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Results for “FLOW MEASUREMENT”

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 271 records · Page 15
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

Effects of inlet distortion on the development of secondary flows in a subsonic axial inlet compressor rotor

Detailed flow measurements were taken inside an isolated axial compressor rotor operating subsonically near peak efficiency. Laser anemometer measurements were made with two inlet velocity profiles. One profile consisted of an unmodified baseline flow, and the second profile was distorted by placing axisymmetric screens on the hub and shroud well upstream of the rotor. A primary flow is defined in the rotor and deviations from this primary flow for each inlet flow condition identified. A comparison between the two flow deviations is made to assess the development of a passage vortex due to the distortion of the inlet flow. A comparison of experimental results with computational predictions from a Navier-Stokes solver showed good agreement between predicted and measured flow. Measured results indicate that a distorted inlet profile has minimal effect on the development of the flow in the rotor passage and the resulting passage vortex.

Owen, Albert K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Survey of measurements of flow properties in arc jets

This paper reviews techniques for determining flow properties in low density arc jets used for materials and structures testing. Properties measured include flow total enthalpy, pressures, heat fluxes, static temperatures, electron density, species concentrations, and flow velocity. The probe techniques covered are pressure, heat flux, electrostatic, and mass sampling. Nonintrusive techniques include emission spectroscopy, laser-induced fluorescence, laser Thomson scattering, and Raman scattering. It is concluded that several techniques must be used in a single facility to obtain all of the flow field properties necessary to predict heat fluxes in a nonequilibrium expansion.

Scott, Carl D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Method and Apparatus for Measuring Fluid Flow

The invention is a method and apparatus for monitoring the presence, concentration, and the movement of fluids. It is based on utilizing electromagnetic measurements of the complex permittivity of the fluids for detecting and monitoring the fluid. More particularly the apparatus uses one or more microwave probes which are placed at the locations where the measurements are to be made. A radio frequency signal is transmitted to the probe and the reflected signal is phase and amplitude detected at a rapid rate for the purpose of identifying the fluids, based on their dielectric constant at the probe. The apparatus can be used for multiple purposes including measures of flow rates, turbulence, dispersion, fluid identification, and changes in flow conditions of multiple fluids or multiple states of a single fluid in a flowline or a holding container. The apparatus includes a probe consisting of two electrical conductors separated by an insulator. A radio frequency signal is communicated to the probe and is reflected back from the portion of the probe exposed to the fluid. The radio frequency signal also provides a reference signal. An oscillator generates a second signal which combined with each of the reference signal and the reflected signal to produce signals of lower frequencies to facilitate filtering and amplifying those signals. The two signals are then mixed in a detector to produce an output signal that is representative of the phase and amplitude change caused by the reflection of the signal at the probe exposed to the fluid. The detector may be a dual phase detector that provides two such output signals that are in phase quadrature. A phase shifter may be provided for selectively changing the phase of the reference signal to improve the sensitivity of at least one of the output signals for more accurate readings and/or for calibration purposes. The two outputs that are in quadrature with respect to each other may be simultaneously monitored to account for drift errors. The output signals are digitized and provided to a computer at a sample rate which may be very high. The computer is operable to identify the fluid based on its complex permittivity as may be useful for identifying the flow rates, determining the fluid mixture ratio, detecting impurities in the fluid, and so forth. Novelty is believed to reside in the use of the real part of complex permittivity to measure small difference in permittivity of the fluid.

Arndt, G. Dickey↗
NASA NTRS1987

Measurements of Flow Rate and Trajectory of Aircraft Tire-Generated Water Spray

An experimental investigation was conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center to measure the flow rate and trajectory of water spray generated by an aircraft tire operating on a flooded runway. Tests were conducted in the Hydrodynamics Research Facility and made use of a partial airframe and a nose tire from a general aviation aircraft. Nose tires from a commercial transport aircraft were also used. The effects of forward speed, tire load, and water depth on water spray patterns were evaluated by measuring the amount and location of water captured by an array of tubes mounted behind the test tire. Water ejected from the side of the tire footprint had the most significant potential for ingestion into engine inlets. A lateral wake created on the water surface by the rolling tire can dominate the shape of the spray pattern as the distance aft of the tire is increased. Forward speed increased flow rates and moved the spray pattern inboard. Increased tire load caused the spray to become less dense. Near the tire, increased water depths caused flow rates to increase. Tests using a fuselage and partial wing along with the nose gear showed that for certain configurations, wing aerodynamics can cause a concentration of spray above the wing.

