Gulfstream V Ground Vibration Test - Aid in Concurrent Engineering

Gulfstream has developed its new G-V aircraft as the next generation in the Gulfstream product line. This all-new aircraft will have a range of 6,500 miles, allowing it to fly from New York to Tokyo nonstop. The aircraft has an overall wingspan of 93.47 feet, almost sixteen feet greater than its predecessor, the G-IV-SP, and is more than eight feet longer. The airplane was essentially built by computer using a concurrent engineering approach.

An important part of the concurrent engineering technology was the modal testing which was conducted prior to first flight. This testing was necessary to confirm analysis predictions of the dynamic behavior of the aircraft assembly. As much of the aircraft assembly was being conducted “just-in-time,” the rapid acquisition and confirmation of test data were essential. Minimum time was spent in obtaining the necessary modal data using multiple input excitation techniques, state-of-the-art engineering workstations, and high channel count data acquisition equipment. The information obtained in the modal test was made available immediately to the analysis engineers who could perform model updating and flutter analysis to speed the certification of the aircraft. Tight integration between the test performance and the analysis team allowed a concurrent approach to aid in final verification of the aircraft.