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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 199 records · Page 11

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NASA NTRS1981

An asymptotic unsteady lifting-line theory with energetics and optimum motion of thrust-producing lifting surfaces

A low frequency unsteady lifting-line theory is developed for a harmonically oscillating wing of large aspect ratio. The wing is assumed to be chordwise rigid but completely flexible in the span direction. The theory is developed by use of the method of matched asymptotic expansions which reduces the problem from a singular integral equation to quadrature. The wing displacements are prescribed and the pressure field, airloads, and unsteady induced downwash are obtained in closed form. The influence of reduced frequency, aspect ratio, planform shape, and mode of oscillation on wing aerodynamics is demonstrated through numerical examples. Compared with lifting-surface theory, computation time is reduced significantly. Using the present theory, the energetic quantities associated with the propulsive performance of a finite wing oscillating in combined pitch and heave are obtained in closed form. Numerical examples are presented for an elliptic wing.

Ahmadi, A. R.↗

NASA NTRS1980

An experimental investigation of three dimensional low speed minimum interference wind tunnel for high lift wings

As a means to achieve a minimum interference correction wind tunnel, a partially actively controlled test section was experimentally examined. A jet flapped wing with 0.91 m (36 in) span and R = 4.05 was used as a model to create moderately high lift coefficients. The partially controlled test section was simulated using an insert, a rectangular box 0.96 x 1.44 m (3.14 x 4.71 ft) open on both ends in the direction of the tunnel air flow, placed in the University of Washington Aeronautical Laboratories (UWAL) 2.44 x 3.66 m (8 x 12 ft) wind tunnel. A tail located three chords behind the wing was used to measure the downwash at the tail region. The experimental data indicates that, within the range of momentum coefficient examined, it appears to be unnecessary to actively control all four sides of the test section walls in order to achieve the near interference free flow field environment in a small wind tunnel. The remaining wall interference can be satisfactorily corrected by the vortex lattice method.

Shindo, S.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Unsteady lifting-line theory with applications

Unsteady lifting-line theory is developed for a flexible unswept wing of large aspect ratio oscillating at low frequency in inviscid incompressible flow. The theory is formulated in terms of the acceleration potential and treated by the method of matched asymptotic expansions. The wing displacements are prescribed and the pressure field, airloads, and unsteady induced downwash are obtained in closed form. Sample numerical calculations are presented. The present work identifies and resolves errors in the unsteady lifting-line theory of James and points out a limitation in that of Van Holten. Comparison of the results of Reissner's approximate unsteady lifting-surface theory with those of the present work shows favorable agreement. The present work thus provides some formal justification for Reissner's ad hoc theory. For engineering purposes, the region of applicability of the theory in the reduced frequency-aspect ratio domain is identified approximately and found to cover most cases of practical interest.

Ahmadi, A. R.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Alleviation of the subsonic pitch-up of delta wings

A 'pylon vortex generator' concept has been proposed for alleviating the subsonic pitch-up instability of highly swept supersonic-cruise wings. Fixed at a part-span location, this leading-edge device utilizes the lateral velocity component in the flow approaching the swept leading edge to generate a streamwise vortex, opposite in sense to the tip vortex. The vortex-induced downwash outboard of the device serves to control the leading-edge stall development in the wing-tip regions. Wind-tunnel results on 60-deg and 74-deg flat-plate delta wings are presented to illustrate the operation of the pylon vortex generator in modifying the spanwise leading-edge separation characteristics resulting in effective alleviation of the pitch-up.

Rao, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Selection of some rotor parameters to reduce pitch-roll coupling of helicopter flight dynamics

The results of a study conducted to investigate further a means of choosing primary rotor parameters to reduce the coupling of longitudinal and lateral flapping in hover and in forward flight are presented. The rotor parameters included - flapping hinge offset, flapping hinge restraint, pitch-flap coupling, and blade Lock number - are known to influence the agility, stability, and operational safety of helicopters. Effects of the nonuniform downwash model of White and Blake on the blade flapping motion are examined, and the theoretical calculation is then correlated with experimental test data. The condition for achieving perfect decoupling of the flapping response due to aircraft pitch and roll rates, which was previously obtained for a hovering rotor, is evaluated in forward flight. The results show that negligible coupling is achieved in forward flight; moreover, there is the additional benefit of a slight reduction in the coupling of the roll rate to coning. It is also indicated that the values of the rotor parameters chosen according to the decoupling condition are moderate and that the flapping motion is stable with the parameters chosen.

