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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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NASA NTRS1960

Supersonic Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Low-Drag Aircraft Configuration having an Arrow Wing of Aspect Ratio 1.86 and a Body of Fineness Ratio 20

A free-flight rocket-propelled-model investigation was conducted at Mach numbers of 1.2 to 1.9 to determine the longitudinal and lateral aero-dynamic characteristics of a low-drag aircraft configuration. The model consisted of an aspect-ratio -1.86 arrow wing with 67.5 deg. leading-edge sweep and NACA 65A004 airfoil section and a triangular vertical tail with 60 deg. sweep and NACA 65A003 section in combination with a body of fineness ratio 20. Aerodynamic data in pitch, yaw, and roll were obtained from transient motions induced by small pulse rockets firing at intervals in the pitch and yaw directions. From the results of this brief aerodynamic investigation, it is observed that very slender body shapes can provide increased volumetric capacity with little or no increase in zero-lift drag and that body fineness ratios of the order of 20 should be considered in the design of long-range supersonic aircraft. The zero-lift drag and the drag-due-to-lift parameter of the test configuration varied linearly with Mach number. The maximum lift-drag ratio was 7.0 at a Mach number of 1.25 and decreased slightly to a value of 6.6 at a Mach number of 1.81. The optimum lift coefficient, normal-force-curve slope, lateral-force-curve slope, static stability in pitch and yaw, time to damp to one-half amplitude in pitch and yaw, the sum of the rotary damping derivatives in pitch and also in yaw, and the static rolling derivatives all decreased with an increase in Mach number. Values of certain rolling derivatives were obtained by application of the least-squares method to the differential equation of rolling motion. A comparison of the experimental and calculated total rolling-moment-coefficient variation during transient oscillations of the model indicated good agreement when the damping-in-roll contribution was included with the static rolling-moment terms.

Gillespie, Warren, Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Contributions of the NASA Langley Research Center to the DARPA/AFRL/NASA/ Northrop Grumman Smart Wing Program

An overview of the contributions of the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to the DARPA/AFRL/NASA/ Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC) Smart Wing program is presented. The overall objective of the Smart Wing program was to develop smart** technologies and demonstrate near-flight-scale actuation systems to improve the aerodynamic performance of military aircraft. NASA LaRC s roles were to provide technical guidance, wind-tunnel testing time and support, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses. The program was divided into two phases, with each phase having two wind-tunnel entries in the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT). This paper focuses on the fourth and final wind-tunnel test: Phase 2, Test 2. During this test, a model based on the NGC Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) concept was tested at Mach numbers up to 0.8 and dynamic pressures up to 150 psf to determine the aerodynamic performance benefits that could be achieved using hingeless, smoothly-contoured control surfaces actuated with smart materials technologies. The UCAV-based model was a 30% geometric scale, full-span, sting-mounted model with the smart control surfaces on the starboard wing and conventional, hinged control surfaces on the port wing. Two LaRC-developed instrumentation systems were used during the test to externally measure the shapes of the smart control surface and quantify the effects of aerodynamic loading on the deflections: Videogrammetric Model Deformation (VMD) and Projection Moire Interferometry (PMI). VMD is an optical technique that uses single-camera photogrammetric tracking of discrete targets to determine deflections at specific points. PMI provides spatially continuous measurements of model deformation by computationally analyzing images of a grid projected onto the model surface. Both the VMD and PMI measurements served well to validate the use of on-board (internal) rotary potentiometers to measure the smart control surface deflection angles. Prior to the final entry, NASA LaRC also performed three-dimensional unstructured Navier Stokes CFD analyses in an attempt to predict the potential aerodynamic impact of the smart control surface on overall model forces and moments. Eight different control surface shapes were selected for study at Mach = 0.6, Reynolds number = 3.25 x 10(exp 6), and + 2 deg., 3 deg., 8 deg., and 10 deg.model angles-of-attack. For the baseline, undeflected control surface geometry, the CFD predictions and wind-tunnel results matched well. The agreement was not as good for the more complex aero-loaded control surface shapes, though, because of the inability to accurately predict those shapes. Despite these results, the NASA CFD study served as an important step in studying advanced control effectors.

Florance, Jennifer P.↗