Volume 52 (2022): Edition 4 (December 2022)

Effective processing of information from the sense of sight affects the efficiency and safety of flight operations. Differences in visual behavior between pilots with varying levels of flight experience during basic flight maneuvers were identified as the research problem. Twenty-six pilots participated in the study and were divided in terms of flight experience. The participants’ visual behavior was recorded using a Pupil Invisible eye tracker. The test subjects’ task was to take off from Poznań-Ławica airport, climbing to 2000ft and making two turns. The results of the study suggest that performing basic maneuvers develops strategies for scanning the cockpit space. It is advisable to conduct further research taking into account the division of experts into groups with varying numbers of flying hours.

This study presents a method of computer support for the design of a hydraulic servo dedicated to the aircraft control system. A 3D geometric model of the servo was developed, which enabled the simulation of its kinematics. The paper presents a simulation model of a hydraulic servo that enables simulation of the dynamics of its mechanisms. The servomechanism model takes into account the dynamics of the movement of the distributor slider and the dynamics of the actuator piston rod movement under the influence of forces occurring in the servo. As a result of the simulation, step characteristics and static characteristics of the servo response were obtained. The presented model makes it possible to visualize the dynamics of operation of the prototype servo in various modes of its operation with different parameters of its control. It allows you to quickly and conveniently test the concept of an hydraulic servo and evaluate its functioning.

Controlling a mobile shooting system with a tracking system raises concerns regarding mechanics, automation and electrics. Significant acceleration of the helicopter assembly platform involves continuous oscillations in all directions, which increases the dynamic error. Currently, only the static error is checked during maintenance, which does not consider the conditions during the flight. Furthermore, ageing processes, especially those of mechanical elements, deepen the oscillation of the tracking system of the mobile shooting system. The authors present a proposal deemed for improvement, thanks to low-cost remedial measures and the system’s stability by taking into account dynamic errors.

In this paper, a comprehensive review and critical analyses of methods based on the ordinary fuzzy set, Atanassov’s intuitionistic fuzzy set, and its extensions have been conducted to show their limitations and defects. Then, a novel similarity measure based on the generalized score function has been introduced that incorporates the significance (importance) of information, making it more intuitive to compare them. The proposed method is employed for the fault diagnosis of steam turbine generator unit under Pythagorean fuzzy environment. Ten fault types of rotating machines are established as failure patterns in nine different vibration frequency ranges, expressed in terms of Pythagorean fuzzy numbers. The superiority of the proposed method in dealing with uncertain and vague information is shown by comparing it with some existing measures in numerical examples.

The assessment of the texture of airfield pavements, in addition to assessing their roughness, is a component of the broader concept of anti-skid properties, which significantly affect the safety of air operations. The roughness of the pavement directly affects the adhesion of the aircraft tire to the pavement, and the texture additionally affects the effectiveness of dynamic drainage of water from the pavement. The current standard requirements in terms of roughness and texture of airfield pavements do not distinguish the technology used. In the paper, the authors focused on the analysis of the results in terms of the texture of airfield pavements and presented the resulting conclusions in relation to whether the technology of its implementation has an impact on the texture parameter.

This paper presents selected problems of the statistical evaluation of machines with the use of vibration diagnostics methods. The state of knowledge of this issue indicates the need to update the description and improve the issues related to the acquisition and processing of data, the analysis of the effectiveness of diagnosis procedures, optimization of the set and selection of diagnostic parameters, with statistical support. New proposals of statistical software solutions and various aspects of theoretically justified partial procedures indicate important problems for a good diagnosis.

The article outlines the possibilities for assessing geological conditions related to fording the beds of large lowland rivers, based on low-ceiling ad hoc aerial photos, and the current state of the art on the utilization of remote-sensing methods in geological and engineering studies. The conducted research provided a confirmation that a set of remote-sensing sensors installed onboard an aerial vehicle enables recording images, the analysis of which allows determining the geological and engineering conditions of lowland riverbed zones, to the extent adequate to make decisions on crossing them.

