Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “SUPERSONIC FLUTTER”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 253 records · Page 14

Aeroelastic problems in turbomachines

An overview is given of aeroelastic problems in turbomachines, emphasizing recent research. Unsteady flow in cascade and turbomachinery rotors is discussed, including supersonic and transonic linearized potential flow and nonlinear flow models. Computational and modeling aspects of the flutter of fan and compressor blades are examined. The correlation of the findings with experimental data is considered. Future directions in turbomachinery aeroelasticity are addressed.

Bendiksen, Oddvar O.↗

Computational Aeroelastic Analysis of the Semi-Span Super-Sonic Transport (S4T) Wind-Tunnel Model

A summary of the computational aeroelastic analysis for the Semi-Span Super-Sonic Transport (S4T) wind-tunnel model is presented. A broad range of analysis techniques, including linear, nonlinear and Reduced Order Models (ROMs) were employed in support of a series of aeroelastic (AE) and aeroservoelastic (ASE) wind-tunnel tests conducted in the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) at NASA Langley Research Center. This research was performed in support of the ASE element in the Supersonics Program, part of NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program. The analysis concentrated on open-loop flutter predictions, which were in good agreement with experimental results. This paper is one in a series that comprise a special S4T technical session, which summarizes the S4T project.

Sanetrik, Mark D.↗

Flutter suppression and gust alleviation using active controls - Review of developments and applications based on the aerodynamic energy concept

The state of the art of the aerodynamic energy concept, involving the use of active controls for flutter suppression, is reviewed. Applications of the concept include the suppression of external-store flutter of three different configurations of the YF-17 flutter model using a single trailing edge control surface activated by a single fixed-gain control law. Consideration is also given to some initial results concerning the flutter suppression of the 1/20 scale low speed wind-tunnel model of the Boeing 2707-300 supersonic transport using an activated trailing edge control surface.

Nissim, E.↗

Results of a FRSI material test under Space Shuttle ascent conditions in the Ames Research Center 9x7 foot supersonic wind tunnel (OS13). Space Shuttle aerothermodynamic data report

A test was conducted in the NASA/ARC 9 x 7 foot supersonic wind tunnel to verify the integrity of Felt Reusable Surface Insulation (FRSI) material in a panel flutter environment. A FRSI sample panel was subjected to the shocks, pressure gradients, and turbulence characteristics encountered at dynamic pressure 1.5 times the 3(sigma) dispersed trajectory flight conditions of the Space Shuttle. Static and fluctuating pressure data were obtained for Mach numbers ranging from 1.55 to 2.5 with dynamic pressures of 625 to 1250 psf. The FRSI panel suffered no appreciable damage as a result of the test.

Lemoine, P. L.↗

Characteristics of Control Laws Tested on the Semi-Span Super-Sonic Transport (S4T) Wind-Tunnel Model

The Semi-Span Supersonic Transport (S4T) is an aeroelastically scaled wind-tunnel model built to test active controls concepts for large flexible supersonic aircraft in the transonic flight regime. It is one of several models constructed in the 1990's as part of the High Speed Research (HSR) Program. Control laws were developed for the S4T by M4 Engineering, Inc. and by Zona Technologies, Inc. under NASA Research Announcement (NRA) contracts. The model was tested in the NASA-Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) four times from 2007 to 2010. The first two tests were primarily for plant identification. The third entry was used for testing control laws for Ride Quality Enhancement, Gust Load Alleviation, and Flutter Suppression. Whereas the third entry only tested FS subcritically, the fourth test demonstrated closed-loop operation above the open-loop flutter boundary. The results of the third entry are reported elsewhere. This paper reports on flutter suppression results from the fourth wind-tunnel test. Flutter suppression is seen as a way to provide stability margins while flying at transonic flight conditions without penalizing the primary supersonic cruise design condition. An account is given for how Controller Performance Evaluation (CPE) singular value plots were interpreted with regard to progressing open- or closed-loop to higher dynamic pressures during testing.

Christhilf, David M.↗

Aerothermoelastic Analysis of a NASP-Like Vertical Fin

Several aeroelastic stability analyses for a vertical fin similar to that of the National Aero-Space Plane are described. The objectives of the study were to design and obtain an experimental data base for a supersonic wind-tunnel model of the fin in order to examine the effects of thermal loading on the flutter characteristics. This paper describes the preliminary efforts to design the wind-tunnel model, including several of the geometric parameter variations that were analyzed. The dominant flutter mechanism involved a flap vibration mode and a fin bending mode. Variation of the thicknesses of flap and root flexures, used to attach the flap to the fin, and the fin to a support, significantly affected the flutter boundary. Uniform thermal loads, affecting only material properties, had little effect, as did the application of different uniform temperatures to each side of the fin. In contrast, the application of significant chord-wise thermal gradients induced stresses which reduced the flutter dynamic pressure by as much as 37 percent. For less extreme distributed loading, the low-aspect ratio fin was relatively unaffected.

