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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 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1988

Measurement and prediction of propeller flow field on the PTA aircraft at speeds of up to Mach 0.85

High speed subsonic transports powered by advanced propellers provide significant fuel savings compared to turbofan powered transports. Unfortunately, however, propfans must operate in aircraft-induced nonuniform flow fields which can lead to high blade cyclic stresses, vibration and noise. To optimize the design and installation of these advanced propellers, therefore, detailed knowledge of the complex flow field is required. As part of the NASA Propfan Test Assessment (PTA) program, a 1/9 scale semispan model of the Gulfstream II propfan test-bed aircraft was tested in the NASA-Lewis 8 x 6 supersonic wind tunnel to obtain propeller flow field data. Detailed radial and azimuthal surveys were made to obtain the total pressure in the flow and the three components of velocity. Data was acquired for Mach numbers ranging from 0.6 to 0.85. Analytical predictions were also made using a subsonic panel method, QUADPAN. Comparison of wind-tunnel measurements and analytical predictions show good agreement throughout the Mach range.

Aljabri, Abdullah S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The vortex interaction in a propeller/stator flow field

The vortex interaction encounered in the flow field of a propeller and a stator has been investigated using smoke flow visualization. A stator at angle of attack was used to generate a line vortex which interacted with the helical vortex filaments generated by a propeller. Changes in the relative vortex strengths and vortex rotational directions yielded several distinct vortex structures. Axial flow in the vortex cores is determined to influence the development of the vortex interaction.

Johnston, R. T.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Calculation of the flow field including boundary layer effects for supersonic mixed compression inlets at angles of attack

The flow field in supersonic mixed compression aircraft inlets at angle of attack is calculated. A zonal modeling technique is employed to obtain the solution which divides the flow field into different computational regions. The computational regions consist of a supersonic core flow, boundary layer flows adjacent to both the forebody/centerbody and cowl contours, and flow in the shock wave boundary layer interaction regions. The zonal modeling analysis is described and some computational results are presented. The governing equations for the supersonic core flow form a hyperbolic system of partial differential equations. The equations for the characteristic surfaces and the compatibility equations applicable along these surfaces are derived. The characteristic surfaces are the stream surfaces, which are surfaces composed of streamlines, and the wave surfaces, which are surfaces tangent to a Mach conoid. The compatibility equations are expressed as directional derivatives along streamlines and bicharacteristics, which are the lines of tangency between a wave surface and a Mach conoid.

Vadyak, J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Measurements in the flow field of a cylinder with a laser transit anemometer and a drag rake in the Langley 0.3 m transonic cryogenic tunnel

An experiment was conducted at the 0.3 m Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel using a Laser Transit Anemometer (LTA) to probe the flow field around a 3.05 centimeter-diameter circular cylinder. Measurements were made along the stagnation line and determination of particle size was evaluated by their ability to follow the flow field. The LTA system was also used to scan into the boundary layer near the 45 degree point on the model. Results of these scans are presented in graphic and tabular form. Flow field particle seeding was accomplished by inbleeding dry service air. The residual moisture (5-10 ppm) condensed and formed ice particles which served as Mie scattering centers for the LTA detection system. Comparison of data taken along the stagnation streamline with theory indicated that these particles tracked the velocity gradient of the flow. Tunnel operating conditions for the tests were a Mach number of 0.3, a pressure of 1.93 x 100000 n/m squared, and a temperature of 225 degrees K. Free stream Mach number and pressure were varied for the particle size determination.

Honaker, W. C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Interferometry and computational studies of an oscillating airfoil compressible dynamic stall flow field

A unique comparison has been made between real time interferograms and full Navier-Stokes computations of the density field over an oscillating airfoil undergoing dynamic stall for compressible flow conditions. Good agreement was found until a dynamic stall vortex formed in the flow. Subsequent evolution of the flow field was found to be very different in the computations. The reasons for this difference have been explained in terms of the leading edge region flow physics and the refined flow modeling that needs to be used for the post-stall flow field.