Chen, R. T. N.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Airloads on bluff bodies, with application to the rotor-induced downloads on tilt-rotor aircraft

The aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils with several flap configurations were studied theoretically and experimentally in environments that simulate a wing immersed in the downwash of a hovering rotor. Special techniques were developed for correcting and validating the wind tunnel data for large blockage effects, and the test results were used to evaluate two modern blockage effects, and the test results were used to evaluate two modern computational aerodynamics codes. The combined computed and measured results show that improved flap and leading-edge configurations can be designed which will achieve large reductions in the downloads of tilt-rotor aircraft, and thereby improve their hover efficiency.

Mccroskey, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Tiltable-Wing, Tiltable-Rotor Aircraft

New airplane wing tilts 90 degrees, leading edge up, to feather into rotor downwash during hovering, takeoff, or landing. After hovering or takeoff, rotors tilted forward slightly to accelerate airplane into forward flight. As airplane accelerates, wings start to tilt forward. At speeds of 20 to 40 knots (10.3 to 20.6 m/s), wings are in horizontal orientation. In this speed range, rotor power requirements decreased sufficiently to allow wings to assume normal orientation. Tiltable wings movable independently of tiltable rotors. Tilted at whatever pitch schedule yields greatest efficiency.

Stroub, R. H.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Approximate neutral point of a subsonic canard aircraft

An approximate formula is derived for the position of the neutral point in canard aircraft. This formula accounts for the aerodynamic interference between the wing (rear wing) and the canard (forward wing). Topics covered include determination of the canard downwash derivative, determination of the canard and wing liftslopes including the aerodynamic interference, and calculation of the neutral point position.

Phillips, J. D.↗

NASA NTRS1985

An experimental investigation of propfan installations on an upswept supercritical wing at transonic Mach numbers

An investigation has been conducted in the Langley 16 Foot Transonic Tunnel to determine propfan installation and slipstream interference effects on an unswept supercritical wing. This data can be used for verification of existing and developing theoretical codes as well as giving an understanding of the flow interactions associated with propeller/nacelle/wing integration. The investigation was conducted over a Mach number range of 0.5 to 0.8 and at angles of attack from 0 deg to 3 deg. The propeller was powered by an air turbine simulator and the exhaust from the air turbine was used to simulate the exhaust from the propfan nacelle. Reynolds number based on wing chord varied from 3 to 4 million. Results indicate that the propfan causes an increase in the wing lift coefficient. It was found that most of the propeller induced swirl is recovered by the wing. The propeller slipstream also causes a large favorable leading edge suction peak on the upwash side and a smaller unfavorable decrease on the downwash side.

Bartlett, G. R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Airloads on bluff bodies, with application to the rotor-induced downloads on tilt-rotor aircraft

Mccroskey, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Unsteady lifting-line theory as a singular-perturbation problem

Unsteady lifting-line theory is developed for a wing of large aspect ratio oscillating at low frequency in inviscid incompressible flow. The wing is assumed to have a rigid chord but a flexible span. Use of the method of matched asymptotic expansions reduces the problem from a singular integral equation to quadrature. The pressure field and airloads, for a prescribed wing shape and motion, are obtained in closed form as expansions in inverse aspect ratio. A rigorous definition of unsteady induced downwash is also obtained. Numerical calculations are presented for an elliptic wing in pitch and heave; compared with numerical lifting-surface theory, computation time is reduced significantly. The present work also identifies and resolves errors in the unsteady lifting line theory of James (1975), and points out a limitation in that of Van Holten (1975, 1976, 1977).

Ahmadi, A.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Calculating Aerodynamic-Stability Derivatives

VORSTAB program developed to calculate lateral-directional characteristics of nonplanar wing/body combinations in subsonic flow. Mathematically determines effects of edge-separated vortex flow, including augmented vortex lift, strake-induced downwash, and vortex breakdown. VORSTAB written in FORTRAN IV.

Lan, C. E.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Aerodynamic characteristics of a propulsive wing-canard concept at STOL speeds

A full span model of a wing/canard concept representing a fighter configuration has been tested at STOL conditions in the NASA Langley 4 x 7 meter tunnel. The results of this test are presented, and comparisons are made to previous data of the same configuration tested as a semispan model. The potential of the propulsive wing/canard to develop very high lift coefficients was investigated with several nozzle spans (nozzle aspect ratios). Although longitudinal trim was not accomplished with the blowing distributions and configurations tested, the propulsive wing/canard appears to offer an approach to managing the large negative pitching moments associated with trailing edge flap blowing. Also presented are data showing the effects of large flap deflections and relative wing/canard positions. Presented in the appendix to the report are limited lateral-directional and ground effects data, as well as wing downwash measurements.

