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Results for “Rotor Performance”

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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Effects of increased leading-edge thickness on performance of a transonic rotor blade

A single-stage transonic compressor was tested with two rotor blade leading-edge configurations to investigate the effect of increased leading-edge thickness on the performance of a transonic blade row. The original rotor blade configuration was modified by cutting back the leading edge sufficiently to double the blade leading-edge thickness and thus the blade gap blockage in the tip region. At design speed this modification resulted in a decrease in rotor overall peak efficiency of four points. The major portion of this decrement in rotor overall peak efficienty was attributed to the flow conditions in the outer 30 percent of the blade span. At 70 and 90 percent of design speed, the modification had very little effect on rotor overall performance.

Reid, L.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Performance characteristics of a buoyant quad-rotor research aircraft

Performance characteristics of a buoyant, quadrotor research aircraft, which represents a hybrid airship concept for heavy lift application, are described. Ceiling altitude and endurance for hovering at typical power levels, including partial power failure, are predicted. Climb performance at various altitude and gross weight conditions have been examined. Forward flight performance of this vehicle is illustrated in terms of typical performance parameters such as maximum speed, maximum range, and endurance, over the full range of its payload capability. Optimum payload weights have been identified which result in maximum range at sea level density altitude and constant endurance at various altitudes, both during hover and cruise flights.

Nagabhushan, B. L.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Metallic Rotor Sizing and Performance Model for Flywheel Systems

The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is developing flywheel system requirements and designs for terrestrial and spacecraft applications. Several generations of flywheels have been designed and tested at GRC using in-house expertise in motors, magnetic bearings, controls, materials and power electronics. The maturation of a flywheel system from the concept phase to the preliminary design phase is accompanied by maturation of the Integrated Systems Performance model, where estimating relationships are replaced by physics based analytical techniques. The modeling can incorporate results from engineering model testing and emerging detail from the design process.

Moore, Camille J.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Prediction of the Aero-Acoustic Performance of Open Rotors

The rising cost of jet fuel has renewed interest in contrarotating open rotor propulsion systems. Contemporary design methods offer the potential to maintain the inherently high aerodynamic efficiency of open rotors while greatly reducing their noise output, something that was not feasible in the 1980's designs. The primary source mechanisms of open rotor noise generation are thought to be the front rotor wake and tip vortex interacting with the aft rotor. In this paper, advanced measurement techniques and high-fidelity prediction tools are used to gain insight into the relative importance of the contributions to the open rotor noise signature of the front rotor wake and rotor tip vortex. The measurements include three-dimensional particle image velocimetry of the intra-rotor flowfield and the acoustic field of a model-scale open rotor. The predictions provide the unsteady flowfield and the associated acoustic field. The results suggest that while the front rotor tip vortex can have a significant influence on the blade passing tone noise produced by the aft rotor, the front rotor wake plays the decisive role in the generation of the interaction noise produced as a result of the unsteady aerodynamic interaction of the two rotors. At operating conditions typical of takeoff and landing operations, the interaction noise level is easily on par with that generated by the individual rotors, and in some cases is even higher. This suggests that a comprehensive approach to reducing open rotor noise should include techniques for mitigating the wake of the front rotor as well as eliminating the interaction of the front rotor tip vortex with the aft rotor blade tip.

VanZante, Dale↗
NASA NTRS2014

Prediction of the Aero-Acoustic Performance of Open Rotors

The rising cost of jet fuel has renewed interest in contrarotating open rotor propulsion systems. Contemporary design methods offer the potential to maintain the inherently high aerodynamic efficiency of open rotors while greatly reducing their noise output, something that was not feasible in the 1980's designs. The primary source mechanisms of open rotor noise generation are thought to be the front rotor wake and tip vortex interacting with the aft rotor. In this paper, advanced measurement techniques and high-fidelity prediction tools are used to gain insight into the relative importance of the contributions to the open rotor noise signature of the front rotor wake and rotor tip vortex. The measurements include three-dimensional particle image velocimetry of the intra-rotor flowfield and the acoustic field of a model-scale open rotor. The predictions provide the unsteady flowfield and the associated acoustic field. The results suggest that while the front rotor tip vortex can have a significant influence on the blade passing tone noise produced by the aft rotor, the front rotor wake plays the decisive role in the generation of the interaction noise produced as a result of the unsteady aerodynamic interaction of the two rotors. At operating conditions typical of takeoff and landing operations, the interaction noise level is easily on par with that generated by the individual rotors, and in some cases is even higher. This suggests that a comprehensive approach to reducing open rotor noise should include techniques for mitigating the wake of the front rotor as well as eliminating the interaction of the front rotor tip vortex with the aft rotor blade tip.

