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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.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Displacement interaction and surface curvature effects on hypersonic boundary layers.

The title problem was studied employing implicit finite-difference methods to obtain numerical solutions to a composite set of boundary-layer equations valid to second order. Results are given for flow up a two-dimensional cubic compression ramp for free-stream Mach numbers of 6, 8, and 12.25 and for free-stream Re/inch equal to 85,800 and 25,800 at a wall-to-stagnation temperature ratio of 0.223. Comparisons with independent theories and experimental results are given. Nonsingular separation was produced at a free-stream Mach number of 12.25. For all cases considered, displacement and curvature effects canceled one another when a consistent treatment of inviscid and viscous curvature corrections was employed - the second-order theory virtually reproducing the first-order results.

Wornom, S. F.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Localized tearing modes in the magnetotail driven by curvature effects

The stability of collisionless tearing modes is examined in the presence of curvature drift resonances and the trapped particle effects. A kinetic description for both electrons and ions is employed to investigate the stability of a two-dimensional equilibrium model. The main features of the study are to treat the ion dynamics properly by incorporating effects associated with particle trajectories in the tail fields and to include the linear coupling of trapped particle modes. Generalized dispersion relations are derived in several parameter regimes by considering two important sublayers of the reconnecting region. For a typical choice of parameters appropriate to the current sheet region, we demonstrate that localized tearing modes driven by ion curvature drift resonance effects are excited in the current sheet region with growth time of the order of a few seconds. Also, we examine nonlocal characteristics of tearing modes driven by curvature effects and show that modes growing in a fraction of a second arise when mode widths are larger than the current sheet width. Further, we show that trapped particle effects, in an interesting frequency regime, significantly enhance the growth rate of the tearing mode. The relevance of this theory for substorm onset phase and other features of the substorms is briefly discussed.

Sundaram, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Experiment on convex curvature effects in turbulent boundary layers.

Turbulent boundary layers along a convex surface of varying curvature were investigated in a specially designed boundary-layer tunnel. A fairly complete set of turbulence measurements was obtained. The effect of curvature is striking. For example, along a convex wall the Reynolds stress is decreased near the wall and vanishes about midway between the wall and the edge of a boundary layer where there exists a velocity profile gradient created upstream of the curved wall.

So, R. M. C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Weakly nonparallel and curvature effects on stationary crossflow instability: Comparison of results from multiple-scales analysis and parabolized stability equations

A multiple-scales approach is used to approximate the effects of nonparallelism and streamwise surface curvature on the growth of stationary crossflow vortices in incompressible, three-dimesional boundary layers. The results agree with results predicted by solving the parabolized stability equations in regions where the nonparallelism is sufficiently weak. As the nonparallelism increases, the agreement between the two approaches worsens. An attempt has been made to quantify the nonparallelism on flow stability in terms of a nondimensional number that describes the rate of change of the mean flow relative to the disturbance wavelength. We find that the above nondimensional number provides useful information about the adequacy of the multiple-scales approximation for different disturbances for a given flow geometry, but the number does not collapse data for different flow geometries onto a single curve.

Singer, Bart A.↗
NASA NTRS1971

A Numerical Study of Displacement Body and Curvature Effects on Incompressible and Compressible Laminar Boundary Layers

This technique has been applied to study such effects on incompressible flow around cylinders at moderate to low Reynolds numbers and for compression ramps at hypersonic Mach numbers by employing a finite difference method to obtain numerical solutions. The results indicate that the technique can be applied successfully in both regimes and does predict the correct trend in regions of large curvature and displacement body effects. It was concluded that curvature corrections should only be attempted in cases where all displacement effects can be fully accounted for.

