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Settles, Gary S.

Publications and source records attributed to Settles, Gary S..

Supersonic and hypersonic shock/boundary-layer interaction database

An assessment is given of existing shock wave/tubulent boundary-layer interaction experiments having sufficient quality to guide turbulence modeling and code validation efforts. Although the focus of this work is hypersonic, experiments at Mach numbers as low as 3 were considered. The principal means of identifying candidate studies was a computerized search of the AIAA Aerospace Database. Several hundred candidate studies were examined and over 100 of these were subjected to a rigorous set of acceptance criteria for inclusion in the data-base. Nineteen experiments were found to meet these criteria, of which only seven were in the hypersonic regime (M is greater than 5).

Settles, Gary S.

Swept shock/boundary-layer interactions: Scaling laws, flowfield structure, and experimental methods

A general review is given of several decades of research on the scaling laws and flowfield structures of swept shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions. Attention is further restricted to the experimental study and physical understanding of the steady-state aspects of these flows. The interaction produced by a sharp, upright fin mounted on a flat plate is taken as an archetype. An overall framework of quasiconical symmetry describing such interactions is first developed. Boundary-layer separation, the interaction footprint, Mach number scaling, and Reynolds number scaling are then considered, followed by a discussion of the quasiconical similarity of interactions produced by geometrically-dissimilar shock generators. The detailed structure of these interaction flowfields is next reviewed, and is illustrated by both qualitative visualizations and quantitative flow images in the quasiconical framework. Finally, the experimental techniques used to investigate such flows are reviewed, with emphasis on modern non-intrusive optical flow diagnostics.

Settles, Gary S.

Hypersonic Turbulent Boundary-Layer and Free Sheer Database Datasets

A critical assessment and compilation of data are presented on attached hypersonic turbulent boundary layers in pressure gradients and compressible turbulent mixing layers. Extensive searches were conducted to identify candidate experiments, which were subjected to a rigorous set of acceptance criteria. Accepted datasets are both tabulated and provided in machine-readable form. The purpose of this database effort is to make existing high quality data available in detailed form for the turbulence-modeling and computational fluid dynamics communities. While significant recent data were found on the subject of compressible turbulent mixing, the available boundary-layer/pressure-gradient experiments are all older ones of which no acceptable data were found at hypersonic Mach numbers.

Settles, Gary S.

Quasiconical flowfield structure of the three-dimensional single fin interaction

A series of conical and three-dimensional computations have been performed for the swept oblique shock wave/turbulent boundary-layer interaction generated by a 20-deg sharp fin at Mach 4 and freestream Reynolds number of 2.18 x 10 exp 5 based on the incoming boundary-layer thickness. The Reynolds-averaged compressible Navier-Stokes equations are employed with turbulence incorporated using the Baldwin-Lomax and Jones-Launder models. The computed results are basically similar for both turbulence models and display general agreement with experimental data for surface pressure and surface flow direction, although underestimating the size of the primary vortex. The computed three-dimensional flowfield displays quasiconical behavior of the surface pressure, surface flow direction, and flowfield contours of static pressure, density, and Mach number over the extent of the computational domain except for an inception region near the fin leading edge. Certain features of the flowfield model are not observed in the computations, namely, a 'normal' shock near the attachment line, transonic shocklets in the expansion region, and secondary separation. The absence of these features in the computation is believed to be indirectly attributable to limitations in the turbulence models.

Knight, Doyle D.

Supersonic mixing enhancement by vorticity for high-speed propulsion

The results of a three year study on vortex enhancement of supersonic mixing are discussed. Recent interests in compressible mixing has spurred research in the field of high speed shear layers. It was established that shear layer growth diminishes with increasing convective Mach number; this Mach number is the relative Mach number of the large scale structures in the shear layer with respect to the Mach numbers on either side of the shear layer. The purpose was to evaluate the effect of swirl on compressible mixing rates. Previously analytical and experimental results seem to indicate that swirling flow may significantly modify the shear layer, in some cases resulting in enhanced mixing. Previous studies of the effect of swirl on compressible mixing were incomplete since the amount of swirl in the flowfield was not quantified. This study was undertaken to conclusively determine the effect of swirl on supersonic mixing, including the quantification of the swirl. Preliminary results indicate that the swirl modestly enhances the mixing rates.

