Initial Release Version
AIAA Ground Testing Technical Committee
Status of “Future of Ground
Testing” Working Group
Steven Dunn
September, 2013
Need Statement
Aerospace and aeronautical ground test (GT), or experimental fluid dynamics (EFD), facilities are used to
simulate flight conditions and situations for fundamental research and system and product development. As part
of the simulation triad of experimental ground testing, computational methods, and flight testing, GT capabilities
are important for validating computer simulations, providing information for geometries and conditions where
computational methods are weak, and for supporting development and risk reduction at all stages of an aero
product life cycle.
The current and projected need for GT capabilities is based on the physics information needs for aero products
across the research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) process – which is based on robust hazard
identification and analysis and appetite for risk. A combination of pressures is placed on GT capability owners
that affects the cost/risk trade-off by researchers and producers, including aging facilities, declining workloads,
lean and retiring workforce, cost models attempting to make facilities pay for themselves that increase unit
costs, uneven maintenance, uneven and declining funding for development of new measurement and test
techniques, lack of understanding of the roles and integration of GT capabilities and computational methods,
and milestone driven (versus risk-based) development of new products.
The end-state of accomplishing modeling and simulation totally via computational methods requires extensive
use of GT capabilities to get there. GT capabilities can be seen as expensive to sustain without an understanding
of potential impacts from new research and from risk management during the product RDT&E process. It is clear
that budget is driving decision making in many organizations and loss of existing capabilities and lack of
investment in new capabilities could limit knowledge growth and cost many times more than is saved for the
creating and fielding of new products. There is a need to define the environment-based need for experimental
GT capabilities in term of risk versus cost over at least the next 25 years to assist government and industry
decision makers as they determine what capabilities our country needs going forward.
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Founding a Working Group
• The GTTC has long had a need, documented as a continuing action item, to
produce an analysis of the direction and future of ground testing
• The nature of ground testing is evolving – greatly reduced government aero
research, aging infrastructure, leaned and retiring workforce, industry
consolidation leading to fewer new products being developed, tightening
budgets (combined with efforts to (make the GT facilities “pay for themselves)
over the last 25 years, organizational and program structural changes that
make ground testing more transactional, many facilities closed and few being
created, and significantly decreased high speed (supersonic and hypersonic)
work
• Recent studies have found that the US is at or near a basic, core level of GT
capabilities and that further reductions in capability will impact the ability to
produce research and new products
• The GTTC has sponsored a series of AIAA conference invited sessions related to
sustaining and managing ground test infrastructure
• A NATO working group is being proposed to address the sustainment and
investment needs for ground test infrastructure for member nations and
wishes in interact with the GTTC on this common area of interest.
• The GTTC decided to form a working group to accomplish the longstanding
need to produce an analysis of the direction and future of ground testing at
the AIAA Fluids (Summer) conference in San Diego, CA in June 2013
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Working Group Charter [Needs Revision]
FUTURE OF GROUND TESTING WORKING GROUP
SCOPE
Ground Testing Facilities are in jeopardy of being closed due to budget restraints, perceived/actual cost savings, and shortterm vision/budget planning cycles.
STRUCTURE
The Future of Ground Testing Working Group was formed under the auspices of the AIAA Ground Testing Technical
Committee (GTTC), and will involve liaisons from other TC’s, including but not limited to AMT – and hopefully
CFD/analysis users that can provide insight into their current and expected needs. The working group is staffed by
selected volunteers from academia, industry and government and is not limited to members of the GTTC or AIAA. The
Chairperson for the working group shall be a member of the GTTC and will be appointed by the GTTC Chairperson. An
individual's service on the working group will continue until the objectives for which they were selected have been
completed.
OBJECTIVES
Document how others have defined the future of propulsion and aerodynamic (wind tunnel) ground testing (will be defined
more specifically below)
Gather public domain reports, formal and white papers, briefings, news articles, industry and facility publications
Using data above, conduct SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, threats, opportunities) analysis.
Produce (at least) an AIAA conference paper on the results of this effort by ASM 2015.
Prepare a political advocacy briefing, and establish connections with the AIAA Public Policy and Management Working Groups.
OPERATION
The working group will meet at least twice a year at the times and locations concurrent with scheduled GTTC meetings – as
well as several conference call meetings between conferences to keep to proposed schedule.
A formal report will be presented at each GTTC meeting.
The working group will organize and chair technical sessions germane to the scope of the working group as requested by the
GTTC.
