Utilizing modal testing for monitoring the structural health of wind tunnel facility hardware

Abstract

The 10- by 10-Foot Abe Silverstein Supersonic Wind Tunnel (10 × 10) is the largest and fastest wind tunnel facility at NASA’s Glenn Research Center(GRC) and is specifically designed to test supersonic propulsion components from inlets and nozzles to full-scale jet and rocket engines (10 × 10 Abe Silverstein Supersonic Wind Tunnel, https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/facilities/10x10/). Recently, a critical part of the wind tunnel failed and required a redesign before reintegrating into the facility. The design requirements of this new component required that clearances between large metallic components exist, which have the potential for undesirable nonlinear dynamics to occur, in particular rattling. Rattling is feared to occur when the wind tunnel is being operated in certain flow regimes that induce cyclic aero loads on the new component near its natural frequencies. This paper describes the approach taken to better understand and resolve this vibration problem using modal testing. A modal test was developed and executed by GRC’s Structural Dynamics Lab to quantify the modal parameters of the structure, namely which specific excitation frequencies caused the structure to rattle. These results were shared with facility operators as frequency ranges that should be avoided to ensure maximum lifespan of the new structure. Additional means of structural health monitoring (SHM) as well as Vortex shedding are briefly discussed in this paper.