Impact test facility

The NRC's propulsion and power laboratory (PROPEL) impact test facility at the Aerospace Research Centre contributes to improving aviation safety. This includes assessing the damage from bird and drone strikes on rotary and fixed-wing aircraft structures, such as wing leading edges, stabilizers, windshields, flaps, struts, elevators and rudders.

We provide our Canadian and global industry partners with dependable, reproducible, high-quality data that can be used to develop, validate and certify aircraft structures capable of withstanding bird and drone collisions.

Another important aspect of our work involves directed research activities to support Canadian and global regulatory agencies in the development of evidence-based regulations and policies, particularly with the rapidly growing use of drones.

Facility capabilities

The impact test facility's six-inch (15.2 cm) bird cannon is able to accommodate bird carcasses and artificial bird projectiles up to 2.2 pounds. The NRC's bird gun is used for testing the resistance of airframes and engines to bird impact and ingestion.

The facility's super drone cannon can launch quadcopters and fixed-wing drones of different sizes and types thanks to its barrel diameter of 17.25 inches (44 cm) and custom-made sabots, the protective device that fits around the drone in the barrel, keeping it stabilized and aligned in the centre as it travels.

Other features of the facility:

• Custom-made high-speed valve to discharge compressed air and accelerate the projectile within the cannon
• High-speed camera to measure projectile speed prior to impact
• High-speed cameras to capture projectile footage during the impact sequence
• Self-levelling three-beam line laser to align target on test article with the centreline of the drone cannon or bird gun
• Digital image correlation system (upon request)

Facility specifications