
What Was New in 2003 @ Test Devices, Inc.

What Was New in 2003

What's New: This Year | 2002 | 2004 | 2005/6

Press Release from Univ. of Texas & NASA -06 November 2003-

"Technology that significantly improves the ability of high-speed flywheels to store energy has been developed by research engineers at The University of Texas at Austin. A flywheel made with the new technology set a speed record, spinning at 3,000 miles per hour, demonstrating the capability of storing 70 percent more energy than the same-sized flywheel made with current technology.

“This is an important step toward the routine use of energy storage flywheels in space,” said Kevin Konno, the NASA program manager for the project. An example of the need for energy storage in space is the solar-powered space station, which spends 30 minutes of every 90-minute orbit in the dark. That’s when the space station turns to battery power. High-speed flywheels are being developed to provide more reliable, efficient and longer lasting energy storage.

Research engineers in the Center for Electromechanics at The University of Texas at Austin designed, fabricated and tested the record-setting flywheel in a project funded by NASA. The work is being done in collaboration with a space flywheel program at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and Test Devices Inc., a private test company, based in Hudson, Mass.

Composite flywheels store energy by rapidly spinning a small wheel to ultra high speeds. The technical challenge is obvious to anyone who has spent time on a child’s merry-go-round – when you are in the center, it is easy to hold on. As you get farther from the center, it gets harder to hold on. At these high speeds, the material of the flywheel itself has trouble “holding on” and the flywheel grows as it spins. The researchers solved the problem of controlling how the structure grew to achieve very high speed without breaking.

“This achievement is the result of our ability to design state-of-the-art complex objects using carbon fiber composites that have unprecedented, but predictable, mechanical properties,” Richard Thompson, the research mechanical engineer who led the development team. The record-setting flywheel his team developed included a novel, bell-shaped composite structure rotating on a metallic shaft in vacuum that well suits the design needs of NASA’s future space missions.

High-speed flywheels offer several advantages over low-speed flywheels and the chemical batteries now considered for space applications and. High-speed flywheels store and release energy in a package that’s smaller and weighs less than other technologies, thus allowing more space on board for scientific payloads.

High-speed flywheels also last longer. Last year, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin charged and discharged a flywheel 110,000 times with no change in performance. In addition, a flywheel system can be operated so that it wastes less than 5-10 percent of the energy stored as it is charged and discharged. By comparison, chemical batteries can typically be charged and discharged a few tens of thousands of times at best and typically waste more than 20 percent of the energy on charging and discharging.

NASA’s flywheel achievements, while directed toward space applications, are also expected to benefit companies using flywheels to improve power delivery for factories, businesses and hybrid vehicles.

From the FAA web site -10 October 2003-

"Test Devices recently completed a successful FAA certification overspeed test of a fan disk for a leading jet engine OEM. The test was completed within a very tight schedule in the presence of both customer and FAA representatives."

Another Customer Comment -03 October 2003-

". . . No complications or delays were experienced during the balancing, set-up or spin pit testing cycle. I give high marks for this company’s integrity of representation, customer service and operational process execution. Therefore, I would highly recommend Test Devices, Inc. maintain a status of an approved supplier to RPS.
Steve
RPS"

Thank you, Steve

Customer Comment -10 September 2003-

"The spin test last week is being viewed by NASA as a very successful test and a significant step forward in the development of flywheel technology for space missions. Over the last almost ten years, Test Devices has provided a valuable test service to CEM to help evolve this technology through many other successful spin tests. Last week's test was of particular importance to CEM and NASA and I appreciate the professional and dedicated attitude of all Test Devices' personnel involved. As we all know, testing of any type requires a skilled team. When problems have arisen in the past, the Test Devices team has always been key to resolving the situation and pushing forward to a successful completion.
Thanks again to the Test Devices team."
Richard

Thank you, Richard, for the kind words.

New Product -20 August 2003-

Test Devices announces its ability to quantify the diametrical or radial growth of high RPM rotating parts which must be taken into consideration during design. Click for details

New Challanges -20 March 2003-

Eric Sonnichsen, Chairman of Test Devices, was elected to the Executive Board of CTE (the Center for Transportation and the Environment) at their annual meeting on March 14, 2003. The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), formerly the Southern Coalition for Advanced Transportation (SCAT) is a non-profit, membership based consortium of businesses, universities, and government entities involved in developing advanced transportation technologies. CTE provides mechanisms for organizations to collaborate on research and demonstration projects ranging from vehicle components to electric and hybrid electric vehicles to high-speed trains. The organization also educates the public and decision-makers about alternative transportation technologies and applications to efficiently move people and commerce.

Certification -27 Feb 2003-

Pratt & Whitney announced today that Test Devices has become a certified supplier. Two TDI team members have gone through P&W’s training and passed a two hour written test to become certified to P&W’s quality system. Essentially, these individuals will be representing P&W and approve TDI product for acceptance into P&W’s system. Dick Downey, CEO, stated that; “I’m very pleased and this is another reflection of our company’s strong customer focus”.

Another Crack Detection Success -14 Feb 03-

Test Devices, along with others, has been funded by the Department of Defense to investigate crack detection potential as part of a larger test program at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River test facility. Using one of the Government’s spin chambers, a flawed engine rotor assembly was tested under heated conditions to ascertain if initiation or growth of a crack could be detected prior to failure, in a low cycle fatigue test. Test Devices’ patented approach to crack detection, monitored remotely from Hudson, MA, detected a growing crack during testing causing the test to be stopped and the rotor removed for inspection. The inspection verified the presence of a crack and observed it earlier than other systems which were simultaneously monitoring the same test.

This test demonstrated again, verified by a third party, the ability of Test Devices’ crack detection system to give customers needed and timely information during tests of high speed rotating parts in real time. As a result, customers are able to stop tests prior to rotor failure, preserving the test specimen and allowing analysis of the failure modes.

HOW MUCH?
Radial Growth testing can tell you!

What's New: This Year | 2002 | 2004 | 2005/6