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At least 397 records · Page 22

Parametric studies for tiltrotor aeroelastic stability in high-speed flight

The influence of several system design parameters on tiltrotor aeroelastic stability is examined for the high-speed (axial) flight mode. Coupling of the rotor flapping modes with the wing elastic modes produces a whirl motion, typical of tiltrotors, that can become unstable at high speeds. The sensitivity of this instability with respect to rotor frequencies, wing stiffness, forward wing sweep, and rotor thrust level is examined. Some important new trends are identified regarding the role of blade lag dynamics and forward wing sweep in tiltrotor aeroelastic stability. The blade lag frequency may be tuned to improve tiltrotor stability, and forward wing sweep is destabilizing because of changes in rotor force components associated with the sweep.

Nixon, Mark W.↗

Application of natural laminar flow to a supersonic transport concept

Results are presented of a preliminary investigation into an application of supersonic natural laminar flow (NLF) technology for a high speed civil transport (HSCT) configuration. This study focuses on natural laminar flow without regard to suction devices which are required for laminar flow control (LFC) or hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC). An HSCT design is presented with a 70 deg inboard leading-edge sweep and a 20 deg leading-edge outboard crank to obtain NLF over the outboard crank section. This configuration takes advantage of improved subsonic performance and NLF on the low-sweep portion of the wing while minimizing the wave drag and induced drag penalties associated with low-sweep supersonic cruise aircraft. In order to assess the benefits of increasing natural laminar flow wetted area, the outboard low-sweep wing area is parametrically increased. Using a range of supersonic natural laminar flow transition Reynolds numbers, these aircraft are then optimized and sized for minimum take-off gross weight (TOGW) subject to mission constraints. Results from this study indicate reductions in TOGW for the NLF concepts, due mainly to reductions in wing area and total wing weight. Furthermore, significant reductions in block fuel are calculated throughout the range of transition Reynolds numbers considered. Observations are made on the benefits of unsweeping the wingtips with all turbulent flow.

Fuhrmann, Henri D.↗

An Investigation of the Low-speed Stability and Control Characteristics of Swept-forward and Swept-back Wing in the Ames 40- by 80-foot Wind Tunnel

An investigation has been made at large scale of the characteristics of highly swept wings. Data were obtained at several angles of sideslip on wings having angles of sweep of plus or minus 45 degrees, plus or minus 30 degrees, and 0 degrees. The airfoil sections of the wings varied from approximately NACA 0015 at the root to NACA 23009 at the tip. Each wing was investigated with flaps under flection, partial-span split flaps deflected 60 degrees, full-span split flaps defected 60 degrees and split-flap-type ailerons deflected plus or minus 15 degrees. Values of maximum lift were obtained at Reynolds numbers raging from 5.7 to 9.2 times 10 to the 6th power. In this report the summarized results are compared with the predictions made by use of the simplified theory for the effect of sweep and with existing small-scale data. The basic wind-tunnel results from which these summary data were taken are included in an appendix. The primary problems accompanying the use of weep as revealed by this investigation are the loss in maximum lift, the high effective dihedral, and the sharp reduction in lateral-control effectiveness. In general, simple theory enables good predictions to be made of the gross effects of sweep but further refinements are necessary to obtain the accuracy required for design purposes. In cases where comparisons can be made, the indications are that, as sweep increases, scale effects diminish and large-scale results approach small-scale results.

Mccormack, Gerald M↗

Preliminary Results of Stability and Control Investigation of the Bell X-5 Research Airplane

During the acceptance tests of the Bell X-5 airplane, measurements of the static stability and control characteristics and horizontal-tail loads were obtained by the NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station. The results of the stability and control measurements are presented in this paper. A change in sweep angle between 20 deg and 59 deg had a minor effect on the longitudinal trim, with a maximum change of about 2.5 deg in elevator deflection being required at a Mach number near 0.85; however, sweeping the wings produced a total stick-force change of about 40 pounds. At low Mach numbers there was a rapid increase in stability at high normal-force coefficients for both 20 0 and 1100 sweepback, whereas a condition of neutral stability existed for 58 0 sweepback at high normal-force coefficients. At Mach numbers near 0.8 there was an instability at normal-force coefficients above 0.5 for all sweep angles tested. In the low normal-force-coefficient range a high degree of stability resulted in high stick forces which limited the maximum load factors attainable in the demonstration flights to values under 5g for all sweep angles at a Mach number near 0.8 and an altitude of 12,000 feet. The aileron effectiveness at 200 sweepback was found to be low over the Mach number range tested.

