Alexandre Eiffel's drop test machine and wind tunnel designated ASME Landmarks last month in Paris

The drop test machine and wind tunnel developed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel-two aeronautical research tools that advanced Eiffel's legacy beyond the famous tower in France-were honored by last month in Paris by ASME.

At an awards ceremony at the Auteuil Laboratory, ASME designated the two devices as Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks. The Society's Mechanical Engineering Landmarks Program recognizes technical devices and systems that are judged to have contributed to technological progress.

Eiffel used his drop test machine to measure the velocity and drag of various objects in vertical motion. The apparatus included two parallel cylinders, one containing the test object and the other housing a spring-driven measurement device that could record drag on graph paper. The machine, which was placed into service for the first time in 1903, "was the most advanced device of its type," according to the ASME commemoration plaque.

The wind tunnel represented Eiffel's effort to take aeronautical testing and research to a higher level. Eiffel's wind tunnel validated the concept of relative motion. The system that he patented in 1912 featured an open jet of air within a closed test chamber and a downstream diffuser. The diffuser "improved the efficiency of the Eiffel aerodynamic system" and included design attributes that "were emulated in many later tunnels," the ASME plaque said.

At the awards ceremony, ASME representatives presented the plaque to the Auteuil Laboratory, which is recognized as the most complete early aeronautical laboratory in the world.

ASME is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2005. Throughout the year, the society is sponsoring programs that illuminate its rich history in the development and progress of mechanical engineering. For further information, visit the Web site, www.asme.org.

 

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