Van Zante, Dale E.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Effect of several porous casing treatments on stall limit and on overall performance of an axial flow compressor rotor

Several geometrically different porous casings were tested with an axial-flow compressor rotor to determine their effects upon the rotor stall-limit line and overall performance. The tests were conducted using both uniform and nonuniform inlet-flow conditions. The rotor performance with the various casing treatments is compared with that obtained with a solid casing. The ability of the various casing treatments to displace the rotor stall-limit line to lower weight flows was observed. Significant stall-margin increases were obtained with several of the porous casings. Peak efficiencies with two of the porous casings were as high as or slightly higher than that obtained with solid casing.

Osborn, W. M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Performance of an optimized rotor blade at off-design flight conditions

An investigation is made of the dynamic and aerodynamic performance of a helicopter rotor previously optimized for minimum 4/rev vertical shear and blade weight subject to certain dynamic and structural constraints. The program CAMRAD which was used in designing the optimized blade is used for both dynamic and aerodynamic analaysis. The behavior of the optimized rotor is analyzed over a wide range of operating conditions and for a larger number of rotor characteristics than those considered in designing the blade. To assess the dynamic behavior, the blade root vibratory shears and moments that are transmitted to the rotor hub are calculated. The aerodynamic performance assessments are made based on the power required by the rotor for a given rotor task, the rotor lifting efficiencies, maximum rotor thrust envelopes and the control margins. Results are presented for the optimized blade and the control margins. Results are presented for the optimized blade and the reference blade, which was used as the baseline for the optimized blade, for two rotor tasks.

Chattopadhyay, Aditi↗
NASA NTRS1990

Performance of an optimized rotor blade at off-design flight conditions

An investigation is made of the dynamic and aerodynamic performance of a helicopter rotor previously optimized for minimum 4/rev vertical shear and blade weight subject to certain dynamic and structural constraints. The program CAMRAD which was used in designing the optimized blade is used for both dynamic and aerodynamic analysis. The behavior of the optimized rotor is analyzed over a wide range of operating conditions and for a larger number rotor characteristics than those considered in designing the blade. To assess the dynamic behavior, the blade root vibratory shears and moments that are transmitted to the rotor hub are calculated. The aerodynamic performance assessments are made based on the power required by the rotor for a given rotor task, the rotor lifting efficiencies, maximum rotor thrust envelopes and the control margins. Results are presented for the optimized blade and the reference blade which was used as the baseline for the optimized blade, for two rotor tasks.

Chattopadhyay, Aditi↗
NASA NTRS1975

Optimum performance and potential flow field of hovering rotors

Rotor and propeller performance and induced potential flowfields were studied on the basis of a rotating actuator disk concept, with special emphasis on rotors hovering out of ground effect. A new theory for the optimum performance of rotors hovering OGE is developed and presented. An extended theory for the optimum performance of rotors and propellers in axial motion is also presented. Numerical results are presented for the optimum distributions of blade-bound circulation together with axial inflow and ultimate wake velocities for the hovering rotor over the range of thrust coefficient of interest in rotorcraft applications. Shapes of the stream tubes and of the velocities in the slipstream are obtained, using available methods, for optimum and off-optimum circulation distributions for rotors hovering in and out of ground effect. A number of explicit formulae useful in computing rotor and propeller induced flows are presented for stream functions and velocities due to distributions of circular vortices over axi-symmetric surfaces.

Wu, J. C.↗