Settles, Gary S.

An experimental study of fluctuating pressure loads beneath swept shock/boundary-layer interactions

A database is established on the fluctuating pressure loads produced on aerodynamic surfaces beneath 3-D shock wave/boundary layer interactions. Such loads constitute a fundamental problem of critical concern to future supersonic and hypersonic flight vehicles. A turbulent boundary layer on a flat plate is subjected to interactions with swept planar shock waves generated by sharp fins. Fin angles from 5 to 25 deg at freestream Mach numbers between 2.5 and 4 produce a variety of interaction strengths from weak to very strong. Miniature Kulite pressure transducers mounted in the flat plate were used to measure interaction-induced wall pressure fluctuations. These data will be correlated with proposed new optical data on the fluctuations of the interaction structure, especially that of the lambda-shock system and its associated high-speed jet impingement.

Settles, Gary S.

Three-dimensional shock wave-turbulent boundary layer interactions generated by a sharp fin at Mach 4

This paper describes a combined experimental and theoretical study of three-dimensional swept shock wave-turbulent boundary layer interactions at Mach 4 generated by a sharp fin of angles alpha equals 16 and 20 degrees. The theoretical model is the three-dimensional compressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with turbulence incorporated through the algebraic eddy viscosity model of Baldwin and Lomax. Previous computations have been performed by Horstman using the Baldwin-Lomax, Cebeci-Smith and Jones Launder models. Computed results for the surface pressure, skin friction and streamline angles are compared with experiment and previous numerical results. The present results display good agreement with experimental data for surface pressure and surface flow direction. All turbulence models fail to accurately predict the peak skin friction. The computed flowfields are in agreement with many of the features of the quasi-conical flowfield model of Settles.

Knight, Doyle D.

Upstream-influence scaling of fin-generated shock wave boundary-layer interactions

An upstream-influence scaling law, previously formulated through analysis of Mach 3 data, has been extended to Mach numbers from 2.5 through 4. For adiabatic, equilibrium, turbulent boundary layers, there is no Mach number effect on the constants in the Reynolds number parameters of this law. In addition, based on local similarity, a new Mach number parameter, namely, the Mach number component of the incoming stream normal to the farfield upstream influence, is proposed. Scaling by either the incoming Mach number normal to the inviscid shock or by the incoming Mach number normal to the farfield upstream influence is equivalent to scaling by the hypersonic similarity parameter.

Lu, Frank K.

Inception length to a fully-developed fin-generated shock wave boundary-layer interaction

An experimental study of fin-generated shock wave turbulent boundary-layer interactions confirmed previous observations that, sufficiently far from the fin apex, such interactions become conical. The inception length to conical symmetry was found to increase weakly with Mach number for Mach numbers from 2.5 to 4 and fin angles from 4 to 22 deg. For the range of interactions examined, the inception length was found to depend primarily upon the inviscid shock angle, this angle ranging from 21 to 40 deg. The behavior of the inception length with shock angle can be broadly divided into two categories. For 'weak' interactions with shock angles less than about 35 deg, the inception length decreased as the shock angle increased. For 'strong' interactions with shock angles greater than about 35 deg, the inception region was small and was approximately constant at three boundary-layer thicknesses in length. In the latter, strong interaction case, the inception length was an order of magnitude smaller than that found in the weakest interactions examined, to the extent that strong interactions were practically fully-developed from the apex.

Lu, Frank K.

Skin friction measurements by laser interferometry in swept shock wave/turbulent boundary-layer interactions

The laser interferometric skin friction meter was used to measure wall shear stress distributions in two interactions of fin-generated swept shock waves with turbulent boundary layers. The basic research configuration was an unswept sharp-leading-edge fin of variable angle mounted on a flatplate. The results indicate that such measurements are practical in high-speed interacting flows, and that a repeatability of + or - 6 percent or better is possible. Marked increases in wall shear were observed in both swept interactions tested.

Kim, Kwang-Soo