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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.

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At least 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

The inviscid stability of supersonic flow past a sharp cone

The laminar boundary layer which forms on a sharp cone in a supersonic freestream, where lateral curvature plays a key role in the physics of the problem is considered. This flow is then analyzed from the point of view of linear, temporal, inviscid stability. The basic, non-axisymmetric disturbance equations are derived for general flows of this class, and a so called triply generalized inflexion condition is found for the existence of subsonic neutral modes of instability. This condition is analogous to the well-known generalized inflexion condition found in planar flows, although in the present case the condition depends on both axial and aximuthal wavenumbers. Extensive numerical results are presented for the stability problem at a freestream Mach number of 3.8, for a range of streamwise locations. These results reveal that a new mode of instability may occur, peculiar to flows of this type involving curvature. Additionally, asymptotic analyses valid close to the tip of the cone, far downstream of the cone are presented, and these give a partial (asymptotic) description of this additional mode of instability.

Duck, Peter W.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Experimental study of vortex breakdown in a cylindrical, swirling flow

The stability of a steady, vortical flow in a cylindrical container with one rotating endwall has been experimentally examined to gain insight into the process of vortex breakdowwn. The dynamics of the flow are governed by the Reynolds number (Re) and the aspect ratio of the cylinder. Re is given by Omega R(sup 2)/nu, where Omega is the speed of rotation of the endwall, R is the cylinder radius, and nu is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid filling the cylinder. The aspect ratio is H/R, where H is the height of the cylinder. Numerical simulation studies disagree whether or not the steady breakdown is stable beyond a critical Reynolds number, Re(sub c). Previous experimental researches have considered the steady and unsteady flows near Re(sub c), but have not explored the stability of the steady breakdown structures beyond this value. In this investigation, laser induced fluorescence was utilized to observe both steady and unsteady vortex breakdown at a fixed H/R of 2.5 with Re varying around Re(sub c). When the Re of a steady flow was slowly increased beyond Re(sub c), the breakdown structure remained steady even though unsteadiness was possible. In addition, a number of hysteresis events involving the oscillation periods of the unsteady flow were noted. The results show that both steady and unsteady vortex breakdown occur for a limited range of Re above Re(sub c). Also, with increasing Re, complex flow transformations take place that alter the period at which the unsteady flow oscillates.

Stevens, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Natural laminar flow and airplane stability and control

Location and mode of transition from laminar to turbulent boundary layer flow have a dominant effect on the aerodynamic characteristics of an airfoil section. The influences of these parameters on the sectional lift and drag characteristics of three airfoils are examined. Both analytical and experimental results demonstrate that when the boundary layer transitions near the leading edge as a result of surface roughness, extensive trailing-edge separation of the turbulent boundary layer may occur. If the airfoil has a relatively sharp leading-edge, leading-edge stall due to laminar separation can occur after the leading-edge suction peak is formed. These two-dimensional results are used to examine the effects of boundary layer transition behavior on airplane longitudinal and lateral-directional stability and control.

Vandam, Cornelis P.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Thermocapillary Flows and Their Stability: Effects of Surface Layers and Contamination

The objective is to study quantitatively thermocapillary flows in two-dimensional and axisymmetric geometries in order to learn the impact of such flows on float-zone refining configurations. The work begins with the analytical study of steady flows in slots and zones to obtain predictions of surface curvature, flow and heat transport. It then examines the instability of such flows. Three new instability mechanisms have been identified and the results show that thermocapillary flows of high Prandtl number fluid become convectively unstable while those of low Prandtl number fluid become hydrodynamically unstable. The work includes numerical simulations of steady, high Marangoni number flows in unit aspect ratio boxes and asymptotic solutions in large boxes. Furthermore, the effect of surface contamination on the steady thermocapillary flows was examined. This fundamental study focused on fluid dynamical systems used to understand events in the flow of melts in float-zone geometries both on Earth and in microgravity environments.

Davis, S. H.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Stability Analysis of Flow Induced by the Traveling Magnetic Field

Re-circulating flow in molten metal columns can be conveniently induced by the axisymmetric traveling magnetic field. A number of applications can benefit from this technique, such as mixing under microgravity environment, or crysta1 growth from metallic melts. For small magnetic field excitations, the flow is laminar and stationary. As the imposed field increases, a more complex flow will set up in the cylindrical column. Conditions for stable laminar flow are of importance for practical applications. In this work, a linear stability analysis is performed in order to determine the onset of the bifurcation in the system. Here the analysis is restricted to the axisymmetric modes and the low-frequency regime.

Mazuruk, Konstantin↗
NASA NTRS2003

Stability Analysis of Flow Induced by the Traveling Magnetic Field

Re-circulating flow in molten metal columns can be conveniently induced by the axisymmetric traveling magnetic field. A number of applications can benefit from this technique, such as mixing under microgravity environment, or.crysta1 growth from metallic melts. For small magnetic field excitations, the flow is laminar and stationary. As the imposed field increases, a more complex flow will set up in the cylindrical column. Conditions for stable laminar flow are of importance for practical applications. In this work, a linear stability analysis is performed in order to determine the onset of the bifurcation in the system. Here the analysis is restricted to the axisymmetric modes and the low-frequency regime.

