Design & Manufacture

ARA delivers specialist aerodynamic engineering capabilities including CAD, precision model manufacture, inspection, FEA, and strain gauge balance design for advanced wind tunnel testing. With extensive cryogenic and conventional wind tunnel expertise, ARA provides high-precision solutions built to the highest standards of quality and performance.

• Computer Aided Design services: Specialist capability in wind tunnel model design for conventional and cryogenic wind tunnels worldwide.
• Precision Model Manufacture: Complex models are manufactured to high tolerances from a wide range of materials, hand finished and fitted to complete final assembly before delivery to the test facility, whether that is at ARA or a customer facility.
• Inspection: Using a range of equipment to check quality and conformity of model components and assemblies.
• Finite Element Analysis: A valuable capability in the design and manufacture of novel strain gauge balances used in wind tunnel testing.
• Strain Gauge Balance Design & Manufacture: Providing highly specialised skills in the design and manufacture of strain gauge balances, all of which are calibrated in the ARA Balance Calibration facility.
• Cryogenic Model Design & Manufacture: ARA has a long history of designing cryogenic models which require a much higher accuracy for surface finish and component fitting than standard wind tunnel models due to the nature of the tunnel test conditions and the data fidelity requirements.