Special Project Development

With more than 55 years of engineering expertise, Team Corporation has designed and manufactured some of the world’s most sophisticated and elaborate large platform systems.

Each large platform system is unique in design and application, and no two systems are alike.

Whether you are developing satellites, spacecraft, or tracked or wheeled military vehicles, Team Corporation has the engineering experience and expertise to meet and exceed your exacting requirements for shock, vibration and acoustic test systems.

Contact us to discuss your requirements and let us provide you with an ideal test solution.

The case study below features custom-designed vibration and acoustic test systems engineered by Team Corporation.

 

NASA’s Space Environments Complex –
Advancing the most ambitious aerospace testing programs

Located in Sandusky, Ohio at the Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility, the Space Environments Complex (SEC) houses the largest and most powerful space environment simulation facilities in the world. This includes the largest space simulation vacuum chamber, most powerful spacecraft Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF),  and the world’s highest capacity and most powerful spacecraft shaker system – the Mechanical Vibration Facility (MVF). 

NASA's Space Environments Complex (SEC)

 

The latest aerospace testing success: Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser

The First-Ever Winged Commercial Space plane, Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser sits atop its cargo module, Shooting Star.  The two vehicles are stacked in launch configuration before undergoing rigorous environmental testing in the Mechanical Vibration Facility (MVF). The tests will subject them to the extreme conditions of launch vibrations.

 

Sierra Space's Dream Chaser mounted on NASA MVF ready for vibration testing
Photo Credit: Sierra Space

Watch: In preparation for the rigors of space, Dream Chaser underwent sine vibration testing at the NASA Armstrong Test Facility. While each test only lasts about 90 seconds, the data received ensures the vehicle can perform within United Launch Alliance (ULA)‘s launch parameters.

 

More testing on the MVF:
Read NASA’s article on the Sierra Space Dream Chaser testing.
Read NASA’s article on Vibration Testing for the ORION mission.

 

About the MVF

Designed, engineered, and built by Team Corporation, the MVF is a three-axis, 6-degree-of-freedom, servohydraulic, sinusoidal base-shake vibration system  – located within the same Vibroacoustic High Bay as the Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF) on the west side of the vacuum chamber. The proximity to the RATF allows shared use of the hydraulic system, safety systems, high-speed data acquisition system and surveillance system. The MVF system consists of reaction mass, 4 horizontal servohydraulic actuators, 16 vertical servohydraulic actuators mounted on double-spherical couplings, an aluminum table, a hydraulic supply system, table control system (TCON), vibration control system (VCON) and the same FCS used by the RATF.

 

The table is about 56,000 lbs. of forged and welded aluminum, made with about 60 miles of weld wire.

 

The MVF reaction mass includes an embedded steel plate for modal testing. The 2,100,000-kg (4,650,000-lb) reaction mass is used to resist the vibratory energy from the hydraulic actuators, table and test article, transferring the energy into the shale bedrock foundation. The reaction mass has been sized such that it has sufficient inertia mass and stiffness to react against the forces applied by the actuator/couplings during sine vibration testing. The reaction mass has been designed to accommodate future growth in vibration system and test article mass. The existing actuator and table design is for sine sweep capability of 0 to 1.25g (peak), from 5 to 150 Hz in the vertical axis and 0 to 1.0g from 5 to 150 Hz in each of the horizontal axes for a test article mass of 34,000 kg (75,000 lb) with a center of gravity elevation of 7 m (23 ft).

 

ADVANCED CONTROL MAKES IT POSSIBLE

The MVF is controlled by a Data Physics Multi-Shaker Controller with 80 input channels that can be used in any combination of Control, Limit, or Measurement channels. This controller is capable of sinusoidal control in three independent axes.

 

MVF Parameters
Max. test article mass 34,000 kg (75,000 lb)
Max. Cg above table 7.2 m (23.6 ft)
Seismic mass 2,100,000 kg (4,650,000 lb)
Max. vertical static force 3,203 kN (720,000 lb)
Max. vertical dynamic displacement (peak-to-peak) 3.18 cm (1.25 in.)
Max. vertical velocity 41.7 cm/s (16.4 in./s)
Max. lateral static force 1,139 kN (256,200 lb)
Max. lateral dynamic displacement (peak-to-peak) 3.048 cm (1.2 in.)
Max. lateral velocity 33.8 cm/s (13.3 in./s)
Frequency range 5 to 150 Hz
Sine sweep rate Dwell to 4 oct/min
Physical Characteristics
Table mounting bolt-circle diam. 518.16, 538.48, 558.8, and 579.12 cm (204, 212, 220, and 228 in.)
Max. test article height 23.5 m (77 ft)
Max. test article height below crane bridge 20.4 m (67 ft)
Sine sweep rate Dwell to 4 oct/min

 

The MVF system design uses a large aluminum table approximately 6.7 m (22 ft) in diameter with a 0.61-m (2-ft) wide annular mounting surface centered about a 5.5-m (18-ft) nominal diameter. Table weight is partially off-loaded from the system via four inflatable airbags.

The table vertical actuation is provided by 16 Team Corporation hydraulic cylinder actuators attached to the reaction mass, onto which 16 double-spherical couplings are attached. The vertical actuator assemblies provide the controlled vertical sine vibration, enable horizontal vibration and provide overturning constraints during horizontal vibration. The table rests on the double-spherical couplings. The double-spherical couplings couple each vertical actuator to the table and provide high-axial stiffness to deliver the vertical vibratory force during vertical excitation. Each double-spherical coupling has internal pressure sensors to enable the vibration controller to limit forces.

Four Team Corporation horizontal actuators provide the controlled horizontal sine vibration and comprise two single-ended pistons, which maintain outward force through hydrostatic pad-bearings to the table. The horizontal actuator assemblies provide vertical alignment during vertical actuation. The system is designed to permit testing in three independent axes without removing or lifting the test article from the table.

 

About the Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF)

The Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF) is a chamber located within the SEC that exposes spacecraft to the high noise levels that will be experienced during a space vehicle launch and supersonic ascent conditions. The RATF, outfitted with 36 nitrogen-driven horns, is capable of an overall sound pressure level of 163 dB within a 101,500 cubic foot chamber.

Team Corporation’s MK VI (150,000 W) and MK VII (200,000 W) Acoustic Generators consist of a servo-hydraulic actuator driving a specialized reciprocating poppet valve that provides modulation of a high-pressure air stream. This design has proven to be the most effective sound source for large reverberant and progressive wave tube test chambers, providing extreme power handling capabilities with high efficiency. Peak acoustic pressures of approximately 60% of the supply pressure are produced downstream of the poppet valve.

 

ORION Acoustic Testing

Powered by Team’s Acoustic Generators, the Orion service module was blasted with at least 152 decibels and 20-10,000 hertz of sound pressure and vibration to simulate the intense sounds it will be subjected to during launch and ascent into space atop the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. This is part of a series of tests to verify the structural integrity of Orion’s service module for Artemis I, the spacecraft’s first flight atop SLS.

Read NASA’s article.

See the acoustic testing system in NASA's RATF

Team Acoustic Noise Generators are used in NASA’s Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF) at the Space Power Facility – the most powerful acoustic chamber in the world.

 

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Rigid Table Design

  • Finite Element Modeling To Predict Table Response
  • Single or Multi-Axis Capability
  • Actuator Force Up to 1 million lb (4445 kN)
  • Frequency Response Varies by System Design
  • Available with Thermal Barrier For Use With Environmental Chambers
  • Satellite Testing
  • Spacecraft Testing
  • Mil STD 810 Testing
  • Tank Turret Combat Electronics Testing