Special 6-component jet rig balance for studying new thrust vectoring concepts

A new concept for efficient thrust vectoring of jet exhausts for aerospace applications, known as CounterFlow Thrust Vector (CFTVC) Control has been investigated at the Fluid Mechanics Research Laboratory (FMRL) over the past few years. Although pressure measurements and flow visualization results have proven the efficacy of this technique, it was felt that more direct measurements of the vectoring angles and thrust efficiency are needed to evaluate the CFTVC performance more rigorously. Therefore a special 6-component balance to measure the main thrust as well as the lateral thrust, (which may be in any direction) was conceived, designed and fabricated at FMRL. This paper provides complete details of the design, fabrication, assembly, calibration and data reduction procedures of this balance. Some typical results obtained using this rig are also presented which clearly demonstrate the accuracy and usefulness of this instrument.