RTCA DO-160 Qualification: Purpose, Testing and Design Considerations ONLINE (AERO0460)

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RTCA DO-160 Qualification: Purpose, Testing

and Design Considerations ONLINE

(AERO0460)

Instructor: C. Bruce Stephens Course Highlights

• The aircraft environment

• Overview of RTCA and DO-160

• Advisory circular AC 21-16G

• Requirements, development and management

• FAA test requirements

• Pass/fail requirements

Course Description

Plan to devote five continuous weeks of study to this online course, which will include readings, review of RTCA DO-160G documents, discussion posts, live discussion sessions, weekly learning summaries and progression toward your course project.

This is an introductory class, designed to educate engineers of all disciplines (hardware design engineers, test engineers, certification engineers, program managers, project engineers and laboratory employees) in the aspects of DO-160 as it pertains to the equipment qualification in support of aircraft certification. For system and hardware engineers, the intent is to educate and empower them to develop equipment designs that are compliant with DO-160 by design, and avoid expensive redesigns to correct issues found late in the development cycle during test. For test engineers, it is intended to assist them to properly develop test plans for their

products. Certification engineers, program managers and project engineers will gain knowledge in the process and requirements of conducting the testing. Laboratory employees will learn the details of each DO-160 section and the requirements for certification. For each test section of DO-160, we provide purpose; adverse effects; categories; a high-level, step-by-step guide

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through the test procedure and design considerations for passing the test. A high-level review of related FAA advisory material and certification requirements will be discussed.

Course Materials

The course fee includes instruction and course materials.

Please note that you must have access to the two required RTCA documents in order to complete this course. The two required documents are: RTCA DO-160G: Environmental

Conditions and Test Procedures for Airborne Equipment and RTCA DO-357: User Guide,

Supplement to DO-160G. Course materials will be sent to you approximately two weeks prior to

the start of the course.

This course is delivered via Blackboard®, KU's online course hosting platform.

Who Should Attend?

This class is designed for all engineering disciplines, program and project management employees, certification employees, and test lab personnel responsible for developing qualification requirements for airborne electronic equipment.

Learning Objectives

• The purpose of each test, and the adverse effects that the test is intended to prevent

• The ability to properly assign test categories and test levels

• A basic understanding of each test procedure

• Design considerations to meet the test requirements

• Test requirements for both metal and composite aircraft designs

Course Outline

WEEK 1 SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS:

Read the following sections from the Class Notebook

• Overview of RTCA and DO-160 (1.1 – 1.12 Class Notebook)

• Advisory Circular AC 21-16G (2.1 – 2.13 Class Notebook)

• Conditions of Tests (3.1 – 3.8 Class Notebook)

• Temperature and Altitude Section 4 (4.1 – 4.22 Class Notebook)

• Temperature Variation Section 5 (5.1 – 5.12 Class Notebook)

• Humidity Section 6 (6.1 – 6.8 Class Notebook)

• Shock and Crash Safety Section 7 (7.1 – 7.13 Class Notebook)

• Vibration Section 8 (8.1 – 8.27 Class Notebook)

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Review

• Review Sections 1.3 – Section 9 of RTCA/DO-160

• Review the Test Lab and Sample Test Videos Provided

• Review DO-160 Change_Summary from F to G

Discussion Questions:

• Please introduce yourself and tell us about your employment. What is your experience with DO-160 and what would you like to gain from the class? Tell us a bit about your hobbies and something fun you have done but we would not know unless told us in this discussion post.

• Select one of the DO-160 sections and discuss why this test is important to ensure the safety of the aircraft.

Initial discussion posts are due on Wednesday and one response to each discussion question is due by Saturday midnight.

Due Dates

– Monday – Online Questions and Answers

– Wednesday – Student Face-to-Face (online discussion session)

– Sunday – Two page summary of your learning for one week. Include five recommended final exam test questions with the answers and page numbers.

– SUNDAY - FINAL PROJECT REQUIREMENT

• Select a piece of equipment or Equipment Under Test (EUT) for you final project. At the end of the course you will provide test levels for all sections of DO-160 for you EUT. Let me know where your equipment is located on the aircraft and the criticality of the equipment you plan to install on the aircraft. You will also be required to discuss equipment located on the external structure of the aircraft to determine test level for DO-160 Section 23 – Lightning Direct Effects.

• Waterproofness Section 10 (10.1 – 10.9 Class Notebook)

• Fluids Susceptibility Section 11 (11.1 – 11.6 Class Notebook)

• Sand and Dust Section 12 (12.1 – 12.8 Class Notebook)

• Fungus Resistance Section 13 (13.1 – 13.7 Class Notebook)

• Salt Fog Section 14 (14.1 – 14.7 Class Notebook)

• Icing Section 24 (24.1 – 24.7 Class Notebook)

• Fire, Flammability Section 26 (26.1 – 26.17 Class Notebook)

Review

• Review Sections 10 – Section 14, Section 24 and Section 26 of RTCA/DO-160

• Generic Pretest Checklist

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• Select one of the week two DO-160 sections and discuss why this test is important to ensure the safety of the aircraft. Also discuss conditions that might occur on the aircraft if your selected test selection was not tested per DO-160.

