Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “PARABOLIC EQUATION”

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 325 records · Page 18

The CMC:3DPNS computer program for prediction of three-dimensional, subsonic, turbulent aerodynamic juncture region flow. Volume 1: Theoretical

An order-of-magnitude analysis of the subsonic three dimensional steady time averaged Navier-Stokes equations, for semibounded aerodynamic juncture geometries, yields the parabolic Navier-Stokes simplification. The numerical solution of the resultant pressure Poisson equation is cast into complementary and particular parts, yielding an iterative interaction algorithm with an exterior three dimensional potential flow solution. A parabolic transverse momentum equation set is constructed, wherein robust enforcement of first order continuity effects is accomplished using a penalty differential constraint concept within a finite element solution algorithm. A Reynolds stress constitutive equation, with low turbulence Reynolds number wall functions, is employed for closure, using parabolic forms of the two-equation turbulent kinetic energy-dissipation equation system. Numerical results document accuracy, convergence, and utility of the developed finite element algorithm, and the CMC:3DPNS computer code applied to an idealized wing-body juncture region. Additional results document accuracy aspects of the algorithm turbulence closure model.

Baker, A. J.↗

Numerical simulation of reentry flow around the Shuttle Orbiter including real gas effects

The flight environment of a reentry vehicle is predicted from the numerical solution of fluid dynamics equations for the region between the blunt nose and the swept wings. The inviscid portion of the shock layer is modeled by the Euler equations, but the laminar viscous flow adjacent to the wall is modeled by the approximate parabolic Navier-Stokes equations. The approximations made to the axial gradients of pressure and diffusive fluxes enable the coupled inviscid and viscous equations to be solved efficiently along the body axis. The equilibrium air aftbody code contains significant improvements over its predecessor which only considers a perfect gas model and noncircular configurations. The inclusion of numerical damping either explicitly or implicitly has extended its capabilities for predicting flow field around a winged configuration at higher Machs and greater angles of attack. The results are obtained on the cylindrical coordinates and satisfactory for the Shuttle Orbiter at a free-stream Mach number of 22 and an angle of attack of 40 deg. Also discussed are the inviscid formulation and its application for wind-tunnel conditions.

Li, C. P.↗

A fast semidirect method for computing transonic aerodynamic flows

A fast, semidirect, iterative computational method, previously introduced for finite-difference solution of subsonic and slightly supercritical flow over airfoils, is extended both to apply to strongly supercritical conditions and to include full second-order accuracy in computing inviscid flows over airfoils. The nonlinear small-disturbance equations are solved iteratively by a direct, linear, elliptic solver. General, fully conservative, type-dependent difference equations are formulated, including parabolic- and shock-point transition operators that provide consistency with the integral conservation laws. These equations specialize to either first-order or to fully second-order-accurate equations. Various free parameters are evaluated for rapid convergence of the first-order scheme. Resulting pressure distributions and computing times are compared with the improved Murman-Cole line-relaxation method.

Martin, E. D.↗

Incompressible Navier-Stokes solutions for a sharp-edged double-delta wing

An implicit finite-difference scheme is used to compute the incompressible laminar vortical flow around a double-delta wing with an aspect ratio of 2.06. By adding a time derivative of the pressure to the continuity equation, the unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations can be integrated like a conventional parabolic time-dependent system of equations. The flux-difference split scheme combines approximate factorization in crossflow planes with a symmetric planar Gauss-Seidel relaxation in the remaining spatial direction. The trajectory of the vortical core is well predicted in comparison with experimental data.

Hsu, Chung-Hao↗

Development of Experimental and Computational Aeroacoustic Tools for Advanced Liner Evaluation

Acoustic liners in aircraft engine nacelles suppress radiated noise. Therefore, as air travel increases, increasingly sophisticated tools are needed to maximize noise suppression. During the last 30 years, NASA has invested significant effort in development of experimental and computational acoustic liner evaluation tools. The Curved Duct Test Rig is a 152-mm by 381- mm curved duct that supports liner evaluation at Mach numbers up to 0.3 and source SPLs up to 140 dB, in the presence of user-selected modes. The Grazing Flow Impedance Tube is a 51- mm by 63-mm duct currently being fabricated to operate at Mach numbers up to 0.6 with source SPLs up to at least 140 dB, and will replace the existing 51-mm by 51-mm duct. Together, these test rigs allow evaluation of advanced acoustic liners over a range of conditions representative of those observed in aircraft engine nacelles. Data acquired with these test ducts are processed using three aeroacoustic propagation codes. Two are based on finite element solutions to convected Helmholtz and linearized Euler equations. The third is based on a parabolic approximation to the convected Helmholtz equation. The current status of these computational tools and their associated usage with the Langley test rigs is provided.

