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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 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Analysis of supersonic flows using k-epsilon model and the RPLUS code: Progress towards high speed combustor analysis

The problem of interest here is the analysis of chemically reacting flow inside of supersonic ramjet combustors. Two key parameters need to be determined: mixing/combustion efficiency and kinetic energy efficiency. In order to determine these parameters, several potential loss mechanisms must be modeled correctly, including mixing, shear, turbulence, vorticity, shock waves, heat transfer, fuel injector drag, poor wall pressure integral, and chemical dissociation. This document discusses k-epsilon turbulence models for use in the RPLUS code for numerical modeling of combustor flow fields.

Lee, J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Aircraft Wake Vortex Measurements at Denver International Airport

Airport capacity is constrained, in part, by spacing requirements associated with the wake vortex hazard. NASA's Wake Vortex Avoidance Project has a goal to establish the feasibility of reducing this spacing while maintaining safety. Passive acoustic phased array sensors, if shown to have operational potential, may aid in this effort by detecting and tracking the vortices. During August/September 2003, NASA and the USDOT sponsored a wake acoustics test at the Denver International Airport. The central instrument of the test was a large microphone phased array. This paper describes the test in general terms and gives an overview of the array hardware. It outlines one of the analysis techniques that is being applied to the data and gives sample results. The technique is able to clearly resolve the wake vortices of landing aircraft and measure their separation, height, and sinking rate. These observations permit an indirect estimate of the vortex circulation. The array also provides visualization of the vortex evolution, including the Crow instability.

Dougherty, Robert P.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Simulation of Wake Vortex Radiometric Detection via Jet Exhaust Proxy

This paper describes an analysis of the potential of an airborne hyperspectral imaging IR instrument to infer wake vortices via turbine jet exhaust as a proxy. The goal was to determine the requirements for an imaging spectrometer or radiometer to effectively detect the exhaust plume, and by inference, the location of the wake vortices. The effort examines the gas spectroscopy of the various major constituents of turbine jet exhaust and their contributions to the modeled detectable radiance. Initially, a theoretical analysis of wake vortex proxy detection by thermal radiation was realized in a series of simulations. The first stage used the SLAB plume model to simulate turbine jet exhaust plume characteristics, including exhaust gas transport dynamics and concentrations. The second stage used these plume characteristics as input to the Line By Line Radiative Transfer Model (LBLRTM) to simulate responses from both an imaging IR hyperspectral spectrometer or radiometer. These numerical simulations generated thermal imagery that was compared with previously reported wake vortex temperature data. This research is a continuation of an effort to specify the requirements for an imaging IR spectrometer or radiometer to make wake vortex measurements. Results of the two-stage simulation will be reported, including instrument specifications for wake vortex thermal detection. These results will be compared with previously reported results for IR imaging spectrometer performance.

Daniels, Taumi S.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Mitigation of High Lateral Asymmetry Rates Due to Loss of a Cruise Motor on the X-57 Mod III Aircraft

The X-57 Mod III aircraft utilizes wingtip electric motors to generate thrust. The potential benefit of wingtip propulsion is a reduction in induced drag because wingtip vortices are interrupted. Wingtip propulsors, however, pose the risk of dangerous thrust asymmetry if one of the motors abruptly stops producing full thrust. This paper examines the effects of a full-power, single-motor failure at various phases of flight for the X-57 Mod III aircraft design by way of piloted-in-the-loop simulations conducted by two National Aeronautics and Space Administration test pilots. After determining that a failure during takeoff potentially poses the highest risk of catastrophic consequences, possible mitigations to the failure were explored and evaluated through pilot simulation data, Cooper-Harper ratings, and pilot comments. The preferred mitigation was found to be an automated power reduction system that allowed for a lower pilot workload and quick reduction of the asymmetric thrust.

