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At least 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Status of an inlet configuration trade study for the Douglas HSCT

An inlet concept integration trade study for an HSCT is being conducted under contract to NASA LeRC. The HSCT mission has a supersonic cruise Mach number of 2.4 and a subsonic cruise Mach number of 0.95. The engine selected for this study is the GE VCE (variable cycle engine) with FLADE (fan on blade). Six inlet configurations will be defined. Inlet configurations will be axisymmetric and rectangular mixed-compression inlets in single-engine nacelles. Airplane performance for each inlet configuration will be estimated and then compared. The most appropriate inlet configuration for this airplane/engine combination will be determined by Sep. 1991.

Jones, Jay R.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Prediction of Wind Tunnel Effects on the Installed F/A-18A Inlet Flow Field at High Angles-of-attack

NASA Lewis is currently engaged in a research effort as a team member of the High Alpha Technology Program (HATP) within NASA. This program utilizes a specially equipped F/A-18A, the High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV), in an ambitious effort to improve the maneuverability of high performance military aircraft at low subsonic speed, high angle of attack conditions. The overall objective of the Lewis effort is to develop inlet technology that will ensure efficient airflow delivery to the engine during these maneuvers. One part of the Lewis approach utilizes computational fluid dynamics codes to predict the installed performance of inlets for these highly maneuverable aircraft. Wind tunnel tests were a major component of the Lewis program. Since the available wind tunnel was small (9 x 15 ft) as compared to the scale of the model of the F/A-18A (19.78 percent), there were questions about the capability to obtain useful inlet performance data. The blockage effects were expected to be very large. This report represents the results of an analysis to determine how the wind tunnel walls effect inlet performance at several angles of attack. The predictions for the external particle traces along the fuselage indicate the influence of the wind tunnel side wall under the model is greater at 30 deg angle of attack than at 50 deg angle of attack on the under Leading Edge Extension (LEX) vortex trajectory. The side wall above the model appears to have negligible influence on the under LEX vortex. This may be due to the LEX acting as 'shield' to the upper wall effects. As expected, the wind tunnel has a significant influence on the external forces. The lift and drag coefficients increase significantly for the wind tunnel model as compared to free stream conditions. The wind tunnel had a small effect on the inlet recovery and on inlet total pressure distortion patterns. The predicted recoveries for the wind tunnel model are within one percentage point of the model recoveries in free stream conditions.

Smith, Crawford F.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Application of CFD to the analysis and design of high-speed inlets

Over the past seven years, efforts under the present Grant have been aimed at being able to apply modern Computational Fluid Dynamics to the design of high-speed engine inlets. In this report, a review of previous design capabilities (prior to the advent of functioning CFD) was presented and the example of the NASA 'Mach 5 inlet' design was given as the premier example of the historical approach to inlet design. The philosophy used in the Mach 5 inlet design was carried forward in the present study, in which CFD was used to design a new Mach 10 inlet. An example of an inlet redesign was also shown. These latter efforts were carried out using today's state-of-the-art, full computational fluid dynamics codes applied in an iterative man-in-the-loop technique. The potential usefulness of an automated machine design capability using an optimizer code was also discussed.

Rose, William C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Experimental investigation of the inlet detector configuration variation in the flow field at Mach 1.9

In recent years, active research has been conducted to study the technological feasibility of supersonic laminar flow control on the wing of the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). For this study, the F-16XL has been chosen due to its highly swept crank wing planform that closely resembles the HSCT configurations. During flights, it is discovered that the shock wave generated from the aircraft inlet introduces disturbances on the wing where the data acquisition is conducted. The flow field about a supersonic inlet is characterized by a complex three dimensional pattern of shock waves generated by the geometrical configuration of a deflector and a cowl lip. Hence, in this study, experimental method is employed to investigate the effects of the variation of deflector configuration on the flow field, and consequently, the possibility of diverting the incoming shock-disturbances away from the test section. In the present experiments, a model composed of a simple circular tube with a triangular deflector is designed to study the deflector length and the deflector base width variation in the flow field. Experimental results indicate that the lowest external pressure ratio is observed at the junction where the deflector lip and the inlet cowl lip merge. Also, it is noted that the external pressure ratio, the internal pressure ratio, the coefficient of spillage drag, and the shock standoff distance decrease as the deflector length increases. In addition, the Redefined Total Pressure Recovery Ratio (RTPRR) increases with an increase in the deflector length. Results from the study of the effect of the deflector's base width variation on the flow field indicate that the lowest external pressure ratio is observed at the junction between the inlet cowl lip and the deflector lip. As the base width of the deflector increases, the external pressure ratio at 0 rotation increases, whereas the external pressure ratio at 180 rotation decreases. In addition, the internal pressure ratio and the coefficient of spillage drag decrease as the base width of the deflector increases. However, RTPRR and shock standoff distance increase as the base width increases. In conclusion, as deflector dimensions vary, distinctive patterns in the pressure variation around the inlet deflector are observed. With an increase in the deflector length and base width, the magnitude of shock-disturbances are weakened due to a decrease in the external pressure ratio. Also, as the deflector length and base width increase, a smaller bow shock angle is formed. Therefore, the inlet shock wave formation would be significantly altered, and consequently, shock disturbances on the wing test section can be avoided through appropriately designing the deflector.

