Product/Service

How To Reduce The Time And Cost Of The Aircraft Certification Process

Source: IDS Ingegneria Dei Sistemi S.p.A.

External threats such as high intensity radiated fields (HIRF) and lightning strikes may have catastrophic effects on modern avionic platforms due to the extensive use of composite materials and the replacement of mechanical and hydraulic flight controls with electronic devices (fly-by-wire systems). 

Picture courtesy of Piaggio / HIRF - SE
GALILEO EMT provides a dedicated working environment for the identification and mitigation of possible hazardous situations in the early design phase. This CAE tool uses a multi-method approach in order to reduce the risk of making mistakes in the certification process, and to minimize the costs and time of the test activities required by the international regulations. It does this through:

  • an accurate simulation of the field and of the current level at the location of given susceptible elements, from LF (Multi-Resolution MLFMA solving the typical “low-frequency breakdown problem”) to Ka-band (Iterative Physical Optics for the parallel computation on mixed CPU-GPU architectures and ray-based codes)
  • accurate evaluation of the statistical field distribution inside cavities (e.g., avionic bays) using a power balance approach
  • a state-of-the-art validated simulation tool for very low frequency analysis: S-PEEC (Surface-Partial Element Equivalent Circuit) with ACA (Adaptive Cross Approximation) acceleration method (a MoM based code that implements the concept of Terminals and implements the current charge separation suited for Very Low Frequency analysis)
  • a field to transmission line procedure that considers the Common Mode Impedance Matrix of the structure. This procedure is able to model the effects of composite and other lightweight materials that are not good conductors, especially at very low frequencies
  • professional post-processing procedures that allow an easy and immediate identification of potential risks at given equipment terminals (i.e. non-compliance of certification regulations) for any of the lightning waveforms and HIRF electromagnetic environments defined in the applicable normatives.

Galileo EMT, which concentrates on HIRF and lightning, has been validated through measurement testing. This CAE software has also been used and validated in regards to materials, sub-systems, systems and complete commercial aircraft in several projects funded by the European Commission. For more features and benefits for using the GALILEO EMT, download the GALILEO SUITE brochure.