Ryan Wallace↗
DOE OSTI2021

Control-Oriented Model for Secondary Effects of Wake Steering

This paper presents a model to incorporate the secondary effects of wake steering in large arrays of turbines. Previous models have focused on the aerodynamic interaction of wake steering between two turbines. The model proposed in this paper builds on these models to include yaw-induced wake recovery and secondary steering seen in large arrays of turbines when wake steering is performed. Turbines operating in yaw-misaligned conditions generate counter-rotating vortices that entrain momentum and contribute to the deformation and deflection of the wake at downstream turbines. Rows of turbines can compound the effects of wake steering that benefit turbines far downstream. This model quantifies these effects and demonstrates that wake steering has greater potential to increase the performance of a wind farm due to these counter-rotating vortices especially for large rows of turbines. This is validated using numerous large-eddy simulations for three-turbine, five-turbine, and wind farm scenarios.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1983

Transonic small disturbance calculations including entropy corrections

Murman's fully conservative mixed type finite-difference operators are first modified. A special sonic point operator with an iterative damping term is introduced which helps the convergence and does not affect the spatial conservative differences. Reliable calculations with second order supersonic schemes are obtained using two sonic operators, the regular sonic point operator followed by a first order supersonic scheme. Also, shock point operator is shown to be equivalent to fitting a locally normal shock terminating the supersonic region. The potential calculations are then modified to account for the non-isentropic jump conditions using a simple shock fitting procedure based on Prandtl relation. The entropy increase across the shock is calculated in terms of the Mach number upstream of the shock and the effect of the generated vorticity is estimated via Crocco relation. Different examples are calculated and extensions to the full potential equation are discussed.

Hafez, M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Effect of field-aligned potential drop in a global magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling model

Effects of field-aligned potential drops on the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling in a steady state are studied on a global ionospheric scale. It is shown that a constant-current generator can support a larger field-aligned potential drop than a constant voltage generator under similar conditions. The magnetospheric convection pattern is distorted more in the constant current generator case than in the constant voltage generator case. The main difference between a constant current generator and a constant voltage generator is found to lie in their ability to adjust the vorticity of the magnetospheric convection. The results show that a constant current generator allows the vorticity of the magnetospheric convection to adjust so that the field-aligned current can be kept constant under the loading influence of the field-aligned potential. On the other hand, a constant voltage generator by definition cannot adjust the vorticity of the magnetospheric convection to maintain the field-aligned current under the loading influence of the field-aligned potential.

Kan, J. R.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Tuning microwave losses in superconducting resonators

Abstract The performance of superconducting resonators, particularly cavities for particle accelerators and micro cavities and thin film resonators for quantum computations and photon detectors, has been improved substantially by recent material treatments and technological advances. As a result, the niobium cavities have reached the quality factors Q ∼ 10 11 at 1–2 GHz and 1.5 K and the breakdown radio-frequency (rf) fields H close to the dc superheating field of the Meissner state. These advances raise the questions of whether the state-of-the-art cavities are close to the fundamental limits, what these limits actually are, and to what extent the Q and H limits can be pushed by the materials nano structuring and impurity management. These issues are also relevant for many applications using high-Q thin film resonators, including single-photon detectors and quantum circuits. This topical review outlines basic physical mechanisms of the rf nonlinear surface impedance controlled by quasiparticles, dielectric losses and trapped vortices, as well as the dynamic field limit of the Meissner state. Sections cover methods of engineering an optimum quasiparticle density of states and superfluid density to reduce rf losses and kinetic inductance by pairbreaking mechanisms related to magnetic impurities, rf currents, and proximity-coupled metallic layers at the surface. A section focuses on mechanisms of residual surface resistance, which dominates rf losses at ultra low temperatures. Microwave losses of trapped vortices and their reduction by optimizing the concentration of impurities and pinning potential are also discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS1977

Improved methods for large-eddy simulations of turbulence

By using Fourier transforms for evaluating spatial derivatives, the accuracy of the large-eddy simulation of homogeneous isotropic turbulence is improved. Especially, the treatment of certain terms that arise in filtering the equations is considerably improved in both speed and accuracy. Use of vorticity as the principal variable is shown to be a viable and potentially useful alternative to the primitive variables. A method of deriving conservation properties of numerical schemes is given which is much simpler than previous methods and is widely applicable. The methods are applied to the computation of homogeneous isotropic turbulence, and it is found that the subgrid scale model is improved by using finite differences in place of 'exact' derivatives.

