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At least 199 records · Page 11

Computational Evaluation of the Steady and Pulsed Jet Effects on the Performance of a Circulation Control Wing Section

Circulation Control Wing (CCW) technology is a very effective way of achieving very high lift coefficients needed by aircraft during take-off and landing. This technology can also be used to directly control the flow field over the wing. Compared to a conventional high-lift system, a Circulation Control Wing (CCW) can generate the required values of lift coefficient C(sub L,max) during take-off/landing with fewer or no moving parts and much less complexity. Earlier designs of CCW configurations used airfoils with a large radius rounded trailing edge to maximize the lift benefit. However, these designs also produced very high drag. These high drag levels associated with the blunt, large radius trailing edge can be prohibitive under cruise conditions when Circulation Control is no longer necessary. To overcome this difficulty, an advanced CCW section, i.e., a circulation hinged flap was developed to replace the original rounded trailing edge CC airfoil. This concept developed by Englar is shown. The upper surface of the CCW flap is a large-radius arc surface, but the lower surface of the flap is flat. The flap could be deflected from 0 degrees to 90 degrees. When an aircraft takes-off or lands, the flap is deflected as in a conventional high lift system. Then this large radius on the upper surface produces a large jet turning angle, leading to high lift. When the aircraft is in cruise, the flap is retracted and a conventional sharp trailing edge shape results, greatly reducing the drag. This kind of flap does have some moving elements that increase the weight and complexity over an earlier CCW design. But overall, the hinged flap design still maintains most of the Circulation Control high lift advantages, while greatly reducing the drag in cruising condition associated with the rounded trailing edge CCW design. In the present work, an unsteady three-dimensional Navier-Stokes analysis procedure has been developed and applied to this advanced CCW configuration. The solver can be used in both a 2-D and a 3-D mode, and can thus model airfoils as well as finite wings. The jet slot location, slot height, and the flap angle can all be varied easily and individually in the grid generator and the flow solver. Steady jets, pulsed jets, the leading edge and trailing edge blowing can all be studied with this solver.

Liu, Yi↗

Reducing Propulsion Airframe Aeroacoustic Interactions With Uniquely Tailored Chevrons: 3. Jet-Flap Interaction

Propulsion airframe aeroacoustic (PAA) interactions, resulting from the integration of engine and airframe, lead to azimuthal asymmetries in the flow/acoustic field, e.g., due to the interaction between the exhaust jet flow and the pylon, the wing and its high-lift devices, such as, flaps and flaperons. In the first two parts of this series we have presented experimental results which show that isolated and installed nozzles with azimuthally varying chevrons (AVCs) can reduce noise more than conventional chevrons when integrated with a pylon and a wing with flaps at take-off conditions. In this paper, we present model-scale experimental results for the reduction of jet-flap interaction noise source due to these AVCs and document the PAA installation effects (difference in noise between installed and isolated nozzle configurations) at both approach and take-off conditions. It is found that the installation effects of both types of chevron nozzles, AVCs and conventional, are reversed at approach and take-off, in that there is more installed noise reduction at approach and less at take-off compared to that of the isolated nozzles. Moreover, certain AVCs give larger total installed noise benefits at both conditions compared to conventional chevrons. Phased microphone array results show that at approach conditions (large flap deflection, low jet speed and low ambient Mach number), chevrons gain more noise benefit from reducing jetflap interaction noise than they do from quieting the jet plume noise source which is already weak at these low jet speeds. In contrast, at take-off (small flap deflection, high jet speed and high ambient Mach number) chevrons reduce the dominant jet plume noise better than the reduction they create in jet-flap interaction noise source. In addition, fan AVCs with enhanced mixing near the pylon are found to reduce jet-flap interaction noise better than conventional chevrons at take-off.

Thomas, Russ H.↗

Determination of the Stability and Control Characteristics of a Tailless All-Wing Airplane Model with Sweepback in the Langley Free-Flight Tunnel

Force and flight tests were performance on an all-wing model with windmilling propellers. Tests were conducted with deflected and retracted flaps, with and without auxiliary vertical tail surfaces, and with different centers of gravity and trim coefficients. Results indicate serious reduction of stick-fixed longitudinal stability because of wing-tip stalling at high lift coefficient. Directional stability without vertical tail is undesirably low. Low effective dihedral should be maintained. Elevator and rudder control system is satisfactory.

