Experimental investigation of unsteady fan flow interaction with downstream struts
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Ng, W. F.↗
SEARCH · Search NASA
Results for “DOWNSTREAM FLOW”
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.
Analysis of two-dimensional compressible-flow loss characteristics downstream of turbomachine blade rows in terms of basic boundary-layer characteristics
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Stewart, Warner L↗
Discrete sonic jets used as boundary-layer trips at Mach numbers of 6 and 8.5
The effect of discrete three-dimensional sonic jets used to promote transition on a sharp-leading-edge flat plate at Mach numbers of 6 and 8.5 and unit Reynolds numbers as high as 2.5 x 100,000 per cm in the Langley 20-inch hypersonic tunnels is discussed. An examination of the downstream flow-field distortions associated with the discrete jets for the Mach 8.5 flow was also conducted. Jet trips are found to produce lengths of turbulent flow comparable to those obtained for spherical-roughness-element trips while significantly reducing the downstream flow distortions. A Reynolds number based upon secondary jet penetration into a supersonic main flow is used to correlate jet-trip effectiveness just as a Reynolds number based upon roughness height is used to correlate spherical-trip effectiveness. Measured heat-transfer data are in agreement with the predictions.
Stone, D. R.↗
Aerodynamic Effects of Turbulence Intensity on a Variable-Speed Power-Turbine Blade with Large Incidence and Reynolds Number Variations
The effects of inlet turbulence intensity on the aerodynamic performance of a variable speed power turbine blade are examined over large incidence and Reynolds number ranges. Both high and low turbulence studies were conducted in the NASA Glenn Research Center Transonic Turbine Blade Cascade Facility. The purpose of the low inlet turbulence study was to examine the transitional flow effects that are anticipated at cruise Reynolds numbers. The high turbulence study extends this to LPT-relevant turbulence levels while perhaps sacrificing transitional flow effects. Downstream total pressure and exit angle data were acquired for ten incidence angles ranging from +15.8 to 51.0. For each incidence angle, data were obtained at five flow conditions with the exit Reynolds number ranging from 2.12105 to 2.12106 and at a design exit Mach number of 0.72. In order to achieve the lowest Reynolds number, the exit Mach number was reduced to 0.35 due to facility constraints. The inlet turbulence intensity, Tu, was measured using a single-wire hotwire located 0.415 axial-chord upstream of the blade row. The inlet turbulence levels ranged from 0.25 - 0.4 for the low Tu tests and 8- 15 for the high Tu study. Tu measurements were also made farther upstream so that turbulence decay rates could be calculated as needed for computational inlet boundary conditions. Downstream flow field measurements were obtained using a pneumatic five-hole pitchyaw probe located in a survey plane 7 axial chord aft of the blade trailing edge and covering three blade passages. Blade and endwall static pressures were acquired for each flow condition as well. The blade loading data show that the suction surface separation that was evident at many of the low Tu conditions has been eliminated. At the extreme positive and negative incidence angles, the data show substantial differences in the exit flow field. These differences are attributable to both the higher inlet Tu directly and to the thinner inlet endwall boundary layer that the turbulence grid imposes.
Turbines↗
Downstream influence of swept slot injection in hypersonic turbulent flow
Results of an experimental and numerical investigation of tangential swept slot injection into a thick turbulent boundary layer at Mach 6 are presented. Film cooling effectiveness, skin friction, and flow structure downstream of the swept slot injection were investigated. The data were compared with that for unswept slots, and it was found that cooling effectiveness and skin friction reductions are not significantly affected by sweeping the slot.
Hefner, J. N.↗
Multi-grid technique for the solution of incompressible Navier-Stokes equations
A computationally efficient method is proposed for obtaining fine-mesh solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations for high-Re flow, including separation. The method involves implementing a multi-grid solution procedure with suitably chosen elements, such that the resulting overall solution technique is efficient as well as robust. The robustness and efficiency of the solution technique are demonstrated by applying it to three model problems: flow in a driven cavity, downstream asymptotic flow in curved ducts of square and polar sections, and Newmann boundary-value problem in clustered curvilinear orthogonal coordinates.
Ghia, K. N.↗
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.↗
Enhanced viscous flow drag reduction using acoustic excitation
Large eddy break up devices (LEBUs) constitute a promising method of obtaining drag reduction in a turbulent boundary layer. Enhancement of the LEBU effectiveness by exciting its trailing edge with acoustic waves phase locked to the large scale structure influencing the momentum transfer to the wall is sought. An initial estimate of the required sound pressure level for an effective pulse was obtained by considering the magnitude of the pressure perturbations at the near wake of a thin plate in inviscid flow. Detailed skin friction measurments were obtained in the flow region downstream of a LEBU excited with acoustic waves. The data are compared with skin friction measurements of a simply manipulated flow, without acoustic excitation and with a plain flow configuration. The properties and the scales of motion in the flow regime downstream of the acoustically excited LEBU are studied. A parametric study based upon the characteristics of the acoustic input was pursued in addition to the careful mapping of the drag reduction phenomenon within the acoustically manipulated boundary layer. This study of boundary layer manipulation has lead to improved skin friction drag reduction and further understanding of the turbulent boundary layer.