Rodgers, John P.↗

Evaluation of structural design concepts for an arrow-wing supersonic cruise aircraft

An analytical study was performed to determine the best structural approach for design of primary wing and fuselage structure of a Mach 2.7 arrow wing supersonic cruise aircraft. Concepts were evaluated considering near term start of design. Emphasis was placed on the complex interactions between thermal stress, static aeroelasticity, flutter, fatigue and fail safe design, static and dynamic loads, and the effects of variations in structural arrangements, concepts and materials on these interactions. Results indicate that a hybrid wing structure incorporating low profile convex beaded and honeycomb sandwich surface panels of titanium alloy 6Al-4V were the most efficient. The substructure includes titanium alloy spar caps reinforced with boron polyimide composites. The fuselage shell consists of hat stiffened skin and frame construction of titanium alloy 6Al-4V. A summary of the study effort is presented, and a discussion of the overall logic, design philosophy and interaction between the analytical methods for supersonic cruise aircraft design are included.

Sakata, I. F.↗

Computing Flutter Boundaries

MISER2 computer program calculates flutter boundaries and aeroelastic response of cascade of arbitrarily mistuned airfoils. Based on typical section formulation incorporating incompressible, subsonic and supersonic cascade, unsteady aerodynamic theories. Each blade modeled as two-degree-of-freedom oscillator that has inertial coupling between bending and torsional motions. Written in FORTRAN 4.

Kielb, Robert E.↗

Analysis of cascades using a two dimensional Euler aeroelastic solver

A two-dimensional unsteady aerodynamic Euler solver based on a flux differencing scheme is being developed to analyze oscillating cascades. The cascades can have subsonic, transonic, or supersonic flow with either subsonic or supersonic axial velocity. The aerodynamic solver is coupled with a typical section structural model for each blade of the cascade. Flutter analysis methods both in time and frequency domains are then implemented into the resulting aeroelastic solver. Methods that reduce computational time for calculating the unsteady aerodynamic coefficients, namely the influence coefficient method and the pulse response method, are also implemented and validated. The present solver showed good correlation with published results for all the flow regimes. It is shown that grid coarsening improved the accuracy of the predictions. A representative flutter calculation showed that both the frequency domain and time domain methods are implemented correctly into the aeroelastic solver.

Reddy, T. S. R.↗

Numerical analysis of supersonic flow through oscillating cascade sections by using a deforming grid

A finite difference code was developed for modeling inviscid, unsteady supersonic flow by solution of the compressible Euler equations. The code uses a deforming grid technique to capture the motion of the airfoils and can model oscillating cascades with any arbitrary interblade phase angle. A flat plate cascade is analyzed, and results are compared with results from a small-perturbation theory. The results show very good agreement for both the unsteady pressure distributions and the integrated force predictions. The reason for using the numerical Euler code over a small-perturbation theory is the ability to model real airfoils that have thickness and camber. Sample predictions are presented for a section of the rotor on a supersonic throughflow compressor designed at NASA Lewis Research Center. Preliminary results indicate that two-dimensional, flat plate analysis predicts conservative flutter boundaries.

Huff, Dennis L.↗

Numerical analysis of supersonic flow through oscillating cascade sections by using a deforming grid

A finite difference code was developed for modeling inviscid, unsteady supersonic flow by solution of the compressible Euler equations. The code uses a deforming grid technique to capture the motion of the airfoils and can model oscillating cascades with any arbitrary interblade phase angle. A flat plate cascade is analyzed, and results are compared with results from a small-perturbation theory. The results show very good agreement for both the unsteady pressure distributions and the integrated force predictions. The reason for using the numerical Euler code over a small-perturbation theory is the ability to model real airfoils that have thickness and camber. Sample predictions are presented for a section of the rotor on a supersonic throughflow compressor designed at NASA Lewis Research Center. Preliminary results indicate that two-dimensional, flat plate analysis predicts conservative flutter boundaries.

Huff, Dennis L.↗

Predicting Flutter and Forced Response in Turbomachinery

TURBO-AE is a computer code that enables detailed, high-fidelity modeling of aeroelastic and unsteady aerodynamic characteristics for prediction of flutter, forced response, and blade-row interaction effects in turbomachinery. Flow regimes that can be modeled include subsonic, transonic, and supersonic, with attached and/or separated flow fields. The three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically to obtain extremely accurate descriptions of unsteady flow fields in multistage turbomachinery configurations. Blade vibration is simulated by use of a dynamic-grid-deformation technique to calculate the energy exchange for determining the aerodynamic damping of vibrations of blades. The aerodynamic damping can be used to assess the stability of a blade row. TURBO-AE also calculates the unsteady blade loading attributable to such external sources of excitation as incoming gusts and blade-row interactions. These blade loadings, along with aerodynamic damping, are used to calculate the forced responses of blades to predict their fatigue lives. Phase-lagged boundary conditions based on the direct-store method are used to calculate nonzero interblade phase-angle oscillations; this practice eliminates the need to model multiple blade passages, and, hence, enables large savings in computational resources.

