Additively Manufactured Wind-Tunnel Balance

Burns, Devin E.; Parker, Peter A.

doi:10.2514/1.c035889

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In addition, the weight of the RSB can be minimized quite easily with topology optimization if required. Additive manufacturing of an RSB, also referred to as 3D printing, has an advantage that prototypes can be manufactured faster at lower costs compared to the traditional lengthy strain gauge balance manufacturing process, potentially leading to a reduction in total lead time and manufacturing costs [3]. Furthermore, several prototypes can be printed before manufacturing of the final RSB design, thereby reducing the likelihood of errors in the manufacturing process.…”

Section: Benefits Of Topology Optimization and Additive Manufacturing...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Topology optimization for the design of a 3D-printed rotating shaft balance

Noordman¹,

Ton²,

Toorn³

et al. 2023

Prog Addit Manuf

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Rotating shaft balances (RSBs) are devices that are used to measure rotor blade forces and moments of wind tunnel models during wind tunnel tests. The design of an RSB can be challenging, because it has to comply with many and sometimes contradicting requirements such as high stiffness and high strain gauge bridge outputs. The manufacturing of a conventional RSB consists of different subsequent steps, which can be time consuming, expensive and associated with many risks. Therefore, in this work, the authors investigate if a RSB can be designed by topology optimization and manufactured by 3D printing. A topology optimization method was developed with as design objective the minimization of strain energy with constraints for the volume of the RSB’s midsection, defined stresses at strain gauge locations used for the measurement of axial force and torque and an overhang constraint for additive manufacturing. The optimal preliminary design found by topology optimization was translated into a final printable design with the highest bridge sensitivity for axial force and torque, sufficient output for in-plane forces and moments and an acceptable safety factor on strength for combined loads. After adding extra supports required for printing, the RSB was successfully printed in metal by the laser powder bed fusion process, resulting in a product without external defects. The same topology optimization and manufacturing method can potentially be used for other balance types, leading to a reduction in total lead time and manufacturing costs while increasing the design freedom.

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Section: Benefits Of Topology Optimization and Additive Manufacturing...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Topology optimization for the design of a 3D-printed rotating shaft balance

Noordman¹,

Ton²,

Toorn³

et al. 2023

Prog Addit Manuf

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“…In general, force balances can be categorized into two groups: single piece balances and multi-piece balances. Single piece balances benefit from not having error due to fasteners and tolerance issues between components but are often more difficult to produce and require manufacturing techniques like additive manufacturing [1] or wire EDM [2]. This study will focus on a multipiece balance.…”

Section: Acknowledgementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the gauge reading must be scaled by 3 to give an expected gauge reading. It is noted that all comparisons to the calibration data will be shown by a percentage difference with the FEA data 1 .…”

Section: 𝜋𝜋𝑏𝑏𝜋𝜋mentioning

confidence: 99%

Design optimization of a wind tunnel force balance using stepwise response surface method

Chaisson

Lee²,

Burns³

2022

J Mech Sci Technol

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applied to a body during a wind tunnel test. The balance is equipped with strain gauges that measure structural deformations for evaluation of the forces and moments being applied to the body. The force balance is required to have structural safety under a large roll moment, due to design changes with the testing apparatus. The balance must be optimized to allow for this increased roll moment while guaranteeing the balance will not fail and the gauges within the balance will generate an acceptable gauge reading.

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“…One of the well-accepted force balance designs is the internal type that is placed in the test model, and provides the structural link between the wind tunnel model and ground. Figure 1 shows the geometry of traditional wind tunnel balance (Burns et al 2019;Burns and Parker 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robust topology optimization of a flexural structure considering multi-stress performance for force sensing and structural safety

Sung

Lee

Burns

2021

Struct Multidisc Optim

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This paper demonstrates a new robust topology design formulation for a compliant sensor structure considering multi-stress performance. Compliant mechanism design is one of the main applications of topology optimization that can be used to achieve displacement or force requirements based on its elastic deformation. Most compliant mechanisms have hinge joints where high stress is observed and this should be carefully considered in the design formulation. In this paper, we investigate a new design formulation that considers multiple stress components for force measurement and structural safety in a compliant mechanism-a wind tunnel balance. An internal wind tunnel balance is a multi-axis force sensor that measures aerodynamic forces and moments during wind tunnel testing. For the axial section of the balance, it is required to have substantial stress reading (sensor performance) by the axial load. In this paper, two stress measures are used in the design formation: (1) local directional stress to meet the sensor performance by a small axial force, and (2) normalized P-norm stress with a relaxation approach to ensure the safety of the balance by a large normal force. The high force ratio between axial and normal forces (1:10 +) is investigated in this paper. In addition, a robust approach is applied to reflect the manufacturing uncertainties from three different projected design variables. The manufacturable blueprint designs using this approach show satisfactory performance with respect to sensing and structural safety.

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Additively Manufactured Wind-Tunnel Balance

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

Topology optimization for the design of a 3D-printed rotating shaft balance

Topology optimization for the design of a 3D-printed rotating shaft balance

Design optimization of a wind tunnel force balance using stepwise response surface method

Robust topology optimization of a flexural structure considering multi-stress performance for force sensing and structural safety

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