Technology rigs: A tool for afterburner development

To develop a component of an advanced aircraft engine, heavy experimental activities are necessary. To avoid very long and expensive test campaigns on development engines, tests on the so-called technology rigs are fundamental. Particularly in the case of combustion components, whose analytical simulations by means of computer code are still not completely satisfactory and where very high gas temperatures may cause important problems of mechanical integrity, it is essential to check the behavior of the component on the rig before testing on the engine. This paper gives an overview of the test rigs which are used by FiatAvio in the development of the afterburner system for an advanced fighter aircraft engine. The tests which are carried out on these rigs are described and some of the most important results are reported, discussing the benefit they have given to the engine development. Even if this paper obviously does not cover all the results obtained from rig tests over years of engine development, the few examples reported clearly show the importance of these rigs and confirm that the financial outlay to build and update the rigs, test plants and models is worthwhile.