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TRANSEP Calculates flow field about low-speed single-element airfoil at high-angle-of-attack and high-lift conditions with massive boundary-layer separation. TRANSEP includes effects of weak viscous interactions and can be used for subsonic/transonic airfoil design and analysis. The approach used in TRANSEP is based on direct-inverse method and its ability to use either displacement surface or pressure as airfoil boundary condition.
Wind tunnel tests were conducted to determine the low speed, two dimensional aerodynamic characteristics of a 13percent thick medium speed airfoil designed for general aviation applications. The results were compared with data for the 13 percent thick low speed airfoil. The tests were conducted over a Mach number range from 0.10 to 0.32, a chord Reynolds number range from 2.0 x 10 to the 6th power to 12.0 x 10 to the 6th power, and an angle of attack frange from about -8 deg to 10 deg. The objective of retaining good high-lift low speed characteristics for an airfoil designed to have good medium speed cruise performance was achieved.
The Langley aircraft noise reduction laboratory was used to measure mean flow and turbulence in the vicinity of a cusped-trailing edge of two dimensional NACA 631-012 airfoil at zero angle of attack. Naturally transitioned flow and artificially tripped flow were investigated. Flow regions studied include the boundary layer and the near wake. Measurements were made at a free stream Reynolds number based on airfoil chord of 1.25 x 10 to the 6th power and a free stream Mach number of 0.1. Distributions of streamwise mean velocity, integral properties of the mean flow, turbulent intensities, and Reynolds shear stress are reported. For the naturally transitioned flow, the general trends observed are similar to those reported for a fully developed turbulent boundary layer over a flat plate under zero pressure gradient, with the exception of the notable streamwise variations in the turbulence properties for the airfoil flow. The main effect of flow tripping is to eliminate these streamwise variations. Observed changes in the mean flow and turbulence fields caused by tripping are expected on the basis of the Reynolds number based on the boundary layer thickness.
This paper describes two computer-aided design (CAD) programs developed for modeling the shape rolling process for airfoil sections. The first program, SHPROL, uses a modular upper-bound method of analysis and predicts the lateral spread, elongation, and roll torque. The second program, ROLPAS, predicts the stresses, roll separating force, the roll torque and the details of metal flow by simulating the rolling process, using the slab method of analysis. ROLPAS is an interactive program; it offers graphic display capabilities and allows the user to interact with the computer via a keyboard, CRT, and a light pen. The accuracy of the computerized models was evaluated by (a) rolling a selected airfoil shape at room temperature from 1018 steel and isothermally at high temperature from Ti-6Al-4V, and (b) comparing the experimental results with computer predictions. The comparisons indicated that the CAD systems, described here, are useful for practical engineering purposes and can be utilized in roll pass design and analysis for airfoil and similar shapes.
A numerical procedure for optimizing circulation control airfoils, which consists of the coupling of an optimization scheme with a viscous potential flow analysis for blowing jet, is presented. The desired airfoil is defined by a combination of three baseline shapes (cambered ellipse, and cambered ellipse with drooped and spiralled trailing edges). The coefficients of these shapes are used as design variables in the optimization process. Under the constraints of lift augmentation and lift-to-drag ratios, the optimal airfoils are found to lie between those of cambered ellipse and the drooped trailing edge, towards the latter as the angle of attack increases. Results agree qualitatively with available experimental data.
The theory for aerodynamic loading associated with transient motion of an airfoil in a wind tunnel has been extended and verified experimentally. A generalized Theodorsen Function which includes wall effects is described, and finite-state approximations are developed for large wing-semichord to wall-spacing ratios. Finally, experimental results are presented which verify the theoretical predictions for transient airfoil motions. These results were obtained using a small, low-subsonic wind tunnel with a unique airfoil suspension design that provides uncoupled sensing and actuation for two degrees of freedom.
Phenomena that control the flow during the stall portion of a dynamic stall cycle are analyzed, and their effect on blade motion is outlined. Four mechanisms by which dynamic stall may be initiated are identified: (1) bursting of the separation bubble, (2) flow reversal in the turbulent boundary layer on the airfoil upper surface, (3) shock wave-boundary layer interaction behind the airfoil crest, and (4) acoustic wave propagation below the airfoil. The fluid mechanics that contribute to the identified flow phenomena are summarized, and the usefulness of a model that incorporates the required fluid mechanics mechanisms is discussed.
