As part of the main objectives of the project, three adaptive multifunctional test rigs have been successfully delivered and integrated, with ADS as the final user. It is important to mention all the different stages that this kind of projects go through until a test rig can be delivered:
• Definition of requirements: as the first step before starting any designs, all the requirements for the test plan need to be defined, in whose process AIMEN has been an important party involved.
• Design: once the requirements are approved and validated, AIMEN started the designs according to this specifications and necessities.
• Simulation: in parallel to the designs, a numerical simulation model has been created for each test rig in order to optimize and pre-validate those designs prior to manufacturing
• Manufacturing and validation.
Another test rig has been designed and integrated as part of the objectives of the project during the P3, in this case with AHE as the final user to validate a new concept of rotorless tail helicopter, and the process has been similar to the test rigs for ADS, working all together with third parties involved to develop a test rig that assures the excellency in a very complex and challenging test
In parallel, a lot of effort has been put into different management tasks, to avoid misalignments between the different parties involved in the project.
As commented before, another key area of the project is the development of new numerical simulation models, which help in the design process, saving time and costs as well as optimizing the designs according to the mechanical stress of the different test configurations. This kind of technology brings the possibility to study the behavior of the test rig and specimen prior to the manufacturing, taking steps back in the design or even modify the requirements of the test if needed, which is very important in the development stages of any industry.
One key aspect of the project is the development of a new machine vision system to control the deformation and acquire different data from the mechanical test. After different test in AIMEN facilities, we can assure that this kind of technology is a serious candidate to substitute the conventional measuring methods for mechanical test thanks to its accuracy and consistency in the results obtained, but the conditions of the test and the size of the specimens in AMTRAS do not allow us to use this kind of technology yet.
In the first stages of the project, a website was created to disseminate and communicate the final results of the project, and during the P3 this website has been updated with all the information about global objectives of the project, the different parts covered, the results obtained during the whole duration of the project and different dissemination activities that have been performed or will take place in a near future.
As main results achieved during the AMTRAS Project, need special mention the successful integration of adaptive test rigs for mechanical testing and the implementation of the numerical simulation models, that will help keep the leadership of European aerospace companies by providing them shorter and cheaper development and validation stages for their new products. Another result achieved, beyond the fact that the results were not as successful as it was foreseen at the beginning of the project, is the use of machine vision as substitute for the conventional measuring technology, that is easily usable in small specimen during tensile tests, but as studied during the AMTRAS project, much more difficult and expensive to implement in big, complex aircraft components.
