BOEING CASE STUDY
LOCATION: Seattle, WA
PROJECT: Environmental Calibration Chamber
Background
Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company, wanted to restructure its metrology facilities, turning to Western Environmental for help with the environmental chamber construction portion of the project. The metrology lab, located in Seattle, Washington, is where the company performs a wide variety of testing procedures and services on its aircraft and components.
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As such, when it came time to develop and install a new environmental chamber, they tasked us with creating one that was both widely variable and tightly controlled. Due to our extensive experience with metrology lab design and construction, Boeing trusted that we were the right fit for the job.
Project Challenge
Most metrology laboratories only need to accommodate a small range of variables, but in this case, Boeing required more flexibility. The environmental chamber had to be able to support hundreds of different control configurations by the end-user. For example, the engineer may need the chamber set to 40°F for one test and as much as 100°F for the next.
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The chamber also had to be able to make several control adjustments for a single calibration. In addition, Boeing wanted to the chamber control points to be easily selectable, so that testing procedures could be as smooth and seamless as possible. Finally, when users needed to change the chamber’s settings, Boeing wanted its environment to rapidly stabilize to the new changes so that testing could begin right away.
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Results
After meticulous planning, our team drew up blueprints for a metrology lab that offered 60 air changes per hour and supported a wide range of variables. The final result also featured a Honeywell UMC800 Controller to ensure accuracy and simplicity.
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Once the plans were approved, we moved forward with the construction phase of the project using the highest quality materials available. Throughout this process, Western Environmental collaborated with DLR Architects, who designed Boeing’s new metrology center, as well as Skanska USA, who was charged with the general construction of the new building.
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By the time we were ready to install the environmental chamber, Skanska was finishing up the building’s construction. After coordinating with its managers, we were able to successfully complete the project and provide Boeing with the facilities they needed for heading into the future of aerospace engineering.
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Design Parameters
– Temperature: Varying 40°F to 100°F
– Stability: +/- 0.1°F throughout
– Relative Humidity: Varying 20% to 90%
– Stability: +/- 3%
– Duration of Stability between Set Point Change: 2 hours maximum