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At least 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1973

Vortex wake research

NASA investigations of aircraft trailing vortices are reviewed. Results obtained in flight on vortex characteristics, such as decay of maximum velocity and vortex drift, are presented for distances behind a generating C-5 aircraft from 0.6 to 13.0 nautical miles. The lateral control activity of a CV-990 aircraft probing the vortices generated by the C-5 aircraft is illustrated and the effect of the C-5 aircraft configuration on this activity is indicated. Results are presented from near-field and far-field studies of accelerated vortex dissipation through the use of various devices such as mass ejection, spoilers, vortex generators, and trailing drag devices.

Zalovcik, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

An experimental and theoretical study of the flow phenomena within a vortex sink rate sensor

A description of the flow field within a vortex sink rate sensor was obtained, and the influence of viscous effects on its performance was observed. The sensor basically consisted of a vortex chamber and a sink tube. The vortex chamber consisted of two circular coaxial disks held apart, at their periphery, by a porous coupling. One circular disk had an opening to permit the mounting of the sink tube, in such a manner that the vortex chamber as well as the sink tube had a common axis of rotation. Air was supplied radially to the sensor through its porous coupling as the sensor was rotated at various speeds. Particular emphasis was directed toward an understanding of the flow field in the sink tube region. Thus velocity measurements at various stations along the length of the sink tube as well as along a given radius at any designated station were taken.

Patel, D. K.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Effect of spanwise blowing on leading-edge vortex bursting of a highly swept aspect ratio 1.18 delta wing

An investigation was conducted in the Langley 1/8-scale V/STOL model tunnel on a semispan delta wing with a leading-edge sweep of 74 deg, to determine the effectiveness of various locations of upper surface and reflection plane blowing on leading-edge vortex bursting. Constant area nozzles were located on the wing upper surface along a ray swept 79 deg, which was beneath the leading-edge vortex core. The bursting and reformation of the leading-edge vortex was viewed by injecting helium into the vortex core, and employing a schlieren system.

Scantling, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS1974

An experimental and theoretical study of the flow phenomena within a vortex sink rate sensor

Tests were conducted to obtain a description of the flow field within a vortex sink rate sensor and to observe the influence of viscous effects on its performance. The characteristics of the sensor are described. The method for conducting the test is reported. It was determined that for a specific mass flow rate and the geometry of the vortex chamber, the flow in the vortex chamber was only affected, locally, by the size of the sink tube diameter. Within the sink tube, all three velocity components were found to be higher for the small sink tube diameters. As the speed of rotation of the sensor was increased, the tangential velocities within the vortex chamber, as well as in the sink tube, increased in proportion to the speed of rotation.

Goglia, G. L.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Rotor blade-vortex interaction

The vortex lattice method has been extended to a single bladed rotor operating at high advance ratios and encountering a free vortex from a fixed wing upstream of the rotor. The predicted unsteady load distributions on the model rotor blade are generally in agreement with the experimental results. This method has also been extended to full scale rotor flight cases in which vortex induced loads near the tip of a rotor blade were indicated. Using conformal transformation methods an exact analysis of the effects of thickness on the lift due to a two dimensional wing vortex interaction is presented.

Mccormick, B. W.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Analysis of vortex wake encounter upsets

The problem of an airplane being upset by encountering the vortex wake of a large transport on takeoff or landing is currently receiving considerable attention. This report describes the technique and results of a study to assess the effectiveness of automatic control systems in alleviating vortex wake upsets. A six-degree-of-freedom nonlinear digital simulation was used for this purpose. The analysis included establishing the disturbance input due to penetrating a vortex wake from an arbitrary position and angle. Simulations were computed for both a general aviation airplane and a commercial jet transport. Dynamic responses were obtained for the penetrating aircraft with no augmentation, and with various command augmentation systems, as well as with human pilot control. The results of this preliminary study indicate that attitude command augmentation systems can provide significant alleviation of vortex wake upsets; and can do it better than a human pilot.

Johnson, W. A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Turbulent vortex streets and the entrainment mechanism of the turbulent wake

The results of an experimental investigation of a turbulent vortex street in the range from 1000 to 20,000 are presented. The vortex street was created by the motion of a circular cylinder in a motionless fluid (mercury). Photographs obtained showed that the turbulent street, created by the vortex shedding behind the cylinder, persisted at longer downstream distances and higher Reynolds numbers than previously reported in the literature. A theory was developed to account for the experimental measurements pertaining to the change of the geometrical characteristics, (the distance between the two rows of vortices and the longitudinal distance between two consecutive vortices on the same row), of the street in the downstream direction. The implications of the structure of the vortex street on the entrainment mechanism of the turbulent wake are discussed.

