Wind-tunnel balance design trade study. Wind-tunnel balances are the primary source for aerodynamic force and moment data in ground-based aeronautics research. But, balances are time consuming and…

This is a delivery order awarded by the Langley Research Center, a civilian agency within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to the National Institute of Aerospace Associates (NIA), a non-profit research organization. The $57,477.90 contract is for a Wind-Tunnel Balance Design Trade Study. The objective is to research wind-tunnel balance designs that do not require blind cuts, which would allow for faster, more cost-effective fabrication using milling, drilling, and grinding instead of electrical discharge machining. The work will also quantify the effects of the new designs on balance deflection, stress, and resonant frequency. Old Dominion University Research Foundation, a non-profit sub-contractor, will assist with this research. The contract does not have a set-aside designation.

Wind-tunnel balance design trade study. Wind-tunnel balances are the primary source for aerodynamic force and moment data in ground-based aeronautics research. But, balances are time consuming and costly to manufacture. The time and costs associated with balance fabrication are primarily driven by the blind cuts that are often specified during the design process. These cuts almost always require balance manufacturers to resort to using electrical discharge machining (EDM) with complex flag shaped electrodes to achieve the blind cuts. The objective of this work is to research wind-tunnel balance designs that do not require blind cuts to achieve the measurement goals and ultimately permit balance fabrication to be completed using higher speed milling, drilling, and grinding operations. Eliminating blind cuts from the design may necessitate reducing the moment of inertia of the balance at sections along the balance length. The reduced moment of inertia will likely result in increased balance deflection and stresses along with a decreased resonant frequency. Thus, another objective of this work will be to quantitatively estimate the effect of the new designs on the deflection, stress, and resonant frequency.