Chandrasekhara, M. S.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Optical Flow-Field Techniques Used for Measurements in High-Speed Centrifugal Compressors

The overall performance of a centrifugal compressor depends on the performance of the impeller and diffuser as well as on the interactions occurring between these components. Accurate measurements of the flow fields in each component are needed to develop computational models that can be used in compressor design codes. These measurements must be made simultaneously over an area that covers both components so that researchers can understand the interactions occurring between the two components. Optical measurement techniques are being used at the NASA Lewis Research Center to measure the velocity fields present in both the impeller and diffuser of a 4:1 pressure ratio centrifugal compressor operating at several conditions ranging from design flow to surge. Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) was used to measure the intrablade flows present in the impeller, and the results were compared with analyses obtained from two three-dimensional viscous codes. The development of a region of low throughflow velocity fluid within this high-speed impeller was examined and compared with a similar region first observed in a large low-speed centrifugal impeller at Lewis. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is a relatively new technique that has been applied to measuring the diffuser flow fields. PIV can collect data rapidly in the diffuser while avoiding the light-reflection problems that are often encountered when LDV is used. The Particle Image Velocimeter employs a sheet of pulsed laser light that is introduced into the diffuser in a quasi-radial direction through an optical probe inserted near the diffuser discharge. The light sheet is positioned such that its centerline is parallel to the hub and shroud surfaces and such that it is parallel to the diffuser vane, thereby avoiding reflections from the solid surfaces. Seed particles small enough to follow the diffuser flow are introduced into the compressor at an upstream location. A high-speed charge-coupled discharge (CCD) camera is synchronized to the laser pulse rate; this allows it to capture images of seed particle position that are separated by a small increment in time. A crosscorrelation of a particle's position in two consecutive images provides an estimate of flow velocity and direction. Multiple image pairs obtained in rapid succession at a particular flow condition provide enough measurements for statistical significance. PIV provides simultaneous velocity measurements over the entire plane that is illuminated by the light sheet instead of at a single point, as is the case when LDV is used. PIV has a further advantage in that the laser light pulse can be triggered by an external source such as a high-response pressure transducer. This feature will allow PIV to synchronize flow imaging to physical phenomena such as rotating stall or stall precursor waves. We hope that this technique can be used to obtain images of the flow field during and just prior to stall.

Skoch, Gary J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Investigation of the flow field surrounding circular-arc boattail nozzles at subsonic speeds

The effects of jet exhaust on the subsonic flow field surrounding boattail nozzles with attached and separated boundary layers were investigated. Measurements of local Mach numbers and flow angles were made at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.60 and 0.80 at an angle of attack of 0 deg. Jet exhaust flow was simulated with a solid cylindrical sting and with high pressure air at jet-nozzle total pressure ratios of 2.9 and 5.0. Results show strong effects of the jet-wave structure on the external flow field. The predicted local Mach numbers and flow angles for attached-flow nozzles with solid jet simulators obtained by using subsonic inviscid/viscous-flow theory are in good agreement with experimental data. Prediction of nozzle surface pressure distributions which include jet-entrainment effects also agree with experimental data for attached-flow nozzles with high pressure air jets.

Abeyounis, W. K.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Sound propagation through a real jet flow field with scattering due to interaction with turbulence

The sound propagation through a nonuniform turbulent jet flow field is studied by means of a system of linearized equations governing the acoustic variables. These equations depend on the fluctuating flow-field variables which are prescribed by experimental results. It is shown that the redistribution of the acoustic energy in the far field depends on space-time correlation of the turbulent velocities and on the mean flow variables and their gradients.

Maestrello, L.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Calculation of the flow field in supersonic mixed-compression inlets at angle of attack using the three-dimensional method of characteristics with discrete shock wave fitting

The influence of molecular transport is included in the computation by treating viscous and thermal diffusion terms in the governing partial differential equations as correction terms in the method of characteristics scheme. The development of a production type computer program is reported which is capable of calculating the flow field in a variety of axisymmetric mixed-compression aircraft inlets. The results agreed well with those produced by the two-dimensional method characteristics when axisymmetric flow fields are computed. For three-dimensional flow fields, the results agree well with experimental data except in regions of high viscous interaction and boundary layer removal.

