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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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Numerical analysis of flow through oscillating cascade sections

The design of turbomachinery blades requires the prevention of flutter for all operating conditions. However, flow field predictions used for aeroelastic analysis are not well understood for all flow regimes. The present research focuses on numerical solutions of the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations using an ADI procedure to model two-dimensional, transonic flow through oscillating cascades. The model prescribes harmonic pitching motions for the blade sections for both zero and nonzero interblade phase angles. The code introduces the use of a deforming grid technique for convenient specification of the periodic boundary conditions. Approximate nonreflecting boundary conditions were coded for the inlet and exit boundary conditions. Sample unsteady solutions were performed for an oscillating cascade and compared to experimental data. Also, test cases were run for a flat plate cascade to compare with the unsteady, small-perturbation, subsonic analyis. The predictions for oscillating cascades with nonzero interblade phase angle cases, which were near a resonant condition, differ from the experiment and theory. The zero degree interblade phase angle cases, which were near a resonant condition, differ from the experiment and theory. Studies on reflecting versus nonreflecting inlet and exit boundary conditions show that the treatment of the boundary can have a significant effect on the first harmonic, unsteady pressure distributions for certain flow conditions.

Huff, Dennis L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Numerical analysis of flow through oscillating cascade sections

The design of turbomachinery blades requires the prevention of flutter for all operating conditions. However, flow field predictions used for aeroelastic analysis are not well understood for all flow regimes. The present research focuses on numerical solutions of the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations using an ADI procedure to model two-dimensional, transonic flow through oscillating cascades. The model prescribes harmonic pitching motions for the blade sections for both zero and nonzero interblade phase angles. The code introduces the use of a deforming grid technique for convenient specification of the perioidic boundary conditions. Approximate nonreflecting boundary conditons were coded for the inlet and exit boundary conditions. Sample unsteady solutions were performed for an oscillating cascade and compared to experimental data. Also, test cases were run for a flat plate cascade to compare with the unsteady, small-perturbation, subsonic analysis. The predictions for oscillating cascades with nonzero interblade phase angle cases, which were near a resonant condition, differ from the experiment and theory. The zero degree interblade phase angle cases, which were near a resonant condition, differ from the experiment and theory. Studies on reflecting versus nonreflecting inlet and exit boundary conditions show that the treatment of the boundary can have a significant effect on the first harmonic, unsteady pressure distribution for certain flow conditions.

Huff, Dennis L.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Comparison of uniform perturbation solutions and numerical solutions for some potential flows past slender bodies

Approximate solutions for potential flow past an axisymmetric slender body and past a thin airfoil are calculated using a uniform perturbation method and then compared with either the exact analytical solution or the solution obtained using a purely numerical method. The perturbation method is based upon a representation of the disturbance flow as the superposition of singularities distributed entirely within the body, while the numerical (panel) method is based upon a distribution of singularities on the surface of the body. It is found that the perturbation method provides very good results for small values of the slenderness ratio and for small angles of attack. Moreover, for comparable accuracy, the perturbation method is simpler to implement, requires less computer memory, and generally uses less computation time than the panel method. In particular, the uniform perturbation method yields good resolution near the regions of the leading and trailing edges where other methods fail or require special attention.

Wong, T. C.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Comparison of uniform perturbation and numerical solutions for some potential flows past slender bodies

Approximate solutions for potential flow past an axisymmetric slender body and past a thin airfoil are calculated using a uniform perturbation method and then compared with either the exact analytical solution or the solution obtained using a purely numerical method. The perturbation method is based upon a representation of the disturbance flow as the superposition of singularities distributed entirely within the body, while the numerical (panel) method is based upon a distribution of singularities on the surface of the body. It is found that the perturbation method provides very good results for small values of the slenderness ratio and for small angles of attack. Moreover, for comparable accuracy, the perturbation method is simpler to implement, requires less computer memory, and generally uses less computation time than the panel method. In particular, the uniform perturbation method yields good resolution near the regions of the leading and trailing edges where other methods fail or require special attention.

Wong, T.-C.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Small error dynamics and the predictability of atmospheric flows

In this paper, linear small-error theory is applied to the study of weather predictability. A simple baroclinic shear model and a barotropic channel model with a localized jet are used as examples. It is shown that increase in error on synoptic forecast time scales is controlled by rapidly growing perturbations that are not of normal mode form. Unpredictable regimes are not necessarily associated with larger exponential growth rates than are relatively more predictable regimes. Model problems illustrating baroclinic and barotropic dynamics suggest that asymptotic measures of divergence in phase space, while applicable in the limit of infinite time, may not be appropriate over time intervals addressed by present synoptic forecast.

