New Icing Tunnel Used To Test 1,000 - 25,000 Lb Thrust Engines

Business-jet engine manufacturers requiring a facility to carry out engine certification tests are taking notice of the facilities available at the National Research Council of Canada's Institute for Aerospace Research (NRC). Recent upgrades to the NRC propulsion facilities enable it to test new engine classes, particularly business jet engines, and deliver high-quality, real-time data right to a client's home base. NRC's northern site in Ottawa, Canada, moreover, provides an abundance of cold air, resulting in exceptionally cost-effective engine icing certification programs.

NRC, which has been testing engines since the 1940s, carries out icing tests for many Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) engines. It recently also conducted icing certification tests on GE Aircraft Engines' new CF34-10. Jeff Bird, Manager of the NRC facility, said, "Most of our icing has been with engine companies; however, we've recently started doing work directly with airframe manufacturers. We will be testing a business jet engine in a nacelle next year, for example. To carry this out, we've designed a new icing tunnel to surround the nacelle so that airflow conditions duplicate what will happen in the air. We've done this before for helicopters, but it's a new thing for us to offer it for jets."

NRC's site in Ottawa, Canada, provides a reliably cold winter location for icing tests. Its icing season runs from the beginning of December to the end of March, with external temperatures ranging from near freezing to -7 F (-22 C), to match the typical certification matrix. Bird said, "We can get very precise icing conditions and handle any size of business jet in this facility."

NRC can test engine families in the 1,000 - 25,000 lb thrust range. It offers support for full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) engines, as well as high-quality, real-time data on temperatures, pressures, strains, fuel and speeds, for as many as 1200 points throughout the engine. This information can be digitized at very high frequency (up to 100 kHz) and stored for post-analysis. It can also be transmitted to the client's home base while a test is running. Full video capability and analysis is an integral part of the data capture.

The staff and facilities at NRC offer a broad range of gas turbine testing services, including adverse weather (icing, fog, ice sheet, hail storm), bird ingestion, and endurance testing, as well as complex development work. Two of its four test cells are available for icing certification, while the others can be used to test turboshaft and helicopter engines, as well as for turboprop development. Rigs to test and evaluate bearing and seal components are also available.

Bird said, "We provide everything - design, construction, testing and analysis. Our ability to carry out a complete turnkey project is unique, and our processes are well-known and well-accepted by the FAA and Transport Canada. We're also very cost-effective because we use ambient air, while refrigeration is available for small-engine tests."

The National Research Council Institute for Aerospace Research is Canada's national aerospace laboratory, undertaking and promoting research and development in support of the Canadian aerospace community, in matters affecting the design, manufacture, performance, use and safety of aerospace vehicles.

FMI: www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca