One specialized application of a force transducer is a wind-tunnel force balance: a device used to measure the forces and moments exerted on a wind-tunnel model when subject to wind flow. In this study, a balance is manufactured from 17-4PH powder using selective laser melting. The performance of the balance is assessed relative to a conventionally manufactured balance. The additively manufactured balance exhibited accuracies and spring quality comparable to the conventionally manufactured balance; however, sensitivities were lower for the additively manufactured balance due to oversizing of almost all flexural members. Taken together, these results suggest that additive manufacturing can be used to manufacture balances for many wind-tunnel applications, which are expected to decrease the manufacturing time of balances by six to nine months and offer the potential to manufacture new balance design geometries.
Additively Manufactured Wind-Tunnel Balance
Journal of Aircraft ; 57 , 5 ; 958-963
01.09.2020
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Shadow UAV Wind Tunnel Testing using an Additively Manufactured Model (AIAA 2018-1517)
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2018
|Additively Manufactured Penetrators
AIAA | 2017
|