A350Fs for certification work.
Aeroelastic and dynamic load computation is based on element modelling and the data from vibration tests will be used to refine the models.
“This validation is a key enabler for the first flight, providing the necessary evidence to complete the first step of aeroelastics model validation,” says Airbus aeroelastics specialist Nicolas Lastere.
He says this work is “essential” to opening the A350F’s flight envelope.
External inducers on the engines, wing-tips and tail cone, as well as the aircraft’s control surfaces, are used to generate the vibrations and accelerometers are used to capture the airframe’s response.
Aeroelastic testing specialist Fabiene Ayme says the control surfaces stimulated the aircraft as a result of “sine sweeps” across different frequencies.
The aircraft’s on-board flight-test instrumentation is used as part of the testing, complementing other autonomous sensors.
“When the tests were completed, the overall consensus was that the [ground vibration test] results were of a high quality and provided an overall good matching comparison with the theoretical model predictions,” says Airbus.
Airbus has yet to narrow a window for the A350F’s first flight, recently stating only that it aimed to commence flight-testing before the end of this year.
This airborne phase will include flight vibration, or ‘flutter’, tests to be carried out within three months after the maiden flight, involving taking the aircraft to its maximum dive speed and Mach.
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