Engineering Based Project Management for Test Rig Development
Our engineers are experienced project managers of purpose-built test rigs for cutting edge technologies, and in this post, we describe the dynamic relationship between the Request For Test or “RFT” and Rig Design. We share our Project Management approach that our team has utilized time and time again.
Keep in mind that different industries might approach test rig development differently as their end user of the data produced by the rig may range from the requestor all the way up to a regulatory body.
Request for Test (RFT)
The role of Test Engineer stems from a need for a design team’s product or design to be validated and verified against requirements that are posed against it. Communicating the need for testing and against what requirements is often done through an RFT. An RFT contains elements such as:
- Objective
- Test Article
- Requirements
- Test Matrix (procedures)
- Need Date
From this document, Test Engineering gleans the necessary information to start the design process for developing a test rig that will extract useful data from the test article that is representative of the RFT.
Supporting Teams
In the rig development process, test engineering will be assisted by a variety of external teams to complete the rig. Software, Instrumentation, Structures, and the Design Engineering teams all play a role in the completion of the project. Test engineering serves as the integrator of these disciplines to ensure all requirements are accounted for as the design matures through each of the design phases.
Conceptual Design Review (CoDR)
After the RFT is reviewed and approved by the Test Engineering team, Conceptual Design phase work begins. We’ll touch on the big-ticket items that are generally considered in this phase.
- Rig Requirements
o Requirements from the RFT
o Initial definition for enclosure, support equipment, test rig, software, sensors, and safety
- Enclosure
o Location
o Rough dimensional size
o Equipment and initial rig layout
o Environmental requirements
- Support Equipment
o External power requirements
o Thermal management requirements
- Test Rig
o General rig design options that could meet requirements
o Rough dimensional size for test article
o Initial test article orientation
o Identify any initial physical requirements
- Software
o Identify SW package needs (in house vs off the shelf)
o Identify initial sensor data collection methodology
- Sensors
o Types
o Ranges
o Output signals
o General locations
- Safety
o Identify initial personnel and component safety features and requirements
As you can see, this is the exploration phase of the project where concepts are considered, and feasibility determined. This is the first gate to challenge the RFT contents if requirements are unrealistically stringent. At this point, a first pass at the rig requirements should be available for reference for the other teams that are supporting the project.
Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
In the Preliminary Design phase of the project, all concepts and initial determinations are scrutinized through trade studies, this is where Test Engineering will begin integrating needs from the supporting teams to ensure each design is complementary to the next.
- Rig Requirements
o First revision of requirements to match the maturation of the rig design
- Enclosure
o Location defined
o Dimensional size defined
o Rig layouts still under consideration
o Environmental requirements defined
- Support Equipment
o External power sources identified
o Thermal management sources identified
- Test Rig
o Test rig option selection from CoDR
o Dimensional size for test article
o Test article orientation established
o Physical requirements further refined
- Software
o General capabilities defined
§ Sensor recording
§ Test operation
§ Safety protocols
o Graphical User Interface (GUI) initially mapped out
- Sensors
o Types
o Ranges
o Output signals
o Location and mounting methodology
o Recording hardware selection
- Parts Procurement (Long Lead Items)
o Sensors
o Support Equipment
o Building materials
At the exit of the Preliminary Design phase, the RFT will likely have been challenged on a more technical basis as trade studies and initial calculations have been conducted to support design decisions made in the PDR phase. The rig requirements are reaching a high level of fidelity that matches the design decisions made for the overall rig.
Detailed Design Review (DDR)
Detailed Design Review marks the nitty gritty portion of the rig development process. This is where the calculation heavy elements of the design are finishing up to ensure that tolerance stacks, rig stiffness, and flow rates, just to name a few, are matching the rig requirements that have been maturing throughout the project.
- Enclosure (Typically no additional changes)
- Support Equipment (Typically no additional changes)
- Test Rig
o Rig design finalized
o Physical requirements fully defined
o Drawings released
- Software
o Test operation defined
o Safety protocols defined
o GUI defined
- Sensors (Typically no additional changes)
- Parts Procurement
o Machined parts
o Building Materials
o Schedule contractor support as needed
At the completion of this phase, the testing team is ready to enter the building phase on both the hardware and software aspects of the rig.
Build
Building the physical rig introduces the mechanics and quality assurance teams to the project to ensure the as built matches the as designed. Deviations are captured in drawing red-lines. Test Engineering acts as the front line to provide the deviation work arounds to keep the build on schedule and also is in constant contact with manufacturers for machined parts.
- Schedule build around contractor availability (if needed)
- Build/Install barrier or fence around defined rig location
- Build/install wire run tracks around defined rig to support rig layout
- Physical placement of support equipment
- Build test rig based on part availability
- Run electrical (power and sensor) harnessing
- Build data collection box
- Set up test operator station
Commissioning
Test rig commissioning is the verification process of the rig as built matches the as designed from a hardware and software perspective. The rig requirements that have been maturing up to this point are utilized to establish a commissioning test plan that can be executed to show compliance.
Commissioning will uncover software bugs and additional, usually operationally oriented, hardware deviations. Software bugs are generally able to be fixed in this stage with little impact to released documentation. However, hardware related deviations at times will be resolved by reducing the testing scope or capabilities of the rig to the verifiable, compliant capabilities of the rig. This will be covered in the final revision of the RFT.
Test Readiness Review (TRR)
The TRR serves as the final engineering review of the test rig with the following topics of discussion:
- Detailed Design Review actions are closed
- Commissioning report and results are discussed
- Safety sign offs are collected
- Final revision of RFT is released
Test
The TRR once completed and signed off is the final gate, and with the signatures in place, testing can commence.
Wondering how this process could be applied to an aircraft test bed that requires experimental modifications?
Reach out to ES3AERO and let’s book some time to see how we can help your team achieve excellence in your project management.