Assessment of New Load Schedules for the Machine Calibration of a Force Balance

New load schedules for the machine calibration of a six–component force balance are currently being developed and evaluated at the NASA Ames Balance Calibration Laboratory. One of the proposed load schedules is discussed in the paper. It has a total of 2082 points that are distributed across 16 load series. Several criteria were applied to define the load schedule. It was decided, for example, to specify the calibration load set in force balance format as this approach greatly simplifies the definition of the lower and upper bounds of the load schedule. In addition, all loads are assumed to be applied in a calibration machine by using the one–factor–at–a–time approach. At first, all single–component loads are applied in six load series. Then, three two–component load series are applied. They consist of the load pairs (N1, N2), (S1, S2), and (RM , AF ). Afterwards, four three–component load series are applied. They consist of the combinations (N1, N2, AF ), (S1, S2, AF ), (N1, N2, RM), and (S1, S2, RM). In the next step, one four–component load series is applied. It is the load combination (N1, N2, S1, S2). Finally, two five–component load series are applied. They are the load combination (N1, N2, S1, S2, AF ) and (N1, N2, S1, S2, RM). The maximum difference between loads of two subsequent data points of the load schedule is limited to 33 % of capacity. This constraint helps avoid unwanted load “jumps” in the load schedule that can have a negative impact on the performance of a calibration machine. Only loadings of the single– and two–component load series are loaded to 100 % of capacity. This approach was selected because it keeps the total number of calibration points to a reasonable limit while still allowing for the application of some of the more complex load combinations. Data from two of NASA’s force balances is used to illustrate important characteristics of the proposed 2082–point calibration load schedule.