Mihai Victor Pricop, Cătălin Pîrvu, Cătălin Nae
DOI Number XXX-YYY-ZZZ
Conference Number HiSST-2022-281
Pitch damping identification in high-speed wind tunnels is achievable with forced vibration rigs working
at small amplitudes at high technical complexity and with free to tumble rigs, potentially covering the
widest possible range of angles of attack, as a simple and cost-effective alternative. Various aerospace
vehicles or reentry debris can be characterized with both techniques. The focus here is on the
implementation of a free to tumble rig to be used in the first instance with an interesting space debris,
namely a tronconical interstage of a space launcher. Besides the rig and model, a procedure for the
identification of the aerodynamic pitch damping coefficient is developed, using the interior point
optimization method. The particularity of the wind tunnel model is that it is a flow-through one and
therefore it cannot be properly tested on a forced vibration rig, since it requires an adaptor that would
obstruct the inner flow, making it irrelevant. An experimental campaign is described, covering regimes
from subsonic to supersonic, with the model placed in the horizontal plane as reported in literature, but
also in vertical plane, such that the static balancing of the model could be eliminated. Conclusions are
presented considering the results, with ideas for improvements.