Abstract
This paper presents a 6 force component balance to be used in wind tunnel vehicle model tests. Several parallel plate force sensors are built in the balance, and strain gauges are used to measure strain produced by 6 force components of loads. 24 strain gauges are arranged to 6 full bridges. Each bridge outputs voltage in proportion to one of the 6 force components. Output gains are estimated through theoretical and FEM calculations. Calibration result shows that the balance realized high linearity, small crosstalk and small hysteresis performance. Single component load calibration results agree with FEM estimations, and the critical frequency of the system including the balance and a vehicle model is about 28 Hz, therefore substantial ability to measure nonsteady aerodynamic forces is achieved.