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Our Click-Loc™ design for fluid fittings has been extensively tested in independant and customer laboratories, in engine test cells, and in-house reusability testing.
The lab work was mostly vibratory testing as well as "circular whirl rig" testing per ARP1185A. The test conditions also included combinations of heat, pressure, induced CCW torsion, simulated damage and wear, and under-minimum fitting tightening torque (preload). In general the concept has been to establish baseline conditions under which standard fittings would loosen and then test Click-Loc™ fittings under the same and more severe conditions. Our 5-station vibration test fixture is shown below. The unique design of this fixture allowed us to gather much more data than typical single station tooling.
The testing done in the test cells was to substantiate Click-Loc™ components in an AMT (Accelerated Mission Test) engines simulating a typical on-wing service life. Some of this testing also included under-minimum tightening torque to verify the Click-Loc™ would still prevent loosening even if the user forgot to fully torque the components. Engine substantiation has been performed on a variety of components used on GE90, CT7, F101, F110, F118, F119, F120, PT6, PW100, PW150, and EJ200 engines.
The extensive test program, and our customers' valuable input, helped us to optimize the design of the Click-Loc™ especially in respect to visual verification of function and ease of installation for retrofit kits. It also demonstated that the only contributing factor
that will cause the Click-Loc™ to loosen is a wrench in a mechanic's hand.
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