Research on optimal design method for wind tunnel strain gauge balance based on iSIGHT

The main point of strain gauge balance design is to optimize the configuration of the balance.With the design requirements fulfilled,it is optimal to increase the stiffness,reduce the stress concentration and diminish the interactions among the components in order to improve the quality of the balance.The current trend of balance optimal design is to utilize methods such as perpendicular calculation design method,sequence quadratic optimization method,genetic algo-rithm optimization method,etc,and conduct simulation via MathCAD,Matlab,VC++,AN-SYS,etc.Balance optimal design is a multi-objective optimization design problem.Abundant empirical experiences are required in utilizing both the analytical method and the finite element method (FEM),but still the global optimal solution is hard to obtain.Considering the relations between the dimensions and geometries of various balance configurations,layered and parallel op-timal strategies are proposed.An optimal design method for the wind tunnel strain gauge rear-sting balance with six components based on iSIGHT is introduced.The significant effects of bal-ance design variables to the optimal objective are studied by design of experiment (DOE)so that a set of important variables are selected to set up an approximate 3D parameterized model.The parametric modeling method and the finite element method are applied.An optimization flow is automatically running in iSIGHT by integrating many design tools such as UG,ANSYS,EX-CEL,etc.General optimal algorithms are provided by iSIGHT and a lot of commercial software can be integrated to support the automatic running.This method offers an economical and easy way to improve the balance design quality.