Test an aircraft actuator's force, and it might pass. Test its speed, and it might pass that too. Test both separately and you still won't catch an actuator that's strong but too slow, or fast but leaking under load -- because none of those single-parameter tests captures a combination failure. Neometrix's Manual Loading Rig is built to measure all four failure modes in one continuous run: a 30,000 kgf load cell for force, 250 mm LVDTs at 0.01% accuracy for displacement and stroke repeatability, speed measurement up to 380 mm/sec, and digital pressure transducers tracking sealing performance across a hold period.
Loading comes from two cylinder types on the same bench -- constant-load and position-load -- reaching a maximum measurable output force of 24,000 kgf, covering scenarios where displacement needs to vary under fixed load or force needs to be measured while holding position fixed, without reconfiguring hardware between test types. A 25 HP axial-piston pump delivers 45 LPM at up to 280 kgf/cm² from a 60-litre SS-304 reservoir to drive it.
The rig has to keep its own hydraulics from contaminating the measurement. Triple-stage filtration (20 µm, 10 µm, 5 µm) with electrical clog detection holds NAS 1638 Class 4 cleanliness, since particulate-driven friction or wear in the test circuit itself would be indistinguishable from a real actuator defect. An Alfa Laval water-cooled heat exchanger holds fluid temperature within a 25-40°C band for the whole test, because actuator force output, response speed, and seal behavior are all genuinely temperature-dependent. A PC-based NI DAQ running custom LabVIEW software captures and logs every channel in real time.
Full writeup: https://neometrixgroup.com/products/manual-loading-rig
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