The Moscow Aviation Institute has created a prototype vibration test bench that can change the force and direction of impact directly during testing. The development is intended for testing aviation and space technology that experiences vibration loads during launch and flight, the MAI press service reported.

In conventional mechanical vibration test benches, changing parameters requires stopping and manual readjustment. Electrodynamic systems allow this to be done quickly, but, according to MAI developers, they consume more energy. The new test bench is designed to combine the ability to control the impact during operation with a more economical mechanical scheme.

The installation is based on electric motors with special weights — debancers. When rotating, they create centrifugal forces that are transmitted to the test platform in the form of vibration. The control system synchronizes the rotation speed and phase shift of individual debancers, allowing the nature of the impact to be changed directly during the test.

According to the developers, this allows reproducing changing loads that the product is subjected to in real operation. As an example, MAI cites fuel tank tests: the variable impact should help identify fatigue cracks, loosening of fasteners, and deformations before proceeding to flight tests.

Oleg Ovsyannikov, a project participant and engineer at NIO-307 MAI, stated that the efficiency of the developed test bench is several times higher than that of electrodynamic counterparts. Independent confirmation of this figure and detailed data from comparative tests could not be found in available publications, so it should be considered as an estimate by the developers.

The prototype has already been assembled, a patent has been obtained for the invention, and the team is looking for industrial customers. In addition to aviation and space technology, the developers are considering the possibility of using the test bench for resource testing of large components of railway transport, heavy vehicles, power turbines, and ship structures.