vibration & acoustic testing
desired. Once the test is over, as defined by
the automatic or manual timer settings, the
data in time and frequency both narrow
and octave bands, are ready and available
to make the necessary engineering calls to
continue testing.
In addition, over the past two decades or
so, engineers and scientists have been
exploring alternative test means to these
otherwise costly, albeit proven, acoustic
facilities. The use of commercially available
loudspeakers has since then been regarded
as a feasible alternative. Today’s audio
equipment, amps and speakers achieve the
desired acoustic levels. At the same time,
Simcenter Testlab provides Multi-Input-
Multi-Output (MIMO) control schemes that
ensure the necessary sound field
38 SHOWCASE 2020 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
uniformity around the test object. This
technique, referred to as Direct Field
Acoustic Noise (DFAN) currently has the
attention of the space industry, especially
where reverberant facilities are not
available in-house and/or when the
transportation of the test item is required.
DATA ACQUISITION
If on the one hand there is a critical
element in a vibration or acoustic test in
controlling the input level to the exciter -
be it a shaker, an acoustic modulator or a
loudspeaker - the very scope of a
mechanical qualification test is to acquire
and analyze the vibration response on the
test item. In other words, the signals from
hundreds of sensors – accelerometers,
strain gauges and force sensors –
attached to the satellite need to be
measured, recorded, processed and stored.
This is where Siemens can provide the
added value.
Having equipped some of the biggest
vibration test facilities in five continents,
Siemens has collected a wealth of
experience in hardware and software
configuration to provide the most flexible
and robust lab layout management. The
acquisition cards to measure charge, IEPE/
ICP, strain, and pressure sensors can be
optimally distributed over several
acquisition units. These can work as standalone
or be clustered to provide a
measurement system of several hundred
channels, and with a safe architecture that
provides the safest risk mitigation against
any possible data loss. Simcenter software
is available to manage multiple acquisition
stations centrally so that the systems can
be started/stopped simultaneously, and all
the data collected in a central repository.
At the same time, the software gives lab
engineers and customer a live view on
critical data processed in frequency
(narrow band and/or octave) for an
immediate engineering feedback on
vibration and acoustic response.
The combination of the Simcenter
SCADAS hardware and the Simcenter
Testlab software has been used to acquire
data on hundreds of satellites over the past
decades. This impressive track record gives
the necessary confidence and peace of
mind to lab engineers and managers to use
Simcenter solutions for their most critical
tests on multi-million-dollar objects.
With the addition of solutions for
reverberant chamber control, direct field
acoustic testing to the renowned vibe, pyro
and data acquisition systems, Simcenter
Testlab has closed the loop on providing all
the necessary tools to complete a full
mechanical qualification test campaign for
all space hardware. \\
Keily Suarez Rioja is the content marketing
manager at Siemens
1 // Caption here xxx
xxxxx xxx xxxxxxx
3 // Simcenter Testlab
Acoustic Control is
the solution for
closed loop control in
reverberant chambers
4 // Simcenter SCADAS
and Testlab provide easy
and clear high-channel
count setup
5 // Simcenter solutions for
vibration testing, sine,
random and shock for
full satellite or space
hardware components
4 3
5
/AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM