AFRL Develops One-of-a-Kind Bearing Test Rig Published May 7, 2007 By Propulsion Directorate AFRL/PR WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- AFRL high-speed turbine experts developed a one-of-a-kind test facility to demonstrate the Revolutionary Approach to Time-Critical Long-Range Strike (RATTLRS) forward-thrust bearing technology. RATTLRS is a high-Mach air vehicle program funded by the Office of Naval Research. AFRL's new research test facility enables evaluation of the RATTLRS forward-thrust bearing from initial concept to flight mission testing. The new facility is the most complex and thorough ever constructed in terms of its capacity to accurately simulate high-Mach, expendable engine conditions for bearing testing. While the facility's bearing load, speed, and temperature capabilities match those typical of most test rigs, it can also achieve engine bearing compartment airflow, temperature, and pressure conditions needed for simulating vapor delivery and "cooling" air as separate and controllable air circuits. All test parameters are independently controllable to allow precise replication of the RATTLRS high-Mach engine operating conditions.