Hwang, Kyu C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

The 3D Navier-Stokes analysis of a Mach 2.68 bifurcated rectangular mixed-compression inlet

The supersonic diffuser of a Mach 2.68 bifurcated, rectangular, mixed-compression inlet was analyzed using a three-dimensional (3D) Navier-Stokes flow solver. A two-equation turbulence model, and a porous bleed model based on unchoked bleed hole discharge coefficients were used. Comparisons were made with experimental data, inviscid theory, and two-dimensional Navier-Stokes analyses. The main objective was to gain insight into the inlet fluid dynamics. Examination of the computational results along with the experimental data suggest that the cowl shock-sidewall boundary layer interaction near the leading edge caused a substantial separation in the wind tunnel inlet model. As a result, the inlet performance may have been compromised by increased spillage and higher bleed mass flow requirements. The internal flow contained substantial waves that were not in the original inviscid design. 3D effects were fairly minor for this inlet at on-design conditions. Navier-Stokes analysis appears to be an useful tool for gaining insight into the inlet fluid dynamics. It provides a higher fidelity simulation of the flowfield than the original inviscid design, by taking into account boundary layers, porous bleed, and their interactions with shock waves.

Mizukami, M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Computational study of inlet injection for a Pre-Mixed, Shock-Induced Combustion (PM/SIC) engine

A computational simulation of reacting 2-D and 3-D flowfields in a model inlet section of a Pre-Mixed, Shock-Induced Combustion (PM/SIC) engine concept was performed. LARCK, a multi-dimensional Navier-Stokes code with finite-rate kinetics chemistry developed at NASA LaRC by J.A. White, was adapted for this simulation. The flow conditions in the simulation match those envisioned for the PM/SIC engine experiments currently planned at LaRC. The reacting flowfields were Mach 6.3 freestream air and Mach 2 hydrogen at various pressure and temperature conditions injected through a slot injector at the base of the inlet section. In the PM/SIC engine, fuel is injected at the inlet section upstream of the combustor, and reaction is initiated by the shock wave at the inlet which increases the gas temperature and pressure beyond the kinetic limits for reaction. Many challenges exist prior to establishing shock-controlled combustion as a practical engine concept. These challenges include fuel injection schemes that can provide proper fuel-air mixing without creating large losses in the inlet section, and control of the combustion process so that early ignition or combustion propagation through the inlet boundary layer does not occur. For this project, a parametrics study was carried out to model the fuel injection of hydrogen at different flow conditions. It was found that, as the fuel temperature and pressure were increased, the potential for pre-ignition was high at a short distance downstream of the slot injector. The next stage of this work will investigate injection techniques for enhancing mixing of fuel and air in a manner that prevents or reduces the potential for premature ignition observed numerically.

Gonzalez, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1997

F/A-18A Inlet Flow Characteristics During Maneuvers with Rapidly Changing Angle of Attack

The performance and distortion levels of the right inlet of the F/A-18A High Alpha Research Vehicle were assessed during maneuvers with rapidly changing angle-of-attack at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The distortion levels were compared with those produced by current inlet-engine compatibility evaluation techniques. The objective of these analyses was to determine whether the results obtained for steady aerodynamic conditions were adequate to describe the inlet-generated distortion levels that occur during rapid aircraft maneuvers. The test data were obtained during 46 dynamic maneuvers at Mach numbers of 0.3 and 0.4. Levels of inlet recovery, peak dynamic circumferential distortion, and peak dynamic radial distortion of dynamic maneuvers for a General Electric F404-GE-400 turbofan engine were compared with estimations based on steady aerodynamic conditions. The comparisons were performed at equivalent angle-of-attack, angle-of-sideslip, and Mach number. Results showed no evidence of peak inlet distortion levels being elevated by dynamic maneuver conditions at high angle-of-attack compared with steady aerodynamic estimations. During sweeps into high angle-of-attack, the peak distortion levels of the dynamic maneuvers rarely rose to steady aerodynamic estimations. The dynamic maneuvers were shown to be effective at identifying conditions when discrete changes in inlet behavior occur.

