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Robert E Bartels

Publications and source records attributed to Robert E Bartels.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel Airstream Oscillator System

This paper presents computational fluid dynamics simulations of the flow in the NASA Langley Research Center Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) with the airstream oscillator system (AOS) in operation. Test section flow angle can be modulated using sinusoidally oscillating vanes which are located in pairs within the contraction section of the tunnel circuit. A compilation of previously published experimental data for validation has been reviewed that contains hot-wire anemometer and fast-response probe data acquired in an empty test section with the vanes oscillating in-phase and out-of-phase. These experimental data have not previously been compared with computational results. The present results provide an opportunity for validation of the simulations of the sinusoidal AOS flow field in the TDT test section. Computed tunnel centerline, lateral and cross-section contour data of flow angle and vorticity show that resolving the vane tip vortex is critical to accurately predicting the test section center flow angle. The computed results show, as do the experimental data, what appears to be a resonance at higher frequencies. It is currently not known what is the cause of that resonance. Further refinement of the mesh is expected to improve the comparisons with experimental data

Robert E Bartels↗

Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel Airstream Oscillator System

This paper presents a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of the flow in the NASA Langley Research Center Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) with the Airstream Oscillator System (AOS) in operation. The TDT is a continuous-flow, closed circuit wind tunnel with a 16- by 16-foot slotted test section with cropped corners. The tunnel was originally built as the 19-ft Pressure Tunnel in 1938, but it was converted to the current transonic tunnel in the 1950s, with capabilities to use either air or heavy gas (R-134a) as the test medium. The TDT was also fitted with an AOS which can be used to create a gust field in the test section. To date, no computational analyses of the TDT involving the AOS have been performed. In this study, experimental data acquired of an oscillating airstream in the tunnel will be used to calibrate the computational analyses. A significant motivation of this work is to attempt to compare computational gust velocities to those recorded in the TDT literature. In addition to a validation of this model with experimental data, it may also be possible to supplement the experimental data with computational data. The experimental data is rather sparse and at only a few Mach numbers. Computational results may be able to expand the AOS data set. Another motivation for this work is that the Integrated Adaptive Wing Technology Maturation (IAWTM) semi-span model of the high-aspect-ratio CRM with 10 trailing edge control surfaces is currently being fabricated and will be delivered to the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) for testing in late 2020. Among tests to be conducted, gust load alleviation (GLA) will be demonstrated at transonic conditions using the AOS.

Computational Fluid Dynamics↗

Aeroservoelastic Control Law Development for the Integrated Adaptive Wing Technology Maturation Wind-Tunnel Test

The NASA Advanced Air Transport Technology (AATT) Project seeks to “explore and develop technologies and concepts for improved energy efficiency and environmental compatibility for fixed wing subsonic transports” [1]. The IAWTM project is a subproject within AATT and is a joint Boeing/NASA effort to, in part, demonstrate the active control systems necessary to employ high-aspect ratio wings for improved aerodynamic efficiency. The aircraft configuration under study for the IAWTM project is a generic jet transport based on the NASA Common Research Model (CRM) whose wing aspect ratio has been increased to 13.5 (as opposed to nominal CRM aspect ratio of 9) and whose development is given in Ref. [2]. A semi-span model of the high-aspect-ratio CRM with 10 trailing edge control surfaces is currently being fabricated and will be delivered to the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT). There, several tests will be conducted to demonstrate maneuver load alleviation (MLA), gust load alleviation (GLA), active flutter suppression (AFS), and drag reduction, all at transonic conditions. A layout of the wind tunnel model is shown in Fig. 1. The wind-tunnel model is a spar/pod wing design with a relatively rigid fuselage attached to a mounting structure (seen in Fig. 1), which in turn is attached to a load balance behind the tunnel wall. Shims exist that can be attached to force the load to go through the fuselage rather than through the balance so as not to damage the balance in the event of flutter. The spar/pod design is similar to that used in the Boeing truss-braced wing aeroelastic model tested in the TDT in 2013 [3]. There is a central spar running the span of the wing to which the pods are attached that form the aerodynamic shape of the wing. The pods are constructed of ribs for attachment to the spar and skins to create the outer mold line. There are ten active control surfaces that will be used for the test objectives discussed above. Three of these (two outboard ailerons and one inboard aileron) are high-speed electrohydraulic actuators, and the remaining seven are low-speed mini-plane flaps, which have slower servo motors that will be used primarily for drag and maneuver load reductions. Control laws must be developed for each test (MLA, GLA, AFS, and drag reduction) and must be able to work in tandem when two or more control strategies are being tested simultaneously (e.g., when control laws to mitigate maneuver loads and gust loads operate simultaneously). The development of these control laws requires accurate mathematical representations of the aerodynamics, structural dynamics, and control surface dynamics of the system. Taken together, this mathematical representation—which is often in state-space form— is the ASE model. Three low-order ASE models of differing fidelities were developed for the IAWTM test and will be presented here. The differences in fidelity appeared in the aerodynamic modeling—one model assumed purely linear aerodynamics, while the other two models used different techniques to linearize the aerodynamics about a nonlinear mean. Furthermore, simple observer-based full-state feedback controllers for each test (MLA, GLA, AFS, and drag reduction) were designed from these low-order ASE models and implemented in a higher-order, nonlinear computational ASE simulation to assess the effectiveness of each controller. Observers were designed from each of the three lower-order ASE models, and each (linear) observer was then used as an estimate of the nonlinear dynamics of the system. Using the estimated states and the full-state feedback controller, control surface commands were fed back to the higher-order, nonlinear ASE system. The insight gained during this development will be applied to control law development for the physical IAWTM wind-tunnel test.