WING FLAPS - DEFLECTION↗

Experimental investigation of stability and stall flutter of a free-floating wing V/STOL model

An experimental investigation was made of the static and dynamic stability characteristics of a one-fourth scale model of a tilt-propeller free-wing V/STOL aircraft. The effects of wing pivot location, wing chord, trailing-edge angle, propeller tilt angle, and thrust were studied, and a limited evaluation was made of high-lift devices. A dynamically similar wing was used to measure frequency and damping ratio from transient response data in the linear aerodynamic regime and the results were compared to quasi-steady and unsteady aerodynamic theory. It was found that at high trim angles of attack, in the nonlinear aerodynamic regime, stall flutter oscillations occurred with typical amplitudes ranging from 15 to 20 deg. Wing control tab deflection was effective in initiating and terminating stall flutter but variations in configuration or operating conditions did not greatly influence the occurrence of characteristics of the oscillations.

Ormiston, R. A.↗

Selected advanced aerodynamic and active control concepts development

A task for the Energy Efficient Transport program conducted: (1) The design and wind tunnel development of high-aspect-ratio supercritical wings, investigating the cruise speed regime and also high-lift. (2) The preliminary design and evaluation of an aircraft combining a high-aspect-ratio supercritical wing with a winglet. (3) Active Controls: The determination of criteria, configuration, and flying qualities associated with augmented longitudinal stability of a level likely to be acceptable for the next generation transport; and the design of a practical augmentation system. The baseline against which the work was performed and evaluated was the Douglas DC-X-200 twin engine derivative of the DC-10 transport. The supercritical wing development showed that the cruise and buffet requirements could be achieved and that the wing could be designed to realize a sizable advantage over today's technology. Important advances in high lift performance were shown. The design study of an aircraft with supercritical wing and winglet suggested advantages in weight and fuel economy could be realized. The study of augmented stability, conducted with the aid of a motion base simulator, concluded that a negative static margin was acceptable for the baseline unaugmented aircraft.

Source record↗

High supersonic aerodynamic characteristics of five irregular planform wings with systematically varying wing fillet geometry tested in the NASA/LaRC 4-foot UPWT (LEG 2) (LA45A/B)

An experimental and analytical aerodynamic program to develop predesign guides for irregular planform wings is reported. The benefits are linearization of subsonic lift curve slope to high angles of attack and avoidance of subsonic pitch instabilities at high lift by proper tailoring of the planform fillet wing combination while providing the desired hypersonic trim angle and stability. The two prime areas of concern are to optimize shuttle orbiter landing and entry characteristics. Basic longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics at high supersonic speeds are developed.

Source record↗

Free-Flight Tests of 0.11-Scale North American F-100 Airplane Wings to Investigate the Possibility of Flutter in Transonic Speed Range at Varying Angles of Attack

Free-flight tests in the transonic speed range utilizing rocketpropelled models have been made on three pairs of 0.11-scale North American F-100 airplane wings having an aspect ratio of 3.47, a taper ratio of 0.308, 45 degree sweepback at the quarter-chord line, and thickness ratios of 31 and 5 percent to investigate the possibility of flutte r. Data from tests of two other rocket-propelled models which accidentally fluttered during a drag investigation of the North American F-100 airplane are also presented. The first set of wings (5 percent thick) was tested on a model which was disturbed in pitch by a moving tail and reached a maximum Mach number of 0.85. The wings encountered mild oscillations near the first - bending frequency at high lift coefficients. The second set of wings 9 percent thick was tested up to a maximum Mach number of 0.95 at (2) angles of attack provided by small rocket motors installed in the nose of the model. No oscillations resembling flutter were encountered during the coasting flight between separation from the booster and sustainer firing (Mach numbers from 0.86 to 0.82) or during the sustainer firing at accelerations of about 8g up to the maximum Mach number of the test (0.95). The third set of wings was similar to the first set and was tested up to a maximum Mach number of 1.24. A mild flutter at frequencies near the first-bending frequency of the wings was encountered between a Mach number of 1.15 and a Mach number of 1.06 during both accelerating and coasting flight. The two drag models, which were 0.ll-scale models of the North American F-100 airplane configuration, reached a maximum Mach number of 1.77. The wings of these models had bending and torsional frequencies which were 40 and 89 percent, respectively, of the calculated scaled frequencies of the full-scale 7-percent-thick wing. Both models experienced flutter of the same type as that experienced-by the third set of wings.

