With a new certification aboard the Enstrom 480B light helicopter under its belt, Lord (Hall 4, A15B) is here to showcase its array of noise and vibration-control systems.
The North Carolina-based company is displaying elastomeric mounts, bearings, dampers and rod-ends for aircraft ranging from the new Dassault Falcon 7X business jet to the Eurocopter EC-725 and EH Industries EH101 helicopters.
It is also demonstrating in-flight propeller balancing and presenting its solutions in the areas of engine attachment, interior isolation and active vibration control (AVC).
Lord's In-Flight Propeller Balancing System (IPBS) was recently demonstrated on a US Air Force C-130E Hercules.
The traditional way of balancing propellers - adding fixed counterweights - provides proper balance at one specific operating condition only. In contrast, IPBS continuously repositions balance weights as needed during flight to minimise vibration at all times.
On the C-130E IPBS showed it could cut vibration to between a tenth and a twentieth of normal in any condition between thrust-reverse and maximum power.
The required corrections were carried out automatically, with no additional workload for the flight crew.
Elimination
Benefits are expected to include elimination of ground time spent on periodically balancing propellers, and significant cuts in the cost of rectifying vibration-related effects on engines, gearboxes and airframe-mounted equipment.
The Dassault Falcon 7X, making its public debut here at Le Bourget, features a fully integrated engine mount system from Lord. The company contributed to the aggressive weight-control effort on the 7X by producing a system more than 25kg (55 lb) lighter than the original 65kg target. The reduction was achieved by eliminating a number of components, substituting titanium for stainless steel and redistributing loads to minimise wall thickness.
Lord's active vibration-control systems operate by analysing data from airframe sensors and then reacting in real time to counteract the vibration by sending signals to actuators located throughout the aircraft.
Applications include the Eurocopter EC225/725 and Hindustan Aeronautics Dhruv helicopters and Bell/Agusta 609 tilt-rotor.
Last month Lord announced that its new elastomeric damper had been certificated for use in Enstrom Helicopter's five-seat, turbine-powered Model 480B.
Designed to replace the current hydraulic installation, the damper is now being offered for retrofit on in-service aircraft and is standard on new-production examples.
Roger Sharkey, president of US Enstrom dealer Sharkey's Helicopters, says the new damper improves aircraft ride and stability in all phases of flight. "Most impressive is the way the dampers improve the characteristics near the ground," he says. "Feedback between the airframe and the ground is no longer an issue.
Elimination
"There is no more ground bounce and slope landings are incredibly smooth."
Lord also supplies a surface-effect (SE) damper for the 480B cyclic control system. SE dampers produce their effect through the relative linear motion of a plunger installed with interference fit in an elastomeric sleeve.
Because they use viscous grease lubricants, they typically do not require seals and do not leak. Simple and inexpensive, Lord SE dampers have also been applied to many Cessna general aviation types.
The North Carolina-based company is displaying elastomeric mounts, bearings, dampers and rod-ends for aircraft ranging from the new Dassault Falcon 7X business jet to the Eurocopter EC-725 and EH Industries EH101 helicopters.
It is also demonstrating in-flight propeller balancing and presenting its solutions in the areas of engine attachment, interior isolation and active vibration control (AVC).
Lord's In-Flight Propeller Balancing System (IPBS) was recently demonstrated on a US Air Force C-130E Hercules.
The traditional way of balancing propellers - adding fixed counterweights - provides proper balance at one specific operating condition only. In contrast, IPBS continuously repositions balance weights as needed during flight to minimise vibration at all times.
On the C-130E IPBS showed it could cut vibration to between a tenth and a twentieth of normal in any condition between thrust-reverse and maximum power.
The required corrections were carried out automatically, with no additional workload for the flight crew.
Elimination
Benefits are expected to include elimination of ground time spent on periodically balancing propellers, and significant cuts in the cost of rectifying vibration-related effects on engines, gearboxes and airframe-mounted equipment.
The Dassault Falcon 7X, making its public debut here at Le Bourget, features a fully integrated engine mount system from Lord. The company contributed to the aggressive weight-control effort on the 7X by producing a system more than 25kg (55 lb) lighter than the original 65kg target. The reduction was achieved by eliminating a number of components, substituting titanium for stainless steel and redistributing loads to minimise wall thickness.
Lord's active vibration-control systems operate by analysing data from airframe sensors and then reacting in real time to counteract the vibration by sending signals to actuators located throughout the aircraft.
Applications include the Eurocopter EC225/725 and Hindustan Aeronautics Dhruv helicopters and Bell/Agusta 609 tilt-rotor.
Last month Lord announced that its new elastomeric damper had been certificated for use in Enstrom Helicopter's five-seat, turbine-powered Model 480B.
Designed to replace the current hydraulic installation, the damper is now being offered for retrofit on in-service aircraft and is standard on new-production examples.
Roger Sharkey, president of US Enstrom dealer Sharkey's Helicopters, says the new damper improves aircraft ride and stability in all phases of flight. "Most impressive is the way the dampers improve the characteristics near the ground," he says. "Feedback between the airframe and the ground is no longer an issue.
Elimination
"There is no more ground bounce and slope landings are incredibly smooth."
Lord also supplies a surface-effect (SE) damper for the 480B cyclic control system. SE dampers produce their effect through the relative linear motion of a plunger installed with interference fit in an elastomeric sleeve.
Because they use viscous grease lubricants, they typically do not require seals and do not leak. Simple and inexpensive, Lord SE dampers have also been applied to many Cessna general aviation types.
Source: Flight Daily News
