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NASA NTRS2005

Active control of Boundary Layer Separation & Flow Distortion in Adverse Pressure Gradient Flows via Supersonic Microjets

Inlets to aircraft propulsion systems must supply flow to the compressor with minimal pressure loss, flow distortion or unsteadiness. Flow separation in internal flows such as inlets and ducts in aircraft propulsion systems and external flows such as over aircraft wings, is undesirable as it reduces the overall system performance. The aim of this research has been to understand the nature of separation and more importantly, to explore techniques to actively control this flow separation. In particular, the use of supersonic microjets as a means of controlling boundary layer separation was explored. The geometry used for the early part of this study was a simple diverging Stratford ramp, equipped with arrays of supersonic microjets. Initial results, based on the mean surface pressure distribution, surface flow visualization and Planar Laser Scattering (PLS) indicated a reverse flow region. We implemented supersonic microjets to control this separation and flow visualization results appeared to suggest that microjets have a favorable effect, at least to a certain extent. However, the details of the separated flow field were difficult to determine based on surface pressure distribution, surface flow patterns and PLS alone. It was also difficult to clearly determine the exact influence of the supersonic microjets on this flow. In the latter part of this study, the properties of this flow-field and the effect of supersonic microjets on its behavior were investigated in further detail using 2-component (planar) Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The results clearly show that the activation of microjets eliminated flow separation and resulted in a significant increase in the momentum of the fluid near the ramp surface. Also notable is the fact that the gain in momentum due to the elimination of flow separation is at least an order of magnitude larger (two orders of magnitude larger in most cases) than the momentum injected by the microjets and is accomplished with very little mass flow through the microjets.

Alvi, Farrukh S.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Flipperons for Improved Aerodynamic Performance

Lightweight, piezoelectrically actuated bending flight-control surfaces have shown promise as means of actively controlling airflows to improve the performances of transport airplanes. These bending flight-control surfaces are called flipperons because they look somewhat like small ailerons, but, unlike ailerons, are operated in an oscillatory mode reminiscent of the actions of biological flippers. The underlying concept of using flipperons and other flipperlike actuators to impart desired characteristics to flows is not new. Moreover, elements of flipperon-based active flow-control (AFC) systems for aircraft had been developed previously, but it was not until the development reported here that the elements have been integrated into a complete, controllable prototype AFC system for wind-tunnel testing to enable evaluation of the benefits of AFC for aircraft. The piezoelectric actuator materials chosen for use in the flipperons are single- crystal solid solutions of lead zinc niobate and lead titanate, denoted generically by the empirical formula (1-x)[Pb(Zn(1/3)Nb(2/3))O3]:x[PbTiO3] (where x<1) and popularly denoted by the abbreviation PZN-PT. These are relatively newly recognized piezoelectric materials that are capable of strain levels exceeding 1 percent and strain-energy densities 5 times greater than those of previously commercially available piezoelectric materials. Despite their high performance levels, (1-x)[Pb(Zn(1/3)Nb(2/3))O3]:x[PbTiO3] materials have found limited use until now because, relative to previously commercially available piezoelectric materials, they tend to be much more fragile.

Mabe, James H.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Testing of High-Lift Common Research Model at Takeoff Configurations

The 10% scale High-Lift Common Research Model (CRM-HL) was tested in the NASA Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel (14x22) in support of the NASA Advanced Air Transport Technology (AATT) Project. The main objective of the wind tunnel test was to improve the aerodynamic performance of a representative aircraft model during takeoff operations using localized active flow control (AFC). This approach involves the application of AFC concepts locally to a relatively small region; therefore, it has the potential to cause minimal architectural change to current aircraft configurations. In addition, the power requirements of localized AFC could be supplied with onboard air resources. Recent exploratory studies identified the aileron as a target area for improving lift-to-drag ratio using localized AFC concepts. The idea is to deflect the ailerons beyond their nominal deflection angles and use AFC to reduce flow separation that occurs at larger aileron deflections. Several AFC concepts with different configurations were evaluated with the goal of achieving high-lift performance improvement. The assessment of AFC configurations is reported in a companion paper. The focus of the current paper is to report the data relevant to the CRM-HL takeoff configurations and establish a reference case for localized AFC application. Three takeoff configurations —reference, nominal, and high-lift improved—are documented. These takeoff configurations are obtained by varying aileron deflection. Wind tunnel measurements including surface static pressures and force and moment data are presented. In addition, surface tuft flow visualization, mainly on the aileron, is provided to understand the flow characteristics developed over the aileron during takeoff.

