Inflight Parachute Measurement Challenge

The Purpose of the Inflight Parachute Measurement Challenge is to solicit potential measurement solutions that can result in successful parachute loading assumption validation, along with validation of Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) simulations. A parachute system contains many components which see various loading conditions including tension and aerodynamic pressure forces. While measurements can be made in wind tunnels, significant limitations exist as compared to flight testing which include scaling, dynamic pressure time history, and cluster behavior. Traditional flight test instrumentation is difficult due the flexible nature of parachute components, packing requirements, and high forces and chaos during deployment. The Objectives of this challenge are to (1) describe the anatomy and behavior of parachute systems, (2) identify measurements of particular interest to the parachute design and analysis community, (3) identify additional uses of measurements such as FSI validation.