Conceptual Development and Design of the Turbine Engine Loads Simulator

This paper describes the conceptual development and design of a large centrifuge test facility to simulate high manuevering loads (both inertial and gyroscopic) on an operating turbine engine. The maximum gravitational loads (15 g) occur at the end of a 40 ft (12.2 m) arm rotating at 33 rpm. A gimbal assembly supports the engine and can roll, pitch, or yaw the engine to induce loads in the desired direction. The U.S. Air Force plans to construct the Turbine Engine Loads Simulator (TELS) at the Arnold Engineering Development Center, Tennessee. This paper discusses four principal areas of the TELS conceptual development and design: structural arrangement, method of analysis, standard component application, and instrumentation.