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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 NTRS1996

Hypervelocity Heat-Transfer Measurements in an Expansion Tube

A series of experiments has been conducted in the NASA HYPULSE Expansion Tube, in both CO2 and air test gases, in order to obtain data for comparison with computational results and to assess the capability for performing hypervelocity heat-transfer studies in this facility. Heat-transfer measurements were made in both test gases on 70 deg sphere-cone models and on hemisphere models of various radii. HYPULSE freestream flow conditions in these test gases were found to be repeatable to within 3-10%, and aerothermodynamic test times of 150 microsec in CO2 and 125 microsec in air were identified. Heat-transfer measurement uncertainty was estimated to be 10-15%. Comparisons were made with computational results from the non-equilibrium Navier-Stokes solver NEQ2D. Measured and computed heat-transfer rates agreed to within 10% on the hemispheres and on the sphere-cone forebodies, and to within 10% in CO2 and 25% in air on the afterbodies and stings of the sphere-cone models.

Hollis, Brian R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Comparisons of a Three-Dimensional, Full Navier Stokes Computer Model with High Mach Number Combuster Test Data

Comparisons between scramjet combustor data and a three-dimensional full Navier-Stokes calculation have been made to verify and substantiate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes and application procedures. High Mach number scramjet combustor development will rely heavily on CFD applications to provide wind tunnel-equivalent data of quality sufficient to design, build and fly hypersonic aircraft. Therefore. detailed comparisons between CFD results and test data are imperative. An experimental case is presented, for which combustor wall static pressures were measured and flow-fieid interferograms were obtained. A computer model was done of the experiment, and counterpart parameters are compared with experiment. The experiment involved a subscale combustor designed and fabricated for the National Aero-Space Plane Program, and tested in the Calspan Corporation 96" hypersonic shock tunnel. The combustor inlet ramp was inclined at a 20 angle to the shock tunnel nozzle axis, and resulting combustor entrance flow conditions simulated freestream M=10. The combustor body and cowl walls were instrumented with static pressure transducers, and the combustor lateral walls contained windows through which flowfield holographic interferograms were obtained. The CFD calculation involved a three-dimensional time-averaged full Navier-Stokes code applied to the axial flow segment containing fuel injection and combustion. The full Navier-Stokes approach allowed for mixed supersonic and subsonic flow, downstream-upstream communication in subsonic flow regions, and effects of adverse pressure gradients. The code included hydrogen-air chemistry in the combustor segment which begins near fuel injection and continues through combustor exhaust. Combustor ramp and inlet segments on the combustor lateral centerline were modelled as two dimensional. Comparisons to be shown include calculated versus measured wall static pressures as functions of axial flow coordinate, and calculated path-averaged density contours versus an holographic Interferogram.

Watkins, William B.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Combined Bluntness and Roughness Effects on Cones at Hypersonic Speeds

This computational study investigates the effects of discrete roughness elements on a blunt cone at zero degrees angle of attack in a Mach 6 flow. Motivation was provided by experiments conducted in the Air Force Research Laboratory Mach 6 High Reynolds Number facility on a 7-degree half-angle cone with a roughness array located at 45 degrees from the apex on two nose tips of different blutness but equivalent roughness Reynolds number. Transition was only affected on the blunter cone, indicating that the transition onset is associated with the combined effects of bluntness and roughness. The present study investigates the 15.24 mm nose radius, 420 azimuthal wavenumber case via Navier-Stokes computations of the laminar base flow and instability analysis. Plane-marching parabolized stability equations (PSE) and inflow-resolvent analysis based on the three-dimensional, harmonic linearized Navier-Stokes equations (HLNSE) are used to calculate the amplification of disturbances along the roughness wake as well as over the roughness nearfield. Results show that the roughness shape can have a great impact on the characteristics of the most amplified wake instabilities. For the experimental configuration with cubic roughness elements of 15 μ m height, the flow is marginally unstable. For prismatic elements of 20 μ m height, the PSE predicts a logarithmic disturbance amplification ratio of N = 5.6 along its wake, but this ratio increases to N = 9.6 when the amplification over the roughness and separation regions is included in the inflow-resolvent analysis.

Boundary-layer transition↗
NASA NTRS2022

Stability Analysis of Streaks Induced By Optimized Vortex Generators

Numerical computations are performed to investigate the potential for transition control in an axisymmetric boundary layer via fully realizable, streamwise stationary streaks induced by an azimuthally periodic array of surface mounted vortex generators (VGs). Previous work has shown that suitable streaks of this type can significantly reduce the growth of Mack’s second mode instabilities, but large streak amplitudes can make the flow susceptible to previously absent streak instabilities that can become the leading cause of transition. Here, we use the adjoint capabilities of the SU2 flow solver to optimize the VG shape to maximize the reduction in the growth of second-mode disturbances while also preventing the streak amplitudes from reaching large enough values to precipitate an earlier onset of transition via streak instabilities. The geometry and the freestream flow conditions are selected to match a relevant trajectory lo-cation from the HIFiRE-1 flight experiment. Results show that the optimized VGs can increase the mean streak amplitude by 117% with respect to a manually developed baseline design. The stability of this optimized basic state is analyzed via the plane-marching parabolized stability equations, predicting a fully laminar flow over the entire cone, or equivalently, yielding transition delay of 130% versus the 17% for the baseline VGs.

Boundary layer transition↗
NASA NTRS1990

Experimental investigation of a single flush-mounted hypermixing nozzle

The results of an experimental wind tunnel investigation of a circular supersonic jet (m sub j = 3.47) injected at a 10 degree angle into a supersonic freestream. The jet penetrates a boundary layer, which has a thickness approximately the same as the jet nozzle exit diameter. Measurements were made for nominal freestream Mach numbers of 1.6, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0. Three jet total pressures were run at each freestream Mach number, resulting in twelve separate operating conditions. Mean data accumulated by means of static and total pressure probe instrumentation are presented at two axial stations: seven jet nozzle diameters upstream and 15 jet nozzle diameters downstream from where the centerline of the nozzle intersects the wind tunnel wall. For one condition at each freestream Mach number, the jet air was seeded with a hydrocarbon trace gas and the flow was sampled at the downstream measurement plane to quantify the mean mixing of the two streams. Surface oil flow visualization was also used to investigate the flow interaction. All results are for air-to-air mixing. The measurements indicate the presence of two pairs contra-rotating vortices. One pair follows the jet trajectory and tends to split the jet into two streams. A smaller pair, rotating in an opposite sense, develops in the near wall region. Reported results include Mach number and volume fraction distributions in the cross plane, as well as jet penetration and mixing efficiency.

Davis, David O.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Supersonic far-field boundary conditions for transonic small-disturbance theory

Characteristic far-field boundary conditions for supersonic freestream flow have been developed and implemented within a transonic small-disturbance code. The boundary conditions have been implemented within the CAP-TSD code which has been developed recently for aeroelastic analysis of complete aircraft configurations. These boundary conditions improve the accuracy of the solutions for supersonic freestream applications. They also allow the extent of the grid to be much smaller, thus providing savings in the computational time required to obtain solutions. Comparisons are shown between surface pressures computed using large and small grid extents for the NACA 0012 airfoil and the F-5 wing at various Mach numbers and angles of attack. Both steady and unsteady results are presented and comparisons are made with Euler results and with experimental data to assess the accuracy of the new far-field boundary conditions. Comparisons of these results show that the supersonic boundary conditions allow a much smaller grid to be used without losing accuracy.

Gibbons, Michael D.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Plume-Free Stream Interaction Heating Effects During Orion Crew Module Reentry

During reentry of the Orion Crew Module (CM), vehicle attitude control will be performed by firing reaction control system (RCS) thrusters. Simulation of RCS plumes and their interaction with the oncoming flow has been difficult for the analysis community due to the large scarf angles of the RCS thrusters and the unsteady nature of the Orion capsule backshell environments. The model for the aerothermal database has thus relied on wind tunnel test data to capture the heating effects of thruster plume interactions with the freestream. These data are only valid for the continuum flow regime of the reentry trajectory. A Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) analysis was performed to study the vehicle heating effects that result from the RCS thruster plume interaction with the oncoming freestream flow at high altitudes during Orion CM reentry. The study was performed with the DSMC Analysis Code (DAC). The inflow boundary conditions for the jets were obtained from Data Parallel Line Relaxation (DPLR) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solutions. Simulations were performed for the roll, yaw, pitch-up and pitch-down jets at altitudes of 105 km, 125 km and 160 km as well as vacuum conditions. For comparison purposes (see Figure 1), the freestream conditions were based on previous DAC simulations performed without active RCS to populate the aerodynamic database for the Orion CM. Other inputs to the analysis included a constant Orbital reentry velocity of 7.5 km/s and angle of attack of 160 degrees. The results of the study showed that the interaction effects decrease quickly with increasing altitude. Also, jets with highly scarfed nozzles cause more severe heating compared to the nozzles with lower scarf angles. The difficulty of performing these simulations was based on the maximum number density and the ratio of number densities between the freestream and the plume for each simulation. The lowest altitude solutions required a substantial amount of computational resources (up to 1800 processors) to simulate approximately 2 billion molecules for the refined (adapted) solutions.

Marichalar, J.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Predictions of Separated and Transitional Boundary Layers Under Low-Pressure Turbine Airfoil Conditions Using an Intermittency Transport Equation

A new transport equation for the intermittency factor was proposed to predict separated and transitional boundary layers under low-pressure turbine airfoil conditions. The intermittent behavior of the transitional flows is taken into account and incorporated into computations by modifying the eddy viscosity, mu(sub t), with the intermittency factor, gamma. Turbulent quantities are predicted by using Menter's two-equation turbulence model (SST). The intermittency factor is obtained from a transport equation model, which not only can reproduce the experimentally observed streamwise variation of the intermittency in the transition zone, but also can provide a realistic cross-stream variation of the intermittency profile. In this paper, the intermittency model is used to predict a recent separated and transitional boundary layer experiment under low pressure turbine airfoil conditions. The experiment provides detailed measurements of velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and intermittency profiles for a number of Reynolds numbers and freestream turbulent intensity conditions and is suitable for validation purposes. Detailed comparisons of computational results with experimental data are presented and good agreements between the experiments and predictions are obtained.

Suzen, Y. Bora↗
NASA NTRS2003

Predictions of Separated and Transitional Boundary Layers Under Low-Pressure Turbine Airfoil Conditions Using an Intermittency Transport Equation

A new transport equation for the intermittency factor was proposed to predict separated and transitional boundary layers under low-pressure turbine airfoil conditions. The intermittent behavior of the transitional flows is taken into account and incorporated into computations by modifying the eddy viscosity, t , with the intermittency factor, y. Turbulent quantities are predicted by using Menter s two-equation turbulence model (SST). The intermittency factor is obtained from a transport equation model, which not only can reproduce the experimentally observed streamwise variation of the intermittency in the transition zone, but also can provide a realistic cross-stream variation of the intermittency profile. In this paper, the intermittency model is used to predict a recent separated and transitional boundary layer experiment under low pressure turbine airfoil conditions. The experiment provides detailed measurements of velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and intermittency profiles for a number of Reynolds numbers and freestream turbulent intensity conditions and is suitable for validation purposes. Detailed comparisons of computational results with experimental data are presented and good agreements between the experiments and predictions are obtained.

Suzen, Y. B.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Emission Spectral Measurements in the Plenum of an Arc Jet Wind Tunnel

Arc jet wind tunnel facilities are used to evaluate thermal protection system materials for re-entry vehicles. The high speed, high temperature flowfield generated by the arc jet can simulate the extreme aerodynamic heating environment experienced during re-entry so that the survivability of heat shield materials and performance of various designs options can be tested. Although the re-entry heating environment can be approximated in the arc jet facility, the flowfield only partially simulates the actual re-entry flight conditions. Reynolds numbers are not matched so that surface shear stress distributions and mass transfer rates due to ablation or other mechanisms are not modeled correctly. Unlike flight conditions the arc freestream air is in non-equilibrium because of the rapid expansion that occurs in the supersonic nozzle. To properly study the actual re-entry flow environment, computational fluid dynamics, computational chemistry and radiation models must be used. Arc jet tunnel tests serve to validate these models. To perform accurate simulations inlet and boundary-conditions are needed, which come from measurements of the flowfield. The present study is concerned with measurements in the plenum region of an arc heater. In the past, conditions in the arc heater flowfield have been predicted using simulations since conventional measurement techniques could not be used in the harsh extremely high temperature environment. The present study is part of a recent push to utilize optical techniques to help better characterize the arc jet flowfields. Emission measurements have been made in the shock layer and the constrictor section of the arc heater to determine temperatures and species number densities. LIF measurements have been made in the free stream to determine temperature and velocity.

Donohue, Jim↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Transition Measurements on the SWiFT Model in the National Transonic Facility

Boundary layer transition locations on the Swept Wing Flow Test (SWiFT) Hybrid Wing Body model were measured in the National Transonic Facility (NTF) at the NASA Langley Research Center using several different methods. These methods include sublimating chemical flow visualization for a limited number of low Reynolds number conditions, as well as mean static pressure and dynamic pressure measurements. Results are presented for a range of conditions in the NTF, demonstrating Mach and Reynolds number effects. The transition front locations obtained from the different techniques agree well. A variation of the static pressure transition detection method is described in which continuous angle of attack polars are performed. This approach enables detection of the transition front at more challenging (high Reynolds number) conditions than is possible with sparser data from pitch-pause angle-of-attack polars. The trip dot effectiveness is also verified using all of the available diagnostics. Additionally, low Reynolds number results are compared with those acquired on the same model at the Aircraft Research Association (ARA) facility, and these results show good agreement overall, suggesting similar freestream flow quality conditions of the two facilities.

National Transonic Facility↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Transition Measurements on the SWiFT Model in the National Transonic Facility

Boundary layer transition locations on the Swept Wing Flow Test (SWiFT) Hybrid Wing Body model were measured in the National Transonic Facility (NTF) at the NASA Langley Research Center using several different methods. These methods include sublimating chemical flow visualization for a limited number of low Reynolds number conditions, as well as mean static pressure and dynamic pressure measurements. Results are presented for a range of conditions in the NTF, demonstrating Mach and Reynolds number effects. The transition front locations obtained from the different techniques agree well. A variation of the static pressure transition detection method is described in which continuous angle of attack polars are performed. This approach enables detection of the transition front at more challenging (high Reynolds number) conditions than is possible with sparser data from pitch-pause angle-of-attack polars. The trip dot effectiveness is also verified using all of the available diagnostics. Additionally, low Reynolds number results are compared with those acquired on the same model at the Aircraft Research Association (ARA) facility, and these results show good agreement overall, suggesting similar freestream flow quality conditions of the two facilities.

National Transonic Facility↗
NASA NTRS1984

Analysis of large solid propellant rocket engine exhaust plumes using the direct simulation Monte Carlo method

A new solution procedure has been developed to analyze the flowfield properties in the vicinity of the Inertial Upper Stage/Spacecraft during the 1st stage (SRMI) burn. Continuum methods are used to compute the nozzle flow and the exhaust plume flowfield as far as the boundary where the breakdown of translational equilibrium leaves these methods invalid. The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is applied everywhere beyond this breakdown boundary. The flowfield distributions of density, velocity, temperature, relative abundance, surface flux density, and pressure are discussed for each species for 2 sets of boundary conditions: vacuum and freestream. The interaction of the exhaust plume and the freestream with the spacecraft and the 2-stream direct interaction are discussed. The results show that the low density, high velocity, counter flowing free-stream substantially modifies the flowfield properties and the flux density incident on the spacecraft. A freestream bow shock is observed in the data, located forward of the high density region of the exhaust plume into which the freestream gas does not penetrate. The total flux density incident on the spacecraft, integrated over the SRM1 burn interval is estimated to be of the order of 10 to the 22nd per sq m (about 1000 atomic layers).

