The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) led National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) has developed a crash sled that will have the capability to cater to aerospace and automotive product development.
"This unique facility is part of an integrated impact and crashworthiness research facility (ICRF) conceptualised and developed at NAL's Structural Technologies Division," CSIR-NAL said in a statement.
The ICRF has been developed as a high technology facility that will carry out research in this vital area of flight safety and occupant safety, applicable to both aerospace and automotive customers, NAL said.
The facility has capability for bird strike testing using one of the largest bird strike airguns in the world, testing for runway debris, hail stones and other foreign object damage (FOD), the firm said.
"Drop towers have been developed and can be used to test for aircraft crashworthiness. Occupant safety studies can be carried out using crash dummies to understand injuries to humans," NAL said.
The facility is equipped with high speed imaging, crash recorders and material testing infrastructure, it said.
Conceptualised and built using frugal engineering concepts and partnership with SMEs, the facility is available to both aerospace and automotive organisations with opportunities to carry out tests and show compliance with regulations required for aerospace and automotive vehicles, it said.
