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At least 37 records · Page 2

Experimental Validation of Numerical Simulations for an Acoustic Liner in Grazing Flow

A coordinated experimental and numerical simulation effort is carried out to improve our understanding of the physics of acoustic liners in a grazing flow as well our computational aeroacoustics (CAA) method prediction capability. A numerical simulation code based on advanced CAA methods is developed. In a parallel effort, experiments are performed using the Grazing Flow Impedance Tube at the NASA Langley Research Center. In the experiment, a liner is installed in the upper wall of a rectangular flow duct with a 2 inch by 2.5 inch cross section. Spatial distribution of sound pressure levels and relative phases are measured on the wall opposite the liner in the presence of a Mach 0.3 grazing flow. The computer code is validated by comparing computed results with experimental measurements. Good agreements are found. The numerical simulation code is then used to investigate the physical properties of the acoustic liner. It is shown that an acoustic liner can produce self-noise in the presence of a grazing flow and that a feedback acoustic resonance mechanism is responsible for the generation of this liner self-noise. In addition, the same mechanism also creates additional liner drag. An estimate, based on numerical simulation data, indicates that for a resonant liner with a 10% open area ratio, the drag increase would be about 4% of the turbulent boundary layer drag over a flat wall.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

On Reflection of Shock Waves from Boundary Layers

Measurements are presented at Mach numbers from about 1.3 to 1.5 of reflection characteristics and the relative upstream influence of shock waves impinging on a flat surface with both laminar and turbulent boundary layers. The difference between impulse and step waves is discussed and their interaction with the boundary layer is compared. General considerations on the experimental production of shock waves from wedges and cones and examples of reflection of shock waves from supersonic shear layers are also presented.

Liepmann, H W↗

Numerical simulation of shock/turbulent boundary layer interaction

Most flows of aerodynamic interest are compressible and turbulent. However, our present knowledge on the structures and mechanisms of turbulence is mostly based on incompressible flows. In the present work, compressibility effects in turbulent, high-speed, boundary layer flows are systematically investigated using the Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) approach. Three-dimensional, time-dependent, fully nonlinear, compressible Navier-Stokes equations were numerically integrated by high-order finite-difference methods; no modeling for turbulence is used during the solution because the available resolution is sufficient to capture the relevant scales. The boundary layer problem deals with fully-turbulent compressible flows over flat geometries. Apart from its practical relevance to technological flows, turbulent compressible boundary layer flow is the simplest experimentally realizable turbulent compressible flow. Still, measuring difficulties prohibit a detailed experimental description of the flow, especially in the near-wall region. DNS studies provide a viable means to probe the physics of compressible turbulence in this region. The focus of this work is to explore the paths of energy transfer through which compressible turbulence is sustained. The structural similarities and differences between the incompressible and compressible turbulence are also investigated. The energy flow patterns or energy cascades are found to be directly related to the evolution of vortical structures which are generated in the near-wall region. Near-wall structures, and mechanisms which are not readily accessible through physical experiments are analyzed and their critical role on the evolution and the behavior of the flow is documented extensively.

Biringen, Sedat↗

Turbulent boundary layer heat transfer experiments - A separate effects study on a convexly-curved wall

Surface heat transfer rates have been measured for several different flows on an isothermal, convexly curved surface. The freestream velocity, boundary layer thickness, acceleration parameter, and unheated starting length were varied systematically, and both turbulent and transitional boundary layers were studied. The effect of convex curvature on heat transfer rates is significant with Stanton numbers reduced 20-25% below flat wall values for the same enthalpy thickness Reynolds number. Heat transfer rates recovered slowly on a flat wall downstream of the curved wall, and after 60 cm, the Stanton numbers were still 15-20% below flat wall values. The behavior of the boundary layer suggests the existence of an asymptotic condition. Boundary layer thickness, freestream velocity, and boundary layer maturity affect the initial response to the introduction of curvature and the rate at which the asymptotic state is approached. Convex curvature appears to increase the boundary layer's sensitivity to acceleration; it also delays and retards transition. Near-laminar or early-transitional boundary layers recover from curvature rapidly, whereas late-transitional and mature boundary layers recover slowly.

