Six-Inch HYGE Vertical Impact Facility

The AFAMRL Vertical Impact Facility is used to conduct research and development efforts in the areas of ejection safety, crashworthiness, and impact injury protection. The facility assembly consists of a pneumatic-hydraulic actuator, a 20 foot rail system, specimen carriage, and several support elements complemented by instrumentation and data reduction systems. This report describes the operating principles of the impact facility, and illustrations of actuator configurations, acceleration and deceleration metering pins. Carriage specimen-mounting pattern and specimen weight limits are provided. Accelerometers, data transmission, signal conditioning, and data recording are documented along with the timing control which coordinates the activation and collection of the electrical, electronic and motion picture photographic coverage. Elements in the operation of the facility operator's and safety monitor's stations during automatic control or manual test mode are discussed. Maintenance aspects are also discussed. The appendices include operating instructions and safety precautions for each of the operators during set-up and operation of the test facility.