AEDC Sea Level Test Cells | |
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Country | United States |
Branch | US Air Force |
Role | Test Facility |
The AEDC Sea Level Test Cells, located at Arnold Engineering Development Complex, is a collection of test cells used to economically perform durability testing on large augmented turbine engines at near sea level conditions. All test units in the facility are owned by the United States Air Force and currently operated by National Aerospace Solutions.
The SL2 and SL3 cells are approximately 24 feet in height and width and 60 feet in length. In addition to running ambient pressure inlet conditions, they also provide the capability of using one of the complex's air plants to supply inlet pressures above ambient thus allowing testing at up to Mach 1.2. Inlet temperature capability extends from ambient to 120 degree Fahrenheit when running in the atmospheric inlet mode and from 20 to 270 degrees Fahrenheit in pressurized mode. Both cells can accommodate engines that produce up to 70,000 pounds of thrust. In recent years, SL-2 has tested the F100 engine for the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the F119 engine for the F-22A Raptor. SL-3 has also tested the Pratt & Whitney F100 engine, as well as the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine for the F-35. [1]
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet, and a reference to the additional fan stage added. It consists of a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanical energy from combustion, and a ducted fan that uses the mechanical energy from the gas turbine to force air rearwards. Thus, whereas all the air taken in by a turbojet passes through the combustion chamber and turbines, in a turbofan some of that air bypasses these components. A turbofan thus can be thought of as a turbojet being used to drive a ducted fan, with both of these contributing to the thrust.
The General Electric F110 is an afterburning turbofan jet engine produced by GE Aerospace. It was derived from the General Electric F101 as an alternative engine to the Pratt & Whitney F100 for powering tactical fighter aircraft, with the F-16C Fighting Falcon and F-14A+/B Tomcat being the initial platforms; the F110 would eventually power new F-15 Eagle variants as well. The engine is also built by IHI Corporation in Japan, TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI) in Turkey, and Samsung Techwin in South Korea as part of licensing agreements.
The Pratt & Whitney F119, company designation PW5000, is an afterburning turbofan engine developed by Pratt & Whitney for the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, which resulted in the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. The engine delivers thrust in the 35,000 lbf (156 kN) class and was designed for sustained supersonic flight without afterburners, or supercruise. Delivering almost 22% more thrust with 40% fewer parts than its F100 predecessor, the F119 allows the F-22 to achieve supercruise speeds of up to Mach 1.8. The F119's nozzles incorporate thrust vectoring that enable them to direct the engine thrust ±20° in the pitch axis to give the F-22 enhanced maneuverability.
The Pratt & Whitney F135 is an afterburning turbofan developed for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, a single-engine strike fighter. It has two variants; a Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL) variant used in the F-35A and F-35C, and a two-cycle Short Take-Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant used in the F-35B that includes a forward lift fan. The first production engines were delivered in 2009.
The Pratt & Whitney J58 is an American jet engine that powered the Lockheed A-12, and subsequently the YF-12 and the SR-71 aircraft. It was an afterburning turbojet engine with a unique compressor bleed to the afterburner that gave increased thrust at high speeds. Because of the wide speed range of the aircraft, the engine needed two modes of operation to take it from stationary on the ground to 2,000 mph (3,200 km/h) at altitude. It was a conventional afterburning turbojet for take-off and acceleration to Mach 2 and then used permanent compressor bleed to the afterburner above Mach 2. The way the engine worked at cruise led it to be described as "acting like a turboramjet". It has also been described as a turboramjet based on incorrect statements describing the turbomachinery as being completely bypassed.
The Pratt & Whitney F100 is an afterburning turbofan engine designed and manufactured by Pratt & Whitney to power the U.S. Air Force's "FX" initiated in 1965, which became the F-15 Eagle. The engine was to be developed in tandem with the F401 which shares a similar core but with the fan upscaled for the U.S. Navy's F-14 Tomcat, although the F401 was later abandoned due to costs and reliability issues. The F100 would also power the F-16 Fighting Falcon for the Air Force's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program.
Arnold Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Coffee and Franklin counties, Tennessee, adjacent to the city of Tullahoma. It is named for General Henry "Hap" Arnold, the father of the U.S. Air Force.