VanZante, Dale E.↗

Design study of structural concepts for an arrow-wing supersonic-cruise aircraft

An analytical study was performed to determine the best structural approach for design of primary wing and fuselage structure of a Mach number 2.7 arrow-wing supersonic cruise aircraft. Concepts were evaluated considering near-term start-of-design. Emphasis was placed on the complex interactions between thermal stress, static aeroelasticity, flutter, fatigue and fail-safe design, static and dynamic loads, and the effects of variations in structural arrangements, concepts and materials on these interactions. Results indicate that a hybrid wing structure incorporating low-profile convex-beaded and honeycomb sandwich surface panels of titanium alloy 6Al-4V were the most efficient. The substructure includes titanium alloy spar caps reinforced with Boron-polyimide composites. The fuselage shell is a closed-hat stiffened skin and frame construction of titanium alloy 6Al-4V. This paper presents an executive summary of the study effort, and includes a discussion of the overall study logic, design philosophy and interaction between the analytical methods for supersonic cruise aircraft design.

Sakata, I. F.↗

Unsteady transonic flow in cascades

There is a need for methods to predict the unsteady air loads associated with flutter of turbomachinery blading at transonic speeds. The results of such an analysis in which the steady relative flow approaching a cascade of thin airfoils is assumed to be transonic, irrotational, and isentropic is presented. The blades in the cascade are allowed to undergo a small amplitude harmonic oscillation which generates a small unsteady flow superimposed on the existing steady flow. The blades are assumed to oscillate with a prescribed motion of constant amplitude and interblade phase angle. The equations of motion are obtained by linearizing about a uniform flow the inviscid nonheat conducting continuity and momentum equations. The resulting equations are solved by employing the Weiner Hopf technique. The solution yields the unsteady aerodynamic forces acting on the cascade at Mach number equal to 1. Making use of an unsteady transonic similarity law, these results are compared with the results obtained from linear unsteady subsonic and supersonic cascade theories. A parametric study is conducted to find the effects of reduced frequency, solidity, stagger angle, and position of pitching axis on the flutter.

Surampudi, S. P.↗

Unsteady transonic flow in cascades

There is a need for methods to predict the unsteady air loads associated with flutter of turbomachinery blading at transonic speeds. The results of such an analysis in which the steady relative flow approaching a cascade of thin airfoils is assumed to be transonic, irrotational, and isentropic is presented. The blades in the cascade are allowed to undergo a small amplitude harmonic oscillation which generates a small unsteady flow superimposed on the existing steady flow. The blades are assumed to oscillate with a prescribed motion of constant amplitude and interblade phase angle. The equations of motion are obtained by linearizing about a uniform flow the inviscid nonheat conducting continuity and momentum equations. The resulting equations are solved by employing the Weiner Hopf technique. The solution yields the unsteady aerodynamic forces acting on the cascade at Mach number equal to 1. Making use of an unsteady transonic similarity law, these results are compared with the results obtained from linear unsteady subsonic and supersonic cascade theories. A parametric study is conducted to find the effects of reduced frequency, solidity, stagger angle, and position of pitching axis on the flutter.

Surampudi, S. P.↗

Further investigation of a finite difference procedure for analyzing the transonic flow about harmonically oscillating airfoils and wings

Analytical and empirical studies of a finite difference method for the solution of the transonic flow about harmonically oscillating wings and airfoils are presented. The procedure is based on separating the velocity potential into steady and unsteady parts and linearizing the resulting unsteady equations for small disturbances. The steady velocity potential is obtained first from the well-known nonlinear equation for steady transonic flow. The unsteady velocity potential is then obtained from a linear differential equation in complex form with spatially varying coefficients. Since sinusoidal motion is assumed, the unsteady equation is independent of time. An out-of-core direct solution procedure was developed and applied to two-dimensional sections. Results are presented for a section of vanishing thickness in subsonic flow and an NACA 64A006 airfoil in supersonic flow. Good correlation is obtained in the first case at values of Mach number and reduced frequency of direct interest in flutter analyses. Reasonable results are obtained in the second case. Comparisons of two-dimensional finite difference solutions with exact analytic solutions indicate that the accuracy of the difference solution is dependent on the boundary conditions used on the outer boundaries. Homogeneous boundary conditions on the mesh edges that yield complex eigenvalues give the most accurate finite difference solutions. The plane outgoing wave boundary conditions meet these requirements.

Weatherill, W. H.↗