Embedded Files
One of the first tasks I was assigned as an assistant shop tech in August 2021 was to help clean out a pressure vessel for its 5–year inspection. The vessel contains air pressurized to 100 psi so that it can be released into the supersonic wind tunnel test chamber. The cleaning process consisted of removing hundreds of curled aluminum sheets and vacuuming the sediment that had accumulated at the bottom portion of the tank. After the tank had been inspected, these sheets were put back in.
Full Pile of the Aluminum Sheets
Full Pile of the Aluminum Sheets
These aluminum sheets serve the purpose of retaining the temperature of the air flowing into the supersonic test chamber in order to model isentropic flow. Without them, the air in the pressure vessel would drop in temperature as the air is let out and the pressure decreases, and thus the sheets essentially act as a giant heatsink to maintain as much of that heat as possible during use.
Forklift Carrying a Full Load of Aluminum Sheets
Forklift Carrying a Full Load of Aluminum Sheets
A forklift was utilized to carry a dumpster filled with the aluminum sheets in order to allow for ease of access when putting them back into the pressure vessel.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse