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Wind tunnel studies at supersonic and transonic speeds to determine aerodynamic characteristics of variable sweep wing aircraft - configuration
Aircraft which are designed for supersonic and hypersonic flight are evolving with delta wing configurations. An integral part of the evolution of all new aircraft is the flight test phase. Included in the flight test phase is an effort to identify and evaluate the loads environment of the aircraft. The most effective way of examining the loads environment is to utilize calibrated strain gages to provide load magnitudes. Using strain gage data to accomplish this has turned out to be anything but a straightforward task. The delta wing configuration has turned out to be a very difficult type of wing structure to calibrate. Elevated structural temperatures result in thermal effects which contaminate strain gage data being used to deduce flight loads. The concept of thermally calibrating a strain gage system is an approach to solving this problem. This paper will address how these problems were approached on a program directed toward measuring loads on the wing of a large, flexible supersonic aircraft. Structural configurations typical of high-speed delta wing aircraft will be examined. The temperature environment will be examined to see how it induces thermal stresses which subsequently cause errors in loads equations used to deduce the flight loads.
A variable noise reduction system consists of equipment on board an airplane that is designed to reduce noise in the vicinity of airports. They are anticipated to be used on supersonic civil aircraft currently under development by industry. They are investigated in this paper for a notional 55-tonne supersonic business jet. The airplane concept was developed by NASA for use in environmental impact studies conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The variable noise reduction system investigated implements a programmed thrust lapse procedure and a programmed flap retraction procedure. The procedures are expected to reduce noise in aircraft certification as well as in operational practice. Behavior of the aircraft in a noise certification setting is considered. Variables of the procedures are optimized to reduce noise levels. Certification considerations unique to these systems are discussed for transport-category large airplanes and for jet-powered airplanes. A novel method for evaluating lateral noise is used.
Wind tunnel tests to determine lateral-directional stability of aircraft from transonic to supersonic speeds
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Results are presented of a wind-tunnel investigation to evaluate the static and dynamic stability derivatives of a model with a low-aspect-ratio unswept wing and a high horizontal tail. In addition to results for the complete model, results were also obtained of the body alone, body and wing, and body and tail. Data were obtained in the Mach number range from 0.65 to 2.2, at a Reynolds number of 2 million based on the wing mean aerodynamic chord. The angle-of-attack range for most of the data was -11.5 deg to 18 deg. A limited amount of data was obtained with fixed transition. A correspondence between the damping in pitch and the static stability, previously noted in other investigations, was also observed in the present results. The effect observed was that a decrease (or increase) in the static stability was accompanied by an increase (or decrease) in the damping in pitch. A similar correspondence was observed between the damping in yaw and the static-directional stability. Results from similar tests of the same model configuration in two other facilities over different speed ranges are presented for comparison. It was found that most of the results from the three investigations correlated reasonably well. Estimates of the rotary derivatives were made using available procedures. Comparison with the experimental results indicates the need for development of more precise estimation procedures.
Release and flight characteristics study for externally carried fuel tank models of various configurations at subsonic and supersonic speeds
Roll-control effectiveness of spoiler configurations on aircraft model with variable sweep wings at supersonic speeds
Progress reported on principle NASA programs for the reduction of aircraft engine noise emphasizes the Quiet Engine Program. Considered are fan noise and performance, fan noise suppression, and jet noise reduction for a broad spectrum of airplanes including new subsonic airplanes, the older subsonic airplanes in service today, STOL airplanes of the future, and future supersonic transports. Noise reductions achieved in the framework of the Quiet Engine Program are demonstrated and future possible applications of low noise technology to airplanes are discussed.
Nonasymptotic effects on sonic boom of supersonic transport aircraft
Liquid methane as fuel for supersonic commercial air transport
Local flow conditions were measured underneath the National Aeronautics and Space Administration F-15B airplane to support development of future experiments on the Propulsion Flight Test Fixture (PFTF). The local Mach number and flow angles were measured using a conventional air data boom on a cone-cylinder mounted under the PFTF and compared with the airplane air data nose boom measurements. At subsonic flight speeds, the airplane and PFTF Mach numbers were approximately equal. Transonic Mach number values were up to 0.1 greater at the PFTF than the airplane, which is a counterintuitive result. The PFTF local supersonic Mach numbers were as much as 0.46 less than the airplane values. The maximum local Mach number at the PFTF was approximately 1.6 at an airplane Mach number near 2.0. The PFTF local angle of attack was negative at all Mach numbers, ranging from -3 to -8 degrees. When the airplane angle of sideslip was zero, the PFTF local value was zero between Mach 0.8 and Mach 1.1, -2 degrees between Mach 1.1 and Mach 1.5, and increased from zero to 1 degree from Mach 1.5 to Mach 2.0. Airplane inlet shock waves crossed the aerodynamic interface plane between Mach 1.85 and Mach 1.90.
A detailed description of a computational program for the evaluation of three dimensional supersonic, inviscid, steady flow past airplanes is presented. Emphasis was put on how a powerful, automatic mapping technique is coupled to the fluid mechanical analysis. Each of the three constituents of the analysis (body geometry, mapping technique, and gas dynamical effects) was carefully coded and described. Results of computations based on sample geometrics and discussions are also presented.
The present investigation was conducted in the Langley high-speed 7-by 10-foot tunnel to determine the static longitudinal and lateral stability characteristics at high subsonic speeds of two canard airplane configurations previously tested at supersonic speeds. The Mach number range of this investigation extended from 0.60 to 0.94 and a maximum angle-of-attack range of -2dewg to 24deg was obtained at the lowest test Mach number. Two wing plan forms of equal area were studied in the present tests; one was a 60deg delta wing and the other was a trapezoid wing having an aspect ratio of 3, taper ratio of 0.143, and an unswept 80-percent-chord line. The canard control had a trapezoidal plan form and its area was approximately 11.5 percent of the wing area. The model also had a low-aspect-ratio highly swept vertical tail and twin ventral fins. The longitudinal control characteristics of the models were consistent with past experience at low speed on canard configurations in that stalling of the canard surface occurred at moderate and high control deflections for moderate values of angle of attack. This stalling could impose appreciable limitations on the maximum trim-lift coefficient attainable. The control effectiveness and maximum value of trim-lift was significantly increased by addition of a body flap having a conical shape and located slightly behind the canard surface on the bottom of the body. Addition of the canard surface at 0deg deflection had relatively little effect on overall directional stability of the delta-wing configuration; however, deflection of the canard surface from 0deg to 10deg had a large favorable effect on directional stability at high angles of attack for both the trapezoid- and delta-wing configurations.
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The drag and pressure recovery of an NACA submerged-inlet model and an NACA series I nose-inlet model were investigated in the transonic flight range. The tests were conducted over a mass-flow-ratio range of 0.4 to 0.8 and a Mach number range of about 0.8 to 1.10 employing large-scale recoverable free-fall models. The results indicate that the Mach number of drag divergence of the inlet models was about the same as that of a basic model without inlets. The external drag coefficients of the nose-inlet model were less than those of the submerged-inlet model throughout the test range. The difference in drag coefficient based on the maximum cross-sectional area of the models was about 0.02 at supersonic speeds and about 0.015 at subsonic speeds. For a hypothetical airplane with a ratio of maximum fuselage cross-sectional area to wing area of 0.06, the difference in airplane drag coefficient would be relatively small, about 0.0012 at supersonic speeds and about 0.0009 at subsonic speeds. Additional drag comparisons between the two inlet models are made considering inlet incremental and additive drag.