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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

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NASA NTRS1999

Computational Investigation of Fluidic Counterflow Thrust Vectoring

A computational study of fluidic counterflow thrust vectoring has been conducted. Two-dimensional numerical simulations were run using the computational fluid dynamics code PAB3D with two-equation turbulence closure and linear Reynolds stress modeling. For validation, computational results were compared to experimental data obtained at the NASA Langley Jet Exit Test Facility. In general, computational results were in good agreement with experimental performance data, indicating that efficient thrust vectoring can be obtained with low secondary flow requirements (less than 1% of the primary flow). An examination of the computational flowfield has revealed new details about the generation of a countercurrent shear layer, its relation to secondary suction, and its role in thrust vectoring. In addition to providing new information about the physics of counterflow thrust vectoring, this work appears to be the first documented attempt to simulate the counterflow thrust vectoring problem using computational fluid dynamics.

Hunter, Craig A.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Low speed aerodynamic characteristics of a vectored-engine-over-wing configuration

An investigation has been conducted in the Langley V/STOL tunnel to determine the low speed aerodynamic characteristics of a close-coupled canard-wing configuration using spanwise blowing and a vectored-engine-over-wing powered lift concept. The effects of spanwise blowing in conjunction with thrust vectoring are discussed. These effects were studied at M = 0.19 for a range of model angle of attack and engine nozzle pressure ratio. The results indicate combined use of spanwise blowing and thrust vectoring can provide significant performance improvements throughout the angle-of-attack range tested.

Leavitt, L. D.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Advanced technology exhaust nozzle development

The requirement for greater tactical aircraft operational capabilities has led to increasing research emphasis on the refinement of engine/airframe integration methods and exhaust nozzle flexibility. A major prospective advancement in the development of these capabilities takes the form of multifunctional exhaust nozzle systems with thrust reversal and thrust vectoring features, whose operation will be shared by both airframe and powerplant control systems. Attention is presently given to the two-dimensional convergent-divergent and single expansion ramp nozzle designs, with emphasis on the variable geometry mechanical systems by which they assume cruising flight, vectoring, and thrust reversal operations. The nozzles have been wind tunnel model-tested for the cases of the F-18 fighter and a supersonic cruise configuration concept.

Dusa, D. J.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Compressional features in the Tharsis Region of Mars: Orientations and Timing of Deformation

The Tharsis ridge system appears to form a great circle around the major volcanoes. The roughly circumferential orientation of these ridges could be interpreted as the formation of a ridge system in response to a single stress field with a center near Pavonis Mons. Wise, et al. (1979) plotted the perpendiculars to strikes of ridges on the eastern flanks of Tharsis as great circles on the upper hemisphere of an equal area net. In order to further test for circular symmetry and possible other influences on ridge orientations, normals to vector means of ridge orientations were calculated using over 1850 digitized ridge segments sampled in 10 degree boxes. Orientations of individual ridge segments were weighted by their lengths, and the magnitudes of normals to vectors means were weighted by cummulative length of the ridge segments. Normals to vector means with magnitudes less than 100 km are not shown. Assuming a single fold origin for ridges, the resulting plot shows compressive stress trajectories for the ridges in the Tharsis region. The averaged compressive stress orientation around Tharsis confirm the suggestion by Wise, et al. that the ridge system is not concentric to any single point.

Watters, T. R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The two axis motion simulator for the large space simulator at ESTEC (European Space Research and Technology Center)

The Large Space Simulator at the European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC) has been recently equipped with a motion simulator capable of handling test items of 5 tons mass and having a volume of 7m in diameter and a length of 7m. The motion simulator has a modular set-up. It consists of a spinbox as a basic unit on which the test article is mounted and which allows continuous rotation (spin) . This spinbox can be used in two operational configurations; the spin axis is vertical to 30 degrees when mounted on a gimbalstand; and the spin axis is horizontal when mounted on a turntable-yoke combination. The turntable provides rotation within plus or minus 90 degrees. This configuration allows one to bring a test article to all possible relative positions viv-a-vis the sun vector (which is horizontal in this case). The spinbox allows fast rotation between 1 to 6 rpm or slow rotation between 1 to 25 rotations per day as well as positioning within plus or minus 0.4 degrees accuracy.

Beckel, Kurt A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Hot gas ingestion characteristics and flow visualization of a vectored thrust STOVL concept

The study presents results obtained at the compressor face of a 9.2-percent scale vectored thrust model in ground effects from Phases I and II of a test program to evaluate the hot ingestion phenomena and control techniques, and to conduct flow visualization of the model flowfield in and out of ground effects, respectively. A description of the model, facility, a new model support system, and a sheet laser illumination system are provided. The findings contain the compressor face pressure and temperature distortions, compressor face temperature rise, and the environmental effects of the hot gas. The environmental effects include the ground plane temperature and pressure distributions, model airframe heating, and the location of the ground flow separation. Results from the sheet laser flow visualization test are also presented.

