Aerodynamic design of axial-flow compressors Volume 1
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Source record↗
SEARCH · Search NASA
Results for “Aerodynamic design”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Aerodynamic Design of Axial-flow Compressors. Volume III
Chapters XI to XIII concern the unsteady compressor operation arising when compressor blade elements stall. The fields of compressor stall and surge are reviewed in Chapters XI and XII, respectively. The part-speed operating problem in high-pressure-ratio multistage axial-flow compressors is analyzed in Chapter XIII. Chapter XIV summarizes design methods and theories that extend beyond the simplified two-dimensional approach used previously in the report. Chapter XV extends this three-dimensional treatment by summarizing the literature on secondary flows and boundary layer effects. Charts for determining the effects of errors in design parameters and experimental measurements on compressor performance are given in Chapters XVI. Chapter XVII reviews existing literature on compressor and turbine matching techniques.
COMPRESSORS - PRESSURE RATIO↗
Effect of Aerodynamic Design on Glider Performance
The performance of a glider is determined by means of the velocity polar, which represents the connection between horizontal and sinking speed. The mean sinking speed for a given speed range can be determined on the basis of the velocity polar. These data form the basis for the most propitious design of a performance-type glider with a view to long-distance flight.
Lippisch, A↗
Optimum aerodynamic design via boundary control
These lectures describe the implementation of optimization techniques based on control theory for airfoil and wing design. In previous studies it was shown that control theory could be used to devise an effective optimization procedure for two-dimensional profiles in which the shape is determined by a conformal transformation from a unit circle, and the control is the mapping function. Recently the method has been implemented in an alternative formulation which does not depend on conformal mapping, so that it can more easily be extended to treat general configurations. The method has also been extended to treat the Euler equations, and results are presented for both two and three dimensional cases, including the optimization of a swept wing.
Jameson, Antony↗
A Reassessment of Heavy-Duty Truck Aerodynamic Design Features and Priorities
Between 1973 and 1982, the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center conducted "coast-down" tests demonstrating means for reducing the drag of trucks, buses, and motor homes. Numerous configurations were evaluated using a box-shaped test van, a two-axle truck, and a tractor-semitrailer combination. Results from three configurations of the test van are of interest now in view of a trucking industry goal of a 0.25 drag coefficient for tractor-semitrailer combinations. Two test van configurations with blunt-base geometry, similar to present day trucks (one configuration has square front comers and the other has rounded front comers), quantify the base drag increase associated with reduced forebody drag. Hoemer's equations predict this trend; however, test van results, reinforced by large-scale air vehicle data, indicate that Hoemer's formula greatly underestimates this dependence of base drag on forebody efficiency. The demonstrated increase in base drag associated with forebody refinement indicates that the goal of a 0.25 drag coefficient will not be achieved without also reducing afterbody drag. A third configuration of the test van had a truncated boattail to reduce afterbody drag and achieved a drag coefficient of 0.242. These results are included here and references are identified for other means of reducing afterbody drag.
Saltzman, Edwin J.↗
Practical Aerodynamic Design Optimization Based on the Navier-Stokes Equations and a Discrete Adjoint Method
Compressible and incompressible versions of a three-dimensional unstructured mesh Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes flow solver have been differentiated and resulting derivatives have been verified by comparisons with finite differences and a complex-variable approach. In this implementation, the turbulence model is fully coupled with the flow equations in order to achieve this consistency. The accuracy demonstrated in the current work represents the first time that such an approach has been successfully implemented. The accuracy of a number of simplifying approximations to the linearizations of the residual have been examined. A first-order approximation to the dependent variables in both the adjoint and design equations has been investigated. The effects of a "frozen" eddy viscosity and the ramifications of neglecting some mesh sensitivity terms were also examined. It has been found that none of the approximations yielded derivatives of acceptable accuracy and were often of incorrect sign. However, numerical experiments indicate that an incomplete convergence of the adjoint system often yield sufficiently accurate derivatives, thereby significantly lowering the time required for computing sensitivity information. The convergence rate of the adjoint solver relative to the flow solver has been examined. Inviscid adjoint solutions typically require one to four times the cost of a flow solution, while for turbulent adjoint computations, this ratio can reach as high as eight to ten. Numerical experiments have shown that the adjoint solver can stall before converging the solution to machine accuracy, particularly for viscous cases. A possible remedy for this phenomenon would be to include the complete higher-order linearization in the preconditioning step, or to employ a simple form of mesh sequencing to obtain better approximations to the solution through the use of coarser meshes. An efficient surface parameterization based on a free-form deformation technique has been utilized and the resulting codes have been integrated with an optimization package. Lastly, sample optimizations have been shown for inviscid and turbulent flow over an ONERA M6 wing. Drag reductions have been demonstrated by reducing shock strengths across the span of the wing. In order for large scale optimization to become routine, the benefits of parallel architectures should be exploited. Although the flow solver has been parallelized using compiler directives. The parallel efficiency is under 50 percent. Clearly, parallel versions of the codes will have an immediate impact on the ability to design realistic configurations on fine meshes, and this effort is currently underway.
