Engineering Services
FCI maintains a technical staff of skilled engineers with multiple disciplines in electrical, mechanical, software and qualification design and verification.
Our customers frequently invite FCI to participate in project definition and system design to optimize the application of the FCI sensor technologies in their systems.
Technical Support with Sensor and System Design and Qualification
This includes review of system operational objectives, participation in the development of the Statement of Work and specification documents, and active involvement in concurrent engineering design improvements. This assures efficient and timely completion of the program deliverables after contract award. Where this effort leads to source specification, FCI is pleased to offer this service to the customer free of charge.
FCI’s technical staff is often able to reduce the number of instruments required by the customer for systems by recommending multi-variable sensors that provide multiple outputs including combinations of temperature, flow, liquid level and pressure for a single sensing element installation. In addition, FCI electronic designers are often able to integrate the customer’s control function requirements into FCI designed transmitter circuits, thereby reducing the need for separate circuit boards for sensing and control functions. Finally, FCI engineers have worked closely with their customer’s technical staff to integrate the FCI sensor electronic requirements into the customer’s central control systems. These efforts have reduced cost, weight, complexity and maintenance of onboard systems, while increasing reliability and performance.
Once the design is complete, FCI engineers have the capability to complete the qualification verification of the newly developed or modified design. This qualification effort normally includes a combination of analysis and test. FCI’s existing library of approved test reports provides the basis to reduce the need for expensive outside testing on previously qualified designs. When testing is required, FCI qualification specialists are able to design and supervise tests using in-house and outside facilities in an economic and timely manner. This assures completion of qualification requirements in the most efficient manner possible. Once the analysis and tests are complete. FCI technical personnel provide a complete test report, supported by all the completed calculations, similarity analysis criteria and actual test data.
Flight Test Sensors and System Dynamic Modeling
FCI prides itself in being the premier Flight Test Sensor House in the aerospace market today. Utilizing its multi-million dollar NIST approved calibration facility combined with expertise in the design and application of aircraft, spacecraft, vehicle and marine sensors, FCI is able to support the flow, temperature, liquid level and pressure measurement requirements of commercial and military Flight Test Programs. This includes the accurate measurement of air, fuel, coolant, hydraulic oils and other process fluids required for the operation of new aircraft and systems. With access to FCI’s proprietary thermal dispersion designs for small, light weight, versatile flow sensors, FCI is often able to measure flow rates in inaccessible locations on complex aerospace systems providing its customer’s development engineers with vital information about the performance of newly designed systems.
FCI personnel utilize customer provided ducting, piping and system components to create operational simulation models in FCI’s calibration facility to support performance validation of new systems on Flight Test Programs. Our engineering staff is expert at building “mock ups” of the customer’s aircraft systems with FCI provided NIST traceable flow, temperature, liquid level and pressure test sensors. Our customer’s technical personnel utilize these “test beds” to wring out their designs. FCI is also provides highly accurate flow meters for ground based test systems. supporting its customer’s “iron bird” test facilities. FCI flow meters are capable of wide range sensing with accuracies to 0.1 % of reading accuracy.
FCI has provided this support on numerous commercial programs like the Bombardier Global Express, Regional Jets 100/200/700, and the Boeing MD90 and 717 Programs. Military program support has been provided on the Rockwell B1B Bomber, Boeing V22 Tiltrotor and the Lockheed Martin F22 Fighter.
FCI participates in the exciting business of flight test instrumentation, as it provides a close technical relationship with customers solving instrument problems on new programs. Through the support of these programs, FCI has expanded its participation in new production programs.