Shocking values measured with the (un)loading of an aircraft bag
01-29-201815-01-2018
I took my travel bag with me for my trip to Marseille (France). I could not resist to place a GPS system and a Lansmont Saver inside my bag that logs the shocks and vibrations during my trip. After I arrived at Schiphol, I delivered my travel bag to the check-in desk.
Two minutes after checking in my bag, a heavy shock of more than 32g was recorded that lasted more than 27 milliseconds. To compare this with a drop height, this had to be a least a drop from one meter. Within half an hour again a shock of 26g was measured, but with a short time of 4ms. It seemed like my bag ended up on a vibrating table, because rms vibration levels of 0.6g (constant acceleration peaks of 1.8 and 3g) were measured.
No shocking discoveries were made during take-off, flying and landing. All these acceleration values were very low.
On the return trip, my travel bag was treated even more extreme. I saw an employee from the airport throwing my travel bag on a cart with some aggression. Shocks of 53g with a duration of 7ms were measured.
In summary:
- The handling action of travel bags and suitcases are more extreme than expected.
- A 53g peak acceleration was measured with a nominal time of 7ms. In total, there have been 13 strong impacts (acceleration between 20g - 53g).
- The vibrations of travel bags and suitcases are much lower than expected in an airplane. The maximum value upper envelope is 0.58 g rms (average 0.07 g rms). In the ASTM standard the minimum value is 0.74 g rms The vibration levels of vehicles are many times higher than an aircraft profile.
This news item was written by Michel Magendans