ALAN PEAFORD
While Britain is still in the throes of its monarch's golden jubilee celebrations, one Farnborough exhibitor is about to start jubilee celebrations of its own.
Meggitt's Swiss-based subsidiary Vibro-Meter will celebrate its 50th anniversary in October and is using Farnborough as a platform to demonstrate just how well the company has developed over the last half century.
Vibro-Meter – which became part of Meggitt in 1998 and is on the group's stand in Hall 3, D8 – has started its jubilee year on a high, thanks to the recent $100-million order from Rolls-Royce to monitor the engine health of the Trent 900 on the Airbus 380 aircraft.
Already Vibro-Meter sensors are fitted to the vast majority of engines that power the world's civil jet aircraft – business, regional and long-haul jets. The company also supplies sophisticated monitoring electronics and maintenance computers to these markets.
Vibro-Meter's sensor and signal-processing expertise has also been applied to helicopters, both civil and military, in the form of the unique rotor trim and balance system (ROTAB), and in health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS).
The company's sensors and systems are also used in space launch vehicles and in satellites, for example on the liquid helium and liquid oxygen turbo-pumps of the Vulcain engine that powers the Ariane launcher.
Vibro-Meter has come a long way since 1952 when its first products were used by university research laboratories.
Techniques
These featured strain gauge and inductive techniques to measure force, load, vibration displacement and other physical parameters, using what were then state-of-the-art thermionic valve (tube) amplifier circuits to condition the signals. Later, as torque transducers and dynamometers were added to the product range, the automotive and power tool industries became important clients.
The company became involved with the aerospace industry in the early 1960s when Swiss national carrier Swissair experienced problems with the moving coil engine vibration sensors fitted to its fleet of Convair Coronado aircraft. Vibro-Meter proposed a new type of vibration sensor, a piezo-electric accelerometer that proved to be rugged, accurate and reliable, together with on-board processing electronics.
It went on to develop more sensors and electronic systems for airborne applications, including accelerometers and dynamic pressure transducers for aircraft engines, monitoring electronics supplied to airframe manufacturers and airlines, ice detection systems and other specialised equipment.
Experience with condition monitoring techniques, and with digital signal processing for monitoring applications, led to the concept of a flexible, configurable system that was perfected in the VM 600 suite of hardware and software solutions for industry, launched in 2000.
Vibro-Meter's Steve Tustain says: "We look forward to building on the successes of the past. As part of Meggitt we have the scope and resources to better serve our customers and evolve as a leader in our specialised fields.
"Our range of sensors and monitoring systems is developing, providing more and better information to help machinery run longer, more efficiently and with lower maintenance costs."
Source: Flight Daily News
