Over 1,500 Systems in Service on Ten Aircraft Types

On 1 March LORD Corporation announced that its proprietary Active Vibration Control System (AVCS) and Electromechanical Systems (EMS) have now amassed over two million flight hours on ten different aircraft types. The company has some 1,500 of the systems currently in service and is developing systems for eight additional aircraft types.

In the field for over 20 years, LORD AVCS helps decrease excessive vibration on airframes, which can have detrimental effects on structures, components, crew and passengers. Vibration management in aircraft is difficult, but critical to safety and reliability. AVCS technology can provide a more effective, lighter, and smarter solution to managing vibration than traditional methods such as vibration absorbers.

LORD AVCS technology operates using accelerometers that measure aircraft vibration levels at key locations. The accelerometer signals are sent to a centralised computer that runs a software algorithm to interpret the data, along with inputs from the aircraft, and sends commands to strategically located force generators. These create “anti-vibration” that cancels out vibration from the main rotor, resulting in lower aircraft vibration levels and a smoother ride. Depending on the needs of the individual aircraft, these systems are able to track variable rotor speed, adjust to varying flight conditions, communicate with aircraft maintenance systems, satisfy a high level of safety criticality, and provide a wealth of performance data.

“Our technology has evolved significantly over the years to meet the needs of the industry and the customer, providing greater flexibility to adapt to different platforms and more features to provide added value,” Patricia Foote, Manager, Aerospace & Defense Product Support Engineering, explained. “Today, LORD has EMS/AVCS products and development programs with every major helicopter OEM and several of the fixed-wing OEMs. In the helicopter industry, LORD AVCS is gaining more acceptance and many select it as standard equipment for their aircraft models.”