Search NASASearch

Engineering topics

Goodman, W. L.

Publications and source records attributed to Goodman, W. L..

HSR Model Deformation Measurements from Subsonic to Supersonic Speeds

This paper describes the video model deformation technique (VMD) used at five NASA facilities and the projection moire interferometry (PMI) technique used at two NASA facilities. Comparisons between the two techniques for model deformation measurements are provided. Facilities at NASA-Ames and NASA-Langley where deformation measurements have been made are presented. Examples of HSR model deformation measurements from the Langley Unitary Wind Tunnel, Langley 16-foot Transonic Wind Tunnel, and the Ames 12-foot Pressure Tunnel are presented. A study to improve and develop new targeting schemes at the National Transonic Facility is also described. The consideration of milled targets for future HSR models is recommended when deformation measurements are expected to be required. Finally, future development work for VMD and PMI is addressed.

Burner, A. W.

Separated flow

A brief overview of flow separation phenomena is provided. Langley has many active research programs in flow separation related areas. Three cases are presented which describe specific examples of flow separation research. In each example, a description of the fundamental fluid physics and the complexity of the flow field is presented along with a method of either reducing or controlling the extent of separation. The following examples are discussed: flow over a smooth surface with an adverse pressure gradient; flow over a surface with a geometric discontinuity; and flow with shock-boundary layer interactions. These results will show that improvements are being made in the understanding of flow separation and its control.

Sellers, W. L., III

Modification of the Karman-vortex street in the freestream

An experimental study conducted in the NASA Langley 15-in Low-Turbulence Wind Tunnel demonstrated that a relatively short-chord flow-aligned plate placed in the proximity of a cylindar could produce nearly one-signed oscillatory transverse control vortices. Typical results showed the screen with the 40 mesh to have a solidity of 35 percent, and the screen with 57 mesh to have a solidity of 35 percent, and the screen with 57 mesh to have a solidity of 72 percent. In all cases, the turbulence level of the incoming freestream was seen to have little effect on the suppression of the shed vorticity within the range considered.

Goodman, W. L.

Axisymmetric bluff-body drag reduction through geometrical modification

The effect of shoulder radiusing and grooving (longitudinally and circumferentially) the afterbodies of bluff bodies to reduce the base drag at low speeds is investigated experimentally. Shoulder radii as large as 2.75 body diameters are examined. Reynolds number (ReD) based on body diameter varied from 20,000 to 200,000. Results indicate that increasing the shoulder radius to 2.00 body diameters can reduce the drag levels to those of a streamline body having 67 percent greater fineness ratio. For the relatively sharp shoulder case, body drag reductions as large as 50 and 33 percent are obtained using circumferential or longitudinal grooves, respectively.

Howard, F. G.

Mixing layer control for tangential slot injection in turbulent flows

Tangential injection into turbulent flows is one of the most promising methods of minimizing skin friction and providing thermal protection. The technique also has application to laser hardening. The effectiveness of the injected material can be increased if the spreading rate of the resulting mixing region can be reduced. Various techniques which have been shown to be effective in manipulating the rate of growth of mixing layers under certain conditions have been applied to a slot configuration having a thick external turbulent boundary layer. These include geometry modifications to the slot lip trailing edge and acoustic excitation of the slot exit plane over a wide range of frequencies. Neither of these approaches produced any noticeable effect on the downstream evolution of the mixing layer. This lack of effectiveness is attributed to the dominating influence of the well-developed incoming turbulent boundary layer. The placement of large-eddy breakup devices in this boundary layer upstream of the injection point did produce significantly lower velocities in the near-wall region of the flow downstream of the slot exit.

Mcinville, R. M.

The effect of opposing unsteady vorticity on turbulent wall flow

A cylinder and a thin plate were placed close together in a flow adjacent to a wall to study the effects on the turbulent boundary layer. Different spacings of the cylinder and plate within the shear flow were investigated to assess the possibility of lowering the production of fluctuating vorticity in the boundary layer by generating a fluctuating vorticity of opposite sign. Streakline photographs visualized changes in the flow induced by alterations in the cylinder/plate separation distance, the flow velocity and the angle of attack of the thin plate. Drag data were also acquired with varying thicknesses of the thin plate and diameters of the cylinder. Downstream skin friction reductions were obtained with the production of unsteady control vortices with a low turbulence boundary layer. Up to 4 percent drag reduction was also observed when the cylinder was sufficiently far from the wall.

Goodman, W. L.

Control plate for shock-boundary layer interaction

Paper describes tests and computations for a relatively unique technique to greatly reduce/eliminate the separation region for shock-boundary layer interactions. A number of studies have shown that the usual effects of such interactions include increased local heating and wall pressures, thickening of the boundary layer and a decrease in the momentum of the flow and, for stronger waves, flow separation. This flow situation is particularly prevalent in supersonic and hypersonic inlets where severe performance degradation can occur due to flow separation. High performance engine design generally requires a uniform entering flow field with little stagnation pressure loss. Previous approaches to the problem involved primarily active devices (e.g., suction or blowing); the present paper considers a passive device. The boundary layer separation control technique considered herein involves the placement of an embedded plate in the outer portion of the boundary layer and parallel to the wall. This control plate is situated such that the incident shock impinges upon and reflects from its surface, thus greatly lessening the pressure gradient in the low momentum near wall region.

Goodman, W. L.

Emmons spot forcing for turbulent drag reduction

An Emmons spot-generation wind tunnel system has been designed to trigger closely spaced Emmons spots in the spanwise and longitudinal directions of an aerodynamic surface. For certain combinations of generator frequencies and amplitude, hole size, and hole spacing, experimental results indicate smaller turbulence scales and a reduction in skin friction of about 15 percent.

Goodman, W. L.

Axisymmetric bluff-body drag reduction through geometrical modifications

The effect of shoulder radiusing and grooving (longitudinally or circumferentially) the afterbodies of bluff bodies of reduce the base drag at low speeds is discussed. Shoulder radii as large as 2.75 body diameters are examined. Reynolds number based on body diameter varied from 20,000 to 200,000. Results indicate that increasing the shoulder radius to 2.75 body diameters can reduce the drag levels to those of a streamline body having 67 percent greater fineness ratio. For the relatively sharp shoulder case, body drag reductions as large as 50% are obtained using circumferential or longitudinal grooves.

Howard, F. G.

Axisymmetric bluff-body drag reduction using circumferential grooves

The effect of shoulder radiusing and circumferentially grooving the afterbodies of bluff bodies to reduce the base drag at low speeds is discussed. Shoulder radii as large as 2.75 body diameters are examined. Reynolds number based on body diameter varied from 20,000 to 200,000. Results indicate that increasing the shoulder radius to 2.75 body diameters can reduce the drag levels to those of a streamline body having 67 percent greater fineness ratio. For zero shoulder radius, circumferential grooves were found to be effective in reducing body drag for zero shoulder radius in both laminar and tripped flow. Circumferential grooves on the afterbody with a shoulder radius of one-half the body diameter were only effective in reducing drag for laminar flow.

Howard, F. G.