Simon, T. W.↗

An experimental investigation of nozzle-exit boundary layers of highly heated free jets

An experimental investigation of the effects of nozzle operating conditions on the development of nozzle-exit boundary layers of highly heated air free jets is reported in this paper. The total pressure measurements in the nozzle-exit boundary layer were obtained at a range of jet Mach numbers from 0.1 to 0.97 and jet total temperatures up to 900 K. The analysis of results shows that the nozzle-exit laminar boundary-layer development depends only on the nozzle-exit Reynolds number. For the nozzle-exit turbulent boundary layer, however, it appears that the effects of the jet total temperature on the boundary-layer integral characteristics are independent from the effects of the nozzle-exit Reynolds number. This surprizing finding has not yet been reported. Further, laminar boundary-layer profiles were compared with the Pohlhausen solution for a flat-wall converging channel and an acceptable agreement was found only for low Reynolds numbers. For turbulent boundary layers, the dependence of the shape factor on relative Mach numbers at a distance of one momentum thickness from the nozzle wall resembles Spence's prediction. Finally, the calculated total pressure loss coefficient was found to depend on the nozzle-exit Reynolds number for the laminar nozzle-exit boundary layer, while for the turbulent exit boundary layer this coefficient appears to be constant.

Lepicovsky, J.↗

Density and pressure variability in the mesosphere and thermosphere

In an effort to isolate the essential physics of the mesosphere and the thermosphere, a steady one-dimensional density and pressure model has been developed in support of related NASA activities, i.e., projects such as the AOTV and the Space Station. The model incorporates a zeroth order basic state including both the three-dimensional wind field and its associated shear structure, etc. A first order wave field is also incorporated in period bands ranging from about one second to one day. Both basic state and perturbation quantities satsify the combined constraints of mass, linear momentum and energy conservation on the midlatitude beta plane. A numerical (iterative) technique is used to solve for the vertical wind which is coupled to the density and pressure fields. The temperature structure from 1 to 1000 km and the lower boundary conditions are specified using the U.S. Standard Atmosphere 1976. Vertical winds are initialized at the top of the Planetary Boundary Layer using Ekman pumping values over flat terrain. The model also allows for the generation of waves during the geostrophic adjustment process and incorporates wave nonlinearity effects.

Davis, T. M.↗

Geoid height versus age for symmetric spreading ridges

Geoid height-age relations have been extracted from Geos 3 altimeter data for large areas in the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, southeast Indian, and southeast Pacific oceans. Except for the southeast Pacific area, geoid height decreases approximately linearly with the age of the ocean floor for ages less than about 80 m.y. in agreement with the prediction of an isostatically compensated thermal boundary layer model (Haxby and Turcotte, 1978). The geoid-age data for 0 to 80 m.y. are consistent with constant slopes of -0.094 + or - -0.131 + or - 0.041, and -0.149 + or - 0.028 m/m.y. for the South Atlantic, southeast Indian, and North Atlantic regions, respectively. For ages greater than 80 m.y. the geoid-age relation for the North Atlantic is nearly flat, indicating a reduction in the rate of boundary layer thickening with age. The uncertainties in the geoid slope-age estimates are positively correlated with spreading velocity.

Sandwell, D.↗

Pressure-strain correlations in curved wall boundary layers

Pressure-strain correlations, which represent some part of production and dissipation of Reynolds stress in turbulent wall-bounded shear layers, have been determined for the cases of boundary layer flow past a convex, a concave and a flat wall, the latter also in the case when it follows a convex wall (relaxing flow). The Large Eddy Interaction Model utilized for prediction also permits determination of the contribution from different parts of the turbulence spectra to the correlations in different parts across the boundary layer. The relation between the anisotropic nature of the correlations and the spectra in the different flow cases provides a means of testing models for the correlations.

Hong, S. K.↗

Inlet boundary-layer shapes on four aircraft forebodies at Mach 6

Boundary-layer shape measurements at the engine inlet on four different hypersonic aircraft forebody designs (with no engine on the forebody) are reported. The measurements provide a qualitative assessment of the effectiveness of various forebody geometries as engine inlet precompression surfaces. The designs, tested in a hypersonic tunnel at Mach 6 and a nominal freestream Reynolds number of 30,500,000, included a semiconical forebody, a configuration similar to a slab delta wing, a conical nose blended into a flat surface, and a conical, complex forebody shape. Boundary layer height as a function of forebody compression is shown for each design.