Mansour, N. N.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Exploratory subsonic investigation of vortex-flap concept on arrow wing configuration

The drag reduction potential of a vortex flap concept, utilizing the thrust contribution of separation vortices maintained over leading edge flap surfaces, was explored in subsonic wind tunnel tests on a highly swept arrow wing configuration. Several flap geometries were tested in comparison with a previous study on the same model with leading edges drooped for attached flow. The most promising vortex flap arrangements produced drag reductions comparable with leading edge droop over a range of lift coefficients from 0.3 to 0.6 (untrimmed), and also indicated beneficial effects in the longitudinal and lateral static stability characteristics.

Rao, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Solutions of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations using the integral method

The integral representation method was used to obtain numerical solutions of the compressible, unsteady, two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations for subsonic flows. The equations were written with the vorticity, the dilatation, the density, and the enthalpy as the dependent variables. The method was tested by solving the following problems: the flow over a flat plate, around a circular cylinder, and around a Joukowski airfoil. The last two problems involved massive flow separation. The approach offers the capability of confining the domain of computations to the region where two quantities, the vorticity and the difference in dilatation between the real flow and the potential flow around the body, are non-negligible.

Elrefaee, M. M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Tactical missile aerodynamics

The present conference on tactical missile aerodynamics discusses autopilot-related aerodynamic design considerations, flow visualization methods' role in the study of high angle-of-attack aerodynamics, low aspect ratio wing behavior at high angle-of-attack, supersonic airbreathing propulsion system inlet design, missile bodies with noncircular cross section and bank-to-turn maneuvering capabilities, 'waverider' supersonic cruise missile concepts and design methods, asymmetric vortex sheding phenomena from bodies-of-revolution, and swept shock wave/boundary layer interaction phenomena. Also discussed are the assessment of aerodynamic drag in tactical missiles, the analysis of supersonic missile aerodynamic heating, the 'equivalent angle-of-attack' concept for engineering analysis, the vortex cloud model for body vortex shedding and tracking, paneling methods with vorticity effects and corrections for nonlinear compressibility, the application of supersonic full potential method to missile bodies, Euler space marching methods for missiles, three-dimensional missile boundary layers, and an analysis of exhaust plumes and their interaction with missile airframes.

Hemsch, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for 3-dimensional, unsteady, incompressible flows by compact schemes

The present numerical method for the solution of unsteady, incompressible three-dimensional flow Navier-Stokes equations using velocity-vorticity variables and irregular Cartesian grids proceeds by solving: (1) equations of Cauchy-Riemann type for the velocity; and (2) transport-diffusion equations for the vorticity, whose solenoidal vorticity components are generated by a Poisson equation for an appropriate scalar potential. Iterations are used to solve the finite difference equations, facilitating the use of vector and parallel-computing methods; numerical experiments have verified the method's second-order spatial and temporal accuracy.

Gatski, T. B.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Modeling of Unsteady Three-dimensional Flows in Multistage Machines

Despite many years of development, the accurate and reliable prediction of unsteady aerodynamic forces acting on turbomachinery blades remains less than satisfactory, especially when viewed next to the great success investigators have had in predicting steady flows. Hall and Silkowski (1997) have proposed that one of the main reasons for the discrepancy between theory and experiment and/or industrial experience is that many of the current unsteady aerodynamic theories model a single blade row in an infinitely long duct, ignoring potentially important multistage effects. However, unsteady flows are made up of acoustic, vortical, and entropic waves. These waves provide a mechanism for the rotors and stators of multistage machines to communicate with one another. In other words, wave behavior makes unsteady flows fundamentally a multistage (and three-dimensional) phenomenon. In this research program, we have has as goals (1) the development of computationally efficient computer models of the unsteady aerodynamic response of blade rows embedded in a multistage machine (these models will ultimately be capable of analyzing three-dimensional viscous transonic flows), and (2) the use of these computer codes to study a number of important multistage phenomena.