Daugherty, Robert H.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Measuring molecular flows with high-resolution stimulated Raman spectroscopy

It is proposed to use high-resolution stimulated Raman spectroscopy to directly measure high-speed molecular flow velocities in wind tunnels and in combustive chambers. A feasibility study indicates that flow speeds from Mach 0.04 up may be measured with the proposed method using available laser systems. It is pointed out that the success of the proposed technique will make it possible to measure all interesting flow parameters, i.e., species concentration, temperature, and velocity, in a time of less than 1 microsecond at a repetition rate of 10,000/s using a single experimental arrangement.

She, C. Y.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Planar measurement of flow field parameters in a nonreacting supersonic combustor using laser-induced iodine fluorescence

A nonintrusive optical technique, laser-induced iodine fluorescence, has been used to obtain planar measurements of flow field parameters in the supersonic mixing flow field of a nonreacting supersonic combustor. The combustor design used in this work was configured with staged transverse sonic injection behind a rearward-facing step into a Mach 2.07 free stream. A set of spatially resolved measurements of temperature and injectant mole fraction has been generated. These measurements provide an extensive and accurate experimental data set required for the validation of computational fluid dynamic codes developed for the calculation of highly three-dimensional combustor flow fields.

Hartfield, Roy J., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Driving Stresses in Mars Polar Ice Caps and Conditions for Ice Flow

Measurements of the topography of the North polar ice cap by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) show that the ice cap is 2950 +/- 200 meters thick. The volume of the cap is about 1.2 x 10(exp 6) cu km covering an area of 1.04 x 10(exp 6) sq km, which is about 40 percent of the Greenland ice sheet in volume and 62 percent in area. The composition of the Northern cap was previously concluded to be predominately H2O, rather than CO2 ice, based on thermodynamic considerations of the insustainablity of CO2 during summer. Principal questions about the cap are: does the ice move and at what rate, is the cap currently growing or depleting in volume, and how and when was the cap formed? Recent research on terrestrial ice sheets indicates that rates of ice deformation at the low stress values characteristic of ice sheets are significantly higher than the rates given by the classic viscous-plastic flow laws commonly used.

Zwally, H. Jay↗
NASA NTRS1974

Swept-slot film-cooling effectiveness in hypersonic turbulent flow

Measurement results are presented for the surface equilibrium temperature downstream of swept slots, with sonic tangential air injection into a thick hypersonic turbulent boundary layer. These results are compared with unswept slot results for cooling effectiveness.

Hefner, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Small-scale motions observed by aircraft in the tropical lower stratosphere - Evidence for mixing and its relationship to large-scale flows

Measurements of temperature and ozone from instrumented aircraft in the tropical lower stratosphere show the presence of small-scale disturbances generated by underlying cumulus convection and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The disturbances associated with underlying convection have peak-to-peak vertical parcel excursions of about 300 m. Flying conditions were smooth, suggesting an ensemble of gravity waves and little or no turbulent mixing. It is nevertheless possible that these waves break at other altitudes, leading to turbulent mixing and net fluxes of vertically stratified tracers. Disturbances attributed to KH instability implied vertical parcel excursions of 300-400 m. The disturbances coincided with rough flying conditions, suggesting turbulent mixing. A linear stability analysis of the atmospheric basic state defined by high-resolution radiosondes shows fastest growing waves with horizontal wavelengths of 1.4-1.8 km, consistent with the aircraft observations. The strong shears responsible for the KH instability are due to large-scale waves propagating into a region of small intrinsic frequency. Radiosonde observations show that the zonal length scale of these waves is about 1000 km.