Johns, Albert L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Some practical turbulence modeling options for Reynolds-averaged full Navier-Stokes calculations of three-dimensional flows

New turbulence modeling options recently implemented for the 3-D version of Proteus, a Reynolds-averaged compressible Navier-Stokes code, are described. The implemented turbulence models include: the Baldwin-Lomax algebraic model, the Baldwin-Barth one-equation model, the Chien k-epsilon model, and the Launder-Sharma k-epsilon model. Features of this turbulence modeling package include: well documented and easy to use turbulence modeling options, uniform integration of turbulence models from different classes, automatic initialization of turbulence variables for calculations using one- or two-equation turbulence models, multiple solid boundaries treatment, and fully vectorized L-U solver for one- and two-equation models. Validation test cases include the incompressible and compressible flat plate turbulent boundary layers, turbulent developing S-duct flow, and glancing shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction. Good agreement is obtained between the computational results and experimental data. Sensitivity of the compressible turbulent solutions with the method of y(sup +) computation, the turbulent length scale correction, and some compressibility corrections are examined in detail. The test cases show that the highly optimized one-and two-equation turbulence models can be used in routine 3-D Navier-Stokes computations with no significant increase in CPU time as compared with the Baldwin-Lomax algebraic model.

Bui, Trong T.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Exploratory Calibration of Adjustable-Protrusion Surface-Obstacle (APSO) Skin Friction Vector Gage

The design of an adjustable-protrusion surface-obstacle (APSO) skin friction vector gage is presented. Results from exploratory calibrations conducted in laminar and turbulent boundary layers at the Washington University Low-Speed Wind Tunnel and for turbulent boundary layers at speeds up to Mach 2 on the ceiling of the NASA Glenn Research Center 8- X 6-ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel are also discussed. The adjustable-height gage was designed to yield both the magnitude and direction of the surface shear stress vector and to measure the local static pressure distribution. Results from the NASA test show good correlation for subsonic and low supersonic conditions covering several orders of magnitude in terms of the adopted similarity variables. Recommendations for future work in this area consist of identifying the physical parameters responsible for the disagreement between the university and NASA data sets, developing a compressibility correction specific to the APSO geometry, and examining the effect that static pressure distribution and skewed boundary layers have on the results from the APSO.

Hakkinen, Raimo J.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Fabrication and Electromagnetic Characterization of Novel Self-Metallized Thin Films

Unique, self-metallized films were investigated for deployable reflector antenna applications at L-band. Polyamic acid resins or soluble polyimides were doped with metal complexes, cast into films, and thermally cured. Each resulting film had a metallic layer on one side, adhering unfailingly to the polymer. Metallization was successful for silver or palladium in 3,3',4,4'-benzophenonetetracarboxylic acid dianhydride (BTDA) and 4,4'- oxydianiline and for gold in BTDA and 2,2-bis[4-(4- aminophenoxy)phenyl]hexafluoropropane (4-BDAF) or the space durable polyimide, 2,2-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl)- hexafluoropropane dianhydride and 4-BDAF (LaRCCP1). Reflectivity, transmissivity, and emissivity were determined, using an HP 8510 Vector Network Analyzer, to within 0.001 precision and accuracy. A custom-made test fixture/positioner, a thru-reflect-line calibration, and calculated reflection coefficients were used. The Ag film proved most suitable for further study, with 0.9957 reflectivity and 0.0042 emissivity. The Pd films were 0.89 reflective and 0.11 emissive; both Au films tested entirely transmissive. Transmission and scanning electron micrographs, S-parameters, and power coefficients are shown.

Mackenzie, Anne I.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Self-Contained Automated Methodology for Optimal Flow Control

This paper describes a self-contained, automated methodology for active flow control which couples the time-dependent Navier-Stokes system with an adjoint Navier-Stokes system and optimality conditions from which optimal states, i.e., unsteady flow fields and controls (e.g., actuators), may be determined. The problem of boundary layer instability suppression through wave cancellation is used as the initial validation case to test the methodology. Here, the objective of control is to match the stress vector along a portion of the boundary to a given vector; instability suppression is achieved by choosing the given vector to be that of a steady base flow. Control is effected through the injection or suction of fluid through a single orifice on the boundary. The results demonstrate that instability suppression can be achieved without any a priori knowledge of the disturbance, which is significant because other control techniques have required some knowledge of the flow unsteadiness such as frequencies, instability type, etc. The present methodology has been extended to three dimensions and may potentially be applied to separation control, re-laminarization, and turbulence control applications using one to many sensors and actuators.