Yuhas, Andrew J.↗
NASA NTRS1997

IPAC-Inlet Performance Analysis Code

A series of analyses have been developed which permit the calculation of the performance of common inlet designs. The methods presented are useful for determining the inlet weight flows, total pressure recovery, and aerodynamic drag coefficients for given inlet geometric designs. Limited geometric input data is required to use this inlet performance prediction methodology. The analyses presented here may also be used to perform inlet preliminary design studies. The calculated inlet performance parameters may be used in subsequent engine cycle analyses or installed engine performance calculations for existing uninstalled engine data.

Barnhart, Paul J.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Estimating Engine Airflow in Gas-Turbine Powered Aircraft with Clean and Distorted Inlet Flows

The P404-GF-400 Powered F/A-18A High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) was used to examine the impact of inlet-generated total-pressure distortion on estimating levels of engine airflow. Five airflow estimation methods were studied. The Reference Method was a fan corrected airflow to fan corrected speed calibration from an uninstalled engine test. In-flight airflow estimation methods utilized the average, or individual, inlet duct static- to total-pressure ratios, and the average fan-discharge static-pressure to average inlet total-pressure ratio. Correlations were established at low distortion conditions for each method relative to the Reference Method. A range of distorted inlet flow conditions were obtained from -10 deg. to +60 deg. angle of attack and -7 deg. to +11 deg. angle of sideslip. The individual inlet duct pressure ratio correlation resulted in a 2.3 percent airflow spread for all distorted flow levels with a bias error of -0.7 percent. The fan discharge pressure ratio correlation gave results with a 0.6 percent airflow spread with essentially no systematic error. Inlet-generated total-pressure distortion and turbulence had no significant impact on the P404-GE400 engine airflow pumping. Therefore, a speed-flow relationship may provide the best airflow estimate for a specific engine under all flight conditions.

Williams, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1959

Effect of External Boundary Layer on Performance of Axisymmetric Inlet at Mach Numbers of 3.0 and 2.5

The effect of an external boundary layer on the performance of an axisymmetric external-internal-compression inlet was evaluated at Mach numbers of 3.0 and 2.5 and Reynolds numbers from 2.2 to 0.5 x 10(exp 6) per foot. The inlet was tested at locations up to two-thirds of the way into the 1.7- and 9.0-inch boundary layers generated by a flat plate and the tunnel floor, respectively. The inlet could be readily started at all conditions tested, including those where the boundary layer was separated upstream of the inlet by the various shock systems during the restart cycle. Although the inlet performance decreased with increasing immersion into the boundary layer at both Mach numbers, the inlet was more sensitive to boundary-layer ingestion at the design Mach number of 3.0.

Samanich, N. E.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Inlet Flow Characteristics During Rapid Maneuvers for an F/A-18A Airplane

The F404-GE-400 engine powered F/A-18A High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) was used to examine the characteristics of inlet airflow during rapid aircraft maneuvers. A study of the degree of similarity between inlet data obtained during rapid aircraft maneuvers and inlet data obtained at steady aerodynamic attitudes was conducted at the maximum engine airflow of approximately 145 Ibm/sec using a computer model that was generated from inlet data obtained during steady aerodynamic maneuvers. Results show that rapid-maneuver inlet recoveries agreed very well with the recoveries obtained at equivalent stabilized angle-of-attack conditions. The peak dynamic circumferential distortion values obtained during rapid maneuvers agreed within 0.01 units of distortion over the 10 - 38 degree angle of attack range with the values obtained during steady aerodynamic maneuvers while similar agreement was found for the peak dynamic radial distortion values up to 29 degrees angle-of-attack. Exceedences of the rapid-maneuver peak dynamic circumferential distortion values relative to the peak distortion model values at steady attitudes occurred only at low or negative angles of attack and were inconsequential from an engine-stability assessment point of view. The results of this study validate the current industry practice of testing at steady aerodynamic conditions to characterize inlet recovery and peak dynamic distortion levels.