Finch, Thomas W↗

Low-Noise Rotorcraft Blades

Blades of helicopter rotors, tilt rotors, and like reshaped to reduce noise, according to proposal. Planform features combination of rearward and forward sweep. Forward sweep over large outer portion of blade constitutes primary noise-reduction feature. Relieves some of compressive effect in tip region, with consequent reduction of noise from compressive sources. Performance at high advance ratio improved. Cabin vibration and loading noise reduced by load-averaging effect of double-sweep planform. Aft-swept section provides balancing of aerodynamic and other dynamic forces on blade along 1/4-chord line of straight inboard section and along projection of line to outermost blade radius. Possible for hub-hinge forces and moments to remain within practical bounds. Provides stabilizing blade forces and moments to counteract any instability caused by forward sweep.

Brooks, Thomas F.↗

Experimental investigation of generic three-dimensional sidewall-compression scramjet inlets at Mach 6 in tetrafluoromethane

Three-dimensional sidewall-compression scramjet inlets with leading-edge sweeps of 30 deg and 70 deg were tested in the Langley Hypersonic CF4 Tunnel at Mach 6 and with a ratio of specific heats of 1.2. The parametric effects of leading-edge sweep, cowl position, contraction ratio, and Reynolds number were investigated. The models were instrumented with 42 static pressure orifices that were distributed on the sidewalls, base plate, and cowl. Schlieren movies were made of each test for flow visualization of the effects of the internal flow spillage on the external flow field. To obtain an approximate characterization of the flow field, a modification to two-dimensional, inviscid, oblique shock theory was derived to accommodate the three-dimensional effects of leading-edge sweep. This theory qualitatively predicted the reflected shock structure (i.e., sidewall impingement locations) and the observed increase in spillage with increasing leading-edge sweep. The primary effect of moving the cowl forward was capturing the flow that would have otherwise spilled out ahead of the cowl. Increasing the contraction ratio increases the number of internal shock reflections and hence incrementally increases the sidewall pressure distribution. Significant Reynolds number effects were noted over a small range of Reynolds number.

Holland, Scott D.↗

Effect of crossflow on Goertler instability in incompressible boundary layers

Linear stability theory is used to study the effect of crossflow on Goertler instability in incompressible boundary layers. The results cover a wide range of sweep angle, pressure gradient, and wall curvature parameters. It is shown that the crossflow stabilizes Goertler disturbances by reducing the maximum growth rate and shrinking the unstable band of spanwise wave numbers. On the other hand, the effect of concave wall curvature on crossflow instability is destabilizing. Calculations show that the changeover from Goertler to crossflow instabilities is a function of Goertler number, pressure gradient, and sweep angle. The results demonstrate that Goertler instability may still be relevant in the transition process on swept wings even at large angles of sweep if the pressure gradient is sufficiently small. The influence of pressure gradient and sweep can be combined by defining a crossflow Reynolds number. Thus, the changeover from Goertler to crossflow instability takes place at some critical crossflow Reynolds number whose value increases with Goertler number.