• Do a bit of research on the internet and see if you can come up with an example where the lack of correct testing, be it DO-160 or other testing, may have contributed to the aircraft failing to perform its intended mission. This can be a military or commercial aircraft example. Discuss how proper testing may have prevented the failure.

Due Dates

– Wednesday – Student Face-to-Face (live online discussion session)

– Sunday – Two page summary of your learning for week two. Include five recommended final exam test questions with the answers and page numbers.

• Select a piece of equipment or Equipment Under Test (EUT) for you final project. Provide required levels for the EUT to include DO-160 Sections 4 - 9. These sections were reviewed in week one.

• Magnetic effect section 15 (15.1 – 15.4 Class Notebook)

• Power input section 16 (16.1 – 16.58 Class Notebook)

• Voltage spike section 17 (17.1 – 17.4 Class Notebook)

• Audio frequency conducted susceptibility section 18 (18.1 – 18.12 Class Notebook)

• Induced signal susceptibility section 19 (19.1 – 19.14 Class Notebook)

Review

• Review Sections 15 – Section 19 of RTCA/DO-160

• Select one of the week three DO-160 sections and discuss what the data might look like if there was a test failure for your selected project EUT. Also discuss conditions that might occur at the aircraft if your EUT was installed with the failure condition.

• If you got to pick your role in the area of DO-160 test qualification, what would you prefer to do, and why? Would you prefer the role of the system engineer, hardware design engineer, test engineer, FAA Quality, FAA DER, or maybe the lab technician?

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Due Dates

– Sunday – Two page summary of your learning for week three. Include five recommended final exam test questions with the answers and page numbers.

• Select a piece of equipment or Equipment Under Test (EUT) for you final project. Provide Required levels for the EUT to include DO-160 Sections 10 – 14, 24 and 26. These sections were reviewed in week two.

Read the following sections from the Class Notebook:

• RF susceptibility section 20 (20.1 – 20.14 Class Notebook)

• RF emission section 21 (21.1 – 21.12 Class Notebook)

• Lightning indirect susceptibility section 22 (22.1 – 22.5 Class Notebook)

• Aircraft Lightning (From Lightning Class)

• Lightning direct effects section 23 (23.1 – 23.12 Class Notebook)

• ESD section 25 (25.1 – 25.5 Class Notebook)

Review

• Review Sections 20 – Section 25 of RTCA/DO-160

• Aircraft Lightning Presentation

• Review the CFR14 25.981 Memo

• Watch the Lightning Videos Provided

• Take a Look at some of the HIRF Full Vehicle Test Photos

• HIRF/Lightning AC’s for DO-160

• Select and discuss the installation of a piece of equipment installed on the exterior of the aircraft. What zone is the equipment located in and what are the DO-160 test levels for this installation?

• Tell us how you would like or plan to use your newly acquired DO-160 learning? What sections of DO-160 will you likely test more often? Now that we have covered all sections of DO-160, what was your favorite section and why?

Due Dates

– Sunday – Two page summary of your learning for week four. Include five recommended final exam test questions with the answers and page numbers.

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– SUNDAY - FINAL PROJECT REQUIREMENT

• Select a piece of equipment or Equipment Under Test (EUT) for you final project. Provide required levels for the EUT to include DO-160 Sections 15 – 19. These sections were reviewed in week three.

DO-160 Final Exam

Final DO-160 Project Review

• Complete your review of the (EUT) for you final project. Provide the final required levels for the EUT to include DO-160 Sections 20 – 25. These sections were reviewed in week four. Submit your final project with all of the DO-160 section levels for the instructor’s review and to receive your course certificate.

Provide a one page document discussing your view of what will be next for future aircraft component testing.

Course Evaluation

Classroom hours / CEUs

28.00 classroom hours 2.8 CEUs

Certificate Track

Aerospace Compliance, Avionics and Avionic Components, Electromagnetic Effects Course Fees

Early registration course fee: $1,795 if you register and pay by the early registration deadline (45 days out).

Regular registration course fee: $1,895 if you register and pay after the early registration deadline.

U. S. Federal Employee Discount

This course is available to U.S. federal employees at 10% off the registration fee. To receive the federal employee discount, you must enter the code FGVT116 during the checkout process. Please note that you must validate your eligibility to receive this discount by entering your U.S. government email address (ending in .gov or .mil) when creating your online registration profile. This discount is available for both the early registration and regular registration fees.

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CONTACT US:

KU Professional and Continuing Education (KUPCE) Aerospace Short Course Program

12600 Quivira Road, RC 125 Overland Park, Kansas 66213

Email: [email protected]