Stewart, V. R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Ground effects on V/STOL and STOL aircraft: A survey

The flow fields encountered by jet- and fan-powered Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing (V/STOL) aircraft operating in ground effect are reviewed and their general effects on the aerodynamic characteristics are discussed. The ground effects considered include: (1) the suckdown experienced by a single jet configuration in hover; (2) the fountain flow and additional suckdown experienced by multiple jet configurations in hover; (3) the ground vortex generated by jet and jet flap configurations in short takeoff and landing (STOL) operation and the associated aerodynamic and hot-gas-ingestion effects; and (4) the change in the downwash at the tail due to ground proximity. After over 30 years of research on V/STOL aircraft, the general flow phenomena are well-known and, in most areas, the effects of ground proximity can be established or can be determined experimentally. However, there are some anomalies in the current data base which are discussed.

Kuhn, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Performance and loads data from a hover test of a full-scale XV-15 rotor

A hover test of a full-scale XV-15 rotor was conducted at the Outdoor Aerodynamic Research Facility at Ames Research Center. The primary objective of the test was to obtain accurate measurements of the hover performance of the original, metal-blade XV-15 rotor system. Data were acquired for rotor tip Mach numbers ranging from 0.60 to 0.73. This report presents data on rotor performance, rotor wake downwash velocities, and rotor loads.

Felker, F. F.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Towards an advanced vortex flap system: The cavity flap

An extension of the vortex flap concept was explored with the aim of providing high-alpha flight control capability coupled with maneuver drag reduction for highly swept wing configurations. A retractable lower surface flap mounted on a translating hinge is proposed, allowing chordwise extension as well as deflection, the two movements being independently controlled. The frontal cavity formed by the partially extended and deflected flap captures a vortex above a certain angle of attack. The cavity vortex downwash alleviates the effective incidence of the wing leading edge, thus modulating vortex lift; at the same time, the induced suction in the cavity generates thrust. These postulated aerodynamic features of the cavity flap were validated through low speed tunnel pressure and visualization tests on a 65 deg swept oblique wing model, which also provided initial trends of the leading edge vortex alleviation and cavity suction with respect to flap extension, deflection and angle of attack. Force tests on a 60 deg delta model further showed the cavity flap L/D performance to compare favorably with the conventional vortex flap. A two segment flap arrangement with independently control led segments was envisaged for exploiting the vortex modulation capability of the cavity flap for pitch, roll and yaw control, in addition to drag reduction at high angles of attack.

Rao, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Rotor/wing aerodynamic interactions in hover

An experimental and theoretical investigation of rotor/wing aerodynamic interactions in hover is described. The experimental investigation consisted of both a large-scale and small-scale test. A 0.658-scale, V-22 rotor and wing was used in the large-scale test. Wind download, wing surface pressure, rotor performance, and rotor downwash data from the large-scale test are presented. A small-scale experiment was conducted to determine how changes in the rotor/wing geometry affected the aerodynamic interactions. These geometry variations included the distance between the rotor and wing, wing incidence angle, and configurations both with the rotor axis at the tip of the wing (tilt rotor configuration) and with the rotor axis at the center of the wing (compound helicopter configuration). A wing with boundary-layer control was also tested to evaluate the effect of leading and trailing edge upper surface blowing on the wing download. A computationally efficient, semi-empirical theory was developed to predict the download on the wing. Finally, correlations between the theoretical predictions and test data are presented.

Felker, F. F.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Ground effects on V/STOL and STOL aircraft - A survey

The flow fields encountered by jet- and fan-powered Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing (V/STOL) aircraft operating in ground effect are reviewed and their general effects on the aerodynamic characteristics are discussed. The ground effects considered include (1) the suckdown experienced by a single jet configuration in hover, (2) the fountain flow and additional suckdown experienced by multiple jet configurations in hover, (3) the ground vortex generated by jet and jet flap configurations in Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) operation and the associated aerodynamic and hot-gas-ingestion effects, and (4) the change in the downwash at the tail due to ground proximity. After over 30 years of research on V/STOL aircraft, the general flow phenomena are well known and, in most areas, the effects of ground proximity can be estimated or can be determined experimentally. However, there are some anomalies in the current data base which are discussed.

Eshlemen, J.↗