Zurigat, Y. H.↗

Benefits of Swept and Leaned Stators for Fan Noise Reduction

An advanced high bypass ratio fan model was tested in the NASA Lewis Research Center 9 x 15-Foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel. The primary focus of this test was to quantify the acoustic benefits and aerodynamic performance of sweep and lean in stator vane design. Three stator sets were used for this test series. A conventional radial stator was tested at two rotor-stator axial spacings. Additional stator sets incorporating sweep + lean, and sweep only were also tested. The hub axial location for the swept + lean, and sweep only stators corresponded to the location of the radial stator at the upstream rotor-stator spacing, while the tip axial location of these modified stators corresponded to the radial stator axial position at the downstream position. The acoustic results show significant reductions in both rotor-stator interaction noise and broadband noise beyond what could be achieved through increased axial spacing of the conventional, radial stator. Theoretical application of these results to acoustically quantify a fictitious 2-engine aircraft and flight path suggested that about 3 Effective Perceived Noise (EPN) dB could be achieved through incorporation of these modified stators. This reduction would represent a significant portion of the 6 EPNdB noise goal of the current NASA Advanced Subsonic Technology (AST) initiative relative to that of 1992 technology levels. A secondary result of this fan test was to demonstrate the ability of an acoustic barrier wall to block aft-radiated fan noise in the wind tunnel, thus revealing the acoustic structure of the residual inlet-radiated noise. This technology should prove valuable toward better understanding inlet liner design, or wherever it is desirable to eliminate aft-radiated noise from the fan acoustic signature.

Woodward, Richard P.↗

Design Selection and Analysis of a Swept and Leaned Stator Concept

This report describes a theoretical design and analysis study of the benefits of vane sweep and lean for reducing rotor- stator interaction tone noise. It is shown that the kinematic relationship between the rotor wakes and stator vanes is the principal factor in determining the achievable noise reductions. Vane sweep and lean control rotor wake skewing as seen by the stator vanes and hence influence the number of wake intersections per vane. An increase in the number of intersections reduces noise levels. Hence, to reduce rotor-stator noise, van sweep and lean must be chosen in such a way as to increase wake intersections per vane. A simple design rule is thus proposed which requires a sweep configuration that puts the vane tip downstream of its root and a vane lean that is in the direction of the rotor rotation. A detailed comparison of the predicted and measured noise reductions for a swept and leaned stator is then carried out. Overall, these comparisons show that the predicted benefits of a swept and leaned stator are in good agreement, qualitative as well as quantitative, with the measured reductions for the fan speeds relevant to noise certification procedure. Furthermore, the results also demonstrate the validity of design criterion and the theoretical tools used in this study.

Envia, Edmane↗

Comparison of Analytical and CAA Solution(s): Unsteady Response of a Rectilinear Swept Cascade to an Incident Gust

This problem is aimed at testing the ability of computational aeroacoustic methods to calculate the acoustic pressure field generated as a result of the interaction of a convected harmonic gust with a rectilinear cascade of swept flat plates. All relevant geometric information is the same as the unsteady response of an isolated finite span swept airfoil to an incident gust problem with the exception of the sweep angle alpha, which is now taken to be a variable. Assume a cascade stagger angle of zero (with the x-axis aligned with the chord) and a gap-to-chord ratio of h/c = 1. The mean flow Mach number M(sub 0), gust frequency omega, gust amplitude A, and chordwise wavenumber k(sub x) are the same. But for the cascade problem take k(sub y) = pi and k(sub z) = 0. The appropriate physical scales are also the same, as is the governing equation and boundary conditions. Naturally, the impermeability condition now applies to the entire cascade. For this problem, determine the amplitude of upstream-radiated rms acoustic pressure as a function of the sweep angle at the specified frequency. Specifically, show the variations of rms acoustic pressure amplitude at the upstream location (-5c, 0, l/2) for sweep angle alpha in the range (0.0 deg, 30.0 deg). Use sweep angle increments no larger than 2.5 deg. Express the results in dB using the rms pressure value for alpha = 0.0 deg as the reference level. The appropriate FORTRAN output statement should read "WRITE(IUNIT,*) alpha, 20-log10 (p(sub rms)(alpha)/p(sub rms)(0))".