Nagel, R. T.↗
A new methodology for free wake analysis using curved vortex elements
A method using curved vortex elements was developed for helicopter rotor free wake calculations. The Basic Curve Vortex Element (BCVE) is derived from the approximate Biot-Savart integration for a parabolic arc filament. When used in conjunction with a scheme to fit the elements along a vortex filament contour, this method has a significant advantage in overall accuracy and efficiency when compared to the traditional straight-line element approach. A theoretical and numerical analysis shows that free wake flows involving close interactions between filaments should utilize curved vortex elements in order to guarantee a consistent level of accuracy. The curved element method was implemented into a forward flight free wake analysis, featuring an adaptive far wake model that utilizes free wake information to extend the vortex filaments beyond the free wake regions. The curved vortex element free wake, coupled with this far wake model, exhibited rapid convergence, even in regions where the free wake and far wake turns are interlaced. Sample calculations are presented for tip vortex motion at various advance ratios for single and multiple blade rotors. Cross-flow plots reveal that the overall downstream wake flow resembles a trailing vortex pair. A preliminary assessment shows that the rotor downwash field is insensitive to element size, even for relatively large curved elements.
Bliss, Donald B.↗
Influence of cross-flow on nonlinear Tollmien-Schlichting/vortex interaction
The transition of an incompressible three-dimensional boundary layer with strong cross-flow is considered theoretically and computationally in the context of vortex/wave interactions. Specifically the work centers on two lower-branch Tollmien-Schlichting waves which mutually interact nonlinearly to induce a longitudinal vortex flow. The vortex motion in turn gives rise to significant wave modulation via wall-shear forcing. The characteristic Reynolds number is large and, as a consequence, the waves' and the vortex motion are governed primarily by triple deck theory. The nonlinear interaction is captured by a viscous partial-differential system for the vortex coupled with a pair of amplitude equations for each wave pressure. Following analysis and computation over a wide range of parameters, three distinct responses are found to emerge in the nonlinear behavior of the flow solution downstream: an algebraic finite-distance singularity, far-downstream saturation or far-downstream wave decay leaving pure vortex flow. These depend on the input conditions, the wave angles and the size of the cross flow.
Davis, D. A. R.↗
Transition in a Supersonic Boundary-Layer Due to Roughness and Acoustic Disturbances
The transition process induced by the interaction of an isolated roughness with acoustic disturbances in the free stream is numerically investigated for a boundary layer over a flat plate with a blunted leading edge at a free stream Mach number of 3.5. The roughness is assumed to be of Gaussian shape and the acoustic disturbances are introduced as boundary condition at the outer field. The governing equations are solved using the 5'h-~rder accurate weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for space discretization and using third- order total-variation-diminishing (TVD) Runge- Kutta scheme for time integration. The steady field induced by the two and three-dimensional roughness is also computed. The flow field induced by two-dimensional roughness exhibits different characteristics depending on the roughness heights. At small roughness heights the flow passes smoothly over the roughness, at moderate heights the flow separates downstream of the roughness and at larger roughness heights the flow separates upstream and downstream of the roughness. Computations also show that disturbances inside the boundary layer is due to the direct interaction of the acoustic waves and isolated roughness plays a minor role in generating instability waves.
Balakumar, P.↗
A group-velocity criterion for breakdown of vortex flow: An application to measured inlet profiles
Vortex flows exhibiting breakdown in a slightly divergent duct were measured. The slowly varying vortex flow field downstream of the entrance and upstream of the breakdown region is obtained numerically by using the inviscid quasi-cylindrical approximation. In these calculations, the Faler and Lebovich's experimental data were used as the starting conditions at the entrance of the duct. The group velocity of wave propagation for the axisymmetric mode (n = 0) and the asymmetric modes (n = + or - 1 and n = + or - 2) are calculated for the entrance conditions. For the theoretically predicted slowly varying flow field downstream of the entrance, the wave characteristics of the n = 0 and n = + or - 1 modes are presented. It was concluded that the flows which subsequently undergo vortex breakdown are all predicted to be supercritical and stable to infinitesimal inviscid disturbances, including the axially symmetric as well as the nonsymmetric perturbations.
