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Tungsten
Heavy Alloy Technology for Aircraft
Tungsten
Heavy Alloys (WHAs) are the best choice when Designers in
aerospace and defense industries require a material which combines
high density, good mechanical strength and which is easily
machined.
The
high density of WHAs makes it possible to significantly reduce the
physical size of components. This in turn, gives the benefit of
greater control of weight distribution and increases the
sensitivity of controlling mechanisms. Where a large mass must be
housed within a restricted area, WHAs are the ideal.
Flight
Control Systems
WHAs
Counter balances are often used to optimize the performance of
flight control surfaces, such as rudders, elevators and ailerons,
with many advantages over conventional balance materials e.g.
steel or lead.
Rotor
Blades
Helicopter
rotor blades demand perfect balance. WHAs can be utilized to
compensate for any imbalances built into individual blades during
the manufacturing process.
Propellers
WHAs
counterweights are incorporated into the pitch control system of
many propeller designs as a fail-safe device to ensure that
overspeeding is prevented.
Inertial
Systems
WHA
is incorporated into the rotating flywheels of gyroscopic controls
for the storage of kinetic energy. WHAs weights are used for two
purposes in this type of gyroscope:
a)
To adjust the center of gravity of the triangle.
b)
To adjust the frequency of oscillation of the laser beams.
Bucking
Bars
Bucking
bars made of WHAs with high density are ideal for
vibration-damping applications. Many aerospace companies now turn
to WHAs materials for their great advantages over steel materials.
Trim
Weights
During
the last stages of assembly, weights may be required to adjust the
final balance of the aircraft.
WHA
is the natural choice when working in a restricted space envolope,
because of its high mass/size ratio. However, it can also offer
the advantage of actually reducing the total trim weight mass,
because higher density material can be located further from the
pivot point, whilst achieving the same moment.
Prototype
Work
WHA
is frequently used in prototype work as ballast to simulate the
weight of instruments, passengers etc. during test flights or on
scale models for wind-tunnel testing.
Satellites
WHAs
materials are frequently used for mass balancing which plays a
significant role to make sure the center of gravity is precisely
located, during the progress of space flight, to ensure that
correct orbit entry is achieved.
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