Aircraft and aerospace industries

The aerospace industry is frequently at the cutting edge of technology development and this is very much the case where Katronic Technologies are involved.

Whilst there is little scope for the use of a non-invasive flowmeter in the Aerospace sector, when there was a requirement for this technology, it was Katronic who were chosen to supply the system.

Several major European companies have made use of the KATflow range of flowmeters for the testing of different aircraft hydraulic systems, including landing gear. The hydraulic oils used in these systems are viscous, corrosive and therefore difficult to measure.

Attempts to meter aircraft hydraulics using turbine flowmeters had proven futile for several reasons and clamp-on flowmeters were seen as the best alternative owing to their lack of inertia, ease of installation and the fact that they do not cause a pressure drop.

In order to meet the requirements of this application, KATRONIC were required to develop a fast response measurement mode that allows the flowmeter to capture and output as much data as possible in a short period of time. To this end, a new range of flowmeters was created in which there is a measurement and acquisition rate of 70 ms, something never previously done before.

Testing of the flowmeters proved highly successful making our flowmeters a key part of the testing procedure for the next generations of aircraft.

Typical Applications:
• Hydraulic flow measurements
• Fuel distribution measurement

Reference Customers:
• BAe Systems
• Airbus
• Smiths Aerospace
• DASA