Josiah M Waite↗

Aerodynamic Optimization of Mach 0.745 Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Aircraft with Variable-Camber Continuous Trailing-Edge Flap

This paper presents an aerodynamic optimization study of the Mach 0.745 Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) aircraft with Variable-Camber Continuous Trailing-Edge Flap (VC-CTEF). The VCCTEF is a novel wing shaping control concept to improve aircraft aerodynamic efficiency. Drag reduction studies are conducted for three different VCCTEF configurations with 6-, 10-, and 21-spanwise sections, respectively. A simple VCCTEF actuator weight model is proposed to account the weight penalty of the actuator in the design. A vortex-lattice model of the TTBW model is developed with transonic small disturbance, integral boundary-layer, and wing-strut interference corrections for rapid aerodynamic performance evaluations. The VSPAERO model has been validated against wind tunnel test data. The optimization results show that the 21-spanwise sections VCCTEF has largest absolute drag coefficient reduction, however, the 6-spanwise sections VCCTEF provides a relatively better solution for drag reduction when the actuator weight penalty is considered. A high-fidelity CFD solver FUN3D is used to validate the VCCTEF optimization.

Aerodynamic Optimization↗

Aerodynamic Optimization of Mach 0.8 Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Aircraft using Variable Camber Continuous Trailing Edge Flap

This paper presents an aerodynamic optimization study of the Mach 0.8 Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) aircraft with Variable Camber Continuous Trailing Edge Flap (VC-CTEF). The VCCTEF is a novel wing shaping control concept to improve aircraft aerodynamic efficiency. Drag reduction studies are conducted for two different VCCTEF configurations with 6- and 10-spanwise sections, respectively. A simple VCCTEF actuator weight model is used to account the weight penalty of the actuator in the design for the Mach 0.8 TTBW aircraft. A vortex-lattice model of the Mach 0.8 TTBW aircraft is developed with transonic small disturbance, integral boundary-layer, and wing-strut interference corrections for rapid aerodynamic performance evaluations. The VSPAERO model has been validated against the wind tunnel test data. The optimization results show that the 6-spanwise sections VCCTEF provides a relatively better solution for drag reduction when the actuator weight penalty is considered. A high-fidelity CFD solver FUN3D is used to verify the VCCTEF optimization design.

Aerodynamic optimization↗

Aeroelastic Analysis of Mach 0.8 Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Aircraft

This paper presents an aeroelastic analysis of the Mach 0.8 Transonic Truss-Braced Wing(TTBW) aircraft jig shape using an in-house developed tool based on VSPAERO. A vortex-lattice model of the Mach 0.8 TTBW model is developed, and a transonic and viscous flow correction method is implemented to account for transonic and viscous flow effects. A correction method for the wing-strut interference aerodynamics is developed and applied to the VSPAERO solver. The Galerkin method is used to calculate the geometry deformation under aerodynamic force. The aero-structural analysis solver VSPAERO coupled to the mode shapes computed by NASTRAN using the Galerkin method provides a rapid aircraft aero-structual analysis. A high-fidelity CFD solver FUN3D is used to verify the results. The aeroelastic simulation results show that the aeroelastic lift coefficient is reduced about0.05∼0.07, drag polar is not affected by aeroelasticity, and the pitching moment is reduced about 30% at Mach0.8 and altitude 40,000 ft.

