Rake fabricated at AEDC Model and Machine shop to be used for flow calibration at NFAC
The rake hardware that will be used this summer in the Phase II Flow Calibration of the 40-by-80 foot test section at the AEDC National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at the Ames Research Facility, California, was fabricated at the AEDC Model and Machine Shop. Fabrication of the flow characterization rake was kept “in house” due to tight tolerance requirements, the ability to have local oversight of the fabrication efforts, and to keep the flexibility to adjust design constraints on the fly, all the while maintaining schedule for a summer 2017 test entry. The rake is designed to support 27 probes distributed in an array so that flow quality measurements can be made across a representative cross section of the wind tunnel test section. The probes will measure flow static and dynamic pressure as well as flow angles and turbulence over the survey area. Additional sensors on the array will measure tunnel total temperature. The goal of the Phase II Flow Calibration is to characterize the 40-by-80 test section flow quality throughout the tunnel operational envelope and report the results. (U.S. Air Force photo/Rick Goodfriend)