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The application, installation, and monitoring of dynamic strain gage instrumentation on the rotating fan blades for subsonic stalled flutter mode of the first fan rotor are described. The engine installation, the modifications to the engine controls to obtain off schedule operation of the fan, engine aerodynamic instrumentation, and general data acquisition systems are discussed.
A miniature drag-force anemometer is described which is capable of measuring dynamic velocity head and flow direction. The anemometer consists of a silicon cantilever beam 2.5 mm long, 1.5 mm wide, and 0.25 mm thick with an integrated diffused strain-gage bridge, located at the base of the beam, as the force measuring element. The dynamics of the beam are like those of a second-order system with a natural frequency of about 42 kHz and a damping coefficient of 0.007. The anemometer can be used in both forward and reversed flow. Measured flow characteristics up to Mach 0.6 are presented along with application examples including turbulence measurements.
There exists a need for a relatively inexpensive system for measuring strain in bolts. The torque wrench is one technique for straining bolts which has been widely applied. Unfortunately, friction in the bolt threads and between the nut and the work tend to make such a simple system inaccurate. In practice, a torque wrench is unacceptable for many situations where strain is critical. In this article, an ultrasonic technique is described which can indicate changes in bolt strain to better than one part in 10,000. The technique is based on the one-dimensional propagating-ultrasonic-wave model and uses a new ultrasonic instrument called a Reflection Oscillator Ultrasonic Spectrometer which is a closed-loop feedback marginal-oscillator system that frequency locks the device to the peak of a mechanical resonance in the bolt. The instrument indicates a shift in the bolt resonance frequency due to elongation and changes in velocity of sound due to strain. Data are presented comparing a standard torque wrench to the ultrasonic monitor for different measured stresses on the bolt as well as for different bolt conditions. The strain instrument can be used to monitor changing stresses, to measure material properties and may be applied as a strain gage or load cell.
Strain gage measures position of spring-loaded piston without interfering with its motion.
Study suggests carbonated water can dissolve or suspend coal and carry it to surface. Mixture of carbon dioxide and water may be coal solvent that will make unmanned mining reality. When used with proposed process monitoring coal solubility with conventional strain gage, solvent is basis for rapid cost effective extraction of coal from underground seams.
Flutter frequency was determined and rotor vibratory amplitude and phase distributions during flutter were reconstructed from stationary aerodynamic type measurements. A previously reported optical method for measuring blade-tip displacement during flutter was extended by means of digital analysis. Displacement amplitudes and phase angles were determined based on this method. For selected blades, spectral results were also obtained from strain gage measurements. The results from these three types of measurement were compared and critically evaluated.
Windup-turn maneuvers were performed to assess the buffet characteristics of the F-111A aircraft and the same aircraft with a supercritical wing, which is referred to as the F-111 transonic aircraft technology (TACT) aircraft. Data were gathered at wing sweep angles of 26, 35, and 58 deg for Mach numbers from 0.60 to 0.95. Wingtip accelerometer data were the primary source of buffet information. The analysis was supported by wing strain-gage and pressure data taken in flight, and by oil-flow photographs taken during tests of a wind tunnel model. In the transonic speed range, the overall buffet characteristics of the aircraft having a supercritical wing are significantly improved over those of the aircraft having a conventional wing.
The use of calibrated strain gages to measure wing loads on the YF-12A airplane is discussed as well as structural configurations relative to the thermal environment and resulting thermal stresses. A thermal calibration of the YF-12A is described to illustrate how contaminating thermal effects can be removed from loads equations. The relationship between ground load calibrations and flight measurements is examined for possible errors, and an analytical approach to accommodate such errors is presented.
Ventral fin loads, expressed as normal force coefficients, bending moment coefficients, and torque coefficients, were measured during flight tests of a YF-12A airplane. Because of the proximity of the ventral fin to the ailerons, the aerodynamic loads presented were the result of both sideslip loads and aileron crossflow loads. Aerodynamic data obtained from strain gage loads instrumentation and some flight pressure measurements are presented for several Mach numbers ranging from 0.70 to 2.00. Selected wind tunnel data and results of linear theoretical aerodynamic calculations are presented for comparison.
A miniature drag force anemometer is described which is capable of measuring dynamic velocity head and flow direction. The anemometer consists of a silicon cantilevered beam 2.5 mm long, 1.5 mm wide, and 0.25 mm thick with an integrated diffused strain gage bridge, located at the base of the beam, as the force measuring element. The dynamics of the beam are like that of a second order system with a natural frequency of about 42 kHz and a damping coefficient of 0.007. The anemometer can be used in both forward and reversed flow. Measured flow characteristics up to Mach 0.6 are presented along with application examples including turbulence measurements.
Circuit uses only single operational amplifier and few passive components to remove background noise from miniature "wristwatch" pulse detector. It can be applied to other systems where background noise is slowly varying, such as ultrasonics, strain-gage sensors, and accelerometers.
Positioning of acoustic sensor, strain gage, or similar transducer is facilitated by adjustable holder. Developed for installation on Space Shuttle, it includes springs for maintaining uniform load on transducer with adjustable threaded cap for precisely controlling position of sensor with respect to surrounding structure.
Electromagnetic curing is used to bond strain gage to aluminum tensile bar. Electromagnetic energy heats only plastic/metal interface by means of skin effect, preventing degradation of heat-treated aluminum. Process can be easily applied to other metals joined by high-temperature-curing plastic adhesives.
A test structure representing a portion of a hypersonic vehicle was instrumented with strain gages and thermocouples. This test structure was then subjected to laboratory heating representative of supersonic and hypersonic flight conditions. A finite element computer model of this structure was developed using several types of elements with the NASA structural analysis (NASTRAN) computer program. Temperature inputs from the test were used to generate predicted model thermal stresses and these were correlated with the test measurements.
Compressor rotor strain gage data from an engine test conducted with an inlet screen distortion were reduced and analyzed. These data are compared to data obtained from the same engine without inlet pressure distortion to determine the net effect of the distortion on the vibratory response of the compressor blades. The results obtained are presented.
The facilities, testing techniques, and design methods are described for NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. High temperature strain gage technology, realistic flight hardware fabrication, and structural analysis are discussed. A considerable amount of experimental work on hot structure concepts for hypersonic vehicles was performed; all the work is not complete, and there are still problem areas that need to be resolved.
One approach for detection of the coal interface is measurement of the pick cutting hoads and shock through the use of pick strain gage load cells and accelerometers. The cutting drum of a long wall mining machine contains a number of cutting picks. In order to measure pick loads and shocks, one pick was instrumented and telementry used to transmit the signals from the drum to an instrument-type tape recorder. A data system using FM telemetry was designed to transfer cutting bit load and shock information from the drum of a longwall shearer coal mining machine to a chassis mounted data recorder.
An analysis of pressure and strain-gage data from space shuttle wind tunnel test IA119 and IA138 was performed to define the influence on aerodynamic characteristics resulting from the main propulsion system and solid rocket booster plumes. Aerodynamic characteristics of each of the elements, the components and total vehicle of the space shuttle vehicle during ascent flight was considered. Pressure data were obtained over the aft portions of the space shuttle wind tunnel model in addition to wing and elevon gage data.