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265 records · Page 15

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NASA NTRS1990

Large-scale aeroacoustic research feasibility and conceptual design of test-section inserts for the Ames 80- by 120-foot wind tunnel

An engineering feasibility study was made of aeroacoustic inserts designed for large-scale acoustic research on aircraft models in the 80 by 120 foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. The advantages and disadvantages of likely designs were analyzed. Results indicate that the required maximum airspeed leads to the design of a particular insert. Using goals of 200, 150, and 100 knots airspeed, the analysis indicated a 30 x 60 ft open-jet test section, a 40 x 80 ft open jet test section, and a 70 x 100 ft closed test section with enhanced wall lining, respectively. The open-jet inserts would be composed of a nozzle, collector, diffuser, and acoutic wedges incorporated in the existing 80 x 120 test section. The closed test section would be composed of approximately 5 ft acoustic wedges covered by a porous plate attached to the test section walls of the existing 80 x 120. All designs would require a double row of acoustic vanes between the test section and fan drive to attenuate fan noise and, in the case of the open-jet designs, to control flow separation at the diffuser downstream end. The inserts would allow virtually anechoic acoustic studies of large helicopter models, jets, and V/STOL aircraft models in simulated flight. Model scale studies would be necessary to optimize the aerodynamic and acoustic performance of any of the designs. In all designs studied, the existing structure would have to be reinforced. Successful development of acoustically transparent walls, though not strictly necessary to the project, would lead to a porous-wall test section that could be substituted for any of the open-jet designs, and thereby eliminate many aerodynamic and acoustic problems characteristic of open-jet shear layers. The larger size of the facility would make installation and removal of the insert components difficult. Consequently, scheduling of the existing 80 x 120 aerodynamic test section and scheduling of the open-jet test section would likely be made on an annual or longer basis. The enhanced wall-lining insert would likely be permanent. Although the modifications are technically feasible, the economic practicality of the project was not evaluated.

Soderman, Paul T.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Computational Aerodynamic Simulations of a 1215 ft/sec Tip Speed Transonic Fan System Model for Acoustic Methods Assessment and Development

Computational Aerodynamic simulations of a 1215 ft/sec tip speed transonic fan system were performed at five different operating points on the fan operating line, in order to provide detailed internal flow field information for use with fan acoustic prediction methods presently being developed, assessed and validated. The fan system is a sub-scale, low-noise research fan/nacelle model that has undergone extensive experimental testing in the 9- by 15-foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Details of the fan geometry, the computational fluid dynamics methods, the computational grids, and various computational parameters relevant to the numerical simulations are discussed. Flow field results for three of the five operating points simulated are presented in order to provide a representative look at the computed solutions. Each of the five fan aerodynamic simulations involved the entire fan system, which for this model did not include a split flow path with core and bypass ducts. As a result, it was only necessary to adjust fan rotational speed in order to set the fan operating point, leading to operating points that lie on a fan operating line and making mass flow rate a fully dependent parameter. The resulting mass flow rates are in good agreement with measurement values. Computed blade row flow fields at all fan operating points are, in general, aerodynamically healthy. Rotor blade and fan exit guide vane flow characteristics are good, including incidence and deviation angles, chordwise static pressure distributions, blade surface boundary layers, secondary flow structures, and blade wakes. Examination of the flow fields at all operating conditions reveals no excessive boundary layer separations or related secondary-flow problems.

Tweedt, Daniel L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

The design of test-section inserts for higher speed aeroacoustic testing in the Ames 80- by 120-foot wind tunnel

An engineering feasibility study was made of aeroacoustic inserts designed for large-scale acoustic research on aircraft models in the 80- by 120-Foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. The goal was to find test-section modifications that would allow improved aeroacoustic testing at airspeeds equal to and above the current 100 knots limit. Results indicate that the required maximum airspeed drives the design of a particular insert. Using goals of 200, 150, and 100 knots airspeed, the analysis led to a 30 x 60 ft open-jet test section, a 40 x 80 ft open-jet test section, and a 70 x 110 ft closed test section with enhanced wall lining respectively. The open-jet inserts would be composed of a nozzle, collector, diffuser, and acoustic wedges incorporated in the existing 80 x 120 ft test section. The closed test section would be composed of approximately 5-ft acoustic wedges covered by a porous plate attached to the test-section walls of the existing 80 x 120. All designs would require a double row of acoustic vanes between the test section and fan drive to attenuate fan noise and, in the case of the open-jet designs, to control flow separation at the diffuser downstream end. The inserts would allow virtually anechoic acoustics studies of large helicopter models, jets, and V/STOL aircraft models in simulated flight. Model scale studies would be necessary to optimize the aerodynamic and acoustic performance of any of the designs. Successful development of acoustically transparent walls, though not strictly necessary to the project, would lead to a porous-wall test section that could be substituted for any of the open-jet designs, and thereby eliminate many aerodynamic and acoustic problems characteristic of open-jet shear layers.

