A specialist in aerospace applications, Smac is expanding its testing capabilities with the acquisition of two new vibrators to guarantee high-precision measurements and meet its customers' most demanding requirements.
As a manufacturer of customized parts for the protection of equipment used in extreme environments, particularly at high altitudes and in space, Smac needed reliable vibration testing solutions capable of characterizing a new damper and validating its behavior within very short timescales.
Its commercial partners, Airbus, Safran and Ariane Espace, impose extremely rigorous performance criteria, particularly in terms of elastomer rigidity.
The Smac teams consulted specialists Hottinger Brüel & Kjær (HBK), who, after an in-depth study of requirements, recommended the LDS V8 vibrator for high-force tests and the LDS V721 vibrator for less severe tests.
Pierre Lamy, head of the Smac test laboratory, explains: "Tests are carried out not only on prototypes of the damper under consideration, but also on the raw material, elastomer being an extremely non-linear material. It is therefore essential that at every stage of product development we have a vibrator at our disposal to run our vibration tests. Feedback from vibrator tests guides us at every stage of product design and manufacture. It's also important for us to be sure that the molds we make for manufacturing won't have to be redone."
And he continues: "Our specifications specify imperative deadlines, and the V8 system for high-force tests and the parallel V721 system for less severe tests proved to be the most appropriate choices for ensuring all our current and future vibration tests."
The new vibrators - the V8 model with a nominal force of 57,000 newtons and the V721 model with a force of 3,000 newtons - were installed at the Smac laboratory in Toulon.
Visit the HBK website:
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