Engineering topics

Bushnell, D. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Bushnell, D. M..

At least 55 records · Page 3

NASA NTRS1982

Numerical computations of turbulence amplification in shock wave interactions

Numerical computations are presented which illustrate and test various effects pertinent to the amplification and generation of turbulence in shock wave-turbulent boundary layer interactions. Several fundamental physical mechanisms are identified. Idealizations of these processes are examined by nonlinear numerical calculations. The results enable some limits to be placed on the range of validity of existing linear theories. Additional results are given which are of a fundamentally nonlinear nature.

Zang, T. A.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Longitudinal afterbody grooves and shoulder radiusing for low-speed bluff body drag reduction

A new low-speed drag reduction approach is proposed which employs longitudinal surface V-shaped grooves cutting through the afterbody shoulder region. The test Reynolds number range was from 20,000 to 200,000 based on undisturbed free-stream flow and a body diameter of 6.08 cm. The V-grooves are shown to be most effective in reducing drag when the afterbody shoulder radius is zero. Reductions in drag of up to 33% have been measured for this condition. For large shoulder radius, the grooves are only effective at the lower Reynolds numbers of the test.

Howard, F. G.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Evidence of imbedded vortices in a three-dimensional shear flow

Vortex phenomena encountered in an investigation of the streamwise development of the three-dimensional wake region behind the tip of a three-dimensional wedge model are reported. Pressure profiles were measured by pitot probes downstream of a tip with a nearly constant surface pressure level and a nearly continuous surface curvature in a blowdown air tunnel operating at Mach 6. Rather than the simple three-dimensional quasi-parallel shear flow expected, the measurements indicated the presence of a flow with large deficits in longitudinal pitot pressure, which are usually associated with the core region of quasi-steady longitudinal vortices. Vapor screen flow visualizations also support the presence of longitudinal vortices located primarily in the tip region and evidently forming in the vicinity of the wake neck. An increase in overall wake thickness by 100% is also observed. The origin of the vortices as quasi-steady Taylor-Gortler vortices generated in the concavely curved shear layer near the wake neck is considered. It is pointed out that the existence of longitudinal vortexes suggests that three-dimensional turbulence modeling may be much more difficult than previously supposed.

Morrisette, E. L.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Status of linear boundary-layer stability and the e to the nth method, with emphasis on swept-wing applications

The-state-of-the-art for the application of linear stability theory and the e to the nth power method for transition prediction and laminar flow control design are summarized, with analyses of previously published low disturbance, swept wing data presented. For any set of transition data with similar stream distrubance levels and spectra, the e to the nth power method for estimating the beginning of transition works reasonably well; however, the value of n can vary significantly, depending upon variations in disturbance field or receptivity. Where disturbance levels are high, the values of n are appreciably below the usual average value of 9 to 10 obtained for relatively low disturbance levels. It is recommended that the design of laminar flow control systems be based on conservative estimates of n and that, in considering the values of n obtained from different analytical approaches or investigations, the designer explore the various assumptions which entered into the analyses.

Hefner, J. N.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Large-eddy breakup scheme for turbulent viscous drag reduction

A concept for reducing turbulent skin friction drag by altering/controlling the large coherent eddy structures within the turbulent boundary layer is proposed. Results of an ongoing experimental and numerical investigation to develop large-eddy breakup devices (LEBU devices) are presented and indicate that the average skin friction drag downstream of the LEBU devices is reduced by up to 24% compared to 'undisturbed' flat plate levels; device drag requires further reduction before net drag reductions can be realized. Future work is discussed and will focus on reducing device drag by taking advantage of the unsteady 'freestream' ahead of the LEBU devices.

Hefner, J. N.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Drag reduction characteristics of small amplitude rigid surface waves

The possibility of reducing drag by using rigid, wavy surfaces is investigated both analytically and experimentally. Although pressure drag for rigid sine-wave surfaces can be predicted empirically, viscous drag for even shallow waves was poorly predicted by state-of-the-art turbulent boundary layer calculation procedures. Calculations for the effects of geometric and fluid variables on total wave drag are presented under the philosophy that trends will be nearly correct even though levels are probably incorrect. Experiments by the present authors indicate that a total drag reduction with wavy walls is possible.

Cary, A. M., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Compliant surfaces - Introduction

It is noted that the essence of the compliant surface question is whether or not wall motion can provide a decrease in skin friction for either transitional or turbulent flows. This wall motion is capable of being externally excited or flow driven, with varying amounts of fluid motion-wall motion phasing (depending primarily upon wall structural configuration and damping). It is concluded that current research has eroded still further the experimental data base which indicates drag reduction on compliant surfaces under turbulent boundary layers in air. The need for further clarification and research is stressed for the small wavelength liquid case.

Bushnell, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Survey and bibliography on attainment of laminar flow control in air using pressure gradient and suction, volume 1

A survey was conducted and a bibliography compiled on attainment of laminar flow in air through the use of favorable pressure gradient and suction. This report contains the survey, summaries of data for both ground and flight experiments, and abstracts of referenced reports. Much early information is also included which may be of some immediate use as background material for LFC applications.

Bushnell, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Application of stability theory to laminar flow control

The paper summarizes the state-of-the-art for application of stability theory to laminar flow control using suction, wall temperature and/or favorable pressure gradient ('natural laminar flow'). Discussions include current LFC problem areas requiring stability analyses, methods of relating stability theory to transition with results from data and theory comparisons available thus far, and a summary of low disturbance data available for theory calibration on swept wings. Critical issues highlighted are problems peculiar to suction LFC on high performance transonic wings and application of the e-to-the-n-power method to both low and high speed flight data.

