The two-metre diameter nose of an Airbus A340 aircraft has been tested in ESA’s Hertz chamber, undergoing radio-frequency testing.
ESA
Aircraft nose cone tested in ESA Hertz chamber
ESA Antenna Engineer Eric Van Der Houwen said: “We had a rare gap in our test schedule and were able to accommodate a commercial customer. SPECTO Aerospace works on repairing damaged structural aircraft parts like radomes – radar domes – found on the noses of aircraft, which protect forward-looking weather radar and other equipment. But before any repaired radome can be returned to flight it needs radio frequency testing to confirm the repair has been a success and the structure is performing acceptably.”
A radome can be damaged in various ways and the repair process needs to return the radome – an aramid fibre honeycomb composite sandwich structure – to a mechanically stiff and aerodynamically smooth state, whilst ensuring its desired radio-frequency (RF) performance remains intact.
Part of ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands, the metal-walled ‘Hybrid European Radio Frequency and Antenna Test Zone’ chamber is shut off from all external influences. Its internal walls are studded with radio-absorbing ‘anechoic’ foam pyramids, allowing radio-frequency testing without any distorting reflections.
The Hertz chamber carried out a rapid test campaign for the company, with the nose cone – which fits onto both Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft – into and out of ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, in a single day.
SPECTO MD Jeroen Mast added: “ESA is one of our reliable partners for specific aircraft parts testing. Our in-house test facility is able to perform the standard transmission efficiency tests for aircraft radomes, with ESA’s anechoic test facilities offering a valuable add-on to our services.”