Lift-to-Drag↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Testing of High-Lift Common Research Model at Takeoff Configurations

Wind tunnel test↗

NASA NTRS2022

Low-Speed Performance Enhancement using Localized Active Flow Control: Program Overview and Summary (1/4)

The Boeing team executed a NASA task order, titled “Low Speed Performance Enhancement using Localized Active Flow Control”, under the BAART framework NNL16AA04B, contract number 80LARC20F0082. The project was executed from Sept. 2020 through April 2022 with the objective to explore localized active flow control (AFC) concepts on a representative commercial aircraft. A detailed literature review solidified the choice of AFC concepts to be explored, including AFC over a deflected aileron, in the leading edge region of the wing, and in the nacelle/pylon/wing region. All three concepts were investigated with numerical tools. The results were used in an integration study to assess the net benefits over the lifetime of a commercial aircraft. The aerodynamic studies concluded that AFC applied over a deflected aileron yields significant net L/D improvements (incl. the penalty of AFC system requirements) of up to potentially 5% L/D. Depending on the configuration, AFC applied in the leading edge region showed improvements in L/D of up to ~1.5%, as well as opportunities for maximum lift and increased lift at fixed angle of attack. AFC applied to the nacelle/pylon/wing region delivered 1.5% increase in L/D during take-off and ~4% increase in CLmax during landing. After considering assumed onboard sources, aspects of system integration and weight penalties, these aerodynamic improvements translate to: ~ 0.5% block fuel reduction potential for AFC over the aileron ~ 0.1% block fuel reduction potential for AFC in the LE slat region ~ 0.2% block fuel reduction potential for AFC in the nacelle/pylon/wing region considering take-off scenarios (potentially larger benefit may be realized considering the landing scenarios which haven’t been fully analyzed yet) The final report is comprised of four separate documents. The current document provides an overview and technical background. The second document details the numerical studies and the third document summarizes the integration and aircraft performance assessment. The fourth document focuses on the Common Research Model, specifically how AFC performs over a deflected aileron and how the NASA 10% scale wind tunnel model may be modified to implement an AFC equipped aileron. Each report offers significantly more detailed summaries and suggestions for future work.

Active flow control↗

NASA NTRS2003

Measurements of the Ice Water Content of Cirrus in the Tropics and Subtropics: Instrument Details and Validation - I

We describe an instrument mounted in a pallet on the NASA WB-57 aircraft that is designed to measure the sum of gas phase and solid phase water, or total water, in cirrus clouds. Using an isokinetic inlet, a 600-watt heater mounted directly in the flow, and Lyman-alpha photofragment fluorescence technique for detection, accurate measurements of total water have been made over almost three orders of magnitude. Isokinetic flow is achieved with an actively controlled roots pump by referencing aircraft pressure, temperature, and true air speed, together with instrument flow velocity, temperature, and pressure. During CRYSTAL FACE, the instrument operated at duct temperatures sufficiently warm to completely evaporate particles up to 150 microns diameter. In flight diagnostics, intercomparison with water measured by absorption in flight, as well as intercomparisons in clear air with water vapor measured by the Harvard water vapor instrument and the JPL infrared tunable diode laser hygrometer validate the detection sensitivity of the instrument and illustrate minimal hysteresis from instrument surfaces. The simultaneous measurement of total water and water vapor in cirrus clouds yields their ice water content.