O'Kelly, Burke R.↗

A Performance Analysis of Folding Conformal Propeller Blade Designs

NASA’s X-57 Maxwell flight demonstrator has a high-lift system that includes 12 fixed- pitch high-lift propellers located upstream of the wing leading edge for lift augmentation at low speeds. These high-lift propellers are only required at low speeds, and to reduce drag, the propeller blades are folded conformally along the nacelles at other operating conditions. The method of designing the high-lift blades permits several variations of blade cross-section placement along the nacelle surface and a comparative performance analysis was needed to determine if any particular design showed significant benefits. We analyzed the performance of three conformal high-lift propeller designs and compared them to that of a non-conformal baseline propeller to establish both the benefit of stowable blades and the value of each variation. In this study, we first performed a drag analysis of each design in the stowed configuration at the X-57 cruise speed and altitude to determine the drag benefits of each conforming method. Then, among blade designs we compared the thrust, power, and lift for a given input shaft speed to establish any performance losses from the baseline. This analysis shows that the conformal blade designs do not have any appreciable performance losses compared to the baseline blades. Moreover, although the drag in the cruise condition is significantly less than for the non-folding baseline, the drag benefits of each conforming blade approach are similar and the value of each approach largely depends on the ease of integration into the nacelle. This paper presents the results of these studies and discusses the benefits and drawbacks of implementing the conformal blade designs. Specifically, we demonstrate that folding, conformal propeller blades contribute significantly less to cruise drag when compared to windmilling, with an increase relative to a. We also show a less than 1% difference in performance formal, folding propellers and the non-conforming baseline propeller.

Litherland, Brandon L.↗

X-57 “Maxwell” High-Lift Propeller Testing and Model Development

NASA’s X-57 “Maxwell” distributed electric propulsion flight demonstrator has a high-lift system that includes 12 fixed-pitch high-lift propellers located upstream of the wing leading edge for lift augmentation at low speeds. These high-lift propellers are not required at higher speeds and are folded conformally along the nacelles to reduce drag when not in operation. Aircraft performance models and flight simulations incorporate propeller performance to predict thrust, moments, and power consumption and propeller model accuracy is important in identifying safe operating regimes for this aircraft. Current high-lift propeller performance models have been verified and calibrated against numerous computational fluid dynamics analyses under a variety of flight conditions. We performed a series of full-scale wind tunnel tests at the NASA Langley Research Center Low Speed Aeroacoustic Wind Tunnel to further validate these models, to identify any adverse operating conditions for these propellers, and to assess the accuracy of the facility’s new Propeller Test Stand. The results indicate that the models accurately predicted performance and that the right-handed propeller showed lower torque and thrust for a given propeller speed compared to the left-handed version. Acoustic data support these measurements, showing higher tonal noise for the left versus right propeller. We suspect this is due to slight differences in the material properties between the early production (right) and more recent (left) blade sets leading to greater detwisting in the right-handed blades under load. Both propellers demonstrated very stable operation throughout the test including during deployment, stowing, and windmilling. Furthermore, high-speed imagery of the spinning propeller indicated no blade oscillations or instabilities for any test case. We also leveraged these images to analyze the effects of propeller loading on blade detwisting and tip position. Unfortunately, the thrust measurements varied significantly during the test due to cross-loading of the Propeller Test Stand load cell, though trends in the thrust data were still observable. The torque measurement, however, remained very precise for all test points and was used for performance comparisons. As a result of this test, we validated and improved the X-57 high-lift propeller performance models, obtained detailed propeller acoustic data and high-speed imagery, observed the propeller operating safely during a variety of dynamic events, and identified two potentially adverse, low-propeller-speed conditions which will be avoided during normal aircraft operation.

X-57↗

Effect of High-lift Devices on the Low-speed Static Lateral and Yawing Stability Characteristics of an Untapered 45 Degrees Sweptback Wing

Results of a low-speed wind-tunnel investigation to determine the effect of high-lift devices on the static lateral stability derivatives and the yawing derivatives of an untapered 45 degrees sweptback wing are presented. The tests were made in the curved-flow test section of the Langley stability tunnel at a Reynolds number of 1.1 X 10 to the sixth power.

