What is it about?
A semi-free oscillation method was designed for the VKI S-1 transonic-supersonic wind tunnel. This conference paper explains the experimental technique how to test the dynamic stability of slender vehicles. The equation of motion is extended with additional terms depending on the influence of the support system, and a method is presented for removing the mechanical damping and obtaining the aerodynamic one from the motion of the test model. The similarity parameters are briefly introduced and the limitation of the technique are discussed.
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Why is it important?
In flight, the oscillations occur about the vehicle's center of gravity. In wind tunnel investigations of stability, the motion must be constrained about the same location, which is difficult to be obtained for slender geometries without inducing strong perturbation in the flowfield. The presented technique is using cable supports which are moderately intrusive and allow the variation of the oscillation frequency to match various similarity conditions.
Perspectives
Based on the first results, the technique is promising, but requires some small advancements to fine-tune it. This was a good first step in creating an accurate and precise methodology for obtaining the pitch damping coefficients.
Dániel Gábor Kovács
Von Karman Institute For Fluid Dynamics
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: An Experimental Approach to Determine the Aerodynamic Pitch Damping Coefficient of Slender Bodies in the Transonic Regime, June 2020, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/6.2020-3105.
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