Hueser, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Compressible laminar boundary layer with real gas effects for flight conditions to M(e) = 8 and T(o) = 2500 K

One of the problems for the hypersonic flights is the lack of accurate methods for predicting the boundary layer parameters at high Mach numbers and temperatures. At high Mach numbers and temperatures, the real gas effects should be included in calculations of the compressible laminar and turbulent boundary layers. By introducing the Mangler-Levy-Lees transformation, the compressible laminar boundary layer equations were transformed into two ordinary differential equations. To solve these ordinary differential equations for the flow over a flat plate, the Runge-Kutta method of order 5 and 6 was used with a secant method of solving the simultaneous nonlinear equations for the boundary layer conditions. Instead of using the perfect gas assumptions, the properties of air in the temperature range of 100 to 2500 K at M(e) = 8 were used for the calculations. The calculations were carried out for free flight conditions. The real gas effects were significant for the conditions of high freestream Mach numbers, and the boundary layer parameters from the real gas solutions were quite different from the existing formulas and solutions.

Nagamatsu, H. T.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Leading-edge vortex solutions with large total pressure losses

Computations are presented for a Lambda = 75 deg delta wing in a supersonic freestream under two conditions which lead to leading-edge vortices. For one condition, analysis of the computed vortical flow reveals a closed streamline in the core. From varying computational parameters, it appears that this is due to truncation error of the convective derivatives. For the other condition, comparisons are made with wind-tunnel data, and good agreement is noted for pitot pressure distributions, flow angles on the symmetry plane, and the position of an embedded shock. Many of the aerodynamic parameters are shown to be insensitive to grid spacing.

Murman, Earll M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Observations and analyses of natural laminar flow over a nonlifting airframe surface

A NASA-sponsored flight experiment program has been conducted with a twin-engined, propeller-driven general aviation aircraft, in order to ascertain the transition location and mode over the nonaxisymmetric fuselage forebody. Attention is given to the transition instrumentation layout and the flight test plan matrix. The results obtained for transition in varying freestream and propeller conditions will furnish insights into transition mechanisms and the significance of crossflow instability during transition in realistic nonaxisymmetric fuselage forebodies at angles of attack and sideslip.

Vijgen, Paul M. H. W.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Experimental Evaluation of BLI Propulsion: The Boundary Layer Ingesting Inlet/Distortion-Tolerant Fan Solution

NASA has successfully developed a new testbed configuration for experimentally evaluating embedded boundary layer ingesting aircraft propulsors in its 8'x6' Supersonic Wind Tunnel. This testbed meets the challenges of providing the necessary freestream flow Mach conditions and desired range and distribution of boundary layer thickness for embedded aircraft propulsion systems. The testbed consists of a 48ft long raised wind tunnel floor aircraft surface simulator and a boundary layer regulation system to produce propulsion-local aircraft aerodynamic flow fields. This durable special test equipment is designed to be installed in the wind tunnel's transonic test section and is capable of evaluating a wide range of subcritical and supercritical airframe-propulsion integration configurations for subsonic cruise aircraft. The wind tunnel and testbed are well suited for meeting the test requirements of these propulsors in the most cost efficient way and has been aerodynamically calibrated and proven through tests of a first-of-its-kind boundary layer ingesting propulsor.

Arend, David J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

DSMC simulations of Mach 20 nitrogen flows about a 70 degree blunted cone and its wake

Numerical results obtained with the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method are presented for Mach 20 nitrogen flow about a 70-deg blunted cone. The flow conditions simulated are those that can be obtained in existing low-density hypersonic wind tunnels. Three sets of flow conditions are simulated with freestream Knudsen numbers ranging from 0.03 to 0.001. The focus is to characterize the wake flow under rarefied conditions. This is accomplished by calculating the influence of rarefaction on wake structure along with the impact that an afterbody has on flow features. This data report presents extensive information concerning flowfield features and surface quantities.

Moss, James N.↗