NCTs' Design Capabilities Highlighted

Graduate consultant Greg Kelly has recently finished an intensive design, build, and test project for a leading manufacturer of aircraft components.

“The challenge posed by the client was to simulate rotational movement of an aircraft actuator under a range of frequencies and displacements. The actuator had been wearing in unexpected ways which could have severe consequences for the system.

The tribological interface of the actuator was a steel pin rotating against a polymer bush, I designed a test rig with a clevis system that could move these parts relative to each other to produce the same wear the client had seen. The actuation was achieved via hydraulic pistons which were driven by a custom control system that allows us full control over the load applied and the frequency of actuation (this control system is highly customisable and is used in our labs for tensile testing, fretting-impact testing, linear movement, and much more).

The testing provided valuable insight to the client on the nature of wear occurring at this interface and to the most damaging operating conditions of the actuator, the test rig was built for repeat tests and we were easily able to test a range of pin and bush combinations to determine the pair best suited for the clients needs.”

-Greg Kelly

The NCT has over 50 years of experience in industrial tribology and testing and is well suited to building bespoke test rigs to find innovative solutions to our clients problems.