Pioneering technology in the struggle against climate change: tecsis will contribute towards reducing the ecological footprint of air travel. Within the European ?Clean Sky? programme, the force specialists within the WIKA Group are collaborating with Liebherr Aerospace to build up a force transducer ideal for aerospace applications.
EU project: Force transducer for electric drives
The project presents a particular challenge. Products for aviation must be manufactured in accordance with extremely strict requirements. The DO254 (guidelines for the development of electronic hardware in the air) and DO160G (environmental conditions and test procedures for aviation equipment) standards, for example, are applicable here.
Force transducers will play an extremely important role in aircraft manufacturing later on. Machines are increasingly being controlled by electric drives. These are replacing the hydraulic and pneumatic on-board systems which are common today. Future aircraft designs depends on the ?More-Electric and All-Electric Aircraft? concept. This can contribute towards reduced weight and better energy management through the reduced amount of CO2 and NOX emissions. Force transducers are an important component of these electric drives. They perform a key function in the control and monitoring of the systems, e.g. on the landing gear and flaps.
Absolute innovation in aviation
In the implementation of this project, tecsis can draw upon its a long time of experience and its comprehensive expertise in the field of force sensor technology. Withheld of the new product is really a reliable sensor technology in conjunction with application-specific electronics. In the field of measurement technology, this solution can be an absolute innovation, and constitutes an alternative solution to comparable products available.
In collaboration with Liebherr Aerospace, tecsis is assuming full responsibility for developing this new sensor. An iterative process, i.e. a continuing sequence of improvement steps and validations around the finished product, should lead to the goal. In this way, tecsis aims to provide a force transducer by 2021 that’s in a position to deliver Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5-6 and that delivers a robust platform for further developments.
Note
Further information on our force measurement products are available on the WIKA website. In case you have any questions, your contact will gladly help you.
Disclaimer: The content of this article reflects only the writer?s view. The Clean Sky Joint Undertaken is not in charge of any use that may be made of the info it contains.
This project has received funding from the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 821135. The JU receives support from europe?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the Clean Sky 2 JU members other than the Union.