Envia, Edmane↗

Heat-Transfer Measurements at a Mach Number of 4.95 on Two 60 deg Swept Delta Wings with Blunt Leading Edges and Dihedral Angles of 0 deg and 45 deg

An experimental investigation was conducted to evaluate the heat-transfer characteristics of two 60 deg swept delta wings with cylindrical leading edges of 0.25-inch radii and dihedral angles of 0 deg and 45 deg. The tests were conducted at a Mach number of 4.95 and a stagnation temperature of 400 F. The The test-section unit Reynolds number was varied from 1.95 x 10(exp 6) to 12.24 x 10(exp 6) per foot. The results of the investigation indicated that, in a plane normal to the leading edge, the laminar-flow heat-transfer distribution was in good agreement with two-dimensional blunt-body theory. The stagnation-line heat-transfer level could be predicted from two-dimensional blunt-body theory provided the stagnation-line heat-transfer coefficient was assumed to vary as the cosine of the effective sweep. A comparison of the heating rates to the 0 deg dihedral wing (planform sweep of 60 deg) and the 45 deg dihedral wing (planform sweep of 69.3 deg) with equal panel sweep and panel area indicated that the stagnation-line heat-transfer coefficient for the 45 deg dihedral wing could be as much as 40 percent less than the stagnation-line heat-transfer coefficient for the 0 deg dihedral wing at both equal angles of attack and equal lifts. The laminar-flow heat-transfer rate to both wings outside the vicinity of the stagnation line was essentially equal.

Stainback, P. Calvin↗

Heat-Transfer Measurements on the Apexes of Two 60 deg Sweptback Delta Wings (Panel Semiapex Angle of 30 deg) Having 0 deg and 45 deg Dihedral at a Mach Number of 4.95

An experimental investigation was conducted to evaluate the heat-transfer rates at the apex of two 60 degree sweptback delta wings (panel semi-apex angle of 30 degrees) having cylindrical leading edges and 0 degrees and 45 degree positive dihedral. The models tested might correspond to the first several feet of a hypersonic reentry vehicle. The tests were conducted at a Mach number of 4.95 and a stagnation temperature of 400 F. nominal test-section unit Reynolds numbers varied from 2 x 10(exp 6) to 12 x 10(exp 6) per foot. The results of the investigation indicated that the laminar heat-transfer distributions (ratio of local to stagnation-line heating rate) about the models normal to the leading edges were in close agreement with two-dimensional blunt-body theory. The three-dimensional stagnation point heat-transfer rate on the 0 degree dihedral model was in excellent agreement with theory and the stagnation-line heat transfer on the straight portion of the leading edge of both models approached a constant level 12 percent above the theoretical stagnation-line level on an isolated swept infinite cylinder. When the heating rates on the 45 degree dihedral model (planform sweep of 69.3 degree) were compared with those on the 0 degree dihedral model (planform sweep of 60 degrees) at equal angles of attack and equal lifts greater than zero, the stagnation-line heating rates on the 45 degrees dihedral model were, in general, considerably lower as a result of the difference in effective sweeps of the leading edges. On the wing panels inboard from the stagnation lines, the differences in heating were very small. The stagnation-line heat-transfer variation with angle of attack, the shift in stagnation-line location, and the reduction in stagnation-line heat transfer resulting from the increase in effective sweep when positive dihedral is incorporated into a constant-panel 0 degree dihedral wing, all agreed with the results of a theoretical study made of highly swept delta wings with large positive dihedral.

