Engineering Design Conference

The Woodward Patternation Stand will automate the process of patternating an aviation spray bar. The patternation stand collects and measures the fuel dispensed by a spray bar. The collected fuel is measured to see if there are any irregularities in the spray pattern. Irregularities in spray pattern can result in heating soaking and ultimately lead to fires in aviation engines. The collection array is a linear collection of 48 tubes that slices the spray pattern into 10 degree segments. In order to measure the entire spray pattern a servo motor rotates the spray bar in 10 degree increments. In addition, another servo motor is utilized to move the spray bar closer or further away from the collection array. The collected fuel is measured by pressure transducers. The data from the pressure transducers is relayed to the LABVIEW CDAQ, where the data can further be interpreted. The combination of cartridge values and pneumatics is used to remove collected fuel from the collection array. The current process at Woodward relies mostly on human interaction to complete the process. The new stand will take human interaction out of the picture making testing more reliable, repeatable, and accurate.

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