Wornom, S. F.↗
NASA NTRS1983

A mixing-length model for the prediction of convex curvature effects on turbulent boundary layers

A mixing-length model is developed for the prediction of turbulent boundary layers with convex streamwise curvature. For large layer thickness ratio, delta/R greater than 0.05, the model scales mixing length on the wall radius of curvature, R. For small delta/R, ordinary flat wall modeling is used for the mixing-length profile with curvature corrections, following the recommendations of Eide and Johnston (1976). Effects of streamwise change of curvature are considered; a strong lag from equilibrium is required when R increases downstream. Fifteen separate data sets were compared, including both hydrodynamic and heat transfer results. Six of these computations are presented and compared to experiment.

Adams, E. W.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Turbulent boundary layers with large streamline curvature effects

It has been shown that turbulent flows are greatly affected by streamline curvature. In spite of this and the fact that curved shear flows are frequently encountered in engineering applications, the predictions of such flows are relatively less developed than the predictions of two-dimensional plane flows. Recently, various attempts were made by different investigators; however, their methods are only successful when the product of the boundary layer thickness to the local surface curvature is approximately 0.05. The present paper investigates the more general case where this product is in the range from 0.1 to 0.5. Results show that the calculated boundary-layer characteristics for arbitrary free stream conditions are in good agreement with measurements.

So, R. M. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Effect of curvature on stationary crossflow instability of a three-dimensional boundary layer

An incompressible three-dimensional laminar boundary-layer flow over a swept wing is used as a model to study both the wall-curvature and streamline-curvature effects on the stationary crossflow instability. The basic state is obtained by solving the full Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations numerically. The linear disturbance equations are cast on a fixed, body-intrinsic, curvilinear coordinate system. Those nonparallel terms which contribute mainly to the streamline-curvature effect are retained in the formulation of the disturbance equations and approximated by their local finite difference values. The resulting eigenvalue problem is solved by a Chebyshev collocation method. The present results indicate that the convex wall curvature has a stabilizing effect, whereas the streamline curvature has a destabilizing effect. A validation of these effects with an N-S solution for the linear disturbance flow is provided.

Lin, Ray-Sing↗
NASA NTRS1979

Coolant tube curvature effects on film cooling as detected by infrared imagery

Reported herein are comparative thermal film cooling footprints observed by infrared imagery from straight, curved and looped coolant tube geometries. It was hypothesized that the difference in secondary flow and turbulence structure of flow through these three tubes should influence the mixing properties between the coolant and mainstream. The coolant was injected across an adiabatic plate through a hole angled at 30 deg to the surface in line with the free stream flow. The data cover a range of blowing rates from 0.37 to 1.25 (mass flow per unit area of coolant divided by free stream). Average temperature difference between coolant and tunnel air was 25 C. Data comparisons confirmed that coolant tube curvature significantly influences film cooling effectiveness.

Papell, S. S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Curvature effects and turbulent boundary layers

Results are examined from an experiment conducted to determine quantitatively the secondary factors which affect the response of a turbulent boundary layer to convex curvature and to examine the recovery process after curvature ended. The variation of Stanton number with streamwise distance and with enthalpy thickness Reynolds number for the baseline case is shown. The effect of delta sub .99/R on the velocity of the potential core would have if we extended to the wall with no viscous effects, of free stream acceleration, of an unheated starting length, and of boundary layer maturity are discussed. Mixing length and turbulent Prandtl number models are reviewed.

Moffat, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

An analysis of curvature effects for the control of wall-bounded shear flows

The Reynolds stress transport equations are used to predict the effects of simultaneous and sequential combinations of distortions on turbulent boundary layers. The equations are written in general orthogonal curvilinear coordinates, with the curvature terms expressed in terms of the principal radii of curvature of the respective coordinate surfaces. Results are obtained for the cases of two-dimensional and three-dimensional flows in the limit where production and pressure-strain redistribution dominate over diffusion effects.