Steenken, William G.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Application of the RNS3D Code to a Circular-Rectangular Transition Duct With and Without Inlet Swirl and Comparison with Experiments

Circular-rectangular transition ducts are used between engine exhausts and nozzles with rectangular cross sections that are designed for high performance aircraft. NASA Glenn Research Center has made experimental investigations of a series of circular-rectangular transition ducts to provide benchmark flow data for comparison with numerical calculations. These ducts are all designed with superellipse cross sections to facilitate grid generation. In response to this challenge, the three-dimensional RNS3D code has been applied to one of these transition ducts. This particular duct has a length-to-inlet diameter ratio of 1.5 and an exit-plane aspect ratio of 3.0. The inlet Mach number is 0.35. Two GRC experiments and the code were run for this duct without inlet swirl. One GRC experiment and the code were also run with inlet swirl. With no inlet swirl the code was successful in predicting pressures and secondary flow conditions, including a pair of counter-rotating vortices at both sidewalls of the exit plane. All these phenomena have been reported from the two GRC experiments. However, these vortices were suppressed in the one experiment when inlet swirl was used; whereas the RNS3D code still predicted them. The experiment was unable to provide data near the sidewalls, the very region where the vortices were predicted.

Cavicchi, Richard H.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Inlet Flow Distortion and Unsteady Blade Response in a Transonic Axial-Compressor Rotor

This paper describes the unsteady blade surface pressures on the first-stage rotor blades of a two-stage transonic axial flow compressor experiencing inlet flow distortion. This study was conducted to demonstrate the ability of a full annulus unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes numerical technique to predict unsteady pressures on the rotor blades operating in a distorted inflow. A total pressure distortion produced by a variable mesh screen mounted near the inlet was used to excite the unsteady blade loading on the rotor. On-blade pressure transducers were used to measure the unsteady blade surface pressure. These pressures and the resulting transient load on the rotor blades were compared to the numerical prediction. It is important to develop numerical techniques to predict these transient loads to better understand the response of compressor blades to forcing functions. With this enhanced understanding and ability to predict these transient forces, more robust compressors can be developed. In the study, a high definition of the inlet flow distortion was achieved by rotating the distortion screens. In this manner the inlet flow distortion and the distortion at the first stage stator leading edge were measured at approximately every 0.7 degrees. This full annulus high definition of the inlet flow distortion was used as the inlet boundary condition for the numerical technique. The experimental measurements and numerical analyses are highly complementary in this study. Detailed comparisons between the measurements and the numerical analyses indicate that the current numerical procedure calculates the unsteady aerodynamic pressure on the blade surfaces reasonably well. Further, the agreement of the measured and predicted rotor exit flow distortion at the first stage stator leading edge provides verification of the numerical technique.

Rabe, D. C.↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Robust Design Methodology for Optimal Microscale Secondary Flow Control in Compact Inlet Diffusers

It is the purpose of this study to develop an economical Robust design methodology for microscale secondary flow control in compact inlet diffusers. To illustrate the potential of economical Robust Design methodology, two different mission strategies were considered for the subject inlet, namely Maximum Performance and Maximum HCF Life Expectancy. The Maximum Performance mission maximized total pressure recovery while the Maximum HCF Life Expectancy mission minimized the mean of the first five Fourier harmonic amplitudes, i.e., 'collectively' reduced all the harmonic 1/2 amplitudes of engine face distortion. Each of the mission strategies was subject to a low engine face distortion constraint, i.e., DC60<0.10, which is a level acceptable for commercial engines. For each of these missions strategies, an 'Optimal Robust' (open loop control) and an 'Optimal Adaptive' (closed loop control) installation was designed over a twenty degree angle-of-incidence range. The Optimal Robust installation used economical Robust Design methodology to arrive at a single design which operated over the entire angle-of-incident range (open loop control). The Optimal Adaptive installation optimized all the design parameters at each angle-of-incidence. Thus, the Optimal Adaptive installation would require a closed loop control system to sense a proper signal for each effector and modify that effector device, whether mechanical or fluidic, for optimal inlet performance. In general, the performance differences between the Optimal Adaptive and Optimal Robust installation designs were found to be marginal. This suggests, however, that Optimal Robust open loop installation designs can be very competitive with Optimal Adaptive close loop designs. Secondary flow control in inlets is inherently robust, provided it is optimally designed. Therefore, the new methodology presented in this paper, combined array 'Lower Order' approach to Robust DOE, offers the aerodynamicist a very viable and economical way of exploring the concept of Robust inlet design, where the mission variables are brought directly into the inlet design process and insensitivity or robustness to the mission variables becomes a design objective.