Hall, Kenneth C.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Motion of near-neutrally buoyant tracers in vortical flows

An analysis of the motion of particles of arbitrary density and size in solid body and potential vortex flows is presented. The study provides a basis for precise, quantitative reduction of tracer-particle visualization of such flows in water tunnels.

Charwat, A. F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Three-dimensional airflow and hydrometeor trajectory calculation with applications

Numerical codes developed to model potential flows about three-dimensional bodies and applied to examining the flowfields around aircraft nose probes for gathering hydrometeor data are described. The potential flow code accounts for lifting or nonlifting surfaces, the effects of lift vorticity, inlet flows, and compression effects. Particle trajectories are calculated using particle equations of motion, with note taken of conditions in both the far- and near-fields of the flow. Graphic projections of the trajectories can be made from any view angle using another code. The codes also contain routines for handling flow velocities around arrays of spatial locations, trajectory arrays, and the effects of flow distortion on the particle flux.

Norment, H. G.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Intense Electric Fields and Electron-Scale Substructure Within Magnetotail Flux Ropes as Revealed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

Three flux ropes associated with near-Earth magnetotail reconnection are analyzed using Magnetospheric Multiscale observations. The flux ropes are Earthward propagating with sizes from ∼3 to 11 ion inertial lengths. Significantly different axial orientations are observed, suggesting spatiotemporal variability in the reconnection and/or flux rope dynamics. An electron-scale vortex, associated with one of the most intense electric fields (E) in the event, is observed within one of the flux ropes. This E is predominantly perpendicular to the magnetic field (B); the electron vortex is frozen-in with E × B drifting electrons carrying perpendicular current and causing a small-scale magnetic enhancement. The vortex is ∼16 electron gyroradii in size perpendicular to B and potentially elongated parallel to B. The need to decouple the frozen-in vortical motion from the surrounding plasma implies a parallel E at the structure's ends. The formation of frozen-in electron vortices within reconnection-generated flux ropes may have implications for particle acceleration.

Magnetospheric Multiscale↗
NASA NTRS2005

Vortobots

The term vortobots denotes proposed swimming robots that would have dimensions as small as micrometers or even nanometers and that would move in swarms through fluids by generating and exploiting vortices in a cooperative manner. Vortobots were conceived as means of exploring confined or otherwise inaccessible fluid environments: they are expected to be especially attractive for biomedical uses like examining the interiors of blood vessels. The main advantage of the vortobot concept, relative to other concepts for swimming microscopic robots, is that the mechanisms for locomotion would be relatively simple and, therefore, could be miniaturized more easily. For example, only a simple spinning paddle would be required to generate a vortex around a vortobot (see Figure 1). The difficulty is that a smart swarming and cooperative control algorithm would be necessary for purposeful locomotion. This necessity arises because, as a consequence of basic principles of vortex dynamics, an isolated single vortex cannot move by itself because its induced flow at the center is zero; however, a vortex can move other vortices by the induced flow. By cleverly adjusting the strength and sign of each member in a group of vortices, the group can achieve net translational motion in the preferred direction through cooperation. Figure 2 presents two simple examples that serve to illustrate the principle of cooperative motion of vortobots. For the sake of simplicity, these examples are based on an idealized two-dimensional potential flow of an inviscid, incompressible liquid. The example of the upper part of the figure is of two vortices of equal magnitude and opposite sign. The centers of the vortices would move along parallel paths. The example of the lower part of the figure is of two vortices of the same magnitude and sign. In this case, both vortices would move in a circle in diametrically opposite positions. More complex motions can be obtained by introducing more vortices (or pairs of vortices) and choosing different vortex strengths and orientations.

Park, Han↗