Soderman, Paul T.↗

NASA NTRS1992

The design of test-section inserts for higher speed aeroacoustic testing in the Ames 80- by 120-Foot Wind Tunnel

An engineering feasibility study was made of aeroacoustic inserts designed for large-scale acoustic research on aircraft models in the 80- by 120 Foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. The goal was to find test-section modifications that would allow improved aeroacoustic testing at airspeeds equal to and above the current 100 knots limit. Results indicate that the required maximum airspeed drives the design of a particular insert. Using goals of 200, 150, and 100 knots airspeed, the analysis led to a 30 x 60 ft open-jet test section, a 40 x 80 ft open-jet test section, and a 70 x 110 ft closed test section with enhanced wall lining respectively. The open-jet inserts would be composed of a nozzle, collector, diffuser, and acoustic wedges incorporated in the existing 80 x 120 ft test section. The closed test section would be composed of approximately 5-ft acoustic wedges covered by a porous plate attached to the test-section walls of the existing 80 x 120. All designs would require a double row of acoustic vanes between the test section and fan drive to attenuate fan noise and, in the case of the open-jet designs, to control flow separation at the diffuser downstream end. The inserts would allow virtually anechoic acoustics studies of large helicopter models, jets and V/STOL aircraft models in simulated flight. Model scale studies would be necessary to optimize the aerodynamic and acoustic performance of any of the designs.

Soderman, Paul T.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Study of mean- and turbulent-velocity fields in a large-scale turbine-vane passage

Laser-Doppler velocimetry, and to a lesser extent hot-wire anemometry, were employed to measure three components of the mean velocity and the six turbulent stresses at four planes within the turbine inlet-guide-vane passage. One variation in the turbulent inlet boundary layer thickness and one variation in the blade aspect ratio (span/axial chord) were studied. A longitudinal vortex (passage vortex) was clearly identified in the exit plane of the passage for the three test cases. The maximum turbulence intensities within the longitudinal vortex were found to be on the order of 2 to 4 percent, with large regions appearing nonturbulent. Because a turbulent wall boundary layer was the source of vorticity that produced the passage vortex, these low turbulence levels were not anticipated. For the three test cases studied, the lateral velocity field extended significantly beyond the region of the longitudinal velocity defect. Changing the inlet boundary layer thickness produced a difference in the location, the strength, and the extent of the passage vortex. Changing the aspect ratio of the blade passage had a measurable but less significant effect. The experiment was performed in a 210 mm pitch, 272 mm axial chord model in low speed wind tunnel at an inlet Mach number of 0.07.

Bailey, D. A.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Computational Aerodynamic Simulations of a 1484 ft/sec Tip Speed Quiet High-Speed Fan System Model for Acoustic Methods Assessment and Development

Computational Aerodynamic simulations of a 1484 ft/sec tip speed quiet high-speed fan system were performed at five different operating points on the fan operating line, in order to provide detailed internal flow field information for use with fan acoustic prediction methods presently being developed, assessed and validated. The fan system is a sub-scale, low-noise research fan/nacelle model that has undergone experimental testing in the 9- by 15-foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Details of the fan geometry, the computational fluid dynamics methods, the computational grids, and various computational parameters relevant to the numerical simulations are discussed. Flow field results for three of the five operating points simulated are presented in order to provide a representative look at the computed solutions. Each of the five fan aerodynamic simulations involved the entire fan system, which includes a core duct and a bypass duct that merge upstream of the fan system nozzle. As a result, only fan rotational speed and the system bypass ratio, set by means of a translating nozzle plug, were adjusted in order to set the fan operating point, leading to operating points that lie on a fan operating line and making mass flow rate a fully dependent parameter. The resulting mass flow rates are in good agreement with measurement values. Computed blade row flow fields at all fan operating points are, in general, aerodynamically healthy. Rotor blade and fan exit guide vane flow characteristics are good, including incidence and deviation angles, chordwise static pressure distributions, blade surface boundary layers, secondary flow structures, and blade wakes. Examination of the computed flow fields reveals no excessive or critical boundary layer separations or related secondary-flow problems, with the exception of the hub boundary layer at the core duct entrance. At that location a significant flow separation is present. The region of local flow recirculation extends through a mixing plane, however, which for the particular mixing-plane model used is now known to exaggerate the recirculation. In any case, the flow separation has relatively little impact on the computed rotor and FEGV flow fields.