Gunn, Charles R.↗

Method Developed for Noninterference Measurement of Blade Damping

Although noninterference optical instrumentation has been previously used to monitor and measure rotor blade vibrations, it has not been used at the NASA Glenn Research Center for the determination of damping. This article describes such a measurement in Glenn's Spin Rig facility. The optical system was chosen because installation of the slip rig for this particular configuration was not feasible, ruling out strain gauge instrumentation. The shaft in this facility was suspended with two radial magnetic bearings, and the excitation was supplied to the bearings by a signal generator. For the first mode, the direction of excitation force was always perpendicular to the blade as described by Morrison. The preceding graph shows blade displacements, as measured by an optical probe during a frequency sweep designed to locate the first mode resonance. The resonance determines the frequency at which the shaft is excited. Because the sampling rate was fixed to only once per revolution with these transducers, and the first mode frequency was much larger than the rotational frequency, the data in this figure were undersampled with an apparent frequency that was only 1 Hz at the beginning of the sweep, about 14 Hz at the maximum amplitude, and about 20 Hz at the end of the sweep. The true excitation frequency varied during the sweep from 320 to 340 Hz, and the resonance occurred at 334 Hz. Damping is determined by applying a frequency burst to the shaft. Upon cessation of the burst, the blade undergoes free decay. The apparent damping is then obtained by a least squares fit of the theoretical cosine decay function through the experimental points. The following graph illustrates this procedure. Because of frequency aliasing, the apparent measured damping must be divided by the ratio of the true resonant frequency to the apparent measured frequency to obtain the true damping. Note that the contribution of the shaft vibration to the blade vibration could be neglected because it was shown that it is an order of magnitude smaller and that its decay is an order of magnitude faster.

Kurkov, Anatole P.↗

Airloads Correlation of the UH-60A Rotor Inside the 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel

The presented research validates the capability of a loosely-coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and comprehensive rotorcraft analysis (CRA) code to calculate the flowfield around a rotor and test stand mounted inside a wind tunnel. The CFD/CRA predictions for the full-scale UH-60A Airloads Rotor inside the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center are compared with the latest measured airloads and performance data. The studied conditions include a speed sweep at constant lift up to an advance ratio of 0.4 and a thrust sweep at constant speed up to and including stall. For the speed sweep, wind tunnel modeling becomes important at advance ratios greater than 0.37 and test stand modeling becomes increasingly important as the advance ratio increases. For the thrust sweep, both the wind tunnel and test stand modeling become important as the rotor approaches stall. Despite the beneficial effects of modeling the wind tunnel and test stand, the new models do not completely resolve the current airload discrepancies between prediction and experiment.

Chang, I-Chung↗

An Overview of Active Flow Control Enhanced Vertical Tail Technology Development

This paper summarizes a joint NASA/Boeing research effort to advance Active Flow Control (AFC) technology to enhance aerodynamic efficiency of a vertical tail. Sweeping jet AFC technology was successfully tested on subscale and full-scale models as well as in flight. The subscale test was performed at Caltech on a ~14% scale model. More than 50% side force enhancement was achieved by the sweeping jet actuation when the momentum coefficient was 1.7%. AFC caused significant increases in suction pressure on the actuator side and associated side force enhancement. Subsequently, a full-scale Boeing 757 vertical tail model equipped with sweeping jets was tested at the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. There, flow separation control optimization was performed at near flight conditions. Greater than 20% increase in side force were achieved for the maximum rudder deflection of 30deg at the key sideslip angles (0deg and -7.5deg) with a 31-actuator AFC configuration. Based on these tests, the momentum coefficient is shown to be a necessary, but not sufficient parameter to use for design and scaling of sweeping jet AFC from subscale tests to full-scale applications. Leveraging the knowledge gained from the wind tunnel tests, the AFC-enhanced vertical tail technology was successfully flown on the Boeing 757 ecoDemonstrator in the spring of 2015.

Lin, John C.↗

Wavefront-Error Performance Characterization for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) Science Instruments