Gatski, T. B.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Temperature and initial curvature effects in low-density panel flutter

The panel flutter phenomenon is studied assuming free-molecule flow. This kind of analysis is relevant in the case of hypersonic flight vehicles traveling at high altitudes, especially in the leeward portion of the vehicle. In these conditions the aerodynamic shear can be expected to be considerably larger than the pressure at a given point, so that the effects of such a loading are incorporated into the structural model. Both the pressure and shear loadings are functions of the panel temperature, which can lead to great variations on the location of the stability boundaries for parametric studies. Different locations can, however, be 'collapsed' onto one another by using as ordinate an appropriately normalized dynamic pressure parameter. This procedure works better for higher values of the panel temperature for a fixed undisturbed flow temperature. Finally, the behavior of the system is studied when the panel has some initial curvature. This leads to the conclusion that it may be unrealistic to try to distinguish between a parabolic or sinusoidal initial shape.

Resende, Hugo B.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Curvature effects on stagnation radiative transfer in shock wave around blunt axisymmetric bodies

During hypersonic entry of a probe into the atmospheres of outer planets, the radiative energy transport in the shock-heated layer is of great significance in computing the heating to the heat shield. The so-called tangential slab approximation is frequently employed to evaluate the radiative flux to the surface of entry probes. A simple assessment of the accuracy of the tangential slab approximation at the stagnation point is given here for blunt axisymmetric bodies of various shock shapes which include spheres, paraboloids, hyperboloids and ellipsoids of different shock parameters.

Poon, P. T. Y.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Free-stream turbulence and concave curvature effects on heated, transitional boundary layers, volume 1

An experimental investigation of the transition process on flat-plate and concave curved-wall boundary layers for various free-streem turbulence levels was performed. Where possible, sampling according to the intermittency function was made. Such sampling allowed segregation of the signal into two types of behavior: laminar-like and turbulent-like. The results from the investigation are discussed. Documentation is presented in two volumes. Volume one contains the text of the report including figures and supporting appendices. Volume two contains data reduction program listings and tabulated data.

Kim, J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Free-stream turbulence and concave curvature effects on heated, transitional boundary layers

An experimental investigation of the transition process on flat-plate and concave curved-wall boundary layers for various free-stream turbulence levels was performed. Results show that for transition of a flat-plate, the two forms of boundary layer behavior, identified as laminar-like and turbulent-like, cannot be thought of as separate Blasius and fully-turbulent profiles, respectively. Thus, simple transition models in which the desired quantity is assumed to be an average, weighted on intermittency, of the theoretical laminar and fully turbulent values is not expected to be successful. Deviation of the flow identified as laminar-like from theoretical laminar behavior is shown to be due to recovery after the passage of a turbulent spot, while deviation of the flow identified as turbulent-like from the full-turbulent values is thought to be due to incomplete establishment of the fully-turbulent power spectral distribution. Turbulent Prandtl numbers for the transitional flow, computed from measured shear stress, turbulent heat flux and mean velocity and temperature profiles, were less than unity. For the curved-wall case with low free-stream turbulence intensity, the existence of Gortler vortices on the concave wall within both laminar and turbulent flows was established using liquid crystal visualization and spanwise velocity and temperature traverses. Transition was found to occur via a vortex breakdown mode. The vortex wavelength was quite irregular in both the laminar and turbulent flows, but the vortices were stable in time and space. The upwash was found to be more unstable, with higher levels of u' and u'v', and lower skin friction coefficients and shape factors. Turbulent Prandtl numbers, measured using a triple-wire probe, were found to be near unity for all post-transitional profiles, indicating no gross violation of Reynolds analogy. No evidence of streamwise vortices was seen in the high turbulence intensity case.

Kim, J.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Investigation of Stiffening and Curvature Effects on the Residual Strength of Composite Stiffened Panels with Large Transverse Notches

Design of robust aircraft structure requires consideration of the load-carrying capability with large damage. Large notches, typically introduced as machined cracks (aka "notches") severing a single skin bay and a central stiffening member, are often used to conservatively address the wide range of possible large damage scenarios. The objective of the current effort was to develop more generalized and rapid analysis methods addressing large-notch residual strength of stiffened panels to support preliminary design activities..

Enjuto, Patrick↗