Tweedt, Daniel L.↗

NASA NTRS1947

Preliminary Results of Altitude-Wind-Tunnel Investigation of X24C-4B Turbojet Engine. I - Pressure and Temperature Distributions

Pressures and temperatures throughout the X24C-4B turbojet engine are presented in both tabular and graphical forms to show the effect of altitude, flight Mach number, and engine speed on the internal operation of the engine. These data were obtained in the NACA Cleveland altitude wind tunnel at simulated altitudes from 5000 to 45,000 feet, simulated flight Mach numbers from 0.25 to 1.08, and engine speeds from 4000 to 12,500 rpm. Location and detail drawings of the instrumentation installed at seven survey stations in the engine are shown. Application of generalization factors to pressures and temperatures at each measuring station for the range of altitudes investigated showed that the data did not generalize above an altitude of 25,000 feet. Total-pressure distribution at the compressor outlet varied only with change in engine speed. At altitudes above 35,000 feet and engine speeds above 11,000 rpm, the peak temperature at the turbine-outlet annulus moved inward toward the root of the blade, which is undesirable from blade-stress considerations. The temperature levels at the turbine outlet and the exhaust-nozzle outlet were lowered as the Mach number was increased. The static-pressure measurements obtained at each stator stage of the compressor showed a pressure drop through the inlet guide vanes and the first-stage rotor at high engine speeds. The average values measured by the manufacturer's instrumentation werein close agreement with the average values obtained with NACA instrumentation.

Prince, William R.↗

NASA NTRS1982

V/STOL Tandem Fan transition section model test

An approximately 0.25 scale model of the transition section of a tandem fan variable cycle engine nacelle was tested in the NASA Lewis Research Center 10-by-10 foot wind tunnel. Two 12-inch, tip-turbine driven fans were used to simulate a tandem fan engine. Three testing modes simulated a V/STOL tandem fan airplane. Parallel mode has two separate propulsion streams for maximum low speed performance. A front inlet, fan, and downward vectorable nozzle forms one stream. An auxilliary top inlet provides air to the aft fan - supplying the core engine and aft vectorable nozzle. Front nozzle and top inlet closure, and removal of a blocker door separating the two streams configures the tandem fan for series mode operations as a typical aircraft propulsion system. Transition mode operation is formed by intermediate settings of the front nozzle, blocker door, and top inlet. Emphasis was on the total pressure recovery and flow distortion at the aft fan face. A range of fan flow rates were tested at tunnel airspeeds from 0 to 240 knots, and angles-of-attack from -10 to 40 deg for all three modes. In addition to the model variables for the three modes, model variants of the top inlet were tested in the parallel mode only. These lip variables were: aft lip boundary layer bleed holes, and Three position turning vane. Also a bellmouth extension of the top inlet side lips was tested in parallel mode.

Simpkin, W. E.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Acoustic Benefits of Stator Sweep and Lean for a High Tip Speed Fan

A model high-speed fan stage was acoustically tested in the NASA Glenn 9- by 15-Foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel at takeoff/approach flight conditions. The fan was designed for a corrected rotor tip speed of 442 m/s (1450 ft/s), and had a powered core, or booster stage, giving the model a nominal bypass ratio of 5. The model also had a simulated engine pylon and nozzle bifurcation contained within the bypass duct. The fan was tested with three stator sets to evaluate acoustic benefits associated with a swept and leaned stator and with a swept integral vane/frame stator which incorporated some of the swept and leaned features as well as eliminated some of the downstream support structure. The baseline fan with the wide chord rotor and baseline stator approximated a current GEAE CF6 engine. A flyover effective perceived noise level (EPNL) code was used to generate relative EPNL values for the various configurations. Flyover effective perceived noise levels (EPNL) were computed from the model data to help project noise benefits. A tone removal study was also performed. The swept and leaned stator showed a 3 EPNdB reduction at lower fan speeds relative to the baseline stator; while the swept integral vane/frame stator showed lowest noise levels at intermediate fan speeds. Removal of the bypass blade passage frequency rotor tone (BPF) showed a 4 EPNdB reduction for the baseline and swept and leaned stators, and a 6 EPNdB reduction for the swept integral vane/ frame stator. Therefore, selective tone removal techniques such as active noise control and/or tuned liner could be particularly effective in reducing noise levels for certain fan speeds.

