The facilities and research projects at the N.Y.U. Aero Laboratories, including its wind tunnel and towing basin.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 158\5\ scan0034 | |
| Date | 22th April 1939 | |
| N. Y. U. AERO LABORATORIES 529 Moving belt ground board set up in nine-foot tunnel reducing vibration, measuring vibration periods, and damping under conditions simulating flight and in actual flight. It is hoped that the results of this work will point the way to the design of inexpensive equipment for detecting and analyzing vibrations. Professor Klemin points out that similar methods should be of interest to the automotive industry. Beryllium, with a specific weight approximately the same as that of aluminum and a strength of 100,000 lb. per sq. in., is to be studied to find out if its use in aircraft would sufficiently reduce weight with subsequent increase in payload to offset the relatively high cost of the metal. Another project soon to be undertaken by a graduate student is the ambitious task of setting forth the ideal specifications of the aircraft Diesel with suggestions for designers of this type of powerplant. A current research project deals with the effect of varying ignition timing on the efficiency of aircraft engines. The Guggenheim School has been unique among educational institutions in doing pioneer work in the field of rotary aircraft. Recent advances in the autogiro and helicopter are regarded as highly significant and intensive research is to be pursued on this subject. Facilities of the Guggenheim laboratory may be classified under 10 general headings, as follows: aerodynamics, structures, aircraft materials and accessories, engines and accessories, lighter-than-air, instrument and full flight testing, propeller fan laboratory, towing basin for hulls and floats, soundproofing laboratory, and model construction and machine shop. One of the most heavily-used pieces of equipment is the nine-foot wind tunnel with which wind speeds as high as 115 m.p.h. can be developed. Air flow is created by an eight-bladed metal propeller driven by a 300 hp. d.c. electric motor. The tunnel is of the closed-throat double return type, having curved passages and a honeycomb at the entrance end. A diagrammatic sketch of the tunnel appears on page 528. Aerodynamic forces are measured on a six component wire balance system in which each balance operates automatically. This permits simultaneous measurement of all six components, three forces and three moments. Of the auxiliary equipment used in conjunction with the wind tunnel, an especially interesting device is the moving belt ground board. It consists essentially of a seamless rubber belt, 15 in. wide and 8 ft. long, which can be run at linear speeds up to 70 m.p.h. StreamlineExperimental Streamline Bentley B.23.A.Ed automobiles as well as trains are studied with the aid of this device. Augmenting the laboratory equipment is a 150-ft. towing basin housed in a separate building which was completed only a short time ago. A moving platform, from which test models of floats, hulls of flying boats, marine propeller models, and allied objects are suspended, is capable of towing models through water in the basin at speeds up to 20 m.p.h. The towing basin and the nine-foot Wind tunnel balance platform showing students recording data of a wind tunnel test (Turn to page 537, please) Automotive Industries April 22, 1939 | ||
From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).