The article shows the results of the preparatory steps taken to create the artificial intelligence used in the automatic recognition of defects in ship thin-walled structures. The above steps are used to create a university private cloud and a computer system maintaining a dataset of vibration signal samples. In the article, a prototype of the private cloud was designed and developed, a model of the vibration sample was prepared, and a microservice was designed aimed at sharing the obtained data. The article demonstrates the results of the completed development.

The essence of the low-temperature pyrolysis process presented below is the processing of contaminated bleaching earth, resulting in a purified bleaching earth, high calorific oil with an average level of 45.5 MJ / kg and synthesis gas that can be used to heat the reactor. For research purposes, a proprietary low-pressure reactor with a system of direct cooling of hydrocarbon vapors was used. The main advantages of the presented method are the limitation of technological processes to a minimum and the ease of automation by reducing the entire cycle to one device.

This article addresses studies of basic mechanical defects conducted with the proprietary FAM-C method on a test bench created on the basis of ground power unit LUZES. The following mechanical defects were modelled in laboratory conditions: skewed connections, eccentricity of connections, increased circumferential clearance, increased intertooth clearance, etc. The thesis was put forward that tests on LUZES equipment enable to transfer experience onto the more complex helicopter power unit. The aim is the early defect detection of these units.

In this article, the computational simulation of the workflow in the primary combustion chamber flame tube of the afterburning turbofan jet engine (ATJE) on the tactical military aircraft was carried out. The geometric model of a flame tube was created and adapted to perform the interrelated calculation of the thermal and stress-strain behaviour of the walls of the flame tube influenced by the operational loads during the computational simulation of the workflow. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the simulation results was conducted, and the connection between the peculiarities of the workflow and the characteristic damage of the flame tubes, detected during the operation, was established. The possibility of using modern CAD/CAE systems to solve the scientific tasks towards maximizing the cycle life potential of the main and primarily important components of the ATJE on the assessment basis of their damage exhaustion degree was determined.

The article presents the results of simulation tests of the SSP-FK aviation fire protection system and identification of the main reasons of its false operation on many aeroplanes and helicopters of the Polish Armed Forces using a diagnostic simulator built at ITWL. The results of the performed statistical analyzes pointing to the execution blocks as the key factors in false fire signalling are discussed. Selected test results of the developed simulation model of the actuator block under electrical short-circuit conditions in its control circuits (particularly on printed circuit boards) are presented. The effectiveness of the proposed test method with a simulation model of a fire protection system, which can be used to train the engineering and aviation service and pilots and to support the work of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission, was pointed out.

The compilation of unfavourable weather conditions, such as negative temperature and high humidity, leads to the formation of an ice layer and deposits on the elements of the overhead contact line, which leads to its degradation and prevents the supply of electricity to the traction vehicle. The traction line is located on a very large area and it is extremely difficult to effectively remove the remaining layers of ice. During planning the anti-icing measures it’s very important to know the current distribution in wires. The authors of the article analysed the catenaries operated in Poland and in EU in terms of the current distributions in contact and catenary wires in through spans. The approach presented in this paper allows to take into account the wear of the contact wires during calculations of the current distributions.

Ships’ (especially containers) vibrations significantly impact navigation safety. The presented analyses aims to identify the main forces exciting the ship’s superstructure and hull vibrations, test their influence on vibration levels, and verify the assumptions of the computational methodology. Two container ships were analysed. The influence of different modeling methods on the obtained calculation results was investigated. The impact of various operating parameters on the vibration level was also analysed. The numerical analyses results are compared with some empirical formulas. As a result, the calculation confidence level was estimated. The calculation results have been verified by comparison with measurement tests carried out on the real ship.

FA-50 aircraft is a combat version of the KAI T-50 Golden Eagle jet trainer. The development of the FA-50 combat aircraft began in October 1997.The development phase finished in January 2006, during which 6 prototypes were built. It is worth noting that in October 2012, the FA-50 was awarded a military certificate issued by the Korean MAAC (Military Aircraft Airworthiness Committee) as the first military fighter-class aircraft. On 16 September 2022, the approval ceremony for purchasing the FA-50 by the Polish Air Force took place at the 23rd Tactical Air Force Base in Mińsk Mazowiecki.