FLAPS, LEADING EDGE - COMPLETE WINGS↗

Wind-tunnel investigation on the effect of a crescent planform on drag

Lift and drag forces were compared for elliptic and crescent wing models at cruise and climb conditions in the NASA/Langley 14 x 22-ft subsonic tunnel. The force measurements were obtained for an angle-of-attack range from -3 to 10 deg at a Reynolds number of about 1.7 million. The results indicate that for attached flow conditions, the crescent wing with its highly swept tips generates less lift-dependent drag than the elliptic wing for given lift force, wing span, and freestream conditions. The drag reduction is thought to be the result of the favorable influence of trailing wake deformations on the pressure distribution of the highly swept outboard region of the crescent wing.

Van Dam, C. P.↗

Assessment of preliminary prediction techniques for wing leading-edge vortex flows at supersonic speeds

The applicability of existing theoretical models for predicting wing leading edge separated flow characteristics for high-lift supersonic flight was examined with regard to previous experimental force, pressure and flow visualization data. Correlations of data on uncambered delta wings revealed that the upper surface normal force and minimum pressure coefficients decreased nonlinearly with increasing angles of attack. The attainable vacuum pressure decreased with increasing Mach number, while the lower surface normal force increased nonlinearly with increasing speed. The LISTAR and VORCAM linear theory aerodynamic codes generated predictions for comparison with the data. LISTAR displayed better agreement with measured vortex strength and position and lifting characteristics than did VORCAM. The Euler code SWINT was ill-suited to calculating wing performance in separated flows at high lift and low supersonic speeds.

Wood, R. M.↗

Wind-tunnel tests on model wing with Fowler flap and specially developed leading-edge slot

An investigation was made in the NACA 7 by 10 foot wind tunnel to find the increase in maximum lift coefficient which could be obtained by providing a model wing with both a Fowler trailing-edge extension flap and a Handley Page type leading-edge slot. A conventional Handley page slot proportioned to operate on the plain wing without a flap gave but a slight increase with the flap; so a special form of slot was developed to work more effectively with the flap. With the best combined arrangement the maximum lift coefficient based on the original area was increased from 3.17, for the Fowler wing, to 3.62. The minimum drag coefficient with both devices retracted was increased in approximately the same proportion. Tests were also made with the special-type slot on the plain wing without the flap. The special slot, used either with or without the Fowler flap, gave definitely higher values of the maximum lift coefficient than the slots of conventional form, with an increase of the same order in the minimum drag coefficient.

WING SLOTS & FLAPS, FOWLER↗

Low-speed investigation of the maneuver capability of supersonic fighter wings

A low-speed investigation of wings suitable for supersonic fighter application was undertaken to understand the flow regions developed by these wings through flow visualization and to evaluate areas in which low-speed testing could provide information for extrapolation to higher Mach numbers and Reynolds numbers. This study involved cranked wings of highly-swept inboard panels and outboard panel of various sweeps with leading- and trailing-edge devices. Both theoretical and experimental results with flow visualization are presented. Flow visualization results show that a mixed flow condition (vortex flow on the highly-swept inboard section and attached flow on the cranked outboard section) is possible for wings with low sweep (20 deg) outboard cranked sections. Lift and drag measurements on the planar (no flap deflection) wings show good agreement with theoretical results for leading-edge vortex flow. There is little or no change in planar wing performance at maneuver conditions due to outboard sweep effects. Results also show that for cambered wings (flap deflected) only small improvements in performance over flat wings were obtained at high-lift maneuver conditions.

Hom, K. W.↗

Design of the Cruise and Flap Airfoil for the X-57 Maxwell Distributed Electric Propulsion Aircraft