Farrell, Brian F.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Solar Dynamo Driven by Periodic Flow Oscillation

We have proposed that the periodicity of the solar magnetic cycle is determined by wave mean flow interactions analogous to those driving the Quasi Biennial Oscillation in the Earth's atmosphere. Upward propagating gravity waves would produce oscillating flows near the top of the radiation zone that in turn would drive a kinematic dynamo to generate the 22-year solar magnetic cycle. The dynamo we propose is built on a given time independent magnetic field B, which allows us to estimate the time dependent, oscillating components of the magnetic field, (Delta)B. The toroidal magnetic field (Delta)B(sub phi) is directly driven by zonal flow and is relatively large in the source region, (Delta)(sub phi)/B(sub Theta) much greater than 1. Consistent with observations, this field peaks at low latitudes and has opposite polarities in both hemispheres. The oscillating poloidal magnetic field component, (Delta)B(sub Theta), is driven by the meridional circulation, which is difficult to assess without a numerical model that properly accounts for the solar atmosphere dynamics. Scale-analysis suggests that (Delta)B(sub Theta) is small compared to B(sub Theta) in the dynamo region. Relative to B(sub Theta), however, the oscillating magnetic field perturbations are expected to be transported more rapidly upwards in the convection zone to the solar surface. As a result, (Delta)B(sub Theta) (and (Delta)B(sub phi)) should grow relative to B(sub Theta), so that the magnetic fields reverse at the surface as observed. Since the meridional and zonai flow oscillations are out of phase, the poloidal magnetic field peaks during times when the toroidal field reverses direction, which is observed. With the proposed wave driven flow oscillation, the magnitude of the oscillating poloidal magnetic field increases with the mean rotation rate of the fluid. This is consistent with the Bode-Blackett empirical scaling law, which reveals that in massive astrophysical bodies the magnetic moment tends to increase with the angular momentum of the fluid.

Mayr, Hans G.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Laboratory simulation of the lunar magnetosphere

The magnetic field disturbance created by the impingement of a supermagnetosonic collision-free plasma upon a hollow, electrically nonconducting body (lunella) has been studied in the laboratory using a plasma accelerator. Diamagnetic currents on the boundary of the downstream cavity which is formed are the source of these disturbances which fringe out within the lunella and extend on into the upstream flow to a distance of about the geometric mean Larmor radius. Additional field perturbations and associated currents appear over the upstream hemisphere. The results are in qualitative accord with lunar magnetometer data and bear upon the interaction of the solar wind with small non-magnetic bodies.

Dubinin, E. M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Numerical Investigation of unsteady inlet flow fields

The flow field within an unsteady, two-dimensional inlet is studied numerically, using a two dimensional Navier Stokes and a one-dimensional inviscid model. Unsteadiness is introduced by varying the outflow pressure boundary condition. The cases considered include outflow pressure variations which were a single pressure pulse, a rapid increase and a sine function. The amplitude of the imposed exit plane pressure disturbance varied between 1 percent and 20 percent of the mean exit pressure. At the higher levels of pressure fluctuation, the viscous flow field results bore little resemblance to the inviscid ones. The viscous solution included such phenomena as shock trains and bifurcating separation pockets. The induced velocity at the outflow plane predicted by the viscous model differs significantly from accoustical theory or small perturbation results.

Hsieh, T.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Unsteady transonic flow over cascade blades

An attempt is made to develop an efficient staggered cascade blade unsteady aerodynamics model for the neighborhood of March 1, representing the blade row by a rectilinear two-dimensional cascade of thin, flat plate airfoils. The equations of motion are derived on the basis of linearized transonic small perturbation theory, and an analytical solution is obtained by means of the Wiener-Hopf procedure. Making use of the transonic similarity law, the results obtained are compared with those of other linearized cascade analyses. A parametric study is conducted to find the effects of reduced frequency, stagger angle, solidity, and the location of the pitching axis on cascade stability.

Surampudi, S. P.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Analysis of buoyancy effect on fully developed laminar heat transfer in a rotating tube

Laminar heat transfer is analyzed in a tube rotating about an axis perpendicular to the tube axis. The solution applies for flow that is either radially outward from the axis of rotation, or radially inward toward the axis of rotation. The conditions are fully developed, and there is uniform heat addition at the tube wall. The analysis is performed by expanding velocities and temperature in power series using the Taylor number as a perturbation parameter. Coriolis and buoyancy forces caused by tube rotation are included, and the solution is calculated through second-order terms. The secondary flow induced by the Coriolis terms always tends to increase the heat transfer coefficient; this effect can dominate for small wall heating. For radial inflow, buoyancy also tends to improve heat transfer. For radial outflow, however, buoyancy tends to reduce heat transfer; for large wall heating this effect can dominate, and there is a net reduction in heat transfer coefficient.

