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Transonic wind tunnel studies of ground-wind loads on aeroelastic models of Saturn launch vehicle, investigating structural damping, wind velocity and azimuth angle
Transonic wind tunnel studies of ground-wind loads on aeroelastic models of Saturn launch vehicle, investigating structural damping, wind velocity and azimuth angle
Ground wind and atmospheric turbulence effects on launch vehicles and ground support equipment
The testing technique consisted of towing the skids with a ground test vehicle over asphalt and concrete surfaces at ground speeds up to 80 km/hr (50 mph) and bearing pressures up to 689 kPa (100 psi) over sliding distances up to 1585 m (5200 ft). Results indicate that the friction coefficient developed by wire brush skids is essentially independent of ground speed, is slightly increased with increasing bearing pressure, is noticeably affected by surface texture, and is not degraded by surface wetness. Skid wear is shown to increase with increasing bearing pressure and with increasing ground speed and is dependent on the nature of the surface. Runway surface damage caused by the skids was in the form of an abrasive scrubbing action rather than physical damage.
This paper presents a method for performing large-scale design integration, taking a classical 2D drawing envelope and interface approach and applying it to modern three dimensional computer aided design (3D CAD) systems. Today, the paradigm often used when performing design integration with 3D models involves a digital mockup of an overall vehicle, in the form of a massive, fully detailed, CAD assembly; therefore, adding unnecessary burden and overhead to design and product data management processes. While fully detailed data may yield a broad depth of design detail, pertinent integration features are often obscured under the excessive amounts of information, making them difficult to discern. In contrast, the envelope and interface method results in a reduction in both the amount and complexity of information necessary for design integration while yielding significant savings in time and effort when applied to today's complex design integration projects. This approach, combining classical and modern methods, proved advantageous during the complex design integration activities of the Ares I vehicle. Downstream processes, benefiting from this approach by reducing development and design cycle time, include: Creation of analysis models for the Aerodynamic discipline; Vehicle to ground interface development; Documentation development for the vehicle assembly.
This paper will discuss a different approach to the typical notional small package delivery drone concept. Most delivery drone concepts employ a point-to-point aerial delivery CONOPS (Concept of Operations) from a warehouse directly to the front or back yards of a customers residence or a commercial office space. Instead, the proposed approach is somewhat analogous to current postal deliveries: a small aerial vehicle flies from a warehouse to designated neighborhood VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) landing spots where the aerial vehicle then converts to a "roadable" (ground-mobility) vehicle that then transits on sidewalks and/or bicycle paths till it arrives to the residence/office drop-off points. This concept and associated platform or vehicle will be referred in this paper as MICHAEL (Multimodal Intra-City Hauling and Aerial-Effected Logistics) concept. It is suggested that the MICHAEL concept potentially results in a more community friendly "delivery drone" approach.
Launch vehicles are exposed to ground winds during rollout and on the launch pad that can induce static and dynamic loads. Of particular concern are the dynamic loads caused by vortex shedding from nearly-cylindrical structures. When the frequency of vortex shedding nears that of a lowly-damped structural mode, the dynamic loads can be more than an order of magnitude greater than mean drag loads. Accurately predicting vehicle response to vortex shedding during the design and analysis cycles is difficult and typically exceeds the practical capabilities of modern computational fluid dynamics codes. Therefore, mitigating the ground wind loads risk typically requires wind-tunnel tests of dynamically-scaled models that are time consuming and expensive to conduct. In recent years, NASA has developed a ground wind loads analysis tool for launch vehicles to fill this analytical capability gap in order to provide predictions for prelaunch static and dynamic loads. This paper includes a background of the ground wind loads problem and the current state-of-the-art. It then discusses the history and significance of the analysis tool and the methodology used to develop it. Finally, results of the analysis tool are compared to wind-tunnel and full-scale data of various geometries and Reynolds numbers.
A wide range of challenges must be overcome to conduct Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations at scale with electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft as envisioned. This presentation is on an analysis of one potential infrastructure challenge for UAM: available electrical grid power capacity. The success of UAM depends on the availability of electricity, which will be increasingly impacted by the proliferation of ground electric vehicles over time. Under the best-case assumption that electricity can be transmitted and distributed as needed within each interconnection (i.e., electrical grid), it is estimated that the maximum number of UAM aircraft that can charge simultaneously in the continental United States will decrease by 20% from about 595 thousand in the year 2021 to about 475 thousand in the year 2050 due to the projected increase in ground electric vehicles.
Analysis of vortex flow behind stationary and oscillating circular cylinders for application to prediction of ground wind loads on launch vehicles
Electromagnetic waves and effect of plasma from vehicle exhaust on microwave communication link between in-flight launch vehicle and ground station
Computer program to find projection of satellite on surface of rotating earth and vehicle-sun orientation
Electrical support equipment and digital computer descriptions and functions in Saturn V launch vehicle checkout
Base-mounted landing rocket system for Apollo- type vehicle evaluated for heat-shield water pressure, ground effect, vehicle dynamics, etc
Base-mounted landing rocket system for Apollo type vehicle evaluated for heat-shield water pressure, ground effect, vehicle dynamics, etc
Data reduction of lunar photography and infrared measurements
A modification of the Dynamic Operational Requirements and Cost Analysis Program to perform traffic analyses of the automated satellite program is described. Inherent in the analyses of the automated satellite program was the assumption that a number of vehicles were available to perform any or all of the missions within the satellite program. The objective of the modification was to select a vehicle or group of vehicles for performing all of the missions at the lowest possible cost. A vehicle selection routine and the capability to simulate ground based vehicle operational modes were incorporated into the program.
In-flight flow visualization results of the vortical flow on the forebody and leading-edge extensions (LEX) of an F-18 research aircraft have been presented for angles of attack from 15.8 to 42.5 deg and for sideslip angles up to 7.5 deg. Water tunnel results using a 3-percent scale F-18 model and a variety of wind tunnel results are used for comparison and interpretation of the flight results. The LEX vortex core breakdown point moved forward with increasing angle of attack. For a constant angle of attack, the windward LEX vortex core breakdown moves forward and inboard with sideslip and the leeward vortex core breakdown moves aft and outboard. For a constant angle of attack, the windward location of interaction moved aft with increasing sideslip and the leeward interaction moved forward.
A Doppler lidar instrument has been developed and demonstrated for providing critical vector velocity and altitude/range data for autonomous precision navigation. Utilizing advanced component technologies, this lidar can be adapted to different types of vehicles.