NONCONVENTIONAL PRECISION TRAVERSE SYSTEM

WITH THE TREND OF DATA ACQUISITION TECHNIQUES CHANGING TO LASER VELOCIMETER SYSTEMS, THE NEED TO ACCURATELY POSITION THE LASER BEAM INSIDE THE TEST SECTION IS OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE. A SYSTEM WHICH ALLOWS THE BEAM TO BE POSITIONED IN THE THREE TRANSLATIONAL DEGREES OF FREEDOM WILL PERMIT DATA TO BE RECORDED AT ANY POINT INSIDE THE TEST SECTION. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL ACCOMPLISH THE NECESSARY MOVEMENTS UTILIZING SERVO DRIVE MOTORS, PRECISION GROUND BALL SCREWS AND WILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE CONTROLLED EITHER MANUALLY OR BY A COMPUTER WITH A PREPROGRAMMED SEQUENCE OF MOTIONS. THE POSITION OF THE OPTICS TABLE WILL BE MONITORED USING LINEAR ENCODERS WITH ADJUSTMENTS IN THE SYSTEM POSITIONS BEING MADE BY A SERVO CONTROL LOOP. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS EFFORT ARE TO: PERFORM A DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A 3-AXIS TRAVERSE SYSTEM AND TO ADDRESS THE ADAPTABILITY OF THE SYSTEM FOR USE IN SEVERAL WIND TUNNELS. THESE OBJECTIVES WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY: PERFORMING THE NECESSARY STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS TO ASSURE SUFFICIENT RIGIDITY IN THE PROPOSED SYSTEM AND DESIGNING THE SYSTEM USING COMPONENTS THAT MEET OR EXCEED THE REQUIRED ACCURACY.