Helping flight simulations soar to new heights
NASA’s Scramjet test facility at Langley Research Center simulates flight conditions at super-high speeds. ABB recently installed a state-of-the-art 20 MW DC power supply and other ancillary equipment at the Hampton, Virginia, facility.
“The supply is used to power a plasma arc to heat incoming air,” explained Ellen Carpenter, a NASA electrical engineer. “This gives us the desired conditions for simulating flight from Mach 4.7 to 8.” ABB won the job primarily because of high marks on two NASA previous projects, including installation of the largest drive and motor ever produced.