PRECISION THRUST MEASUREMENT IN GROUND TESTING ROCKET AND TURBINE ENGINES

PRESENT THRUST SENSING METHODS ON ROCKET ENGINE GROUND TEST STANDS EITHER HAVE INSUFFICIENT RESOLUTION AND TIME RESPONSE, ARE COSTLY TO INSTALL, CALIBRATE AND REPLACE OR RESULT IN \REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT ADDED STRUCTURAL COMPLAINCE. A REVOLUTIONARY METHOD OF ACCURATELY SENSING SMALL FORCES APPLIED TO RIGID MEMBERS HAS BEEN DISCOVERED BY CAMTECH. IT INVOLVES ATTACHING OR IMPLANTING A UNIT CALLED A MIH-CELL MODULE INTO OR ONTO THE STRUCTURAL MEMBER. IN ADDITIONAL TO BEING DESIGNED HIGH SENSITIVITY, THE MIH-CELL IS ALSO DESIGNED FOR ZERO THERMAL DRIFT. THE OBJECTIVES OF PHASE I ARE TO (1) ESTABLISH THROUGH ANALYSIS MINIMUM TEST STAND STRUCTURAL STIFFNERSS REQUIREMENTS FOR RELIABLE STATIC AND DYNAMIC MEASUREMENTS OVER A 30,000 POUND RANGE USING THE SENSOR (2) DEVELOP A GENERAL APPROACH FOR DESIGNING MIH-CELLS FOR MODULAR ATTACHMENT ONTO OR INTO THE ENGINE MOUNT STRUCTURE OF A ROCKET ENGINE TEST STAND,(3) DESIGN A MIH-CELL BASED THRUST SENSOR AND RECOMMEND STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENT FOR A DESIGNATED ROCKET ENGINE TEST STAND (4) DEVELOP A TEST PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATING THE SENSORS PERFORMANCE WHEN MOUNTED TO A STRUCTURE SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE DESIGNATED TEST STAND (5) DEVELOP INSTALLATION AND CHECKOUT PROCEDURES FOR MOUNTING THE MIH-CELL MODULE ON THE DESIGNATED ROCKET ENGINE TEST STAND AND TRANSMITTING THE SENSOR SIGNALS TO A RECEIVING AND MONSTORING STATION.