Jones, Michael G.↗

Combustor modelling for scramjet engines

A system of computer programs is being developed to analyse and predict the complex flow fields found in hydrogen-fueled scramjet combustors. Each program is designed to solve the governing equation system for the type of flow present in a particular combustor region. A two-dimensional parabolic program has been found to be valuable in the development and experimental evaluation of turbulence and chemistry models for supersonic flow, and in the development of a program to model supersonic flow downstream of the fuel injection struts by means of solutions to the three-dimensional parabolic Navier-Stokes equations and species equations. A partially elliptic code has been derived to account for local subsonic flow regions, and fully elliptic programs have been developed by the consideration of streamwise diffusion effects for the recirculating flow fields near transverse fuel injectors. The programs are currently being applied to problems of scramjet engine development.

Drummond, J. P.↗

A hybridized method for computing high-Reynolds-number hypersonic flow about blunt bodies

A hybridized method for computing the flow about blunt bodies is presented. In this method the flow field is split into its viscid and inviscid parts. The forebody flow field about a parabolic body is computed. For the viscous solution, the Navier-Stokes equations are solved on orthogonal parabolic coordinates using explicit finite differencing. The inviscid flow is determined by using a Moretti type scheme in which the Euler equations are solved, using explicit finite differences, on a nonorthogonal coordinate system which uses the bow shock as an outer boundary. The two solutions are coupled along a common data line and are marched together in time until a converged solution is obtained. Computed results, when compared with experimental and analytical results, indicate the method works well over a wide range of Reynolds numbers and Mach numbers.

Weilmuenster, K. J.↗

On the accuracy and convergence of implicit numerical integration of finite element generated ordinary differential equations

A study of accuracy and convergence of linear functional finite element solution to linear parabolic and hyperbolic partial differential equations is presented. A variable-implicit integration procedure is employed for the resultant system of ordinary differential equations. Accuracy and convergence is compared for the consistent and two lumped assembly procedures for the identified initial-value matrix structure. Truncation error estimation is accomplished using Richardson extrapolation.

Baker, A. J.↗

Calculation of supersonic viscous flow over delta wings with sharp subsonic leading edges

Two complementary procedures were developed to calculate the viscous supersonic flow over conical shapes at large angles of attack, with application to cones and delta wings. In the first approach the flow is assumed to be conical and the governing equations are solved at a given Reynolds number with a time-marching explicit finite-difference algorithm. In the second method the parabolized Navier-Stokes equations are solved with a space-marching implicit noniterative finite-difference algorithm. This latter approach is not restricted to conical shapes and provides a large improvement in computational efficiency over published methods. Results from the two procedures agree very well with each other and with available experimental data.

Vigneron, Y. C.↗

Calculation of supersonic viscous flow over delta wings with sharp subsonic leading edges

Two complementary procedures have been developed to calculate the viscous supersonic flow over conical shapes at large angles of attack, with application to cones and delta wings. In the first approach the flow is assumed to be conical and the governing equations are solved at a given Reynolds number with a time-marching explicit finite-difference algorithm. In the second method the parabolized Navier-Stokes equations are solved with a space-marching implicit noniterative finite-difference algorithm. This latter approach is not restricted to conical shapes and provides a large improvement in computational efficiency over published methods. Results from the two procedures agree very well with each other and with available experimental data.

Vigneron, Y. C.↗

Finite element analysis of low speed viscous and inviscid aerodynamic flows

A weak interaction solution algorithm was established for aerodynamic flow about an isolated airfoil. Finite element numerical methodology was applied to solution of each of differential equations governing potential flow, and viscous and turbulent boundary layer and wake flow downstream of the sharp trailing edge. The algorithm accounts for computed viscous displacement effects on the potential flow. Closure for turbulence was accomplished using both first and second order models. The COMOC finite element fluid mechanics computer program was modified to solve the identified equation systems for two dimensional flows. A numerical program was completed to determine factors affecting solution accuracy, convergence and stability for the combined potential, boundary layer, and parabolic Navier-Stokes equation systems. Good accuracy and convergence are demonstrated. Each solution is obtained within the identical finite element framework of COMOC.

Baker, A. J.↗

Solution of the stochastic control problem in unbounded domains.

Bellman's dynamic programming equation for the optimal index and control law for stochastic control problems is a parabolic or elliptic partial differential equation frequently defined in an unbounded domain. Existing methods of solution require bounded domain approximations, the application of singular perturbation techniques or Monte Carlo simulation procedures. In this paper, using the fact that Poisson impulse noise tends to a Gaussian process under certain limiting conditions, a method which achieves an arbitrarily good approximate solution to the stochastic control problem is given. The method uses the two iterative techniques of successive approximation and quasi-linearization and is inherently more efficient than existing methods of solution.

Robinson, P.↗

Shock-layer bounds for a singularly perturbed equation

The size of the shock-layer governed by a conservation law is studied. The conservation law is a parabolic reaction-convection-diffusion equation with a small parameter multiplying the diffusion term and convex flux. Rigorous upper and lower bounding functions for the solution of the conservation law are established based on maximum-principle arguments. The bounding functions demonstrate that the size of the shock-layer is proportional to the parameter multiplying the diffusion term.