Grossman, Bernard↗
Reduction of Stall-Spin Entry Tendencies Through Wing Aerodynamic Design
Results of recent wind tunnel tests and analyses are described which are aimed at helping to prevent spin entry after a stall by modifications to the aircraft wing. Simple add-on devices were utilized which modify the shape of the lift curve after stall, making it essentially flat to 30- 40 degree angle of attack. It is hypothesized that his will greatly reduce the danger of spin entry. Further research will be aimed at laying a firmer theoretical and analytical basis for the approach and at incorporating the complete full scale airplane and its dynamics into the problem.
Kroeger, R. A.↗
Practical Aerodynamic Design Optimization Based on the Navier-Stokes Equations and a Discrete Adjoint Method
The technical details are summarized below: Compressible and incompressible versions of a three-dimensional unstructured mesh Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes flow solver have been differentiated and resulting derivatives have been verified by comparisons with finite differences and a complex-variable approach. In this implementation, the turbulence model is fully coupled with the flow equations in order to achieve this consistency. The accuracy demonstrated in the current work represents the first time that such an approach has been successfully implemented. The accuracy of a number of simplifying approximations to the linearizations of the residual have been examined. A first-order approximation to the dependent variables in both the adjoint and design equations has been investigated. The effects of a "frozen" eddy viscosity and the ramifications of neglecting some mesh sensitivity terms were also examined. It has been found that none of the approximations yielded derivatives of acceptable accuracy and were often of incorrect sign. However, numerical experiments indicate that an incomplete convergence of the adjoint system often yield sufficiently accurate derivatives, thereby significantly lowering the time required for computing sensitivity information. The convergence rate of the adjoint solver relative to the flow solver has been examined. Inviscid adjoint solutions typically require one to four times the cost of a flow solution, while for turbulent adjoint computations, this ratio can reach as high as eight to ten. Numerical experiments have shown that the adjoint solver can stall before converging the solution to machine accuracy, particularly for viscous cases. A possible remedy for this phenomenon would be to include the complete higher-order linearization in the preconditioning step, or to employ a simple form of mesh sequencing to obtain better approximations to the solution through the use of coarser meshes. . An efficient surface parameterization based on a free-form deformation technique has been utilized and the resulting codes have been integrated with an optimization package. Lastly, sample optimizations have been shown for inviscid and turbulent flow over an ONERA M6 wing. Drag reductions have been demonstrated by reducing shock strengths across the span of the wing.
Grossman, Bernard↗
Supersonic Aerodynamic Design Improvements of an Arrow-Wing HSCT Configuration Using Nonlinear Point Design Methods
This paper is a discussion of the supersonic nonlinear point design optimization efforts at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace under the High-Speed Research (HSR) program. The baseline for these optimization efforts has been the M2.4-7A configuration which represents an arrow-wing technology for the High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). Optimization work on this configuration began in early 1994 and continued into 1996. Initial work focused on optimization of the wing camber and twist on a wing/body configuration and reductions of 3.5 drag counts (Euler) were realized. The next phase of the optimization effort included fuselage camber along with the wing and a drag reduction of 5.0 counts was achieved. Including the effects of the nacelles and diverters into the optimization problem became the next focus where a reduction of 6.6 counts (Euler W/B/N/D) was eventually realized. The final two phases of the effort included a large set of constraints designed to make the final optimized configuration more realistic and they were successful albeit with a loss of performance.
Unger, Eric R.↗
Turbine Aerodynamic Design System Improvements
Presentation outline includes the following: 1. Volute manifold design and analysis methodology. 2. Meanline modification for compatibility with engine analysis code. Objective is to develop a manifold design methodology for turbines and pumps, and to enable rapid screening of candidate flow paths.
