We enjoy the challenge of every new test and will always consider new and bespoke hardware to generate the required flow conditions for a test. Some of our previous additional test infrastructure is summarised below.
Flight testing is by tradition a prohibitively expensive process. In order to provide a pragmatic means to study and demonstrate new technologies in flight conditions, S & C Thermofluids has made use of model aircraft which are jet propelled. The aircraft is an off-the-shelf kit – The Super Reaper. It has a wing span of 1.8m and weighs approximately 7kg dry.
With its Jetcat P80 turbojet engine, the aircraft has a maximum speed of 150mph (67m/s) in straight and level flight. It is controlled with standard radio control systems. The P80 is capable of generating 8kg of thrust and uses kerosene as its fuel. Typical exhaust temperatures are up to 750ºC.
Flight times for the reaper are normally of the order of 7 minutes.
Aerospace and industrial materials are subjected to increasingly challenging environments and research into composite and additively manufactured materials are pushing the boundaries of strength, flexibility and weight. Whilst novel materials may withstand oven and tensile testing, they can fail in the full conditions of operating in a full platform environment. S&C has a number of test rigs designed to subject material samples to representative combinations of extreme temperature, vibration and shear flow.
