Engineers position a 27.5-foot-diameter cylinder for the first full-scale Shell Buckling and Knockdown Factor Project test.
Engineers position a 27.5-foot-diameter cylinder for the first full-scale Shell Buckling and Knockdown Factor Project test held at Marshall Space Flight Center in March 2011. From Dec. 9-13, engineers are conducting a second test, crushing a similar cylinder until it buckles and gathering data to develop new design standards for lighter rocket tanks. The test cylinder, built at the Marshall Center from panels used for external tanks in the space shuttle program, is speckled with markers used by a digital image correlation system. Cameras positioned around the tank monitor the movement of the dots during testing.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/Emmet Given