Lawing, P. L.↗

Heat-Transfer Measurements on a 5.5- Inch-Diameter Hemispherical Concave Nose in Free Flight at Mach Numbers up to 6.6

The aerodynamic heat transfer to a hemispherical concave nose has been measured in free flight at Mach numbers from 3.5 to 6.6 with corresponding Reynolds numbers based on nose diameter from 7.4 x 10(exp 6) to 14 x 10(exp 6). Over the test Mach number range the heating on the cup nose, expressed as a ratio to the theoretical stagnation-point heating on a hemisphere nose of the same diameter, varied from 0.05 to 0.13 at the stagnation point of the cup, was approximately 0.1 at other locations within 40 deg of the stagnation point, and varied from 0.6 to 0.8 just inside the lip where the highest heating rates occurred. At a Mach number of 5 the total heat input integrated over the surface of the cup nose including the lip was 0.55 times the theoretical value for a hemisphere nose with laminar boundary layer and 0.76 times that for a flat face. The heating at the stagnation point was approximately 1/5 as great as steady-flow tunnel results. Extremely high heating rates at the stagnation point (on the order of 30 times the stagnation-point values of the present test), which have occurred in conjunction with unsteady oscillatory flow around cup noses in wind-tunnel tests at Mach and Reynolds numbers within the present test range, were not observed.

Levine, Jack↗

Experimental and Computational Boundary-Layer Studies in a Supersonic Two-Dimensional Nozzle

Calculations have been carried out on the adiabatic laminar boundary layer developing on the surface of a two-dimensional supersonic nozzle, consisting of contoured nozzle blocks and flat sidewalls. Two- and three-dimensional Navier-Stokes codes, as well as two-dimensional boundary-layer codes have been employed. Thee codes have been adapted to the characteristics of a specific wind tunnel nozzle, so that their numerical results could be directly compared with experimental data obtained in the same nozzle. Such comparisons have been made for the boundary-layer growth on the contoured nozzle, and for the boundary-layer growth, surface streamlines and surface shear on the sidewalls. The three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code was found to be the only one to correctly predict the mean boundary-layer flow on both the sidewalls and the contoured nozzle. Theory and experiment both indicate that the sidewall flow is highly three-dimensional, with non-uniform shear, comer vortices and a boundary layer strongly distorted by cross flows induced by lateral pressure gradients.

Brogan, Torence P.↗

Fluid flow analysis of a hot-core hypersonic wind-tunnel nozzle concept

A hypersonic-wind-tunnel nozzle concept which incorporates a hot-core flow surrounded by an annular flow of cold air offers a promising technique for maximizing the model size while minimizing the power required to heat the test core. This capability becomes especially important when providing the true-temperature duplication needed for hypersonic propulsion testing. Several two-dimensional wind-tunnel nozzle configurations that are designed according to this concept are analyzed by using recently developed analytical techniques for prediction of the boundary-layer growth and the mixing between the hot and cold coaxial supersonic airflows. The analyses indicate that introduction of the cold annular flow near the throat results in an unacceptable test core for the nozzle size and stagnation conditions considered because of both mixing and condensation effects. Use of a half-nozzle with a ramp on the flat portion does not appear promising because of the thick boundary layer associated with the extra length. However, the analyses indicate that if the cold annular flow is introduced at the exit of a full two-dimensional nozzle, an acceptable test core will be produced. Predictions of the mixing between the hot and cold supersonic streams for this configuration show that mixing effects from the cold flow do not appreciably penetrate into the hot core for the large downstream distances of interest.

Anders, J. B.↗

Experimental and Computational Boundary-Layer Studies In a Supersonic Two-Dimensional Nozzle

Experiments and computations were carried out on the adiabatic laminar boundary layer developing along the surfaces of a two-dimensional supersonic nozzle, consisting of upper and lower contoured nozzle blocks and flat sidewalls. Two- and three-dimensional Navier-Stokes codes, as well as two-dimensional boundary-layer codes were employed. These codes were adapted to the characteristics of a specific wind tunnel nozzle, so that their numerical results could be directly compared with experimental data obtained in the same nozzle. Such comparisons were made for the boundary-layer growth on the nozzle contoured surfaces, and for the boundary-layer growth, surface streamlines and surface shear on the sidewalls. The three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code was found to be the only one to correctly predict the mean laminar boundary-layer flow on both the sidewalls and the contoured surfaces. Theory and experiment both indicated that the sidewall flow is highly three-dimensional, with non-uniform shear, corner vortices and a boundary layer strongly distorted by cross flows induced by lateral pressure gradients.

Demetriades, Anthony↗