Joslin, Ronald D.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Flight Testing the X-36: The Test Pilots Perspective

The X-36 is a 28% scale, remotely piloted research aircraft, designed to demonstrate tailless fighter agility. Powered by a modified Williams International F-112 jet engine, the X-36 uses thrust vectoring and a fly-by-wire control system. Although too small for an onboard pilot, a full-sized remote cockpit was designed to virtually place the test pilot into the aircraft using a variety of innovative techniques. To date, 22 flights have been flown, successfully completing the second phase of testing. Handling qualities have been matching predictions; the test operation is flown similarly to that for full sized manned aircraft. All takeoffs, test maneuvers and landings are flown by the test pilot, affording a greater degree of flexibility and the ability to handle the inevitable unknowns which may occur during highly experimental test programs. The cockpit environment, cues, and display techniques used in this effort have proven to enhance the 'virtual' test pilot's awareness and have helped ensure a successful RPV test program.

Walker, Laurence A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Scale model test results of several STOVL ventral nozzle concepts

Short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) ventral nozzle concepts are investigated by means of a static cold flow scale model at a NASA facility. The internal aerodynamic performance characteristics of the cruise, transition, and vertical lift modes are considered for four ventral nozzle types. The nozzle configurations examined include those with: butterfly-type inner doors and vectoring exit vanes; circumferential inner doors and thrust vectoring vanes; a three-port segmented version with circumferential inner doors; and a two-port segmented version with cylindrical nozzle exit shells. During the testing, internal and external pressure is measured, and the thrust and flow coefficients and resultant vector angles are obtained. The inner door used for ventral nozzle flow control is found to affect performance negatively during the initial phase of transition. The best thrust performance is demonstrated by the two-port segmented ventral nozzle due to the elimination of the inner door.

Meyer, B. E.↗

NASA NTRS2019

IMERG V06: Changes to the Morphing Algorithm

As the US Science Team’s globally gridded precipitation product from the NASA/JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) estimates the surface precipitation rates at 0.1° every half-hour using spaceborne sensors for various scientific and societal applications. One key component of IMERG is the morphing algorithm, which uses motion vectors to perform quasi-Lagrangian interpolation to fill in gaps in the passive microwave precipitation field using motion vectors. Up to IMERG V05, the motion vectors were derived from the large-scale motions of infrared observations of cloud tops. This study details the changes introduced in IMERG V06 to derive motion vectors from large-scale motions of selected atmospheric variables in numerical models, which allow IMERG estimates to be extended from the 60°N/S latitude band to the entire globe. Evaluation against both instantaneous passive microwave retrievals and ground measurements demonstrates the general improvement in the precipitation field of the new approach. Most of the model variables tested exhibited similar performance, but total precipitable water vapor was chosen as the source of the motion vectors for IMERG V06 due to its competitive performance and global completeness. Continuing assessments will provide further insights into possible refinements of this revised morphing scheme in future versions of IMERG.

Jackson Tan↗

NASA NTRS1992

Flight Testing

It is considered by the Flight Mechanics Panel of AGARD as vitally important that the NATO flight test community meet regularly so that new techniques for flight test, instrumentation and data analysis and lessons learned from past and on-going programs be disseminated to ensure that safe efficient cost-effective and timely testing is accomplished. There are many new systems being tested or planned for testing in the near future. These include programmable signal processor radars, integrated flight, fire and propulsion control systems, thrust vectoring, low observable technologies, multifunction pilot displays and multisensor integration. Acquisition and processing of large quantities of avionics multiplex data are challenges that must be met. There is a need for greater use of simulators and other hardware-in-the-loop ground test facilities.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1996

Design Specification for a Thrust-Vectoring, Actuated-Nose-Strake Flight Control Law for the High-Alpha Research Vehicle

Specifications for a flight control law are delineated in sufficient detail to support coding the control law in flight software. This control law was designed for implementation and flight test on the High-Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV), which is an F/A-18 aircraft modified to include an experimental multi-axis thrust-vectoring system and actuated nose strakes for enhanced rolling (ANSER). The control law, known as the HARV ANSER Control Law, was designed to utilize a blend of conventional aerodynamic control effectors, thrust vectoring, and actuated nose strakes to provide increased agility and good handling qualities throughout the HARV flight envelope, including angles of attack up to 70 degrees.

