NIST and Aerospace

Mechanical and Dimensional Measurements

Manufacturing airplanes is one of the most technically complex jobs in American industry. Engineers must make and repeat thousands of different measurements from the time a plane is on the drawing board until it is retired from service. Measurement problems and a lack of uniform standards can dramatically lengthen design and production time for new models. Measurements and standards are especially important in assessing the quality of aerospace parts and materials, since there's no tolerance for flaws or cracks. NIST researchers offer measurement standards and calibrations, and perform research to benefit the aerospace industry. Follow the links below for more details.

NIST's Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory—works to improve the competitiveness of US manufacturing by developing and applying measurement standards and technologies.

Dimensional Metrology—develops dimensional measurements and standards to address identified critical U.S. industry needs for traceable dimensional metrology, particularly for the support of trade and innovation, process control and quality in manufacturing from the micro- to the macro-scale. Contact: Steven Phillips, (301) 975-3565 .

Calibration Services —provides U.S. industry with best-in-the-world-class measurement services for the mechanical quantities of mass, force, acoustics, and vibration.

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Materials and Materials Processing

Aerospace materials need to be as strong, lightweight, and durable as possible. NIST materials research is helping manufacturers bring innovative ceramic materials into commercial use.

NIST Ceramics Division —provides the nation's measurement and standards infrastructure for ceramic materials

Ceramics Web Book —includes evaluated data, a guide to data centers and sources, tools and resources

Phase Diagram Research—develops phase diagrams for special families of alloys, including nickel-based superalloys for aerospace applications

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Manufacturing Processes

There are thousands of processes involved in building a machine as complex as an airplane. NIST research is helping make these processes more accurate and efficient.

Smart Machining Systems—develops, validates, and demonstrates the metrology, standards, and infrastructural tools that enable U.S. industry to characterize, monitor, and improve the accuracy, reliability and productivity of machining operations, leading to the realization of autonomous smart machining systems.

Nanomanufacturing—develops and delivers timely measurements, standards, and infrastructural technologies needed for innovation and traceable metrology, process-control and quality in manufacturing at the nanoscale.

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Systems Integration and Interoperability

Computer-controlled manufacturing processes need to speak the same language. Computer-aided design systems need to be able to receive and hand-off product data accurately within and between shops. NIST research means aerospace manufacturers spend less time solving systems integration and interoperability problems and more time building planes.

Manufacturing Interoperability —equips U.S. manufacturers with the technical guidance and testing support needed to interoperate in today’s global, heterogeneous manufacturing world

Systems Integration for Manufacturing Applications —coordinates NIST research efforts to improve interoperability and data integration in the areas of manufacturing e-commerce, product data, and scientific data

Standard for Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP)—here's where you'll find documentation for ISO standards for manufacturing, including ISO 10303, aka STEP. These ISO standards seek to ease transfer of product information within and between manufacturing operations.

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Navigation

One of NIST's biggest contributions to aviation was the invention in 1931 of the first visual type radio beacon for an instrument landing system, making it possible to land safely in bad weather. Since then, NIST labs have developed other important measurement standards and calibrations necessary for air travel. For example:

Global Positioning System Data Archive—This GPS data archive compares the frequency standard on board each GPs satellite to the NIST frequency standard. Navigation systems worldwide rely on the Global Positioning System. The accuracy of many commercial GPs receivers can be linked to NIST frequency standards through comparison to this archive.

NIST's Pressure and Vacuum Group develops and maintains the nation's standards for pressure and offers calibrations for pressure measuring instruments. Altimeters determine a plane's altitude by measuring atmospheric pressure. Their accuracy is traceable to NIST.

NIST's Radio Frequency Fields Group develops standards and calibrations for antennas used with satellites, spacecraft, and radar systems.

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Safety

While many of the NIST standards and research projects presented above help manufacturers build safe planes, other NIST activities address in-flight safety. Here's what our researchers are doing to help keep crew and passengers safe:

Aircraft Anti-collision Lights—establishing flashing light photometric standards at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Fire Safe Aircraft Interior Materials—determines how adding new advanced materials to polymers used in aircraft interiors affects flammability and developing ways to predict flammability of new fire resistant aircraft materials.

Detecting Fire in Airplane Hangars—here is the executive summary of a NIST/Navy study on fire detection in hangars. Contact: Kathy Notarianni, (301) 975-6883.

The NIST Standard Reference Data Program serves science and industry with world-leading technical data services and products. This page provides links to scientific databases in several specialties.

The NIST Chemistry WebBook provides users with easy access to chemical and physical property data for chemical species through the internet. You can search by name, formula, author, or structure and retrieve phase, reaction, spectral, thermophysical, and many other properties.

Physical Reference Data—look up physical constants, atomic and molecular data, ionization, x-ray, and gamma ray data, nuclear physics data, and condensed matter physics data. This page also has links to other online NIST reference databases.

Chemical Kinetics Database—a compilation of kinetics data on gas-phase reactions; searchable by specific reactants, reactions resulting in specific products, all reactions of a particular species, or combinations of these. Available free online. Contact: Robert Huie, (301) 975-2559.

Computational Chemistry Comparison and Benchmark Database—this database contains computational thermochemical data for a selected set of about 600 gas-phase molecules and tools for comparing experimental and computational thermochemical properties in the database.

Explorers of the final frontier need reliable technology, measurements, and standards. Here's what NIST is doing to help:

Calibration Support for Ocean Color Science—NIST physicists work with NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists on a project using satellites to measure global warming trends.

NIST outreach programs work directly with business and industry to boost US economic competitiveness. Many aerospace companies and parts suppliers have benefited by taking advantage of these programs.

Smaller manufacturers face many challenges in our technology-driven economy. To help meet these challenges, NIST started its Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program in 1988. This nationwide network of centers, now in all 50 states, has assisted more than 100,000 US firms, including makers of aerospace parts and tools.

The Baldrige National Quality Program recognizes performance excellence and quality achievement by US manufacturers, service companies, educational organizations, and health-care providers. Aerospace firms have been competing for the Baldrige Award since it was established in 1988. In 1998, Boeing Airlift and Tanker Programs won the Baldrige Award. This St. Louis-based division of the Boeing Company designs and builds the C-17 Globemaster 111 airlifter.

Organizations that apply for the Baldrige Award must address seven key criteria: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management, and results. Each applicant receives a feedback report citing strengths and opportunities for improvement. Award recipients and applicants alike say the application process can yield significant process improvements and is good for the bottom line. In fact, a fictitious 'Baldrige Index' made up of winning company stock has consistently outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. And thousands of other companies have used the Criteria for Performance Excellence to assess and improve their overall performance.