department of geomatics
 
Hercules C-130J Engine Nacelles - Reverse Engineering


Photogrammetry was used to reverse engineer the exterior of objects for the creation of accurate 3D surface models. Objects measured included engine nacelles, wind tunnel models, missile stores, and aircraft and ship propellers. DSTO then employed computer aided design systems to create 3D surface models from the measured data. These formed the basis of the CFD modeling.


One of the objects to be modeled was the Hercules C-130J aircraft. The Royal Australian Air Force has recently purchased twelve new C-130J Hercules aircraft to extend their existing fleet of C-130's. The new J model has essentially the same shaped airframe as the H model with the exception of the nacelles. The existing CFD model of the C-130H nacelles needed to be updated to represent the J model. Using off-line Vision Metrology, a complex survey was performed to measure 4000 points on the surface of a nacelle. Also the surface positions were established within the aircraft's coordinate system. The entire survey was performed whilst the aircraft was undergoing routine maintenance inspection, and the measured data was then used by DSTO to generate the surface model of the new nacelle and accurately combine this data with the existing CFD model.


Point data of the C-130J engine nacelle.


Wire-frame model generated from the measured point data


Solid model generated from the measured point data


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Created: 20 April 2004
Last modified: 16th Octoverl 2004
Vision Metrology Services
Email: danny@metrology.com.au