A new algorithm for generating solution-adaptive grids (SAG) about airfoil configurations embedded in transonic flow is presented. The present SAG approach uses only the airfoil surface solution to recluster grid points on the airfoil surface, i.e., the reclustering problem is one dimension smaller than the flow-field calculation problem. Special controls automatically built into the elliptic grid generation procedure are then used to obtain grids with suitable interior behavior. This concept of redistributing grid points greatly simplifies the idea of solution-adaptive grids. Numerical results indicate significant improvements in accuracy for SAG grids relative to standard grids using the same number of points.
The flow behavior within the upper-surface boundary layer and near wake of a supercritical airfoil operating at cruise conditions is discussed. Experimental results obtained from wind-tunnel tests are presented which provide a more detailed description of the flow in these regions than was previously available. Mean streamwise velocity profiles measured by pitot-pressure-probe and laser-velocimeter techniques were found to be in excellent agreement. Other mean-flow properties obtained by the laser-velocimeter technique were the local flow angles in the viscous layers and the static pressures at the edges of the boundary layer and wake. The data set also includes measurements of the turbulence intensity and turbulent Reynolds-stress distributions as obtained by the laser-velocimeter technique. To assess the effects of the shock wave, a less extensive set of measurements was realized at a subcritical test condition. The two test conditions (Mach number at free-stream conditions = 0.72, airfoil section lift coefficient = 0.76 and Mach number of free-stream conditions = 0.5, airfoil section lift coefficient = 0.75) provide a good test for state-of-the-art prediction methods because the upper-surface-boundary layer is separated just upstream of the trailing edge in both cases.
An investigation was conducted in the NACA Lewis icing research tunnel to determine the characteristics and requirements of cyclic deicing of a 65,2-216 airfoil by use of an external electric heater. The present investigation was limited to an airspeed of 175 miles per hour. Data are presented to show the effects of variations in heat-on and heat-off periods, ambient air temperature, liquid-water content, angle of attack, and. heating distribution on the requirements for cyclic deicing. The external heat flow at various icing and heating conditions is also presented. A continuously heated parting strip at the airfoil leading edge was found necessary for quick, complete, and consistent ice removal. The cyclic power requirements were found to be primarily a function of the datum temperature and heat-on time, with the other operating and meteorological variables having a second-order effect. Short heat-on periods and high power densities resulted in the most efficient ice removal, the minimum energy input, and the minimum runback ice formations. The optimum chordwise heating distribution pattern was found to consist of a uniform distribution of cycled power density in the impingement region. Downstream of the impingement region the power density decreased to the limits of heating which, for the conditions investigated, extended from 5.7 percent chord on the upper surface of the airfoil to 8.9 percent chord on the lower surface. Ice removal did not take place at a heater surface temperature of 32 F; surface temperatures of approximately 50 to 100 F were required to effect removal. Better de-icing performance and greater energy savings would be possible with a heater having a higher thermal efficiency.
A theory for three dimensional periodic gusts interacting with loaded airfoils was developed. The unsteady disturbances are linearized with respect to the mean potential flow of the airfoils. The vorticity transport equation is integrated analytically in a Lagrangian form. The vorticity vector shows strong variations in its magnitude and wavelength as it interacts with the flow field of a lifting airfoil. The streamwise component of vorticity increases significantly with flow acceleration and flow turning. The rectangular fan approximation is used and a single Helmholtz equation is derived that characterizes the unsteady three dimensional flow field.
A finite difference method for solving the unsteady transonic flow about harmonically oscillating wings is investigated. The procedure is based on separating the velocity potential into steady and unsteady parts and linearizing the resulting unsteady differential equation for small disturbances. The differential equation for the unsteady velocity potential is linear with spatially varying coefficients and with the time variable eliminated by assuming harmonic motion. A study is presented of the shock motion associated with an oscillating airfoil and its representation by the harmonic procedure. The effects of the shock motion and the resulting pressure pulse are shown to be included in the harmonic pressure distributions and the corresponding generalized forces. Analytical and experimental pressure distributions for the NACA 64A010 airfoil are compared for Mach numbers of 0.75, 0.80 and 0.842. A typical section, two-degree-of-freedom flutter analysis of a NACA 64A010 airfoil is performed. The results show a sharp transonic bucket in one case and abrupt changes in instability modes.