Papailiou, D. D.↗
NASA NTRS1974

A quasi-vortex-lattice method in thin wing theory

A quasi-continuous method is developed for solving thin-wing problems. For the purpose of satisfying the wing boundary conditions, the spanwise vortex distribution is assumed to be stepwise-constant, while the chordwise vortex integral is reduced to a finite sum through a modified trapezoidal rule and the theory of Chebyshev polynomials. Wing-edge and Cauchy singularities are acounted for. The total aerodynamic characteristics are obtained by an appropriate quadrature integration. The two-dimensional results for airfoils without flap deflection reproduce the exact solutions in lift and pitching moment coefficients, the leading edge suction, and the pressure difference at a finite number of points. For a flapped airfoil, the present results are more accurate than those given by the vortex-lattice method. The three-dimensional results also show an improvement over the results of the vortex-lattice method. Extension to nonplanar applications is discussed.

Lan, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Analysis of wake vortex flight test data behind a T-33 aircraft

Measurements of the vortex system behind a T-33 aircraft were obtained by a Learjet equipped with a boom carrying a three-wire, hot-wire anemometry probe and other instrumentation. Analysis of the measurements using a computerized geometric method indicated the vortices had a core radius of approximately 0.11 meter with a maximum velocity of 25 meters per second. The hot-wire anemometer was found to be a practical and sensitive instrument for determining in-flight vortex velocities. No longitudinal instabilities, buoyant effects or vortex breakdowns were evident in the data which included vortex wake cross sections from 0.24 to 5.22 kilometers behind the T-33.

Kuhn, G. D.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Effect of inlet ingestion of a wing tip vortex on compressor face flow and turbojet stall margin

A two-dimensional inlet was alternately mated to a coldpipe plug assembly and a J85-GE-13 turbojet engine, and placed in a Mach 0.4 stream so as to ingest the tip vortex of a forward mounted wing. Vortex properties were measured just forward of the inlet and at the compressor face. Results show that ingestion of a wing tip vortex by a turbojet engine can cause a large reduction in engine stall margin. The loss in stall compressor pressure ratio was primarily dependent on vortex location and rotational direction and not on total-pressure distortion.

Mitchell, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS1975

The effect of wing dihedral and section suction distribution on vortex bursting

Eleven semi-span wing models were tested in the 1/8-scale model of the Langley V/STOL tunnel to qualitatively study vortex bursting. Flow visualization was achieved by using helium filled soap bubbles introduced upstream of the model. The angle of attack range was from 0 deg to 45 deg. The results show that the vortex is unstable, that is, the bursting point location is not fixed at a given angle of attack but moves within certain bounds. Upstream of the trailing edge, the bursting point location has a range of two inches; downstream, the range is about six inches. Anhedral and dihedral appear to have an insignificant effect on the vortex and its bursting point location. Altering the section suction distribution by improving the triangularity generally increases the angle of attack at which vortex bursting occurs at the trailing edge.

Washburn, K. E.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Theoretical study of lift-generated vortex wakes designed to avoid rollup

Two hypothetical vortex wakes are introduced and studied theoretically to explore whether the rollup of lift-generated vortex sheets can be suppressed. The circulation distribution across each wake is specified such that one rotates and the other translates as a unit due to their self-induced velocities. Several span loadings are constructed from these solutions and the resulting inviscid wake structure is computed for several span lengths behind the generating wing by use of the discrete vortex method wherein the vortex wake is represented by an array of vortices. The final distribution of vortices is then used to estimate the rolling moment on an encountering wing. It is found that, even though the initial specified motions are not sustained, substantial reductions in rolling moment are predicted for certain ranges of the ratio of the span of the generating wing to the following wing.

Rossow, V. J.↗
NASA NTRS1975

An investigation of the increase in vortex induced rolling moment associated with landing gear wake

Flight tests were conducted to verify the results found in ground base facilities of the effect of span lift load variation as well as the vortex attentuation of the high energy jet engine exhaust through proper thrust programming. During these flight tests a large increase in vortex strength was experienced as a result of extending the landing gear. Tests in the Langley Vortex Research Facility indicate that the wake produced by the landing gear may possibly form an aerodynamic endplate or reflection plane at the inboard edge of each inboard flap which increases the effective aspect ratio of the flap and thereby increases the strength of the flap outer edge vortex.