Vadyak, J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Numerical Simulation of Flow Field Within Parallel Plate Plastometer

Parallel Plate Plastometer (PPP) is a device commonly used for measuring the viscosity of high polymers at low rates of shear in the range 10 4 to 10 9 poises. This device is being validated for use in measuring the viscosity of liquid glasses at high temperatures having similar ranges for the viscosity values. PPP instrument consists of two similar parallel plates, both in the range of 1 inch in diameter with the upper plate being movable while the lower one is kept stationary. Load is applied to the upper plate by means of a beam connected to shaft attached to the upper plate. The viscosity of the fluid is deduced from measuring the variation of the plate separation, h, as a function of time when a specified fixed load is applied on the beam. Operating plate speeds measured with the PPP is usually in the range of 10 -3 cm/s or lower. The flow field within the PPP can be simulated using the equations of motion of fluid flow for this configuration. With flow speeds in the range quoted above the flow field between the two plates is certainly incompressible and laminar. Such flows can be easily simulated using numerical modeling with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes. We present below the mathematical model used to simulate this flow field and also the solutions obtained for the flow using a commercially available finite element CFD code.

Basil N. Antar↗
NASA NTRS1973

Investigation of flow fields within large scale hypersonic inlet models

Analytical and experimental investigations were conducted to determine the internal flow characteristics in model passages representative of hypersonic inlets for use at Mach numbers to about 12. The passages were large enough to permit measurements to be made in both the core flow and boundary layers. The analytical techniques for designing the internal contours and predicting the internal flow-field development accounted for coupling between the boundary layers and inviscid flow fields by means of a displacement-thickness correction. Three large-scale inlet models, each having a different internal compression ratio, were designed to provide high internal performance with an approximately uniform static-pressure distribution at the throat station. The models were tested in the Ames 3.5-Foot Hypersonic Wind Tunnel at a nominal free-stream Mach number of 7.4 and a unit free-stream Reynolds number of 8.86 X one million per meter.

Gnos, A. V.↗
NASA NTRS1982

A color video display technique for flow field surveys

A computer driven color video display technique has been developed for the presentation of wind tunnel flow field survey data. The results of both qualitative and quantitative flow field surveys can be presented in high spatial resolutions color coded displays. The technique has been used for data obtained with a hot-wire probe, a split-film probe, a Conrad (pitch) probe and a 5-tube pressure probe in surveys above and behind a wing with partially stalled and fully stalled flow.

Winkelmann, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Navier-Stokes simulation of transonic wing flow fields using a zonal grid approach

The transonic Navier-Stokes code was used to simulate flow fields about isolated wings for workshop wind-tunnel and free-air cases using the thin-layer Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. An implicit finite-difference scheme based on a diagonal version of the Beam-Warming algorithm was used to integrate the governing equations. A zonal grid approach was used to allow efficient grid refinement near the wing surface. The flow field was sensitive to the turbulent transition model, and flow unsteadiness was observed for a wind-tunnel case but not for the corresponding free-air case. The specification of experimental pressure at the wind-tunnel exit plane is the primary reason for the difference of these two numerical solutions.

Chaderjian, Neal M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Navier-Stokes simulation of transonic wing flow fields using a zonal grid approach

The transonic Navier-Stokes code was used to simulate flow fields about isolated wings for workshop wind-tunnel and free-air cases using the thin-layer Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. An implicit finite-difference scheme based on a diagonal version of the Beam-Warming algorithm was used to integrate the governing equations. A zonal grid approach was used to allow efficient grid refinement near the wing surface. The flow field was sensitive to the turbulent transition model, and flow unsteadiness was observed for a wind-tunnel case but not for the corresponding free-air case. The specification of experimental pressure at the wind-tunnel exit plane is the primary reason for the difference of these two numerical solutions.

Chaderjian, Neal M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Flow field over the wing of a delta-wing fighter model with vortex control devices at Mach 0.6 to 1.2

As part of a cooperative research program between NASA, McDonnell Douglas Corporation, and Wright Research and Development Center, a flow field investigation was conducted on a 7.52 percent scale windtunnel model of an advanced fighter aircraft design. The investigation was conducted in the Langley 16 ft Transonic Tunnel at Mach numbers of 0.6, 0.9, and 1.2. Angle of attack was varied from -4 degrees to 30 degrees and the model was tested at angles of sideslip of 0, 5, and -5 degrees. Data for the over the wing flow field were obtained at four axial survey stations by the use of six 5 hole conical probes mounted on a survey mechanism. The wing leading edge primary vortex exerted the greatest influence in terms of total pressure loss on the over the wing flow field in the area surveyed. A number of vortex control devices were also investigated. They included two different apex flaps, wing leading edge vortex flaps, and small large wing fences. The vortex flap and both apex flaps were beneficial in controlling the wing leading edge primary vortex.

Bare, E. Ann↗