A compressor map is a chart which shows the performance of a turbomachinery compressor. This type of compressor is used in gas turbine engines, for supercharging reciprocating engines and for industrial processes, where it is known as a dynamic compressor. A map is created from compressor rig test results or predicted by a special computer program. Alternatively the map of a similar compressor can be suitably scaled. This article is an overview of compressor maps and their different applications and also has detailed explanations of maps for a fan and intermediate and high-pressure compressors from a three-shaft aero-engine as specific examples.
A jet engine performs by converting fuel into thrust. How well it performs is an indication of what proportion of its fuel goes to waste. It transfers heat from burning fuel to air passing through the engine. In doing so it produces thrust work when propelling a vehicle but a lot of the fuel is wasted and only appears as heat. Propulsion engineers aim to minimize the degradation of fuel energy into unusable thermal energy. Increased emphasis on performance improvements for commercial airliners came in the 1970s from the rising cost of fuel.
The General Electric YF120, internally designated as GE37, was a variable cycle afterburning turbofan engine designed by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program. It was designed to produce maximum thrust in the 35,000 lbf (156 kN) class. Prototype engines were installed in the two competing technology demonstrator aircraft, the Lockheed YF-22 and Northrop YF-23.
A variable cycle engine (VCE), also referred to as adaptive cycle engine (ACE), is an aircraft jet engine that is designed to operate efficiently under mixed flight conditions, such as subsonic, transonic and supersonic.
The Pratt & Whitney PW1120 turbojet is a derivative of the F100 turbofan. It was installed as a modification to a single F-4E fighter jet, and powered the canceled IAI Lavi.
The Rolls-Royce LiftSystem, together with the F135 engine, is an aircraft propulsion system designed for use in the STOVL variant of the F-35 Lightning II. The complete system, known as the Integrated Lift Fan Propulsion System (ILFPS), was awarded the Collier Trophy in 2001.
The Volvo RM8 is a low-bypass afterburning turbofan jet engine developed for the Saab 37 Viggen fighter. An augmented bypass engine was required to give both better fuel consumption at cruise speeds and higher thrust boosting for its short take-off requirement than would be possible using a turbojet. In 1962, the civil Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine, as used for airliners such as the Boeing 727, was chosen as the only engine available which could be modified to meet the Viggen requirements. The RM8 was a licensed-built version of the JT8D, but extensively modified for supersonic speeds, with a Swedish-designed afterburner, and was produced by Svenska Flygmotor.
The Vought YA-7F "Strikefighter" is a prototype transonic attack aircraft based on the subsonic A-7 Corsair II. Two prototypes were converted from A-7Ds. The YA-7F was not ordered into production, its intended role being filled by the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
The von Karman Gas Dynamics Facility at Arnold Engineering Development Complex, Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee, provide aerothermal ground test simulations of hypersonic flight over a wide range of velocities and pressure altitudes. The facility consists of three Hypersonic wind tunnels: Tunnel A, B, and C. The wind tunnels can be run for several hours at a time thanks to a 92,500 horsepower air compressor plant system. The test unit is owned by the United States Air Force and operated by National Aerospace Solutions.
The Aero-propulsion Systems Test Facility, located at Arnold Engineering Development Complex is a unique national facility designed to test aircraft propulsion systems in true mission environments without leaving the ground. The test unit is owned by the United States Air Force and operated by National Aerospace Solutions.
Atec, Inc. specializes in the design, manufacture, construction and maintenance of precision components, large fabrications, systems and facilities. Atec provides solutions for low to medium volume requirements involving engine test, aero support equipment, spaceflight components, and energy service products. Over 20,000 Atec products have been used by the United States Armed Forces and others, including the Federal Aviation Administration. Atec was named NASA Small Business Subcontractor of the Year for 2016, in recognition of contributions to NASA and Boeing Manned Spaceflight Programs.
The Pratt & Whitney XA101 is an American adaptive cycle engine demonstrator being developed by Pratt & Whitney for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II and form the basis for the propulsion system for the United States Air Force's sixth generation fighter program, the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD).
The Pratt & Whitney F401 was an afterburning turbofan engine developed by Pratt & Whitney in tandem with the company's F100. The F401 was intended to power the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and Rockwell XFV-12, but the engine was canceled due to costs and development issues.