On February 11, 2018, in the popular science program, Sonda 2, broadcast on TVP1, an episode devoted to the vacuum phenomenon was aired. The program crew came to the largest vacuum chamber in Europe, which is located at the Institute of Aviation in Warsaw. The entire episode is already available on the VOD platform at this address.
The vacuum chamber was established in 2016 as a research station as a part of a wider project of Gas Turbine Center at the Institute of Aviation. It conducts research on fans, parts of rotating aircraft engines and industrial turbines. The Warsaw chamber is the largest of its kind in Europe – its dimensions are up to 5.5 meters in internal diameter, 12 meters in length and 265 m3 in volume. The total weight of the facility is 177 tons.
The vacuum chamber allows testing the characteristics of static and dynamic loads of the tested object at speeds up to 12.000 rpm. It is possible thanks to equipping the chamber with 6MW electric drive and vacuum pumps. The environment of the vacuum produced in the chamber is to minimize the power needed to carry out the test and temperature influences. The tests carried out at the Institute of Aviation allow to check quickly the emerging components in a quick and effective way and to introduce necessary corrections on an ongoing basis.
The vacuum chamber is a necessary complement to the current research infrastructure and a strengthening in the research services offered by the Institute of Aviation for the aviation sector.
The unique laboratory base of the Institute of Aviation is also an important element for the numerous educational and scientific projects carried out here, which enjoy a wide media coverage. This is also not the last visit of the creators of the Sonda 2 program at the Institute of Aviation. At the beginning of February, a recording was made for the next episode, this time dedicated to engines. The recording was held in the Engine Training Laboratory against the background of powerful aircraft engines with the participation of experts from the Institute of Aviation. The premiere of the episode is planned for May 6, 2018.