The computation of inviscid supersonic flow over a two-dimensional airfoil is considered. There are two main nonlinear approaches which lead to approximate solutions. Small-amplitude theory gives valid solutions provided the airfoil thickness is not too great and the Mach number is not too high. The second type of approximation, shock expansion theory, employs the fact that even for flows with strong shocks the effect of the down-running characteristics remains small. This leads to an analytic solution at the airfoil. It is pointed out that the approximate solution is accurate enough for many cases of interest. The numerical method furnishes a rapid correction to the solution in those cases where it is not. The characteristic-streamline coordinate system is useful both for the computation of the approximate solution and the corrections, and is also convenient for displaying and interpreting the results.
The augmentor wing consists of a main airfoil with a slotted trailing edge for blowing, and two smaller aft airfoils which shroud the jet. This configuration has been modeled for numerical simulation by a novel discretization procedure which generates four separate grids: three surface-oriented airfoil grids and one outer free-stream grid. Grid lines and slopes are continuous across boundaries, so grid overlap at common boundaries provides boundary information without interpolation. A two-dimensional unsteady thin-layer Navier-Stokes code is used to calculate the flow for the no-blowing case at freestream Mach number = 0.7, Re = 12,600.000, and angles-of-incidence = 1.05 deg. Qualitative agreement with experimental data indicates the utility of this procedure in the analysis of multi-element configurations.
Physical and numerical experiments for the low Reynolds number flow over a two-dimensional NACA 66(3)-018 airfoil have been performed. Pressure distributions and smoke flow photographs have been obtained for a Reynolds number based on airfoil chord and free-stream conditions of approximately 40,000 at angles of attack of 0 and 6 deg, and for a Reynolds number based on airfoil chord and free-stream conditions of approximately 400,000 at angles of attack of 0 and 12 deg in a low turbulence wind tunnel. Finite difference numerical experiments, using an approximate factorization method, have been obtained for a Reynolds number of 40,000 at angles of attack of 0 and 6 deg. Although the comparison of the wind tunnel and computer results is encouraging, further studies of this type are clearly necessary.
The computer code LTRAN2 has been extended to compute unsteady transonic flows about oscillating airfoils with supersonic freestreams. The LTRAN2 code uses an alternating direction implicit (ADI) algorithm to solve the two-dimensional, nonlinear, low-frequency, transonic small-disturbance (LF-TSD) equation. The modified code, LTRAN2-SS, includes a 'high-frequency' option. Steady solutions are checked against those computed by the steady TSD code, TSFOIL; unsteady computations of the linear LF-TSD equation are compared with known linear theory solutions; and new unsteady nonlinear solutions are presented. These cases include standard AGARD test cases for the NLR 7301, MBB-A3, and DO Al supercritical airfoils, as well as several NACA airfoils. The modified code enables aerodynamicists to quickly and efficiently compute transonic flows for both subsonic and supersonic freestreams, and thus resolve flutter boundaries through the full extent of the transonic dip phenomenon.
Program uses fast iteration scheme for solving transonic flow field around arbitrary airfoils. Transonic Airfoil Analysis Computer Code, TAIR, employs fast, fully implicit algorithm to solve conservative full-potiential equation for steady transonic flow field about arbitrary airfoil immersed in subsonic free stream. TAIR written in FORTRAN IV.
Experimentally derived force and moment data are presented for eight airfoil sections that were tested at fixed and varying incidence in a subsonic two dimensional stream. Airfoil incidence was varied through sinusoidal oscillations in pitch over a wide range of amplitude and frequency. The surface pressure distribution, as well as the lift, drag, and pitching moment derived therefrom, are displayed in a uniform fashion to delineate the static and dynamic characteristics of each airfoil both in and out of stall.