Weinstock, E. M.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Conical Magnetic Bearings Developed for Active Stall Control in Gas Turbine Engines

Active stall control is a current research area at the NASA Glenn Research Center that offers a great benefit in specific fuel consumption by allowing the gas turbine to operate beyond the onset of stall. Magnetic bearings are being investigated as a new method to perform active stall control. This enabling global aviation safety technology would result in improved fuel efficiency and decreased carbon dioxide emissions, as well as improve safety and reliability by eliminating oil-related delays and failures of engine components, which account for 40 percent of the commercial aircraft departure delays. Active stall control works by perturbing the flow in front of the compressor stage such that it cancels the pressure wave, which causes the compressor to go into stall. Radial magnetic bearings are able to whirl the shaft so that variations in blade tip leakage would flow upstream causing a perturbation wave that could cancel the rotating stall cell. Axial or thrust magnetic bearings cannot be used to cancel the surge mode in the compressor because they have a very low bandwidth and thus cannot modulate at a high enough frequency. Frequency response is limited because the thrust runner cannot be laminated. To improve the bandwidth of magnetic thrust bearings, researchers must use laminations to suppress the eddy currents. A conical magnetic bearing can be laminated, resulting in increased bandwidth in the axial direction. In addition, this design can produce both radial and thrust force in a single bearing, simplifying the installation. The proposed solution combines the radial and thrust bearing into one design that can be laminated--a conical magnetic bearing. The new conical magnetic bearing test rig, funded by a Glenn fiscal year 2002 Director's Discretionary Fund, was needed because none of the existing rigs has an axial degree of freedom. The rotor bearing configuration will simulate that of the main shaft on a gas turbine engine. One conical magnetic bearing replaces the ball bearing in front of the compressor, and the second replaces the roller bearing behind the burner. The rig was made operational to 10,000 rpm under Smart Efficient Components funding, and both position and current adaptive vibration control have been demonstrated. Upon program completion, recommendations will be made as to the efficacy of the conical magnetic bearing for active stall control.

Trudell, Jeffrey J.↗

NASA NTRS2009

2-D Circulation Control Airfoil Benchmark Experiments Intended for CFD Code Validation

A current NASA Research Announcement (NRA) project being conducted by Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) personnel and NASA collaborators includes the development of Circulation Control (CC) blown airfoils to improve subsonic aircraft high-lift and cruise performance. The emphasis of this program is the development of CC active flow control concepts for both high-lift augmentation, drag control, and cruise efficiency. A collaboration in this project includes work by NASA research engineers, whereas CFD validation and flow physics experimental research are part of NASA s systematic approach to developing design and optimization tools for CC applications to fixed-wing aircraft. The design space for CESTOL type aircraft is focusing on geometries that depend on advanced flow control technologies that include Circulation Control aerodynamics. The ability to consistently predict advanced aircraft performance requires improvements in design tools to include these advanced concepts. Validation of these tools will be based on experimental methods applied to complex flows that go beyond conventional aircraft modeling techniques. This paper focuses on recent/ongoing benchmark high-lift experiments and CFD efforts intended to provide 2-D CFD validation data sets related to NASA s Cruise Efficient Short Take Off and Landing (CESTOL) study. Both the experimental data and related CFD predictions are discussed.

Englar, Robert J.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Active-Adaptive Control of Inlet Separation Using Supersonic Microjets