Scroggs, Jeffrey S.↗

Pressure distributions and shock shapes for a bent-nose biconic at incidence

Initial results of a NASA study of the lift-drag characteristics of a 12.84/7 deg biconic model intended for airbraking during atmospheric entry of probes to Mars, Venus, Saturn, and Titan are reported. Pressure distributions and shock shapes were measured in the Langley 20 in. Mach 6 tunnel with the spherically blunted bent-nose model set at angles from 0-25 deg. Pressure distributions and shock shapes where computed using the STEIN flowfield code, which features a MacCormack scheme to integrate the three-dimensional Euler equations, the Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions to model shock waves as discontinuities, and requires a supersonic condition at every step. A comparison was made between measured and predicted values. The leeward shock angle was found to be predictable to within 3% for all angles of attack, while parabolized Navier-Stokes equations are regarded as offering more accurate results than the STEIN code for surface pressure distributions.

Miller, C. G., III↗

An interaction solution algorithm for viscous aerodynamic performance prediction

A weak-interaction solution algorithm is established for aerodynamic flow field prediction about an isolated airfoil. It requires numerical solution of differential equations governing potential flow, viscous and turbulent boundary layer flow, and the turbulent wake flow downstream of a trailing edge. The algorithm accounts for computed viscous displacement effects on the potential flow. These in turn alter the viscous flow through imposed pressure gradients. Closure for turbulence is accomplished using a second order model. Numerical evaluations assess factors affecting solution accuracy, convergence and stability for the combined potential, boundary layer, and parabolic Navier-Stokes equation systems as solved using a finite element algorithm.

Baker, A. J.↗

Survey of the status of finite element methods for partial differential equations

The finite element methods (FEM) have proved to be a powerful technique for the solution of boundary value problems associated with partial differential equations of either elliptic, parabolic, or hyperbolic type. They also have a good potential for utilization on parallel computers particularly in relation to the concept of domain decomposition. This report is intended as an introduction to the FEM for the nonspecialist. It contains a survey which is totally nonexhaustive, and it also contains as an illustration, a report on some new results concerning two specific applications, namely a free boundary fluid-structure interaction problem and the Euler equations for inviscid flows.

Temam, Roger↗

Coupling of the FUN3D Unstructured Flow Solver and the LASTRAC Stability Code to Model Transition

We develop an iterative automated method to predict transition locations in boundary-layer flows by using the FUN3D solver to perform flow simulations and the LASTRAC code for linear stability computations. The coupling of FUN3D and LASTRAC allows for a robust physics-based approach to model boundary-layer transition by analyzing the growth of different instability waves and then using that information to iteratively update the resulting transition location. There is no user involvement during the iterative computations. We apply this automated method to subsonic flow over a flat plate with a sharp leading edge. The final solution has regions of laminar and turbulent flow with a transition onset location that agrees with experiments and stability-based correlations. This iterative automated method is also applied to an NLF(1)-0416 airfoil for conditions with and without a separation bubble. Along with predicting transition locations, we compare the streamwise distributions of surface-pressure and skin-friction coefficients to a transport-equation-based model. We consider a 6:1 prolate spheroid at three angles of attack, namely, five, ten, and fifteen degrees, where mixed-mode transition occurs due to both Tollmien-Schlichting and crossflow instabilities. The skin-friction contours and transition fronts at every angle of attack from our iterative automated method show good agreement with past experimental and computational results in the literature for the 6:1 prolate spheroid.

Transition↗

Influence of Stationary Crossflow Modulation on Secondary Instability

A likely scenario for swept wing transition on subsonic aircraft with natural laminar flow involves the breakdown of stationary crossflow vortices via high frequency secondary instability. A majority of the prior research on this secondary instability has focused on crossflow vortices with a single dominant spanwise wavelength. This paper investigates the effects of the spanwise modulation of stationary crossflow vortices at a specified wavelength by a subharmonic stationary mode. Secondary instability of the modulated crossflow pattern is studied using planar, partial-differential-equation based eigenvalue analysis. Computations reveal that weak modulation by the first subharmonic of the input stationary mode leads to mode splitting that is particularly obvious for Y-type secondary modes that are driven by the wall-normal shear of the basic state. Thus, for each Y mode corresponding to the fundamental wavelength of results in unmodulated train of crossflow vortices, the modulated flow supports a pair of secondary modes with somewhat different amplification rates. The mode splitting phenomenon suggests that a more complex stationary modulation such as that induced by natural surface roughness would yield a considerably richer spectrum of secondary instability modes. Even modest levels of subharmonic modulation are shown to have a strong effect on the overall amplification of secondary disturbances, particularly the Z-modes driven by the spanwise shear of the basic state. Preliminary computations related to the nonlinear breakdown of these secondary disturbances provide interesting insights into the process of crossflow transition in the presence of the first subharmonic of the dominant stationary vortex.

Vortex structure↗