Floating suspension system for full model flutter tests at low speed

To meet the increasing requirement for full model flutter tests in low speed wind tunnel,a sort of floating suspension system(FSS)is built in WT 3.2m of LSAI of CARDC. The FSS is divided into two parts:vertical part and horizontal part.The horizontal part of FSS consists of horizontal cable device and tensioning mechanism.For general function,the FSS can provide a model 5 degrees of freedom:in the vertical and lateral directions,pitch,yaw and roll. Each degree of freedom of the model can be changed individually with other degrees of freedom unaffected.The FSS can ensure a model supported in the middle of the test section in the verti-cal,lateral and fore-and-aft directions.It is convenient to adjust the attack angle and roll angle of a model in FSS.For a flutter model in FSS,technical requirement and method of choosing pa-rameters are presented in this paper.The same flutter model has been used in contrast tests in WT 3.2m of LSAI of CARDC and WT T-103 of TsAGI.The critical flutter speed and frequency of the model in the contrast tests are almost the same.It is testified that the FSS is reasonably designed and can be well put in use in low speed full model flutter tests.