Siegel, R.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Second-order small-disturbance solutions for hypersonic flow over power-law bodies

Similarity solutions were found which give the adiabatic flow of an ideal gas about two-dimensional and axisymmetric power-law bodies at infinite Mach number to second order in the body slenderness parameter. The flow variables were expressed as a sum of zero-order and perturbation similarity functions for which the axial variations in the flow equations separated out. The resulting similarity equations were integrated numerically. The solutions, which are universal functions, are presented in graphic and tabular form. To avoid a singularity in the calculations, the results are limited to body power-law exponents greater than about 0.85 for the two-dimensional case and 0.75 for the axisymmetric case. Because of the entropy layer induced by the nose bluntness (for power-law bodies other than cones and wedges), only the pressure function is valid at the body surface. The similarity results give excellent agreement with the exact solutions for inviscid flow over wedges and cones having half-angles up to about 20 deg. They give good agreement with experimental shock-wave shapes and surface-pressure distributions for 3/4-power axisymmetric bodies, considering that Mach number and boundary-layer displacement effects are not included in the theory.

Townsend, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Linear Disturbance Amplification Over Blunted Flat Plates in High-Speed Flows

Modal and nonmodal instability characteristics of cylindrically blunted flat plates with varying leading edge radii are described for Mach 4 and Mach 6 freestream conditions. The selection of leading edge radii and freestream parameters is informed by experimental conditions. The investigation of this 2D problem provides a slow entropy layer swallowing which allows for an isolated development of perturbations seeded upstream within different wall-normal regions of the flow. At both Mach numbers, a decrease in modal instability amplification was seen as the leading edge radius was increased. Nonmodal analysis reveals amplifying perturbations in the boundary layer as well as in the entropy layer. The medium bluntness regime exhibits the strongest amplification of nonmodal disturbances that is nonmonotonic in character. Small amplitude boundary forcing at the plate surface or volumetric forcing at various wall-normal heights was used to account for receptivity effects. While wall forcing effectively induced modal instabilities, only an actuation above the boundary layer captured disturbances that amplify within the entropy layer. The optimal nonmodal theory’s entropy-layer disturbance evolution exhibited outstanding agreement with controlled forcing, including receptivity effects. The evolution of entropy-layer disturbances from the optimal nonmodal theory showed excellent agreement with the results of receptivity to controlled forcing. Therefore, the nonmodal optimal growth analysis may provide a useful as well as efficient technique to identify the complete disturbance spectrum in blunt hypersonic configurations, where both modal and nonmodal disturbances can amplify in the boundary-layer and entropy-layer regions.

Boundary layer transition↗
NASA NTRS1997

A Study of Fundamental Shock Noise Mechanisms

This paper investigates two mechanisms fundamental to sound generation in shocked flows: shock motion and shock deformation. Shock motion is modeled numerically by examining the interaction of a sound wave with a shock. This numerical approach is validated by comparison with results obtained by linear theory for a small-disturbance case. Analysis of the perturbation energy with Myers' energy corollary demonstrates that acoustic energy is generated by the interaction of acoustic disturbances with shocks. This analysis suggests that shock motion generates acoustic and entropy disturbance energy. Shock deformation is modeled numerically by examining the interaction of a vortex ring with a shock. These numerical simulations demonstrate the generation of both an acoustic wave and contact surfaces. The acoustic wave spreads cylindrically. The sound intensity is highly directional and the sound pressure increases with increasing shock strength. The numerically determined relationship between the sound pressure and the Mach number is found to be consistent with experimental observations of shock noise. This consistency implies that a dominant physical process in the generation of shock noise is modeled in this study.

Meadows, Kristine R.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Dynamics of stratified liquids in the presence of space charge.

The dispersion characteristics of small signal electrohydrodynamic space charge and polarization waves in continuously and discretely stratified liquids are developed. The liquids, modeled as incompressible, inviscid, and perfectly insulating have distributions of mass density, charge density, permittivity, and electric field. A general set of relations for perturbation field and flow variables defined for a prototype layer are used to describe the dynamics of many superposed planar layers. It is shown that the general relations can be used to represent systems of coupled layers which approximate continuous distributions by a series of step functions. Specific examples of weak gradient and exponential distributions are presented showing that the solution found directly from the distributed theory is approached by the system of coupled layers, if the limit is taken in which the number of layers become large while each layer thickness approaches zero.