A computational and design study on an airfoil and high-lift flap for the X-57 Maxwell Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) testbed aircraft was conducted. The aircraft wing sizing study resulted in a wing area of 66.67 sq ft and aspect ratio of 15 with a design requirement of V(stall) = 58 KEAS, at a gross weight of 3,000 lb. To meet this goal an aircraft C(L,max) of 4.0 was required. The design cruise condition is 150 KTAS at 8,000 ft. This resulted in airfoil requirements of c(l) is approximately 0.90 for the cruise condition at Re = 2.35 x 10 (exp 6). A flapped airfoil with a c(l,max) of approximately 2.5 or greater, at Re = 1.0 x 10 (exp 6), was needed to have enough lift to meet the stall requirement with the DEP system. MSES computational analyses were conducted on the GAW-1, GAW-2, and the NACA 5415 airfoil sections, however they had limitations in either high drag or low c(l,max) on the cruise airfoil, which was the impetus for a new design. A design was conducted to develop a low drag airfoil for the X-57 cruise conditions with high c(l,max). The final design was the GNEW5BP93B airfoil with a minimum drag coefficient of c(d) = 0.0053 at c(l) = 0.90 and achieved laminar flow back to 69% chord on the upper surface and 62% chord on the lower surface. With fully turbulent flow, the drag increases to c(d) = 0.0120. The predicted maximum lift with turbulent flow is a c(l,max) of 1.95 at alpha = 19 deg. The airfoil is characterized by relatively flat pressure gradient regions on both surfaces at alpha = 0 deg, and aft camber to get extra lift out of the lower surface concave region. A 25% chord slotted flap was designed and analyzed with MSES for a 30 deg flap deflection. Additional 30 deg and 40 deg flap deflection analyses for two flap positions were conducted with USM3D using several turbulence models, for two angles of attack, to assess near c(l,max) with varied flap position. The maximum c(l) varied between 2.41 and 3.35. An infinite-span powered high-lift study was conducted on a GAW-1 constant chord 40 deg flapped airfoil section with FUN3D to quantify the airfoil lift increment that can be expected from a DEP system. The 16.7 hp/propeller blown wing increases the maximum C(L) from 3.45 to C(L) = 6.43, which is an effective q ratio of 1.86. This indicates that if the unblown high-lift flapped airfoil of the X-57 airplane achieves a c(l,max) of 2.78, then the high-lift augmentation blowing could yield a sectional lift coefficient of approximately 4.95 at c(l,max). Finally, a computational study was conducted with FUN3D on an infinite-span constant chord GAW-1 cruise airfoil to determine the impact of high-lift propeller diameter to wing chord ratio on the lift increment of the DEP system. A constant diameter propeller and nacelle size were used in the study. Three computational grids were made with airfoil chords of 0.5*chord, 1.0*chord, and 2.0*chord. Results of the propeller diameter to wing chord ratio study indicated that the blown to unblown C(L) ratio increased as the chord was decreased. However, because of the increase in relative size of the high-lift nacelle to the wing, which impacted wing lift performance, the study indicated that a propeller diameter to wing chord ratio of 1.0 gives the overall best maximum lift on the wing with the DEP system.

Viken, Jeffrey K.↗

Flight Tests on the Lateral Control of an Airplane having a Split Flap which Retracts Ahead of Conventional Ailerons, Special Report

Since the recent more or less extensive adoption of high-lift flaps on airplane wings, the problem of providing satisfactory lateral control without sacrificing a part of the span of the flaps has become one of some importance. The difficulties have been largely a matter of obtaining satisfactory rolling moments with a smoothly graduated action, together with sufficiently small control forces throughout the entire speed range. As part of an investigation including several different lateral-control arrangements to be used with split flaps, the tests reported in this paper were made on one arrangement in which conventional ailerons of narrow chord are used, and a split flap is retracted into the under surface of th wing forward of th ailerons. When the flap is retracted, the arrangement is as sketched in figure 1(a). If a simple form of split flap were used, hinged at its forward edge, the appearance when deflected would be as shown in figure 1(b). The flap if deflected with its leading edge remaining in this forward position would give somewhat less than three fourths of the lift increase of the same flap in the usual rear position. (See reference 1.). If, as shown in figure 1(c), the split flap ahead of th aileron is moved to the rear as the trailing=edge portion is deflected downward, a double advantage is obtained. The deflected flap can be located in the most effective region for high lift (reference 1), and the force required to deflect the flap is reduced. This is the arrangement used in the present tests.

Weick, Fred E.↗

Adjoint-Based, Three-Dimensional Error Prediction and Grid Adaptation

Engineering computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and design applications focus on output functions (e.g., lift, drag). Errors in these output functions are generally unknown and conservatively accurate solutions may be computed. Computable error estimates can offer the possibility to minimize computational work for a prescribed error tolerance. Such an estimate can be computed by solving the flow equations and the linear adjoint problem for the functional of interest. The computational mesh can be modified to minimize the uncertainty of a computed error estimate. This robust mesh-adaptation procedure automatically terminates when the simulation is within a user specified error tolerance. This procedure for estimating and adapting to error in a functional is demonstrated for three-dimensional Euler problems. An adaptive mesh procedure that links to a Computer Aided Design (CAD) surface representation is demonstrated for wing, wing-body, and extruded high lift airfoil configurations. The error estimation and adaptation procedure yielded corrected functions that are as accurate as functions calculated on uniformly refined grids with ten times as many grid points.

Park, Michael A.↗