Hefner, J. N.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Recent turbulent drag reduction research at Langley Research Center

Three areas are discussed: oscillatory longitudinal curvature, large eddy breakup devices, and small longitudinal surface striations. The first two concepts produced sizable local turbulent skin friction reductions, but further research is required to optimize the effect, reduce parasitic device drag, and provide a net increase in vehicle performance. The surface striations, due to large wetted area increased for a given planform, have not yet yielded a planform-averaged skin friction reduction. Heat transfer data indicated such surfaces may have useful application in heat exchangers.

Bushnell, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Calculation of turbulent boundary layers with tangential slot injection

Paper describes a numerical calculation scheme for tangential slot injection (wall-wake) flows; application of the scheme over a wide range of flow conditions indicates increased accuracy compared to previous work. Predictions from the numerical code were in good agreement with experiment (velocity profile, skin-friction, and effectiveness data) for low- and high-speed flows. To achieve improved accuracy, modifications in the turbulence modeling, compared to previous research, were necessary for the imbedded shear layer region in the near field and for the wall region near shear layer impingement. Anomalous behavior was noted for far field experimental velocity profiles in low-speed flow when the slot-to-free stream velocity ratio was near one

Cary, A. M., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Effect of compliant wall motion on turbulent boundary layers

A critical analysis of available compliant wall data which indicated drag reduction under turbulent boundary layers is presented. Detailed structural dynamic calculations suggest that the surfaces responded in a resonant, rather than a compliant, manner. Alternate explanations are given for drag reductions observed in two classes of experiments: (1) flexible pipe flows and (2) water-backed membranes in air. Analysis indicates that the wall motion for the remaining data is typified by short wavelengths in agreement with the requirements of a possible compliant wall drag reduction mechanism recently suggested by Langley.

Bushnell, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Influence of transverse surface waves on turbulent boundary layers

Wavy wall experiments using solid waves and progressive waves have been reported. For this paper, the major effects of waviness of the wall on the flow are identified as due to oscillatory curvature (convex-concavity) and oscillatory acceleration/deceleration of the flow, which imposes a highly nonequilibrium influence upon the turbulence structure. The theoretical analysis in this presentation takes into account proper turbulence modeling (including the nonequilibrium effects) for the wavy wall problem. The analysis proceeds in three stages: (1) inviscid solution for induced pressure due to the physical wall, (2) solution of a turbulent boundary layer with pressure gradients and curvature effects in the modeling from which the profile correction is computed, and (3) induced pressure computations for the corrected profile. The phase shift of pressure perturbations with respect to the physical wall can be predicted, and pressure drag and skin friction drag can be estimated, with nonlinear viscous effects included. Comparison of the theoretical estimates with experimental data are also presented.

Balasubramanian, R.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Compliant wall surface motion and its effect on the structure of a turbulent boundary layer

The status of the continuing compliant wall drag reduction research at NASA-Langley Research Center is discussed. Preliminary surface motion calculations are reported along with compliant surface design concepts and their numerical models. A compliant drag reduction theory based on stabilizing the turbulent substructure is proposed and previous experiments have been examined relative to that theory. Results of recent low speed compliant surface experiments have been reported which include initial attempts to measure local compliant surface motion.

Ash, R. L.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Calculation methods for compressible turbulent boundary layers, 1976

Equations and closure methods for compressible turbulent boundary layers are discussed. Flow phenomena peculiar to calculation of these boundary layers were considered, along with calculations of three dimensional compressible turbulent boundary layers. Procedures for ascertaining nonsimilar two and three dimensional compressible turbulent boundary layers were appended, including finite difference, finite element, and mass-weighted residual methods.

Bushnell, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Calculation methods for compressible turbulent boundary layers

Calculation procedures for non-reacting compressible two- and three-dimensional turbulent boundary layers were reviewed. Integral, transformation and correlation methods, as well as finite difference solutions of the complete boundary layer equations summarized. Alternative numerical solution procedures were examined, and both mean field and mean turbulence field closure models were considered. Physics and related calculation problems peculiar to compressible turbulent boundary layers are described. A catalog of available solution procedures of the finite difference, finite element, and method of weighted residuals genre is included. Influence of compressibility, low Reynolds number, wall blowing, and pressure gradient upon mean field closure constants are reported.

Bushnell, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Mixing length in low Reynolds number compressible turbulent boundary layers

The paper studies the effect of low Reynolds number in high-speed turbulent boundary layers on variations of mixing length. Boundary layers downstream of natural transition on plates, cones and cylinders, and boundary layers on nozzle walls without laminarization-retransition are considered. The problem of whether low Reynolds number amplification of shear stress is a result of transitional flow structure is considered. It is concluded that a knowledge of low Reynolds number boundary layer transition may be relevant to the design of high-speed vehicles.

Bushnell, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Mach and Reynolds number effects on turbulent skin friction reduction by injection

The investigation reported is concerned with questions regarding a possible Mach number influence on skin friction reduction caused by injection. The investigation shows that data considered by Danberg (1967) for the no-blowing skin friction coefficient are in error. Accurate profiles and local skin friction coefficient values are obtained when the influence of low Reynolds number amplification in the outer region of the boundary layer is included in a calculation method.

Bushnell, D. M.↗