Woodward, Richard P.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Scale Model Icing Research Tunnel

NASA Lewis Research Center's Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) is the world's largest refrigerated wind tunnel and one of only three icing wind tunnel facilities in the United States. The IRT was constructed in the 1940's and has been operated continually since it was built. In this facility, natural icing conditions are duplicated to test the effects of inflight icing on actual aircraft components as well as on models of airplanes and helicopters. IRT tests have been used successfully to reduce flight test hours for the certification of ice-detection instrumentation and ice protection systems. To ensure that the IRT will remain the world's premier icing facility well into the next century, Lewis is making some renovations and is planning others. These improvements include modernizing the control room, replacing the fan blades with new ones to increase the test section maximum velocity to 430 mph, installing new spray bars to increase the size and uniformity of the artificial icing cloud, and replacing the facility heat exchanger. Most of the improvements will have a first-order effect on the IRT's airflow quality. To help us understand these effects and evaluate potential improvements to the flow characteristics of the IRT, we built a modular 1/10th-scale aerodynamic model of the facility. This closed-loop scale-model pilot tunnel was fabricated onsite in the various shops of Lewis' Fabrication Support Division. The tunnel's rectangular sections are composed of acrylic walls supported by an aluminum angle framework. Its turning vanes are made of tubing machined to the contour of the IRT turning vanes. The fan leg of the tunnel, which transitions from rectangular to circular and back to rectangular cross sections, is fabricated of fiberglass sections. The contraction section of the tunnel is constructed from sheet aluminum. A 12-bladed aluminum fan is coupled to a turbine powered by high-pressure air capable of driving the maximum test section velocity to 550 ft/sec (Mach 0.45). The air turbine and instrumentation are housed inside a fiberglass nacelle. Total and static pressure measurements can be taken around the loop, and velocity and flow angularity measurements can be taken with hot-wire and five-hole probes at specific locations. The Scale Model Icing Research Tunnel (SMIRT) is undergoing checkout tests to determine how its airflow characteristics compare with the IRT. Near-term uses for this scale-model tunnel include determining the aerodynamic effects of replacing the 52-yearold W-shaped heat exchanger with a flat-faced heat exchanger. SMIRT is an integral part of the improvements planned for the IRT because testing the proposed IRT improvements in a scale-model tunnel will lower costs and improve productivity.

Canacci, Victor A.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Large-Scale V/STOL Experimental Investigations of an Ejector-Lift Fighter and a Twin Tilt-Nacelle Transport

In the 1980s NASA Aeronautics was actively involved in full-scale wind tunnel testing of promising VSTOL aircraft concepts. This presentation looks at two, a multi-role fighter and a subsonic tactical transport. Their strengths and weaknesses are discussed with some of the rationale that ultimately led to the selection of competing concepts for production, namely the V-22 Osprey and the F-35 Lightning. The E7-A STOVL multi-role fighter was the product of an aircraft development program in the late 1980s by NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Canadian Department of Industry Science and Technology (DIST), and industry partners General Dynamics and Boeing Dehavilland. The program was conducted an in response to increasing US-UK interest in supersonic STOVL fighters. The objective was to design an aircraft that could replace most existing close air support-air combat fighters with a single aircraft that had some of the qualities of an air superiority fighter and the deployment flexibility of a VSTOL aircraft. The resulting E7-A concept was a delta-wing supersonic fighter that used a fuselage-mounted thrust augmenting ejector and a ventral deflecting jet nozzle for vertical lift. The Grumman Aircraft Company, the Navy, and NASA developed the Design-698 (D-698) subsonic tactical transport in response to the Navy's Type A VSTOL utility aircraft requirement. The objective was to develop a subsonic utility transport with the operational flexibility of a helicopter, but with greater speed and range. The D-698 employs two high-bypass turbofan engines mounted on a dumbbell that rotates through ninety degrees for vertical takeoff and cruise flight. Movable vanes positioned in the exhaust flow provide control in hover with the need for reaction control jets. The presentations concluding comments suggest that technology advances in the last thirty-years may justify the value of revisiting some of these concepts.

