The AEDC Sea Level Test Cells, located at
Arnold Engineering Development Complex
The Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC), Arnold Engineering Development Center before July 2012, is an Air Force Materiel Command facility under the control of the Air Force Test Center (AFTC). Headquartered at Arnold Air Force Base, ...
, is a collection of test cells used to economically perform durability testing on large augmented turbine engines at near sea level conditions. All test units in the facility are owned by the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
and currently operated b
National Aerospace Solutions
SL2 and SL3
The SL2 and SL3 cells are approximately 24 feet in height and width and 60 feet in length. In addition to running ambient pressure inlet conditions, they also provide the capability of using one of the complex's air plants to supply inlet pressures above ambient thus allowing testing at up to Mach 1.2. Inlet temperature capability extends from ambient to 120 degree Fahrenheit when running in the atmospheric inlet mode and from 20 to 270 degrees Fahrenheit in pressurized mode. Both cells can accommodate engines that produce up to 70,000 pounds of thrust. In recent years, SL-2 has tested the F100 engine for the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the F119 engine for the F-22A Raptor. SL-3 has also tested the
Pratt & Whitney F100
The Pratt & Whitney F100 (company designation JTF22) is an afterburning turbofan engine manufactured by Pratt & Whitney that powers the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Development
In 1967, the United States Navy and United States Air Force ...
engine, as well as the
Pratt & Whitney F135
The Pratt & Whitney F135 is an afterburning turbofan developed for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, a single-engine strike fighter. It has two variants; a Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL) variant used in the F-35A and F-35C, and a t ...
engine for the F-35.
[{{cite web, url=http://www.arnold.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=13893 , title=Factsheets : Sea Level Test Cells , publisher=arnold.af.mil , accessdate=2014-03-02 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113225552/http://www.arnold.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=13893 , archivedate=2013-11-13 ]
See also
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Arnold Air Force Base
Arnold Air Force Base (Arnold AFB) is a United States Air Force base located in Coffee and Franklin counties, Tennessee, adjacent to the city of Tullahoma. It is named for General Henry "Hap" Arnold, the father of the U.S. Air Force.
There ...
*
Flight Level
In aviation and aviation meteorology, a flight level (FL) is an aircraft's altitude at standard air pressure, expressed in hundreds of feet. The air pressure is computed assuming an International Standard Atmosphere pressure of 1013.25 hPa ...
*
Turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
References
External links
Arnold Engineering Development Center(official)
Centers of the United States Air Force