304. Simulation of Mass Properties for Test Vehicles Using the Inertia Component Method
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Paper
Abstract
This paper was presented at the Twenty-First National Conference of the Society of Aeronautical Weight Engineers at Seattle, Washington, May 14 – 17, 1962. The mass properties of aerospace vehicles and their components have become of ever increasing significance and must be simulated for testing in the various design stages. This is required not only for preliminary wind tunnel testing, but also for full scale models used in ground vibration tests, drop tests, etc. This paper discusses the mass balancing of a test vehicle to meet required weight, center of gravity, and moments of inertia about three axes. The design and construction peculiar to the test vehicle complicate the mass balance problem considerably. The inertia component concept is developed into a procedure for analyzing a mass balance problem and for calculating ballast weights to meet moment of inertia requirements.
This inertia component mass balance procedure replaces the often used trial and error technique with a precise method of calculation. An exact weight installation is achieved by resolving the pitch, roll, and yaw required and actual test inertias about three axes into components along lines parallel to the three axes — any one of which can be changed or considered without affecting the other two.