TTBW Aeroelastic↗

Aeroelastic Trim Drag Optimization of Mach 0.8 TransonicTruss-Braced Wing Aircraft with Variable Camber ContinuousTrailing Edge Flap

This paper presents an aeroelastic trim drag optimization study of the Mach 0.8 Tran-sonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) aircraft with the Variable Camber Continuous TrailingEdge Flap (VCCTEF). An aero-structural analysis solver VSPAERO with transonic small dis-turbance, integral boundary-layer, and wing-strut interference corrections coupled to modeshapes computed by NASTRAN using the Galerkin method is developed to provide a rapidaircraft aeroelastic performance evaluation. Aeroelastic trim drag optimization studies areconducted for a VCCTEF configuration with 6-spanwise sections. Three different flight condi-tions corresponding to Mach 0.8 are selected for the aeroelastic trim drag optimization at thedesign and off-design cruise lift coefficients. The preliminary optimization results show thatthe TTBW aircraft with the optimized VCCTEF deflection achieves a drag reduction of about 9.2 counts, 9.6 counts, and 12.3 counts corresponding to the lift coefficients 0.661, 0.695, and0.729, respectively. When accounting for the actuator weight penalty, the corresponding dragreductions are 1.77%, 1.82%, 2.41%. A high-fidelity CFD solver FUN3D is used to validatethe aeroelastic trim drag optimization.

Aeroelastic trim drag↗

Wind Tunnel Wall Interference Investigation of an Aspect Ratio13.5 Common Research Model using FUN3D

This paper presents a computation study of an aspect ratio 13.5 wind tunnel scale CommonResearch Model (CRM) inside a transonic wind tunnel using FUN3D CFD solver. The transonicwind tunnel is a slotted-test-section with 16 ft×16 ft test section wind tunnel. The simulationsare conducted under free-air, closed slots, and open slots conditions. The wind tunnel wallinterference effects are analyzed based on the simulations. The wall interference effects will beused to calibrate the aerodynamic database generated by VSPAERO solver for the real-timedrag optimization and maneuver load alleviation study of the wind tunnel scale CRM model.

CFD↗

Aeroelastic Simulation of Wind Tunnel Scale Aspect Ratio 13.5 Common Research Model with Trailing Edge Mini-Flaps

This paper presents a computation study of an aspect ratio 13.5 wind tunnel scale Common Research Model (CRM) with trailing edge mini-flaps using FUN3D. The aeroelastic simulations are conducted under free-air and inside wind tunnel conditions. The NASA Langley Research Center Transonic Dynamic Tunnel (TDT) is a closed circuit and slotted-test-section with a 16 ft ×16 ft test section. The structure mode shapes are extracted from the latest updated NASTRAN Finite-Element Model (FEM) model. A dynamic pressure sweep is performed to determine the control reversal boundary of the trailing edge mini-flaps. The wind tunnel wall interference effects on the mini-flap control derivatives are analyzed based on the simulations.

Aeroelastic↗

Study of Trailing Edge Mini Flaps Interactions on a Wind Tunnel Scale Aspect Ratio 13.5 Common Research Model

This paper presents a computation study of an aspect ratio 13.5 wind tunnel scale Common Research Model (CRM) with trailing edge mini-flaps. A vortex-lattice model of the CRM is developed with transonic small disturbance and integral boundary-layer corrections coupled with NASTRAN equivalent beam model for the rapid CRM aeroelastic simulation. The simulations are performed with individual trailing edge mini-flap deflected and a series of groups of two adjacent trailing edge mini-flaps deflected at the same time. A surrogate model is developed to estimate the aerodynamic interactions between the flaps. To validate the surrogate model, static aeroelastic simulations are performed using FUN3D CFD solver.

Interaction↗