Phase 4c: Technical Advice in Support of the WES Centrifuge Research Center

The development of the WES Centrifuge Research Center was a response to a request for novel research facilities to support the Army Corps of Engineers and its work programmes. The new Army centrifuge, which was inaugurated on 20 November 1997, is the most powerful beam centrifuge currently operating in the world and is unique in its range of capabilities. This report describes the physics of centrifuge modeling and explains the basis by which these capabilities may be derived. There are an infinite number of ways of describing the capabilities of a research centrifuge in terms of the equivalent prototype or field condition, or in terms of its mechanical design. A fundamental appreciation of the physics of a centrifuge as well as an understanding of the behavior of materials under high stress is necessary for the safe and effective use of such a facility to generate world class research results. See also phase 4a, AD-B223 742.