Industrial Acoustics (IAC) has built an Allison T56 engine test cell for the Royal Netherlands Navy, which will use it for testing the T56-A-14 engines, which power its fleet of Lockheed Orion P-3s. The unit, located at the Valkenburg naval air station, can also be used to test Garrett auxiliary power units. IAC claims that, the test process can be carried out more quickly than with comparable systems as usual, for a dynamometer needed to provide the appropriate loading and measure power, has been replaced by a propeller. A large "torus ring" allows the propeller to rotate in a zone of constant pressure, minimising the risk of stress-induced fatigue.
Source: Flight International