Testing innovative technologies in a cabin environment has just become much easier – so long as you’re looking to work on Airbus products. Hamburg’s newly opened Zal Center of Applied Aeronautical Research has built a cabin and cargo test rig that adapts to any in-service commercial aircraft from any manufacturer. It is available to SMEs for hire, but the kicker is Airbus has booked it out for the next 10 years. However, according to Lukas Kirchner, Hamburg’s head of marketing PR and events, the new rig could prove a real blessing to smaller suppliers and manufacturers, who would never otherwise have access to such state of the art testbeds.
Kirchner reckons it could speed up airworthiness tests, and explains, “Our staff are involved with EASA and FAA [US Federal Aviation Administration] working groups. The test rig is now built on an A320 design. It offers the chance for companies to test galleys, seating configurations and lighting specs. It can go right up to an A380 size.”
Zal officially opened its doors in March this year and is a public-private partnership between the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, together with Airbus, Lufthansa Technik, Zodiac and Diehl, plus several German universities. It aims to function as an interface between academic and research institutions, the aviation sector, and the city of Hamburg, which is home to the world’s third-largest civil aviation research cluster.
According to Kirchner, the facility is a logical building block in the ongoing development of Hamburg’s aviation ambitions. Since its shareholders comprise representatives from political, industrial and academic sectors, it is able to act flexibly and neutrally as an SME, and to involve all partners equally. “Our work also brings non-affiliated research projects together, and is helping with other public transportation projects in Germany,” he says.
Zal is concentrating on six technical domains (TDs) that reflect its hometown’s core competencies. The central element of TD1 is the fuel cell lab, a research laboratory for civil and safe use of hydrogen. Indeed fuel cells could replace aircraft auxiliary power units in future. Although he declined to put a date on such a project’s potential entry into service, Kirchner is confident that this, and other similarly innovative ideas in development at Zal, will reshape the aviation industry as we know it. US fuel producer Parker is also involved with fuel cell research.
TD2 focuses on cabin innovation and technology, which homes in on an area Hamburg is famed for, namely aircraft cabins. The main component of this lab is the 20m (66ft)-wide and 11m-high cabin and cargo test rig mentioned earlier. TD3 is developing air conditioning and power systems for cabins. Zal is testing electronically-powered air systems that allow greater passenger comfort with reduced energy requirements. TD4 is examining aerospace and production fuselage engineering, in particular, the future of manufacturing methods. TD5, meanwhile, is Zal’s acoustics lab, which is one of Europe's largest, and can house an entire Airbus A320 fuselage section.
The acoustics lab is set to save fuel and cash, and will allow research into cabin noise and vibrations to be conducted on the ground rather than in the air. Kirchner adds, “The hall is soundproofed from the outside with loudspeakers integrated into the cabin mock up. We can accurately simulate engine noise and vibration up to 140dB thanks to the Airbus data we have. We can also test on new composite materials rather than traditional titanium panels. This will save everyone lots of money.”
Virtual reality is the theme of TD6. Zal has installed a 6 x 3.5m VR-compatible image disk, the largest in northern Germany, which can be used by up to 30 people, for research into aviation, cabin design and other industries, such as gaming. Kirchner says, “It is not as large as the virtual reality labs LHT or Airbus have to market their products to their customers. However, it is open to SMEs and universities to book and do some research to see if their products can fit into a cabin environment.”
By fusing its partners’ expertise, the facility is able to support projects that are jointly owned and jointly developed by participants working together as partners. The company says that “the constant focus on the latest technological developments means that Zal is the birthplace of visionary ideas. After a lengthy development and test phase, these ideas grow into innovative products for the international aviation industry.”
Zal will focus mainly on steps towards further product development rather than basic research. The objective is to put innovative inventions and concepts to use faster and more cost efficiently. The centre says that it can achieve this objective by including partners, universities or suppliers early in the process, and by using its own infrastructure, which is among the best in the world.
Several companies have taken offices on the premises, and Zal hopes this will shorten the cycle of new products and technologies entering service. Long development cycles, high technological demands, and complex approval processes are hurdles that hinder aeronautical development. However Zal points out that aviation is growing continually – both for manufacturers (around 34,000 new aircraft between now and 2033) and for airlines (around 4.5% annual passenger growth rate). Some 820,000 jobs in Germany are directly or indirectly dependent on the sector, which contributes €57.2 billion ($65 billion) per year to Germany's GDP.
With almost €100 million invested in the building and testbeds, Zal is one of the world's largest aerospace research centres. Once all the tenants have moved in, around 600 people will be working in its 28,000m2 (301,000ft2) area. Diehl, Hamburg's third-largest employer in the aviation industry, is setting up a new R&D team there, and Airbus and LHT will relocate some of their innovation departments to the new facility.
Although the centre has just opened, Zal has been operating the "Zal TechTransfer - Production" network since October 2014, which is funded by the German government. The network consists of five companies from the aviation industry, four research institutions and 11 non-aviation companies.
At the opening, Hamburg mayor Olaf Scholz said: "The Zal TechCenter is a boost to Hamburg's international research and development profile, well beyond the boundaries of the aviation industry. It is more than an aeronautical research centre. It is a pioneering example of a sustainable and successful concept for co-operation between the commercial and academic sectors."
Roland Gerhards, Zal’s chief executive, added: "We provide the umbrella under which these sectors will work together on the future of aviation. "
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Source: Flight Daily News
