The Astrium Environmental Test Laboratory Uses an m+p international 96-Channel Vibration Control System

Recently m+p international installed a 96-channel vibration control system based on VXIbus measurement hardware at Astrium GmbH in Ottobrunn/Germany.

The VibExec high-channel count system had its first use in a two-week test series in which an Automatic Transport Vehicle (ATV) fuel tank was evaluated. This tank is part of the unmanned vehicle that will be used for supply of the International Space Station (ISS). These developmental tests were made to determine the dynamic behavior and to prepare for later qualification. 

All 96 measurement and control channels were used simultaneously which is what made these tests so special. While a test was running, all measured data coming from the 96 measuring points were controlled online. The test data were also printed immediately at the end of each test to meet the demanding time schedule.
 
 The 96 measurement and control channels were specified as follows: 48 strain gauges, 18 pressure sensors and 30 accelerometers. An input acceleration (sweep sine wave) of up to 7.5 g was generated moving a total weight of around 2000 kg. Output limiters (control channels) protected the ATV tank against an overload and possible destruction.
 
 The two-week test series proved that the m+p international 96-channel vibration control system based on VXIbus hardware offers many outstanding features, among other things:
 - the high online channel count,
 - the extemely fast data acquisition rates,
 - the direct output of the test analysis.
 (The output speed was only limited by the printer)
 More than 8000 plots were generated this way during the test series!
 
 The Astrium Environmental Test Laboratory in Ottobrunn now uses the new VibExec vibration control system as its standard measurement system.
 
 Up to 128 input channels are possible with VibExec. The system based on VXIbus measurement hardware and a Windows NT™/2000™ user interface meets all requirements of today's vibration control. The flexibility of its system configuration also allows you to solve tomorrow's vibration testing tasks.
 
 In 1990 Astrium GmbH (formerly MBB) was a pilot customer for our first vibration control system based on the HP-UX operating system and a 48-channel HP 3565S measurement hardware front-end. We would like to thank Astrium for the long and close cooperation!

Talk to us about your requirements, m+p international listens to customers ...