Basic Lift And Drag Balance

Basic Lift And Drag Balance

A two-component balance which measures the lift and dragforces on models mounted in Subsonic Wind Tunnel. The balance mechanism enablestest models with a rigid support arm to be mounted and held securely inposition in the working section of the wind tunnel. The arm transmits the forceon the test model directly to a strain gauged load cell. The load cell isconnected to a readout unit with a digital display, which is powered by adesktop power supply (included). In addition, the equipment is fully compatiblewith Versatile Data Acquisition System and can quickly and conveniently connectto the frame mounting interface unit. To measure the lift and drag forces onmodels the balance mounts on the side of the working section of the windtunnel. The drag force is measured first, and then students rotate the balancemechanism through 90 degrees and repeat the test to measure the lift force.When mounted in the base of the wind tunnel working section, the balancemeasures the drag force only. This is useful for a variety of investigationssuch as wind loadings on tall buildings. It can also be used to measure dragforces on model vehicles enabling students to determine and comparecoefficients of drag.