Significant expansion of the engine testing facilities at the Institute of Aerospace Research, part of Canada's National Research Council (NRC), enabled the site to carry out icing certification tests on GE Aircraft Engines' (GEAE) new CF34-10 engine.
NRC's environmental icing capabilities have been upgraded from 8,000lb (36kN) of thrust to more than 20,000lb. As a result NRC is able to take on engine families in the 20,000-25,000lb thrust class which it was unable to do previously.
The facility's data acquisition system was also expanded to provide data such as temperature, pressure, fuels and speeds over 1,200 channels throughout the engine direct to the client's home base. Previous projects only used 30-40 parameters.
"We are selling a certification service," says Don Rudnitski, who manages the facility. "We provide everything - design, construction, testing and analysis - and we are very cost effective. Word is getting around that we are as good as it gets: we are reliable and we do an excellent job."
Source: Flight Daily News