Flow separation in internal and external flows generally results in a significant degradation in aircraft performance. For internal flows, such as inlets and transmission ducts in aircraft propulsion systems, separation is undesirable as it reduces the overall system performance. The aim of this research has been to understand the nature of separation and more importantly, to explore techniques to actively control it. In this research, we extended our investigation of active separation control (under a previous NASA grant) where we explored the use of microjets for the control of boundary layer separation. The geometry used for the initial study was a simple diverging Stratford ramp, equipped with arrays of microjets. These early results clearly show that the activation of microjets eliminated flow separation. Furthermore, the velocity-field measurements, using PIV, also demonstrate that the gain in momentum due to the elimination of separation is at least an order of magnitude larger (two orders of magnitude larger in most cases) than the momentum injected by the microjets and is accomplished with very little mass flow through the microjets. Based on our initial promising results this research was continued under the present grant, using a more flexible model. This model allows for the magnitude and extent of separation as well as the microjet parameters to be independently varied. The results, using this model were even more encouraging and demonstrated that microjet control completely eliminated significant regions of flow separation over a wide range of conditions with almost negligible mass flow. Detailed studies of the flowfield and its response to microjets were further examined using 3-component PIV and unsteady pressure measurements, among others. As the results presented this report will show, microjets were successfully used to control the separation of a much larger extent and magnitude than demonstrated in our earlier experiments. In fact, using the appropriate combination of control parameters (microjet, location, angle and pressure) separation was completely eliminated for the largest separated flowfield we could generate with the present model. Separation control also resulted in a significant reduction in the unsteady pressures in the flow where the unsteady pressure field was found to be directly responsive to the state of the flow above the surface. Hence, our study indicates that the unsteady pressure signature is a strong candidate for a flow state sensor , which can be used to estimate the location, magnitude and other properties of the separated flowfield. Once better understood and properly utilized, this behavior can be of significant practical importance for developing and implementing online control.

Alvi, Farrukh S.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Laminar flow: The Cessna perspective

A review of Natural Laminar Flow (NLF) and Laminar-Flow Control activities over the last twenty years at the Cessna Aircraft Company is presented. Expected NLF benefits and remaining challenges are then described.

Peterman, Bruce E.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Inlet Flow Control and Prediction Technologies for Embedded Propulsion Systems

Fail-safe inlet flow control may enable high-speed cruise efficiency, low noise signature, and reduced fuel-burn goals for hybrid wing-body aircraft. The objectives of this program are to develop flow control and prediction methodologies for boundary-layer ingesting (BLI) inlets used in these aircraft. This report covers the second of a three year program. The approach integrates experiments and numerical simulations. Both passive and active flow-control devices were tested in a small-scale wind tunnel. Hybrid actuation approaches, combining a passive microvane and active synthetic jet, were tested in various geometric arrangements. Detailed flow measurements were taken to provide insight into the flow physics. Results of the numerical simulations were correlated against experimental data. The sensitivity of results to grid resolution and turbulence models was examined. Aerodynamic benefits from microvanes and microramps were assessed when installed in an offset BLI inlet. Benefits were quantified in terms of recovery and distortion changes. Microvanes were more effective than microramps at improving recovery and distortion.

McMillan, Michelle L.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Robust Feedback Control of Flow Induced Structural Radiation of Sound

A significant component of the interior noise of aircraft and automobiles is a result of turbulent boundary layer excitation of the vehicular structure. In this work, active robust feedback control of the noise due to this non-predictable excitation is investigated. Both an analytical model and experimental investigations are used to determine the characteristics of the flow induced structural sound radiation problem. The problem is shown to be broadband in nature with large system uncertainties associated with the various operating conditions. Furthermore the delay associated with sound propagation is shown to restrict the use of microphone feedback. The state of the art control methodologies, IL synthesis and adaptive feedback control, are evaluated and shown to have limited success for solving this problem. A robust frequency domain controller design methodology is developed for the problem of sound radiated from turbulent flow driven plates. The control design methodology uses frequency domain sequential loop shaping techniques. System uncertainty, sound pressure level reduction performance, and actuator constraints are included in the design process. Using this design method, phase lag was added using non-minimum phase zeros such that the beneficial plant dynamics could be used. This general control approach has application to lightly damped vibration and sound radiation problems where there are high bandwidth control objectives requiring a low controller DC gain and controller order.