Powered Lift↗

NASA NTRS2024

Background Turbulence Characterization of the Curved Duct Test Rig

Interest in applying acoustic treatment to nontraditional locations of turbofan engines has led to recent testing of acoustically treated airfoils in the NASA Langley Curved Duct Test Rig. Current testing focuses only on sound attenuation by the sample when exposed to an incident sound field driven by a loudspeaker array. However, there may be much to gain from an aeroacoustic study of the interaction of turbulence with treated airfoils, especially in the case of acoustically treated outlet guide vane designs. Thus, the intent of this study is to take the first step in assessing the aeroacoustic quality of the NASA Langley Curved Duct Test Rig (typically only used for grazing flow studies) by examining the flow quality. The background turbulence levels are measured using hot-wire anemometry just upstream of the test section. Measurements indicate that the turbulence intensity is less than 0.3% in the core region of the flow. The autospectral densities show cavity tones and weak vortex shedding present in the core. The vortex shedding is determined to be from the upstream total pressure probe used to determine flow speed. The cavity tones are found to be the fundamental and harmonic frequencies of a porous ceramic tubular acoustic liner sample that separates the acoustic drivers from the flow region. Recommendations for improving the aeroacoustic quality of the tunnel are provided, such as removing the upstream probe and redesigning the ceramic tubular liner. Future acoustic characterization of the background levels is also recommended to further understand the feasibility of aeroacoustic studies in CDTR.

Wind Tunnel Characterization↗

NASA NTRS2003

Novel Engineering and Fabrication Techniques Tested in Low-Noise- Research Fan Blades

A major source of fan noise in commercial turbofan engines is the interaction of the wake from the fan blades with the stationary vanes (stators) directly behind them. The Trailing Edge Blowing (TEB) project team at the NASA Glenn Research Center designed and fabricated new fan blades to study the effects of fan trailing edge blowing as a potential noise-reduction concept. The intent is to fill the rotor wake by supplying air to the rotor blade trailing edge at the proper conditions to minimize the wake deficit, and thus generate less noise. The TEB hardware is designed for the Active Noise Control Fan (ANCF) test rig in Glenn's Aeroacoustic Propulsion Laboratory. For this test, the air is fed from an external supply through the shaft of the rig. It is distributed to the base of each blade through an impeller, where it is forced into a plenum at the core of each blade. In actual engine configuration, air would most likely be bled from the compressor, but only at times when noise is an issue, such as takeoffs and landings. Glenn researchers designed and manufactured the blades in-house, using new techniques and concepts. The skins, which were designed for maximum strength in the directions of highest stress, were molded from multiple layers of carbon fiber. Considerable use was made of rapid prototyping techniques, such as laser sintering. The core was sintered from a lightweight polymer, and the retainer was CNC-machined (computer numerical control machined) from aluminum. All the components were joined with a cold-cure aerospace adhesive. These techniques and processes reduced the overall cost and allowed the new concept to be studied much sooner than would be possible using traditional fabrication methods. Since this test rig did not support the use of blade-monitoring techniques such as strain gauges, extensive bench testing was required to qualify the design. The blades were examined using a variety of methods including holography, pull tests (cyclic and failure), shake tests, rap tests, and nondestructive inspection. Acoustic testing of the ANCF fan using TEB has been ongoing since January of 2001. The fan has completed about 100 hr of testing with no structural, vibrational, or fatigue problems. Far-field acoustic measurements, in-duct mode measurements, precise hot wire surveys, and detailed performance measurements are providing data for evaluating the concept. The far-field noise data show that tone noise was reduced significantly with the initial ANCF TEB fan design. In addition, a significant reduction in unsteady stator loading has been measured, indicating the potential for stator broadband noise reduction. The acoustic benefits will be assessed and important design parameters identified to improve the ability to fully exploit any benefit provided by this technique. On the basis of the success of trailing edge blowing, Glenn plans to continue this research with a higher speed, higher pressure ratio fan operating in an acoustic wind tunnel to simulate flight conditions.

Cunningham, Cameron C.↗