Pfister, Leonhard↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Transition Induced by an Egg-Crate Roughness on a Flat Plate in Supersonic Flow

Measurements were made in the wake of a roughness patch with a hot wire to determine mode shapes and frequencies of the dominant instabilities. The egg-crate roughness pattern is an analytic function described by a sinusoidal equation, similar to arrays of discrete elements that are positioned in a spanwise and streamwise grid, which were considered in previous computations. This is an intermediate configuration toward understanding the underlying physics of pseudorandom distributed roughness. At a freestream unit Reynolds number of10.8×106/m, the boundary layer did not transition within the measurement region. The largest amplitude boundary layer instability was centered near 53 kHz and appeared to be similar to an antisymmetric mode centered behind the region downstream of all of the peaks in the egg-crate roughness. This mode was similar to a mode found to have the highest N factor in previous computational studies. At a freestream unit Reynolds number of12.6×106/m, the boundary layer transitioned to turbulence. The dominant instability was centered near 74 kHz and grew linearly before saturating and breaking down. The mode shape of the 74-kHz mode was again an antisymmetric mode centered behind all of the peaks in the egg-crate roughness.

Amanda Chou↗
NASA NTRS2024

Lensless Particle Image Velocimetry

The application of lensless imaging to particle image velocimetry (PIV) is demonstrated. Lensless PIV eliminates the need for imaging lenses to measure flow fields near a surface. Only the camera sensor, a thin mask, and computations are required to image particles in a flow field and to compute the velocity field. The small form factor could enable embedded sensors for near-wall measurements. Flow field measurements are obtained simultaneously for a lensless system and lens-based 2D PIV system, and several different reconstruction techniques are demonstrated. The reconstructed particle images and computed velocity fields compare well for both a uniform and shear flow. The potential for stereo and 3D volumetric PIV with a single camera sensor is demonstrated through different image reconstruction approaches.

Lensless imaging↗
NASA NTRS1986

Pitot-Pressure Measurements in Flow Fields Behind a Rectangular Nozzle with Exhaust Jet for Free-Stream Mach Numbers of 0.00, 0.60, and 1.20

An investigation has been conducted in the Langley 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel to measure the flow field in and around the jet exhaust from a nonaxisymmetric nozzle configuration. The nozzle had a rectangular exit with a width-to-height ratio of 2.38. Pitot-pressure measurements were made at five longitudinal locations downstream of the nozzle exit. The maximum distance downstream of the exit was about 5 nozzle heights. These measurements were made at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.00, 0.60, and 1.20 with the nozzle operating at a ratio of nozzle total pressure to free-stream static pressure of 4.0. The jet exhaust was simulated with high-pressure air that had an exit total temperature essentially equal to the free-stream total temperature.

Putnam, L. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Slow-Wave Acoustic Isolation For Measurement Of Flow

Propagation of interfering signals delayed. Experiments demonstrated utility of slow-wave isolation between transmitting and receiving transducers in acoustic measurements of sound speed and/or flow velocity in ducts. Specifically, finding pertains to acoustic measurements of speeds of flow of low-molecular-weight gases at pressures low enough to be contained in thin-walled metal conduits.

Lynnworth, Lawrence C.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Understanding Solar Eruptions with SDO/HMI Measuring Photospheric Flows, Testing Models, and Steps Towards Forecasting Solar Eruptions

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is carrying the first full-disk imaging vector magnetograph, the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), into an inclined geosynchronous orbit. This magnetograph will provide nearly continuous measurements of photospheric vector magnetic fields at cadences of 90 seconds to 12 minutes with 1" resolution, precise pointing, and unfettered by atmospheric seeing. The enormous data stream of 1.5 Terabytes per day from SAO will provide an unprecedented opportunity to understand the mysteries of solar eruptions. These ground-breaking observations will permit the application of a new technique, the differential affine velocity estimator for vector magnetograms (DAVE4VM), to measure photospheric plasma flows in active regions. These measurements will permit, for the first time, accurate assessments of the coronal free energy available for driving CMEs and flares. The details of photospheric plasma flows, particularly along magnetic neutral-lines, are critical to testing models for initiating coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and flares. Assimilating flows and fields into state-of-the art 3D MHD simulations that model the highly stratified solar atmosphere from the convection zone to the corona represents the next step towards achieving NASA's Living with a Star forecasting goals of predicting "when a solar eruption leading to a CME will occur." Our presentation will describe these major science and predictive advances that will be delivered by SDO/HMI.

Schuck, Peter W.↗