Analysis of In-Flight Vibration of a Single-Engine Propeller Aircraft

Abstract

Shipping companies are employing the use of all modes of transportation, including air transport, to decrease the costs and amount of time associated with delivering goods on time to the end user. Packaged products therefore are introduced to a variety of hazards while being transported. One way to evaluate a packaged product's ability to withstand these hazards is to perform laboratory simulated tests designed to replicate and reproduce field data results. Current industry standards employed for evaluating and testing shipments by aircraft are potentially too severe and can result in over testing and produce false results. A single-engine propeller aircraft was instrumented with a field data recorder and vibration data was collected and analyzed. By using the internal pressure sensor of the field data recorder, the vibration data could be separated based on ground and in-flight vibration. The results of this project showed the in-flight vibration intensity is much lower than what current industry standards have published. The resulting power spectral density (PSD) profile can be used to evaluate packages traveling in a small parcel environment where a single-engine propeller plane will be employed.