Based in China, Druck’s customer is a manufacturer of flight control systems under AVIC group. It has excellent design, manufacturing and testing capabilities of flight control products. Its products are widely used in different types of civil aircrafts and helicopters in China
Druck’s customer’s challenge The flight control system of modern civil aircraft is the core of the entire aircraft’s airborne system. The flight control system is also one of the most complex systems within an aircraft and has many roles to perform. It must work to ensure the stability and manoeuvrability of the aircraft, improve the aircraft's flight performance, enhance the safety of the passengers and reduce the workload of the pilot.
Therefore, the consequences of a flight control system failure could be catastrophic.
Based on the strict reliability requirements for civil aviation, the customer needed to select a supplier with highly reliable aerospace flight qualified pressure sensors and extensive experience in providing sensor design and application technical support.
The flight qualified pressure sensors are required to be lightweight and have a wide operating temperature range.
Furthermore, the sensors needed to meet the technical requirements for withstanding high levels of vibration and shock during aircraft take-off and landing, as well as the harsh environmental conditions that can be associated with flight – such as high humidity, salt spray, sand, dust and mould.
Flight qualified pressure sensors’ reliability and stability are paramount and hundreds of thousands of hours of MTBF (mean time between failures) is a must for airframe manufacturers and the airlines that operate them.
Druck’s solution Accurately capturing the customer’s needs and drawing on many years of design and application experience in developing flight qualified aerospace pressure sensors, the Druck team developed a bespoke pressure sensing solution for the customer based upon Druck’s existing aerospace pressure sensor PDCR300 series platform.
The design team selected a small-sized pressure module sensing element within a small-sized pressure sensor design to meet the customer’s requirement for a lightweight product, by optimising the position and structure of both the pressure connector and the electrical connector within the sensor’s design.
The sensor adopted a fully welded and sealed structure to meet the harsh environmental requirements that it will be subjected to during flight in varied atmospheric conditions.
Met the customer’s requirement for the withstanding of high levels of vibration and an environment with strong shock and high electro-magnetism by optimising the layout of electronic components within the pressure sensor design.
Combining the theoretical calculations with empirical reliability data of Druck’s 300 series flight qualified aerospace sensor when used in service, to select high-reliability components and strictly control the process parameters to meet the customer’s reliability requirements.
Picture 1: Druck's PDCR300 aerospace test sensor
Druck’s added value From customer needs assessment to product delivery and then to environmental testing, the regional team in China were able to quickly respond to queries from the customer and work collaboratively during the project to ensure a successful development of the product.
Druck’s advanced design and complete manufacturing capabilities from silicon wafer to a finished sensor offers full control of the sensor production process and a product with outstanding performance, excellent long-term stability and first-class reliability.
Druck has developed strict quality control methods and processes for producing flight qualified pressure sensors for the world's major civil aviation customers for decades.
Druck’s customer noted the demonstrable value in working collaboratively to share experience and knowledge and from Druck providing strong localised technical support, as well as its comprehensive production quality management capabilities.
