The presented six component force balance is a novel design used for many of the force measurements on hydrofoils and other bodies in the University of Tasmania’s cavitation tunnel. This balance is a versatile piece of equipment, the distribution of its six load cells gives it a high degree of sensitivity and stiffness in all directions. The accuracy of the balance in operating conditions has yet to be defined and its use for investigations of low frequency fluid-structure interactions warrants an analysis of its dynamic properties. This paper outlines a critical analysis of the balances calibration methodologies and its measurement uncertainties. A dynamic vibration model was built and validated with finite element modelling and experiment to give a prediction of the force balances natural frequencies and how they change with different test article mass and added masses. These results provide confidence in the data produced by this device and guide future experimental investigations into fluid structure interactions.

中文翻译：

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变压水隧道设施六分量力平衡的静态标定和动态行为

提出的六分量力平衡是一种新颖的设计，用于塔斯马尼亚大学空化隧道中的水翼和其他物体的许多力测量。这种天平是一种多功能设备，其六个称重传感器的分布使其在各个方向上都具有高度的灵敏度和刚度。操作条件下平衡的准确性尚未确定，它在低频流固耦合研究中的应用需要对其动态特性进行分析。本文概述了对天平校准方法及其测量不确定性的批判性分析。通过有限元建模和实验建立并验证了动态振动模型，以预测力平衡自然频率以及它们如何随不同的测试物品质量和增加的质量而变化。这些结果为该设备产生的数据提供了信心，并指导了未来对流体结构相互作用的实验研究。