Sea Level Test Cells entering third decade with AEDC

  • Published
  • By Bradley Hicks
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  Around this time 20 years ago, a facility new to AEDC was gearing up for its first test.

Sea-Level Test Cells SL-2 and SL-3 were undergoing activation at Arnold Air Force Base in the early fall of 1998. The first customer test of an F119 engine was set to begin at the facility early that October.

The acquisition of the test cells by AEDC marked the end of a five-year project in which the testing capability was relocated from the Navy test facility in Trenton, New Jersey, to Arnold Air Force Base. This project was a joint effort between the Navy, Air Force, AEDC, the Army Corps of Engineers and design and construction contractors. The undertaking was part of the Trenton Transition program resulting from the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Act.

The Army Corps of Engineers oversaw the physical construction of the facility to house the cells, but its design and the construction and installation of the data system and other systems, such as the throttle system, were completed by personnel at Arnold AFB.

“The Corps of Engineers was the design and construction agent for the facility,” Paul Stevens, then-SL2/SL3 project manager for the Test Operations and Sustainment contractor, said at the time. “Since we had the expertise in data and instrumentation systems, plant controls and the testing of all control systems, the program management decided to designate AEDC to do the design, fabrication and installation of all of those.”

To prepare for the transition to Arnold, data system hardware was either transferred from New Jersey or built from the ground up. The goal was to make the control room for the new facility similar to those of other turbine engine test control rooms.

“Operators should be able to move from one control room to another without impacting operations,” Stevens said.

The SL-2 and SL-3 activation effort was supported by Aeropropulsion Systems Test Facility C-Plant personnel who provided air and the test operations team. The test team developed an activation plan prior to the transition and was in the process of executing those procedures around this time two decades ago.

SL-2 and SL-3 provide environmental engine testing at sea-level conditions and are capable of testing engines with up to 70,000 pounds of thrust. The cells are each around 24 feet in height and width and approximately 60 feet long.

With the use of the Engine Test Facility plant, SL-2 and SL-3 can run speeds up to Mach 1.25 and temperatures ranging from 20 degrees Fahrenheit to 270 degrees Fahrenheit.

The sea-level cells are normally used for Accelerated Mission Testing. Such tests evaluate engine durability and performance retention by repeatedly simulating the types of missions the engine will fly in service.

Support systems for both cells include state-of-the-art data acquisition systems, which provide SL-2 with the ability to record up to 1,500 parameters and allow SL-3 to record up to 2,300 parameters.

Along with the F119 engine for the F-22A, SL-2 in recent years has tested the F100 engine for the F-15 and F-16. SL-3 has also tested the F100 engine, as well as the F135 engine for the F-35.