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Work Products
• Formal AIAA paper (or multiple papers) that captures the above
work
– Target presenting in GT invited session at 2015 SciTech
• Prepare an informational advocacy briefing
– Full briefing is focused on the USA, with ability to adapt to EU and Japan
– Focus is on logic of importance of GT role in industry RDT&E process and
aero industry role and contribution to the Nation -- not addressing any
particular political viewpoint or criticizing or supporting any particular
stated political agenda
– Put in terms financial and political (non-engineer) people can understand
and act upon
• Interact with educator and political functionaries for advise, review, and input
-- need to produce in a form that will be understood
– Utilize and support AIAA public policy function
– Look at tying in with the Aerospace Industries Association House and
Senate Aerospace Caucuses
• Determine how AIAA and AIA can (or do) work together for areas of common
interest
– Engage at state and local levels
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Approach
Logistics
• Prepare charter and gain approval from GTTC (complete)
• Define chair and co-chair (Complete; Dunn is chair and Canacci is
co-chair)
• Create a web site on the AIAA GTTC home page (Dunn action)
• Build the working group membership (start with attendees in
San Diego)
• Develop a project-type process plan that will map process to
products
• Define, specifically, how data will be acquired and analyzed
• Develop support network for product reviews
• Define how products will be released and expectations for how
they will be used
• Determine what, if any, follow-up or additional work will be
needed after the product releases
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Approach
Topic Areas to Explore
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Projected aeronautics/aerospace RDT&E needs
Integration with computational methods, including the maturation of computational processes and how GT
techniques and processes must evolve to support integration
Integration with and support to flight testing
Integration with measurement and instrumentation technologies maturation, including teaming to define
needs to measurement developers and producers (again, integrated with CFD and flight test)
Integration of government and industry development, proprietary versus open source
Interdependencies within the RDT&E process and risks associated with potential loss of GT capabilities
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Facility owner needs and issues
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Mission requirements and priorities
Condition of facilities
Capability sustainment efficacy (maintenance, investments, skill management, operations and maintenance
processes, budgets and business processes
Improvement and modernization alignment with future market needs
Customer focus (for all customers)
Market environment and needs
Economic impacts
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Example: Accepting higher risk by not understanding product performance such that defects appear late in the
RDT&E life cycle -- very costly to fix late
Transitioning fundamental research to technology demonstrations to product applications
United States, EU and Great Britain, Japan
Breakouts based on GDP, jobs, net imports/exports
Technology spin-offs, estimate of additional positive impact on GDP
Education impact (STEM support,
Environmental headwinds and support (in addition to cited above, add geopolitical considerations, overall
economic indicators, national and international politics (regulations/laws, taxation, market support or not,
more)
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Approach
Collecting Information/Data
• Gather public domain (unclassified, public distribution) reports:
formal papers and reports, white papers, briefings, news
articles, industry and facility publications, more
• Utilize the web site on the AIAA GTTC home page for document
storage and access
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Approach
Analysis
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Define primary topic areas
Develop document review template (using topic areas)
Collect documents
Assign document reviewers
Document review (using template to organize review inputs)
Organize review information into strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats (SWOT)
– Include timeframe information
• Define (knowledgeable estimate) projected GT capability and
capacity gaps and excesses looking forward twenty years in terms
of SWOT
• Develop recommended actions to align GT capabilities and
capacities to near- and long-term market needs
• Produce work products
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Schedule and Major Milestones
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Actions for Next Two Months
• Develop working group membership (by ~9/30), Action: Dunn
and Canacci
• Develop Plan (by 9/30), Action: Dunn (draft), Canacci and
team (review and improve)
• Telecom (mid-October), Action to Set Up: Dunn and Canacci
• Develop Document Review Template (by mid-October),
Action: Dunn (draft) and Canacci (Review and Improve)
• Set up Web Site (Complete), Action: Dunn, Leembruggen, and
AIAA
• Collect, Post, and start reviewing Documents (started, keep
going into next year), Action: Dunn and Canacci to Facilitate,
WG members to accomplish
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Team Member Time Commitment
• Everyone on this volunteer team is busy, so we’ll be very flexible
• Time is whatever you can do, as long as you occasionally
contribute – we need your expertise!
• We will utilize an AIAA web site specific to this effort (all
unclassified, non-proprietary information) as our information
clearinghouse
• Planned interactions (each as you can support) until products
ready:
– Emails at least monthly
– Bimonthly telecoms; review and status ongoing actions, will block out an
hour and try to take 30 minutes; agenda sent before each call.
– Working meetings at conferences (4 hours at each), aligned with GTTC
meetings at the January 2014 ASM/SciTech (National Harbor, MD) and
June 2014 Summer combined conference (Atlanta, GA)
– Present findings at January 2015 SciTech/ASM
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