Patterson, J. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1975

A subvortex technique for the close approach to a discretized vortex sheet

The close-approach problem associated with flow calculation methods based on vortex-lattice theory was examined numerically using two-dimensional discretized vortex sheets. The analysis first yields a near-field radius of approximately the distance apart of the vortices in the lattice; only within this distance from the sheet are the errors arising from the discretization significant. Various modifications to the discrete vortices are then considered with the objective of reducing the errors. This leads to a near-field model in which a vortex splits into an increasing number of subvortices as it is approached. The subvortices, whose strengths vary linearly from the vortex position, are evenly distributed along an interpolated curve passing through the basic vortices. This subvortex technique can be extended to the three-dimensional case and is efficient because the number of vortices is effectively increased, but only where and when needed.

Maskew, B.↗
NASA NTRS1975

A preliminary study of the effects of vortex diffusers (winglets) on wing flutter

Some experimental flutter results are presented for a simple, flat-plate wing model and for the same wing model equipped with two different upper surface vortex diffusers over the Mach number range from about 0.70 to 0.95. Both vortex diffusers had the same planform, but one weighed about 0.3 percent of the basic wing weight, whereas the other weighed about 1.8 percent of the wing weight. The addition of the lighter vortex diffuser reduced the flutter dynamic pressure by about 3 percent; the heavier vortex diffuser reduced the flutter dynamic pressure by about 12 percent. The experimental flutter results are compared at a Mach number of 0.80 with analytical flutter results obtained by using doublet lattice and lifting surface (Kernel function) unsteady aerodynamic theories.

Doggett, R. V., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Prediction of rotating-blade vortex noise from noise of nonrotating blades

Measurements were conducted in an acoustic wind tunnel to determine vortex noise of nonrotating circular cylinders and NACA 0012 airfoils. Both constant-width and spanwise tapered models were tested at a low turbulence level. The constant-diameter cylinder and constant-chord airfoil also were tested in the turbulent wake generated by an upstream cylinder or airfoil. Vortex noise radiation from nonrotating circular cylinders at Reynolds numbers matching those of the rotating-blade tests were found to be strongly dependent on surface conditions and Reynolds number. Vortex noise of rotating circular cylinder blades, operating with and without the shed wake blown downstream, could be predicted using data for nonrotating circular cylinders as functions of Reynolds number. Vortex noise of nonrotating airfoils was found to be trailing-edge noise at a time frequence equal to that predicted for maximum-amplitude Tollmein-Schlichting instability waves at the trailing edge.

Fink, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations for vortex breakdown

A numerical investigation of vortex breakdown has been undertaken in an attempt to understand its properties, and the mechanisms responsible for it. Solutions of the full steady axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations for breakdown in an unconfined viscous vortex have been obtained for core Reynolds numbers up to 200, for a two-parameter family of assumed upstream velocity distributions. Diffusion and convection of vorticity away from the vortex core, and the strong coupling between the circumferential and axial velocity fields in highly-swirling flows, are shown to lead to stagnation and reversal of the axial flow near the axis. The various theories of vortex breakdown are considered in light of the present numerical solutions.

Grabowski, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Numerical Studies of Three-dimensional Breakdown in Trailing Vortex Wakes

Finite element, three dimensional relaxation methods are used to calculate the development of vortex wakes behind aircraft for a considerable downstream distance. The inclusion of a self-induction term in the solution, dependent upon local curvature and vortex core radius, permits calculation of finite lifetimes for systems for which infinite life would be predicted two dimensionally. The associated computer program is described together with single-pair, twin-pair, and multiple-pair studies carried out using it. It is found, in single-pair studies, that there is a lower limit to the wavelengths at which the Crow-type of instability can occur. Below this limit, self-induction effects cause the plane of the disturbance waves to rotate counter to the vortex direction. Self induction in two dimensionally generated twin spiral waves causes an increase in axial length which becomes more marked with decreasing initial wavelength. The time taken for vortex convergence toward the center plane is correspondingly increased. The limited parametric twin-pair study performed suggests that time-to-converge increases with increasing flap span. Limited studies of Boeing 747 configurations show correct qualitative response to removal of the outer flap and to gear deployment, as compared with wind tunnel and flight test experience.

Evans, P. F.↗