API Services, Radian Laser Tracker Verify Vital Aircraft Drop Test Rigs at HEGGEMANN AG

19 July 2023 · 4 min read

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Metrology Services Provider Levels, Calibrates, and Aligns Key Safety Testing Equipment

Large aircraft have a landing mass of up to several hundred tons. Regional aircraft have a landing mass of around 15 to 30 tons. The landing gear has to absorb all of the energy during landing. The individual landing gear components are subjected to enormous pressure loads. The safety of the entire aircraft depends on these parts reliably withstanding these loads. Aircraft manufacturers and suppliers therefore set up test rigs to test these load influences on the various components of an aircraft as well as the landing gear. The measured pressure loads from these tests provide aircraft manufacturers with crucial data for designing and producing safety-optimized components, as well as proving energy absorption for aviation certification.

When HEGGEMANN AG needed to verify the installation of their new drop test rig for landing gears, they reached out to API Services to align, level, and calibrate all of the main features. Using the Radian Plus Laser Tracker, the Globally Local team at API Services was able to:

Align the rails of the drop test rig vertically and horizontally
Display real-time positioning during readjustment
Document final position of the rails for as-left reporting

Test center for new aircraft and engines

Founded in 1962, HEGGEMANN AG is headquartered at Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport and is a supplier of complex metallic lightweight structures for international aerospace and automotive industries. All steps along the value chain are realized for their customers: from product development and series production to the production of ready-to-install structures and systems. (1) HEGGEMANN is currently building an aircraft test center for the development of new aircraft landing gears and novel low-noise and low-emission mobility concepts such as air cabs or transport drones.

In the new test center, landing and decent pressure tests are simulated for various components of the aircraft. The components to be tested fall unbraked from heights of up to nine meters onto a measuring plate, where the forces of the fall are recorded and documented. Elements and landing gear systems up to the size of the nose gear of an Airbus A320 can be tested here. It is also possible to simulate landings of aircraft or drones for normal or emergency situations. (2)

Exact alignment of the rails of a drop test rig

The measurement results of the drop test rig depend on the exact alignment of the rig’s rails. This is the only way to simulate the forces acting on an aircraft landing gear during decent and landing. To ensure exact alignment from installation, HEGGEMANN AG decided to bring in some outside measurement expertise. They commissioned the Globally Local team of Real Metrologists at API Services to take measurements to ensure that the rails of the test rig were set up at the correct distance from each other and remained exactly perpendicular throughout the entire nine-meter height of the facility.

Level sensor of the API Radian is crucial

After discussing the project with HEGGEMANN AG and internally, the team at API Services developed a simple, efficient measurement plan that would align the rails quickly, accurately, and cost-effectively. API’s engineers arrived onsite and, using API’s Radian Plus Laser Tracker, were able to get right to work on the rails. Using Plus’s built-in level sensor, the team began recording reliable measurement data to begin precisely aligning the rails vertically and horizontally. And because the current measured values were displayed by the tracker’s software in real-time, HEGGEMANN AG was able to adjust the rails during measurement in a simple 3-step team effort:

API’s service technicians operate the tracker and software, pointing out areas in need of adjustment.
HEGGEMANN AG’s fitters adjust the rails optimally with the help of these measurements.
The rail’s position is measured and recorded again to document its final condition.

Using this collaborative approach, API Services and HEGGEMANN AG were able to quickly align, level, and verify the position of the drop test rig’s rails and prepare the machine for operation. For leveling projects of all scales and levels of complexity, API’s Radian Laser Trackers are the tool of choice.

API Services’ qualified and highly motivated technicians offer a unique combination of OEM expertise on API’s state-of-the-art dimensional metrology equipment and real-world measurement experience on applications across every major industry. They meet all challenges and solve them by using the appropriate measurement technology and measurement software.

Photo source: See https://www.heggemann.com/de/branchen-produkte/service [21.07.2021] merged with API Service Man + Radian Laser Tracker

To learn more about our complete offering of contract metrology support and request yours today, click here: https://apimetrology.com/de/service/.

Or to learn more about Radian Laser Trackers and schedule a demo, click here: https://apimetrology.com/de/radian/.

You can read more about HEGGEMAN AG and their new test center at Paderborn Airport here:

1) http://www.heggemann.com

2) https://www.nw.de/lokal/kreis_paderborn/bueren/22910578_Heggemann-baut-Flugzeug-Testzentrum-am-Airport-Paderborn.html – 02.12.2020 [21.07.2021]

Figure 1: API service technicians during the measurement process

Figure 2: Fitters can continue working in parallel

– Radar

Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) emits microwave pulses and measures the time for echoes to return. Because radio waves have long wavelengths, radar devices can detect objects at great distances and through fog, rain or dust. They are widely used in aviation, weather monitoring and speed‑enforcement. Radar systems provide a long range but lower spatial resolution compared with LiDAR . This lower resolution arises from the larger wavelength and beam divergence; as a result radar cannot pinpoint features smaller than several centimetres.

(source:wevolver.com)

– LiDAR

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) uses pulsed laser light to measure distance. Because it operates at optical wavelengths, LiDAR can produce very high‑resolution 3D point clouds. It is the backbone of autonomous vehicles and aerial mapping. LiDAR systems generally have a shorter to medium range but offer high spatial resolution, enabling detailed 3D mapping

LiDAR’s ability to capture millions of points quickly makes it ideal for applications such as autonomous driving and surveying. For manufacturing metrology, LiDAR is useful for creating digital twins of large objects or structures. However, typical LiDAR accuracy (millimetre to sub‑millimetre) is not sufficient for tight‑tolerance inspections that require micron‑level precision. Therefore, LiDAR still falls short for high‑precision metrology in aerospace and automotive manufacturing.

– Laser Radar

Laser radar is often used to describe high‑precision laser time‑of‑flight systems. It uses a narrow, focused laser beam and measures not only the time of flight but also the angles of the incoming beam to compute precise coordinates. Laser radar systems can achieve micron‑level precision but typically operate over shorter ranges and at slower scanning speeds compared with LiDAR. Laser radar system steers a focused beam, reading the return signal directly from the object without a retroreflector, and is engineered to provide precise, industrial measurements with tolerances of thousandths or even tenths of thousandths of an inch. However, the speed of data collection is sacrificed for resolution—laser radar scans smaller areas more slowly to achieve high accuracy

(source:eastcoastmetrology.com)

– LADAR (Dynamic 9D LADAR by API)

LADAR (Laser Detection And Ranging) is sometimes used interchangeably with LiDAR, but API’s Dynamic 9D LADAR is a novel system that blends interferometry with laser scanning. LADAR is an interferometry‑based non‑contact measurement system that provides fast and accurate data acquisition. It overcomes several limitations of conventional measurement methods by delivering micron‑level resolution and eliminating issues such as limited accuracy, slow data acquisition speeds and sensitivity to surface reflectivity. LADAR technology uses fast data acquisition to deliver rapid, real‑time data collection, significantly reducing measurement and analysis time compared with traditional methods. It also functions effectively in noisy production environments and at various incident angles. The technology delivers rapid, real‑time data collection, making it suitable for in‑line production measurements where conventional laser radar is too slow.

To learn more about how LADAR can preform in line inspection, click here.

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