Mazuruk, Konstantin↗
NASA NTRS1989

Effect of wall suction on the stability of compressible subsonic flows over smooth two-dimensional backward-facing steps

The effect of suction on the stability of compressible flows over backward-facing steps is investigated. Mach numbers up to 0.8 are considered. The results show that continuous suction stabilizes the flow outside the separation bubble, but it destabilizes the flow inside it. Nevertheless, the overall N factor decreases as the suction level increases due to the considerable reduction of the separation bubble. For the same suction flow rate, properly distributed suction strips stabilize the flow more than continuous suction. The size of the separation bubble, and hence its effect on the instability can be considerably reduced by placing strips with high suction velocities in the separation region.

Al-Maaitah, Ayman A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Analysis of turbulence in shear flows using the stabilization principle

An analysis is made based upon the concept that the velocity fluctuations, and therefore, the Reynolds stresses, driven by the instability of the original flow grow until a new stable state is approached. The Reynolds stresses incorporated into the Orr-Sommerfeld equation are coupled with the main flow such that all the imaginary parts of the complex eigenvalues vanish, i.e., the original instability is eliminated. Using this stabilization principle, it is possible to find the Reynolds stresses as well as the mean velocity for plane Poiseuille flow with the Reynolds number slightly higher than the critical.

Zak, M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The inviscid stability of supersonic flow past axisymmetric bodies

The supersonic flow past a sharp cone is studied. The associated boundary layer flow (i.e., the velocity and temperature field) is computed. The inviscid linear temporal stability of axisymmetric boundary layers in general is considered, and in particular, a so-called 'triply generalized' inflection condition for 'subsonic' nonaxisymmetric neutral modes is presented. Preliminary numerical results for the stability of the cone boundary layer are presented for a freestream Mach number of 3.8. In particular, a new inviscid mode of instability is seen to occur in certain regimes, and this is shown to be related to a viscous mode found by Duck and Hall (1988).

Duck, Peter W.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Stability of plane Poiseuille flow with heat transfer.

Investigation of the influence of heat transfer on the stability of a plane Poiseuille flow iahnnl. The liquid flow is affected by the heat transfer through the variation in viscosity with temperature. Additional viscosity gradient terms are included in a modified Orr-Sommerfeld equation, and it is the presence of these terms which leads to a prediction of more unstable flows, for without the inclusion of these extra terms, the flow is stabilized. The results show that a temperature difference between the walls is always destabilizing and, in particular, a temperature difference between the walls of 100 F leads to a reduction in the critical Reynolds number from 7800 to 4600.

Potter, M. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

On the nonlinear interfacial instability of rotating core-annular flow

The interfacial stability of rotating core-annular flows is investigated. The linear and nonlinear effects are considered for the case when the annular region is very thin. Both asymptotic and numerical methods are used to solve the flow in the core and film regions which are coupled by a difference in viscosity and density. The long-term behavior of the fluid-fluid interface is determined by deriving its nonlinear evolution in the form of a modified Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation. We obtain a generalization of this equation to three dimensions. The flows considered are applicable to a wide array of physical problems where liquid films are used to lubricate higher or lower viscosity core fluids, for which a concentric arrangement is desired. Linearized solutions show that the effects of density and viscosity stratification are crucial to the stability of the interface. Rotation generally destabilizes non-axisymmetric disturbances to the interface, whereas the centripetal forces tend to stabilize flows in which the film contains the heavier fluid. Nonlinear affects allow finite amplitude helically travelling waves to exist when the fluids have different viscosities.

Coward, Aidrian V.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Stability analysis for laminar flow control, part 1

The basic equations for the stability analysis of flow over three dimensional swept wings are developed and numerical methods for their solution are surveyed. The equations for nonlinear stability analysis of three dimensional disturbances in compressible, three dimensional, nonparallel flows are given. Efficient and accurate numerical methods for the solution of the equations of stability theory were surveyed and analyzed.

Benney, D. J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Cooling flows and the stability of radio jets

This paper considers what happens to radio jets which, propagating out from the nucleus of an elliptical galaxy, encounters a point at which the ambient gas pressure increases very rapidly. The pressure variation within the sonic radius of a cooling flow is calculated, and a semianalytical calculation of the stability of a jet which encounters a rapidly increasing pressure gradient is given. The results of numerical hydrodynamic simulations which test the results of the analytic calculations are shown. The case where the jet encounters the sonic region at an oblique angle is considered, and it is suggested that this may provide an explanation for jets which are bent on small scales. These results are applied to radio sources associated with central dominant cluster galaxies and with more normal elliptical galaxies.

Soker, Noam↗
NASA NTRS1982

A general method to determine the stability of compressible flows

Several problems were studied using two completely different approaches. The initial method was to use the standard linearized perturbation theory by finding the value of the individual small disturbance quantities based on the equations of motion. These were serially eliminated from the equations of motion to derive a single equation that governs the stability of fluid dynamic system. These equations could not be reduced unless the steady state variable depends only on one coordinate. The stability equation based on one dependent variable was found and was examined to determine the stability of a compressible swirling jet. The second method applied a Lagrangian approach to the problem. Since the equations developed were based on different assumptions, the condition of stability was compared only for the Rayleigh problem of a swirling flow, both examples reduce to the Rayleigh criterion. This technique allows including the viscous shear terms which is not possible in the first method. The same problem was then examined to see what effect shear has on stability.

Guenther, R. A.↗