Deutsche Aircraft Completes Ground Vibration Test on D328 UpLift

Deutsche Aircraft, in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), successfully completed a Ground Vibration Test (GVT) on the D328 UpLift demonstrator, registered D-CUPL. This test is a crucial step in the UpLift program aimed at accelerating the adoption of sustainable aviation technologies.

The GVT is a critical procedure in aircraft development, used to determine modal properties such as natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes.

These properties are essential for validating structural dynamics and refining numerical models for flutter analysis and load calculations.

The D328 UpLift was suspended on actively controlled air springs for two months to facilitate the test. More than 20 locations on the aircraft were excited using electrodynamic shakers, and dynamic responses were captured by 237 accelerometer sensors.

The test identified 50 distinct eigenmodes across three aircraft configurations, with a total of 45 hours of excitation time.

Simon Binder, Senior Engineer for Loads & Aeroelastics at Deutsche Aircraft, emphasized the importance of the GVT in validating the Global Finite Element Model (GFEM) to support the structural modifications designed for the D328 UpLift.

The Deutsche Aircraft, created to produce the D328eco, an enhanced version of the Dornier 328, is focused on integrating sustainable technology into aviation. The successful GVT demonstrates the feasibility and progress in this direction, backed by funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

The completion of the GVT is a significant step towards the further development and eventual production of the D328eco. The data gathered will inform the final design and ensure adherence to safety and performance standards as the company aims to bring more sustainable options to the aviation market.

About the Author

Ricardo Meier

Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.

Articles by the author »