Bacon, Barton J.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Kalman filter estimation of attitude and gyro bias with the QUEST observation model

The loss function for the Wahba attitude estimation problem employs unit vector observations with scalar weights. It is usually associated with the QUEST observation model, where the actual sensor noise is assumed the same for all components of the observed vector, regardless of the position in the field of view. The QUEST model has the great advantage of being sensor-independent except for the scalar parameter that characterizes the sensor errors. Although efficient algorithms for solving the Wahba problem exist, extending these algorithms to estimate gyro biases or sensor alignments has had mixed success. However, it is straightforward to estimate bias and alignment parameters with a Kalman filter. This paper investigates the use of an extended Kalman filter for the attitude and gyro bias that incorporates the QUEST observation model, to be referred to as the Unit Vector Filter (UVF). The UVF results are compared with those from a more conventional filter, the Real-Time Sequential Filter (RTSF), for which the residual is the two-dimensional projection of the unit vector onto the plane perpendicular to the sensor boresight. The RTSF is similar in design to that used by Multimission Modular Spacecraft for onboard attitude determination. An apparent obstacle to the use of unit vectors as measurements is their singular noise covariance matrix. Shuster has shown that this problem should not affect filter performance. The UVF and RTSF are tested using actual flight data from the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE). It is found that these filters generate nearly identical attitude and gyro bias estimates, thus validating the use of unit vectors and the QUEST noise model.

Sedlak, J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Aeropropulsive characteristics of twin single-expansion-ramp vectoring nozzles installed with forward-swept wings and canards

The Langley 16 foot transonic tunnel was used to determine the aeropropulsive characteristics of twin single-expansion-ramp vectoring nozzles installed in a wing-body configuration with forward-swept wings. The configuration was tested with and without fixed canards. The test conditions included free-stream Mach numbers of 0.60, 0.90, and 1.20. The model angle of attack ranged from -2 deg to 14 deg; the nozzle pressure ratio ranged from 1.0 (jet off) to 9.0. The Reynolds number based on the wing mean aerodynamic chord varied from 3.0 x 10 to the 6th power to 4.8 x 10 to the 6th power, depending on Mach number. Aerodynamic characteristics were analyzed to determine the effects of thrust vectoring and the canard effects on the wing-afterbody-nozzle and the wing-afterbody portions of the model. Thrust vectoring had no effect on the angle of attack for the onset of flow separation on the wing but resulted in reduced drag at angle-of-attack values above that required for wing flow separation. The canard was found to have little effect on the thrust-induced lift resulting from vectoring, since canard effects occurred primarily on the wing.

Mason, M. L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Encoding of head acceleration in vestibular neurons. I. Spatiotemporal response properties to linear acceleration

1. Extracellular recordings were made in and around the medial vestibular nuclei in decerebrated rats. Neurons were functionally identified according to their semicircular canal input on the basis of their responses to angular head rotations around the yaw, pitch, and roll head axes. Those cells responding to angular acceleration were classified as either horizontal semicircular canal-related (HC) or vertical semicircular canal-related (VC) neurons. The HC neurons were further characterized as either type I or type II, depending on the direction of rotation producing excitation. Cells that lacked a response to angular head acceleration, but exhibited sensitivity to a change in head position, were classified as purely otolith organ-related (OTO) neurons. All vestibular neurons were then tested for their response to sinusoidal linear translation in the horizontal head plane. 2. Convergence of macular and canal inputs onto central vestibular nuclei neurons occurred in 73% of the type I HC, 79% of the type II HC, and 86% of the VC neurons. Out of the 223 neurons identified as receiving macular input, 94 neurons were further studied, and their spatiotemporal response properties to sinusoidal stimulation with pure linear acceleration were quantified. Data were obtained from 33 type I HC, 22 type II HC, 22 VC, and 17 OTO neurons. 3. For each neuron the angle of the translational stimulus vector was varied by 15, 30, or 45 degrees increments in the horizontal head plane. In all tested neurons, a direction of maximum sensitivity was identified. An interesting difference among neurons was their response to translation along the direction perpendicular to that that produced the maximum response ("null" direction). For the majority of neurons tested, it was possible to evoke a nonzero response during stimulation along the null direction always had response phases that varied as a function of stimulus direction. 4. These spatiotemporal response properties were quantified in two independent ways. First, the data were evaluated on the basis of the traditional one-dimensional principle governed by the "cosine gain rule" and constant response phase at different stimulus orientations. Second, the response gain and phase values that were empirically determined for each orientation of the applied linear stimulus vector were fitted on the basis of a newly developed formalism that treats neuronal responses as exhibiting two-dimensional spatial sensitivity. Thus two response vectors were determined for each neuron on the basis of its response gain and phase at different stimulus directions in the horizontal head plane.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS).

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