Tsai, C. Y.↗
The Three Dimensional Flow Field at the Exit of an Axial-Flow Turbine Rotor
A systematic and comprehensive investigation was performed to provide detailed data on the three dimensional viscous flow phenomena downstream of a modem turbine rotor and to understand the flow physics such as origin, nature, development of wakes, secondary flow, and leakage flow. The experiment was carried out in the Axial Flow Turbine Research Facility (AFTRF) at Penn State, with velocity measurements taken with a 3-D LDV System. Two radial traverses at 1% and 10% of chord downstream of the rotor have been performed to identify the three-dimensional flow features at the exit of the rotor blade row. Sufficient spatial resolution was maintained to resolve blade wake, secondary flow, and tip leakage flow. The wake deficit is found to be substantial, especially at 1% of chord downstream of the rotor. At this location, negative axial velocity occurs near the tip, suggesting flow separation in the tip clearance region. Turbulence intensities peak in the wake region, and cross- correlations are mainly associated with the velocity gradient of the wake deficit. The radial velocities, both in the wake and in the endwall region, are found to be substantial. Two counter-rotating secondary flows are identified in the blade passage, with one occupying the half span close to the casino and the other occupying the half span close to the hub. The tip leakage flow is well restricted to 10% immersion from the blade tip. There are strong vorticity distributions associated with these secondary flows and tip leakage flow. The passage averaged data are in good agreement with design values.
Lakshminarayana, B.↗
The free shear layer tone phenomenon and probe interference
The reported investigation shows that the hot-wire probe induces stable upstream oscillations in a free shear layer, similar to the jet edge tone mechanism. This effect can be significant also in measurements involving large-scale organized structure, conditional sampling, space-time correlation, and convection velocity, when a reference or indicator probe may be used near the origin of the free shear layer. It appears that even in a free shear layer without any wedge, an object in the flow sufficiently downstream can also provide feedback to the flow upstream. A description is given of the edge-tone phenomenon which is observed when a thin slit jet impinges on a plane wedge. Attention is given to the free shear layer tone induced by a hot-wire probe, the free shear layer tone phenomenon, and shear layer tone eigenvalues and eigenfunctions.
Hussain, A. K. M. F.↗
On nonlinear Tollmien-Schlichting/vortex interaction in three-dimensional boundary layers
The instability of an incompressible three-dimensional boundary layer (that is, one with cross-flow) is considered theoretically and computationally in the context of vortex/wave interactions. Specifically the work centers on two low amplitude, lower-branch Tollmien-Schlichting waves which mutually interact to induce a weak longitudinal vortex flow; the vortex motion, in turn, gives rise to significant wave-modulation via wall-shear forcing. The characteristic Reynolds number is taken as a large parameter and, as a consequence, the waves' and the vortex motion are governed primarily by triple-deck theory. The nonlinear interaction is captured by a viscous partial-differential system for the vortex coupled with a pair of amplitude equations for each wave pressure. Three distinct possibilities were found to emerge for the nonlinear behavior of the flow solution downstream - an algebraic finite-distance singularity, far downstream saturation or far-downstream wave-decay (leaving pure vortex flow) - depending on the input conditions, the wave angles, and the size of the cross-flow.
Davis, Dominic A. R.↗
Turbulence and pressure loss characteristics of the inlet vanes for the 80- by 120-ft wind tunnel
A series of wind tunnel investigations were conducted to determine the flow characteristics downstream of a set of wind tunnel inlet flow conditioning vanes. The purpose was to develop an understanding of the flow mechanisms that contributed to the pressure loss and turbulence generated by the vane set. The near-field characteristics and flow field development were investigated with a 1/3 scale two dimensional model of the vane set at near full-scale Reynolds numbers. In a second series of tests, the global flow field characteristics were investigated by means of a 1/15 scale model of the full vane set and the 5:1 contraction leading to the model's test section. Scale effects due to Reynolds number mismatch were identified and their significance noted and accounted for when possible. Scaling parameters were adopted that allowed predictions to be made of the expected turbulence and pressure distributions in the full-scale wind tunnel test section, based on the small-scale test results. The predictions were found to be in good agreement with actual measurements made in the full-scale facility.
Dudley, Michael R.↗
Investigation of Compressible Flow Mixing Losses Obtained Downstream of a Blade Row
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Stewart, Warner L↗
Direct heat exchanger for molten chloride fast reactor
A molten chloride fast reactor (MCFR) includes a plurality of reflectors defining a central core having a core geometric center. A flow channel fluidically connected to the central core. The flow channel includes an outlet flow channel downstream of the central core and an inlet flow channel upstream from the central core. A primary heat exchanger (PHX) disposed outside the central core and between the outlet flow channel and the inlet flow channel. The MCFR also includes a decay heat heat exchanger (DHHX). At least a portion of the DHHX is disposed above the core geometric center, and a fuel salt is configured to circulate at least partially through the outlet flow channel, the DHHX, the PHX, the inlet flow channel, and the central core.
Abbott, Ryan↗