The science instruments (SIs) comprising the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) were tested in three cryogenic-vacuum test campaigns in the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)'s Space Environment Simulator (SES). In this paper, we describe the results of optical wavefront-error performance characterization of the SIs. The wavefront error is determined using image-based wavefront sensing (also known as phase retrieval), and the primary data used by this process are focus sweeps, a series of images recorded by the instrument under test in its as-used configuration, in which the focal plane is systematically changed from one image to the next. High-precision determination of the wavefront error also requires several sources of secondary data, including 1) spectrum, apodization, and wavefront-error characterization of the optical ground-support equipment (OGSE) illumination module, called the OTE Simulator (OSIM), 2) plate scale measurements made using a Pseudo-Nonredundant Mask (PNRM), and 3) pupil geometry predictions as a function of SI and field point, which are complicated because of a tricontagon-shaped outer perimeter and small holes that appear in the exit pupil due to the way that different light sources are injected into the optical path by the OGSE. One set of wavefront-error tests, for the coronagraphic channel of the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) Longwave instruments, was performed using data from transverse translation diversity sweeps instead of focus sweeps, in which a sub-aperture is translated andor rotated across the exit pupil of the system.Several optical-performance requirements that were verified during this ISIM-level testing are levied on the uncertainties of various wavefront-error-related quantities rather than on the wavefront errors themselves. This paper also describes the methodology, based on Monte Carlo simulations of the wavefront-sensing analysis of focus-sweep data, used to establish the uncertainties of the wavefront error maps.

wavefront error↗

Wavefront-Error Performance Characterization for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) Science Instruments

The science instruments (SIs) comprising the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) were tested in three cryogenic-vacuum test campaigns in the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)'s Space Environment Simulator (SES) test chamber. In this paper, we describe the results of optical wavefront-error performance characterization of the SIs. The wavefront error is determined using image-based wavefront sensing, and the primary data used by this process are focus sweeps, a series of images recorded by the instrument under test in its as-used configuration, in which the focal plane is systematically changed from one image to the next. High-precision determination of the wavefront error also requires several sources of secondary data, including 1) spectrum, apodization, and wavefront-error characterization of the optical ground-support equipment (OGSE) illumination module, called the OTE Simulator (OSIM), 2) F-number and pupil-distortion measurements made using a pseudo-nonredundant mask (PNRM), and 3) pupil geometry predictions as a function of SI and field point, which are complicated because of a tricontagon-shaped outer perimeter and small holes that appear in the exit pupil due to the way that different light sources are injected into the optical path by the OGSE. One set of wavefront-error tests, for the coronagraphic channel of the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) Longwave instruments, was performed using data from transverse translation diversity sweeps instead of focus sweeps, in which a sub-aperture is translated and/or rotated across the exit pupil of the system. Several optical-performance requirements that were verified during this ISIM-level testing are levied on the uncertainties of various wavefront-error-related quantities rather than on the wavefront errors themselves. This paper also describes the methodology, based on Monte Carlo simulations of the wavefront-sensing analysis of focus-sweep data, used to establish the uncertainties of the wavefront-error maps.

image analysis↗

Ice Accretion Roughness Variations on a Hybrid CRM65-Midspan Wing Model

Ice accretion roughness measurements were performed in the Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) at NASA Glenn Research Center for the Hybrid CRM65-Midspan model in a range of icing conditions. The Hybrid CRM65-Midspan model was chosen for this investigation because 1) the model exhibits high sweep relative to models previously explored in the roughness investigations, 2) the model has leading edge characteristics similar to wing shapes currently used in mid-size commercial airliners, and 3) the sweep and thickness ratios relate better to hybrid lifting body designs for N+2 and N+3 vehicles than other models available. The investigation consisted of multiple sets of tests which focused on 1) 0-angle of attack cases replicating the conditions employed by Anderson et al. (1998) using both Appendix C and SLD cloud conditions, 2) cases based on the “Max Scallop” case by Broeren et al. (2016) and a “High Temperature” case with cloud properties similar to the “Max Scallop” case. Additional tests were performed 1) based on the “Max Scallop” case with variations in freestream static temperature and 2) using test section speeds near 10,000-hold flight conditions. The point clouds were characterized using the approach of McClain and Kreeger (2013) for the ice roughness variations and using the approach of McClain (2016) for the mean ice thickness variations. The resulting roughness and mean thickness variations generally follow the temporal scaling previously identified using on airfoil models without sweep, but the collapse of the time progression profiles is not as tight as found for past measurements on models without sweep. LEWICE and modified panel-method predictions were used explore spatial roughness variations and to compare to the roughness correlations developed by McClain et al. (2021) for the “Max Scallop” cases.

Icing↗