Huber, Frank W.↗
An Efficient Inverse Aerodynamic Design Method For Subsonic Flows
Computational Fluid Dynamics based design methods are maturing to the point that they are beginning to be used in the aircraft design process. Many design methods however have demonstrated deficiencies in the leading edge region of airfoil sections. The objective of the present research is to develop an efficient inverse design method which is valid in the leading edge region. The new design method is a streamline curvature method, and a new technique is presented for modeling the variation of the streamline curvature normal to the surface. The new design method allows the surface coordinates to move normal to the surface, and has been incorporated into the Constrained Direct Iterative Surface Curvature (CDISC) design method. The accuracy and efficiency of the design method is demonstrated using both two-dimensional and three-dimensional design cases.
Milholen, William E., II↗
Aerodynamic Design Optimization on Unstructured Grids with a Continuous Adjoint Formulation
A continuous adjoint approach for obtaining sensitivity derivatives on unstructured grids is developed and analyzed. The derivation of the costate equations is presented, and a second-order accurate discretization method is described. The relationship between the continuous formulation and a discrete formulation is explored for inviscid, as well as for viscous flow. Several limitations in a strict adherence to the continuous approach are uncovered, and an approach that circumvents these difficulties is presented. The issue of grid sensitivities, which do not arise naturally in the continuous formulation, is investigated and is observed to be of importance when dealing with geometric singularities. A method is described for modifying inviscid and viscous meshes during the design cycle to accommodate changes in the surface shape. The accuracy of the sensitivity derivatives is established by comparing with finite-difference gradients and several design examples are presented.
Anderson, W. Kyle↗
Aerodynamic Design of a Dual-Flow Mach 7 Hypersonic Inlet System for a Turbine-Based Combined-Cycle Hypersonic Propulsion System
A new hypersonic inlet for a turbine-based combined-cycle (TBCC) engine has been designed. This split-flow inlet is designed to provide flow to an over-under propulsion system with turbofan and dual-mode scramjet engines for flight from takeoff to Mach 7. It utilizes a variable-geometry ramp, high-speed cowl lip rotation, and a rotating low-speed cowl that serves as a splitter to divide the flow between the low-speed turbofan and the high-speed scramjet and to isolate the turbofan at high Mach numbers. The low-speed inlet was designed for Mach 4, the maximum mode transition Mach number. Integration of the Mach 4 inlet into the Mach 7 inlet imposed significant constraints on the low-speed inlet design, including a large amount of internal compression. The inlet design was used to develop mechanical designs for two inlet mode transition test models: small-scale (IMX) and large-scale (LIMX) research models. The large-scale model is designed to facilitate multi-phase testing including inlet mode transition and inlet performance assessment, controls development, and integrated systems testing with turbofan and scramjet engines.
Sanders, Bobby W.↗
Aerodynamic Design of Axial-flow Compressors. VI - Experimental Flow in Two-Dimensional Cascades
Available experimental two-dimensional cascade data for conventional compressor blade sections are correlated at a reference incidence angle in the region of minimum loss. Variations of reference incidence angle, total-pressure loss, and deviation angle with cascade geometry, inlet Mach number, and Reynolds number are investigated. From the analysis and the correlations of the available data, rules and relations are evolved for the prediction of blade-profile performance. These relations are developed in simplified forms readily applicable to compressor design procedures.
Lieblein, Seymour↗
Aerodynamic Design of Axial-Flow Compressors. VII - Blade-Element Flow in Annular Cascades
Annular blade-element data obtained primarily from single-stage compressor installations are correlated over a range of inlet Mach numbers and cascade geometry. The correlation curves are presented in such a manner that they are related directly to the low-speed two-dimensional-cascade data of part VI of this series. Thus, the data serve as both an extension and a verification of the two-dimensional-cascade data. In addition, the correlation results are applied to compressor design.
Robbins, William H.↗
Challenges in Adjoint-Based Aerodynamic Design for Unsteady Flows
No abstract available
Nielsen, Eric J.↗
Challenges in Adjoint-Based Aerodynamic Design for Unsteady Flows
No abstract available
Nielsen, Eric J.↗
Aerodynamic Design of Integrated Propulsion-Airframe Configuration of the Hybrid Wing-Body Aircraft
Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) aircraft is characterized by a flattened and airfoil-shaped body, which produces a substantial portion of the total lift. The body form is composed of distinct and separate wing structures, though the wings are smoothly blended into the body. This concept has been studied widely and results suggest remarkable performance improvements over the conventional tube and wing transport1,2. HWB incorporates design features from both a futuristic fuselage and flying wing design, which houses most of the crew, payload and equipment inside the main centerbody structure.
airfoil↗