Zahn, M.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Building Booster Separation Aerodynamic Databases for Artemis II

NASA’s Artemis II mission will mark the return of humans to near-lunar space for the first time since Apollo. Shortly after launch on the Space Launch System (SLS), a critical phase of ascent occurs when 16 small rockets fire to push the boosters away from the core. Minimizing the risk of failure during separation requires the construction of multiple 13-dimensional databases, including perturbations in position, flight conditions, and engine thrust. The SLS Computational Fluid Dynamics team used NASA’s FUN3D flow solver on the Pleiades and Electra supercomputers to run 5,780 simulations at nominal conditions and over 8,000 simulations with a core stage engine failure to generate the databases needed to verify the booster separation system for Artemis II.

Meeroff, Jamie G.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Numerical simulation of small-scale thermal convection in the atmosphere

A Boussinesq system is integrated numerically in three dimensions and time in a study of nonhydrostatic convection in the atmosphere. Simulation of cloud convection is achieved by the inclusion of parametrized effects of latent heat and small-scale turbulence. The results are compared with the cell structure observed in Rayleigh-Benard laboratory conversion experiments in air. At a Rayleigh number of 4000, the numerical model adequately simulates the experimentally observed evolution, including some prominent transients of a flow from a randomly perturbed initial conductive state into the final state of steady large-amplitude two-dimensional rolls. At Rayleigh number 9000, the model reproduces the experimentally observed unsteady equilibrium of vertically coherent oscillatory waves superimposed on rolls.

Somerville, R. C. J.↗
NASA NTRS1975

A linear solution of lift interference in square tunnels with slotted test sections of finite length

A numerical program has been developed to determine the effects on lift interference of the finite length of the slotted portion of a square tunnel. Also analyzed by the program are the effects produced by small variations of static pressure between upper and lower plenum, and by boundary layer development on upper and lower walls downstream of the slotted section. In the flow model, based on compressible linear theory, the wing is represented by a single vortex and the wall induced perturbations are obtained by superimposing the effects of a series of images of the central vortex and of a distribution of sources and sinks on panels along the tunnel walls. The present results can be indicative of the magnitude and of the trends of the interference patterns associated with slotted test sections of finite length at high subsonic Mach numbers.

Ruger, C.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Comparison of Node-Centered and Cell-Centered Unstructured Finite-Volume Discretizations: Inviscid Fluxes

Cell-centered and node-centered approaches have been compared for unstructured finite-volume discretization of inviscid fluxes. The grids range from regular grids to irregular grids, including mixed-element grids and grids with random perturbations of nodes. Accuracy, complexity, and convergence rates of defect-correction iterations are studied for eight nominally second-order accurate schemes: two node-centered schemes with weighted and unweighted least-squares (LSQ) methods for gradient reconstruction and six cell-centered schemes two node-averaging with and without clipping and four schemes that employ different stencils for LSQ gradient reconstruction. The cell-centered nearest-neighbor (CC-NN) scheme has the lowest complexity; a version of the scheme that involves smart augmentation of the LSQ stencil (CC-SA) has only marginal complexity increase. All other schemes have larger complexity; complexity of node-centered (NC) schemes are somewhat lower than complexity of cell-centered node-averaging (CC-NA) and full-augmentation (CC-FA) schemes. On highly anisotropic grids typical of those encountered in grid adaptation, discretization errors of five of the six cell-centered schemes converge with second order on all tested grids; the CC-NA scheme with clipping degrades solution accuracy to first order. The NC schemes converge with second order on regular and/or triangular grids and with first order on perturbed quadrilaterals and mixed-element grids. All schemes may produce large relative errors in gradient reconstruction on grids with perturbed nodes. Defect-correction iterations for schemes employing weighted least-square gradient reconstruction diverge on perturbed stretched grids. Overall, the CC-NN and CC-SA schemes offer the best options of the lowest complexity and secondorder discretization errors. On anisotropic grids over a curved body typical of turbulent flow simulations, the discretization errors converge with second order and are small for the CC-NN, CC-SA, and CC-FA schemes on all grids and for NC schemes on triangular grids; the discretization errors of the CC-NA scheme without clipping do not converge on irregular grids. Accurate gradient reconstruction can be achieved by introducing a local approximate mapping; without approximate mapping, only the NC scheme with weighted LSQ method provides accurate gradients. Defect correction iterations for the CC-NA scheme without clipping diverge; for the NC scheme with weighted LSQ method, the iterations either diverge or converge very slowly. The best option in curved geometries is the CC-SA scheme that offers low complexity, second-order discretization errors, and fast convergence.

Diskin, Boris↗