Case Studies
Airbus A350 Landing Gear
Flowtech were asked by Messier-Dowty, a Safran group company, to design and supply a hydraulic fill and level solution, including the specification of MP Filtri ICM Units, for the new Airbus A350 main landing gear assembly project.
Summary
Location
Gloucester
Industry
Aerospace
Product area
Filtration System
Service area
Design, Manufacture & Installation
Challenge
Following a stringent and in-depth evaluation process, our team were selected to supply a highly accurate hydraulic fill and level solution and component specification for the Airbus A350 main landing gear, with supporting working instructions, user guides and a long-term maintenance plan.
Concept
Forming an integral part of the production acceptance test for filling and levelling the landing gear and hydraulic pipe testing, our team specified three MP Filtri In-line Contamination Monitors (ICM), to meet the technical requirements for an in-line particle-checking device, working to ensure that only clean oil or fluid enters the landing gear.
These contamination monitors work alongside the MP Filtri high-performance filtration products, which provide the correct and consistent contamination control of the test rigs.
Mounted directly onto the system, the MP Filtri ICM unit automatically measures and displays particulate contamination, moisture and temperature levels in various hydraulic fluids, including Skydrol.
Messier-Dowty required the installation of two individual landing gear assembly hydraulic test rigs. This included the mineral oil rig of MIL-PRF-87257 for filling the landing gear; including a separate unit for mineral oil storage. The second test rig supports the testing of the hydraulic pipe system up to 5000psi, using a Skydrol unit for flushing and pressure testing the hydraulic pipework on the landing gear.
Solution
Our team used two ICM models for the three installations; an ICM WMKOG1 for the mineral oil rig and storage unit and a specialised model for the Skydrol unit, an ICM OSKOG1. The ICM WMKOG1 uses a standard unit with a six key keypad and a backlit graphical display for data readings, with water and temperature sensing and standard minimess connections. The specification of the unit differs slightly for the ICM OSKOG1, with the unit not sensing water and temperature and being Skydrol compatible rather than mineral oil.
Benefits
The client was very happy with the project outcome, with our team delivering an effective and highly accurate solution. Along with the ICM units, our team also delivered comprehensive operating and maintenance instructions, including test certificates and a breakdown of the components used with supporting technical data.