Anderson, Bernhard H.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Task IV: Development of Circumferential Inlet Distortion through a Representative Eleven Stage High-speed Axial Compressor

The concepts and the procedure developed in Task I and Task III were used to determine the response of an eleven-stage high-speed compressor to an inlet distortion of 180 deg. circumferential extent for contrasting against its performance under uniform inlet flow. Using the computed results at the inlet to and outlet of the compressor, the computed total pressure ratio and efficiency for the clean condition are determined to be 14.22 and 76.9 percent respectively. As for the distorted case, these are determined to be 10.35 and 71.8 percent respectively, showing deterioration 76.9 percent vs 71.8 percent). The physical consistency of the computed flow field was assessed as a means of demonstrating the applicability and utility of the body force representation for inlet distortion computations. Specifically the computed evolution of the distorted pattern in static pressure and total pressure from compressor inlet to exit is examined. For the eleven-stage compressor examined here, the deterioration in performance has been found to be particularly severe in the last 2 stages. This suggests that the last two stages could be redesigned to alleviate the observed deterioration thus making the compressor performance insensitive to circumferential inlet distortion. This can potentially be accomplished by first determining what should the body force distribution of the last two stages should be to achieve minimal or no deterioration in performance in the last two stages. One can then in principle proceed to determine the blade design to yield such a body force distribution.

Tan, Choon-Sooi↗
NASA NTRS2003

The Role of Design-of-Experiments in Managing Flow in Compact Air Vehicle Inlets

It is the purpose of this study to demonstrate the viability and economy of Design-of-Experiments methodologies to arrive at microscale secondary flow control array designs that maintain optimal inlet performance over a wide range of the mission variables and to explore how these statistical methods provide a better understanding of the management of flow in compact air vehicle inlets. These statistical design concepts were used to investigate the robustness properties of low unit strength micro-effector arrays. Low unit strength micro-effectors are micro-vanes set at very low angles-of-incidence with very long chord lengths. They were designed to influence the near wall inlet flow over an extended streamwise distance, and their advantage lies in low total pressure loss and high effectiveness in managing engine face distortion. The term robustness is used in this paper in the same sense as it is used in the industrial problem solving community. It refers to minimizing the effects of the hard-to-control factors that influence the development of a product or process. In Robustness Engineering, the effects of the hard-to-control factors are often called noise , and the hard-to-control factors themselves are referred to as the environmental variables or sometimes as the Taguchi noise variables. Hence Robust Optimization refers to minimizing the effects of the environmental or noise variables on the development (design) of a product or process. In the management of flow in compact inlets, the environmental or noise variables can be identified with the mission variables. Therefore this paper formulates a statistical design methodology that minimizes the impact of variations in the mission variables on inlet performance and demonstrates that these statistical design concepts can lead to simpler inlet flow management systems.

Anderson, Bernhard H.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Effect of Blowing on Boundary Layer of Scarf Inlet

When aircraft operate in stationary or low speed conditions, airflow into the engine accelerates around the inlet lip and pockets of turbulence that cause noise and vibration can be ingested. This problem has been encountered with engines equipped with the scarf inlet, both in full scale and in model tests, where the noise produced during the static test makes it difficult to assess the noise reduction performance of the scarf inlet. NASA Langley researchers have implemented boundary layer control in an attempt to reduce the influence of the flow nonuniformity in a 12-in. diameter model of a high bypass fan engine mounted in an anechoic chamber. Static pressures and boundary layer profiles were measured in the inlet and far field acoustic measurements were made to assess the effectiveness of the blowing treatment. The blowing system was found to lack the authority to overcome the inlet distortions. Methods to improve the implementation of boundary layer control to reduce inlet distortion are discussed.

Gerhold, Carl H.↗
NASA NTRS1947

A Low-Speed Investigation of a Fuselage-Side Air Inlet for use at Transonic Flight Speeds

A low-speed investigation in the Langley propeller-research tunnel of annular air inlets designed to avoid compression shocks and attendant boundary-layer separation on the fuselage ahead of the inlets at transonic flight speeds by maintaining substream flow velocities on the fuselage nose was reported in NACA RM No. L6J04. In the present investigation, one of the original annular inlets was converted by the installation of a canopy and a nose-wheel fairing into a twin side inlet in order to study problems involved in applying such an inlet to a fighter-type airplane. Extensive measurements of pressures on the surface of the model and surveys of the internal flow were conducted at angles of attack of 0 degrees, 3 degrees, and 6 degrees over a wide range of inlet-velocity ratio.

Nichols, Mark R.↗