Heatwole, Craig M.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Maneuvering technology for advanced fighter aircraft

The need for increased maneuverability has its genesis from the first aerial combat engagement when two adversaries entangled themselves in a deadly aerial dance trying to gain the advantage over the other. It has only been in the past two decades that technologies have been investigated to increase aircraft control at maneuver attitudes that are typically dominated by highly separated flows. These separated flow regions are aggravated by advanced fighter aircraft shapes required to defeat an electronic enemy. This paper discusses passive and active devices that can be used to enhance the maneuverability of advanced fighter aircraft through vortex flow control, boundary layer control, and innovative flow manipulation.

Alexander, Michael G.↗

NASA NTRS2003

An Active Smart Material Control System for F/A-18 Buffet Alleviation

The vertical tail buffet problem of fighter aircraft occurs at high angles of attack when the vortical flow breaks down ahead of the vertical tails resulting in unsteady and unbalanced pressure loads on the vertical tails. The buffet loads imposed upon the vertical tails resulted in a premature fatigue failure of the tails, and consequently limits the performance and super maneuverability of twin-tail fighter aircraft. An active smart material control system using distributed piezoelectric actuators has been developed for buffet alleviation and is presented. The inboard and outboard surfaces of the vertical tail are equipped with piezoelectric actuators to control the buffet responses in the first bending and torsion modes. The electrodynamics of the piezoelectric actuators are expressed with a three-dimensional finite-element model. A single-input-single-output controller is designed to drive the active piezoelectric actuators. High-fidelity multidisciplinary analysis modules for the fluid dynamics, structure dynamics, electrodynamics of the piezoelectric actuators, control law, fluid structure interfacing, and grid motion are integrated into a multidisciplinary computing environment that controls the temporal synchronization of the analysis modules. At 30 degree angle of attack, RMS values of tip acceleration are reduced by as much as 12%. The peak values of the power spectral density of tail-tip acceleration are reduced by as much as 22% in the first bending mode and by as much as 82% in the first torsion mode. The actively controlled piezoelectric actuators were also effective in adding damping at wide range of angles of attack.

Sheta, Essam F.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Self-aligning, low-pressure sealing poppet valve

Design and characteristics of poppet valve operated by very low differential pressures to control fluid flow are described. Valve is used to control flow of petroleum, chemical, and aircraft hydraulics where low leakage rates and activation at low pressures are required.

Gonzalez, R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Laminar flow control - Introduction and overview

A development history and a development-trends evaluation are presented for laminar flow controlled airfoil technologies and design concepts, including the search for 'natural' laminar flow and actively controlled flow via suction through small pores on the airfoil surface. While most NASA activities in this field have been concerned with subsonic aircraft, it has been projected that the control of boundary layer turbulence may be even more critical to the aerodynamic efficiency of supersonic aircraft. Developmental programs for these techniques have been conducted with several modified conventional aircraft.

Hefner, Jerry N.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Planning a new era in air transport efficiency

The current status of the NASA Aircraft Energy Efficiency (ACEE) program is briefly reviewed with reference to CTOL aircraft. Attention is given to four basic technologies: turboprop, advanced aerodynamics and active controls, laminar flow control, and composites.

Kramer, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1982

The outlook for advanced transport aircraft

The technological advances most likely to contribute to advanced aircraft designs and the efficiency, performance, and financial considerations driving the development directions for new aircraft are reviewed. Fuel-efficiency is perceived as the most critical factor for any new aircraft or component design, with most gains expected to come in areas of propulsion, aerodynamics, configurations, structural designs and materials, active controls, digital avionics, laminar flow control, and air-traffic control improvements. Any component area offers an efficiency improvement of 3-12%, with a maximum of 50% possible with a 4000 m range aircraft. Advanced turboprops have potential applications in short and medium haul subsonic aircraft, while a fuel efficient SST may be possible by the year 2000. Further discussion is devoted to the pivoted oblique wing aircraft, lightweight structures, and the necessity for short payback times.

Leavens, J. M., Jr.↗