Hydra tests for Airbus cargo box

A cargo box under test for Airbus in the the hydraulic shaker test facility (Hydra) in ESA’s test centre at ESTEC (NL). The box was being thoroughly tested to monitor how it would react to a possible emergency landing, as part of a test campaign conducted for Airbus.

Hydra is a six-axes vibration test facility. This is special, since it allows simultaneous vibration in all translational and rotational directions. HYDRA is driven by eight hydraulic cylinders, each of them providing up to 630 kN force. A closed loop control system ensures optimised excitation according to the programmed test profile.