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Davis, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Davis, S..

27 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1988

Experimental and computational studies of unsteady viscous flows

This paper describes progress in validating incompressible Navier-Stokes codes using image-processed flow-field data. Solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations using a predictor/corrector scheme are compared directly with experimental data. A uniform asymptotic expansion is used as an initial condition in order to correctly capture the initial growth of the vortex sheet. With the aid of an experimental study in a tow tank using the particle streak visualization method, measured and computed velocity vectors are compared directly. Comparison of the velocity data with computations shows little effect of initial conditions and varying grid geometry on the predictive capabilities.

Davis, S.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Effects of clinostat rotation on Aurelia statolith synthesis

Aurelia ephyrae develop eight graviceptors (rhopalia) during their metamorphosis from polyps, which are used for positional orientation with respect to gravity. In three experiments for each speed of 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, and 24 rpm, groups of six polyps were rotated in the horizontal or vertical plane (control) using clinostats. Other controls were kept stationary in the two planes. Ten ephyrae from each group were collected after 5-6 days at 27 C in iodine and the number of statoliths per rhopalium were counted. Statistical analyses of statolith numbers revealed that horizontal clinostat rotation at 1/4 and 1/2 rpm caused the formation of significantly fewer statoliths per rhopalium than were found in controls. The finding that these slow rates of rotation reduces statolith numbers suggests that the developing ephyrae were disoriented with respect to gravity at these speeds, causing fewer statocytes to differentiate or to mineralize.

Spangenberg, D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Alternative gravity-assist sequences for the ISEE-3 escape trajectory

The International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 (ISEE-3) was moved from its mission halo orbit upstream of the earth's magnetosphere on June 10, 1982. Multiple lunar swingby maneuvers were then used to shape the trajectory for extensive exploration of the distant geomagnetic tail and finally to place the spacecraft on a course that will intercept the comet Giacobini-Zinner on September 11, 1985. With this new mission objective, the spacecraft was renamed the International Cometary Explorer (ICE). A double-lunar-swingby control technique involving five passes by the moon was eventually implemented to accomplish this, but in the process of finding this solution several feasible, though less optimal, alternative trajectory sequences implementing the same procedure were discovered. This paper provides a descriptive comparison of these very different orbital profiles and serves to illustrate the utility and great flexibility of this orbital control procedure. Targeting methodology for finding constrained solutions in this space is also presented.

Muhonen, D.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Adaptive-wall wind-tunnel development for transonic testing

Experimental techniques for rapid assessment and correction of wall interference in an adaptive-wall wind tunnel are described. The experimental arrangement allows laser velocimetry measurements on two control surfaces and incorporates a dedicated computer for data processing. The apparatus and its instrumentation are described, and typical results from an experiment on a nonlifting NACA 0012 airfoil at M = 0.78 are discussed. It is concluded that the time to acquire laser Doppler velocimeter data should be decreased, and the possibility of using one-step algorithms should be investigated.

Satyanarayana, B.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Thermocapillary flows and their stability

Steady convective flows for geometries of varying complexity are described. This in general involves the solution of nonlinear free boundary problems. The stability of these flows were determined to more complicated (perhaps time dependent) modes of fluid motion. These include shear flow and free surface instability modes, with possible coupling between them. The effect of surface chemical species is described, including impurities which act as surfactants and insoluble oxide films, on the convective patterns and their stability.

Davis, S.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Two-dimensional transonic testing with splitter plates

The use of splitter plates for two dimensional transonic testing in wind tunnels was investigated on a 12% biconvex airfoil section over the Mach number range 0.6 to 1.0. Measured pressure distributions were compared to transonic theory and to other experiments, including an investigation in the same facility without splitter plates. The results of the experiment show the best agreement with theory over the entire transonic Mach number range.

Davis, S.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Experimental studies of trailing-edge conditions on an oscillating airfoil at frequency parameters of up to one

This paper describes an investigation to find the range of reduced frequencies over which the classical Kutta-Joukowsky condition is valid and the nature of deviations beyond this range. An NACA 64A010 airfoil with a 15-cm chord is supported between the side walls of a 25-cm x 35-cm low-speed wind tunnel and oscillated over reduced frequencies ranging from 0.05 to 1.2. The experimentally determined loading near the trailing edge is measured and compared with unsteady incompressible small-disturbance theory. Experimental data are obtained both with and without a boundary-layer trip. It is observed that application of the Kutta-Joukowsky condition in the theoretical analysis is valid below a reduced frequency of about 0.6 in predicting the loading in the trailing-edge region. At reduced frequencies beyond 0.8, the predicted results underestimate the measured loading near the trailing edge, and the deviations increase further with reduced frequency. Similarly, the experimental phase angle of the loading in the trailing-edge region agrees reasonably with the linear theory up to k = 0.8 but lags the predicted value beyond k = 0.8.

Satyanarayana, B.↗