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At least 631 records · Page 35

Forebody vortex control for suppressing wing rock on a highly-swept wing configuration

Free-to-roll tests were conducted in a wind tunnel with a configuration that consisted of a highly-slender forebody and a 78 deg swept delta wing. A limit cycle oscillation was observed for angles of attack between 22 and 30 deg. In general, the main flow phenomena responsible for the wing-body-tail wing rock are the interactions between the forebody and the wing vortices. Various blowing techniques were evaluated as means of wing rock suppression. Blowing tangentially aft from leeward side nozzles near the forebody tip can damp the roll motion at low blowing rates and stop it completely at higher blowing rates. At the high rates, significant vortex asymmetries are created, causing the model to stop at a non-zero roll angle. Forward blowing and alternating right/left pulsed blowing appear to be more efficient techniques for suppressing wing rock. The oscillations can be damped almost completely at lower blowing coefficients, and, apparently, no major vortex asymmetries are induced. Good agreement is observed between this study and previous water tunnel tests on the same configuration.

Suarez, Carlos J.↗

Estimation of leading-edge thrust for supersonic wings of arbitrary planform

A numerical method for the estimation of leading edge thrust for supersonic wings of arbitrary planform was developed and was programmed as an extension to an existing high speed digital computer method for prediction of wing pressure distributions. The accuracy of the method was assessed by comparison with linearized theory results for a series of flat delta wings. Application of the method to wings of arbitrary planform, both flat and cambered, is illustrated in several examples.

Carlson, H. W.↗

Plans for in-flight measurement of hypersonic crossflow transition on the Pegasus launch vehicle

A flight measurements program is underway to obtain flight data for validating stability theory-based transition estimation techniques for crossflow-induced boundary-layer transition at Mach 6-8. A smooth wing glove, designed to enhance crossflow transition and suppress Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) instabilities, will be mounted on the delta wing of the first stage of the Pegasus booster. The instrumentation package will include 'intelligent' software capable of yielding space and time-correlations obtained through extensive use of fast Fourier transforms (FFTs), 'windowing' and multistage compression as well as a variety of techniques for quality assurance. The flight experiment covers a Mach number range (6 to 8) where low background disturbance data cannot currently be obtained in ground facilities. These flight results will support transition estimation code development for application to supersonic laminar flow control (LFC) and National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) class vehicles in areas where crossflow, rather than T-S waves, is the dominant instability mode.

Bertelrud, Arild↗

Exploratory Wind-Tunnel Investigation to Determine the Lift Effects of Blowing over Flaps from Nacelles Mounted Above the Wing

An exploratory wind-tunnel investigation has been made to determine the lift effects of blowing from nacelles over the upper surface of flaps on a model having a delta wing of aspect ratio 3. Several flap conditions were examined. High-pressure air was blown from an external-pipe arrangement supported above the wing to simulate jet-engine exhaust. The jet momentum- coefficient range was from 0 to 3.0 and the model angle of attack was 0 deg. The results of this limited investigation show that values of jet circulation lift coefficient larger than the Jet reaction were produced with blowing over flaps from nacelles mounted above the wing. 'I!heuse of double slotted flaps with the gap unsealed between the flaps and wing had a large detrimental effect on the lift capabilities. With these gaps sealed, larger lift coefficients were obtained when fantails were added to the nacelles. The longitudinal trim problems created by large diving moments were similar to those encountered with other jet-augmented-flap systems

Riebe, John M↗

Performance of a circular body earth-to-orbit winged transport with various strap-on boosters

Various types of twin strap-on boosters were evaluated by applying them to a core vehicle. The core vehicle has a clipped delta wing and a simple circular body, and is equipped with five Space Shuttle main engines. The only propellants in the core vehicle are liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The strap-on boosters investigated include the current Shuttle solid rocket motors with steel cases and advanced solids with graphite composite filament-wound cases. Also, two types of liquid-oxygen/hydrocarbon boosters were investigated - one pair without crossfeed to the core vehicle and one with. The payloads obtained were tabulated for various assumptions, such as power levels on the core vehicle engines, number of engines, and maximum allowable flight dynamic pressures. The payload for the core vehicle with two filament-wound Shuttle solid rocket strap-on boosters was 83,000 lb and the payload for two liquid strap-ons with crossfeed was 84,000 lb. The core vehicle with Shuttle solid rocket strap-on boosters is regarded as a near term technology system.

Macconochie, Ian O.↗

Reduction of wing rock amplitudes using leading-edge vortex manipulations

A mechanically operated leading edge flap system was used to perturb leading edge vortex position on a free-to-roll double-delta wing. The motion of the flaps was synchronized with the wing rolling oscillations and the effect of the phase shift between the oscillations of the wing and the flaps was investigated. Experimental results indicated that this simple approach was effective in reducing the amplitude of the unintended rolling motion and its implementation to actual airplane configurations is rather simple.

Walton, James↗

Calculations of separated vortex flows at low speed for low-aspect-ratio wings

An implicit finite-difference scheme has been developed for solving three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Computations for complicated vortical flows past several sharp- and round-edged delta and double-delta wings at high angles of attack and sideslip are discussed. Computed results demonstrate the effectiveness of the present method and show good agreement with experimental data.

Liu, C. H.↗

Aerodynamic control of NASP-type vehicles through vortex manipulation. Volume 3: Wing rock experiments

Free-to-roll tests were conducted in water and wind tunnels in an effort to investigate the mechanisms of wing rock on a NASP-type vehicle. The configuration tested consisted of a highly-slender forebody and a 78 deg swept delta wing. In the water tunnel test, extensive flow visualization was performed and roll angle histories were obtained. In the wind tunnel test, the roll angle, forces and moments, and limited forebody and wing surface pressures were measured during the wing rock motion. A limit cycle oscillation was observed for angles of attack between 22 deg and 30 deg. In general, the experiments confirmed that the main flow phenomena responsible for the wing-body-tail wing rock are the interactions between the forebody and the wing vortices. The variation of roll acceleration (determined from the second derivative of the roll angle time history) with roll angle clearly slowed the energy balance necessary to sustain the limit cycle oscillation. Different means of suppressing wing rock by controlling the forebody vortices using small blowing jets were also explored. Steady blowing was found to be capable of suppressing wing rock, but significant vortex asymmetrices are created, causing the model to stop at a non-zero roll angle. On the other hand, alternating pulsed blowing on the left and right sides of the fore body was demonstrated to be a potentially effective means of suppressing wing rock and eliminating large asymmetric moments at high angles of attack.

Suarez, Carlos J.↗

Leading-edge 'Vortex Flaps' for enhanced subsonic aerodynamics of slender wings

The 'Vortex Flap' is a novel concept aimed at reducing the lift-dependent drag due to leading-edge flow separation on highly swept, slender wings at high angles of attack. The suction effect of coiled vortices generated via controlled separation over leading-edge flap surfaces is utilized to produce an aerodynamic thrust component. This principle was verified through wind-tunnel experiments on 74-deg and 60-deg delta wings and a supersonic-cruise slender wing aircraft configuration. Adaptation of the vortex-flap for augmentation of roll-control on the 74-deg delta at high angles of attack also was demonstrated. Selected results are presented in this paper to indicate the potential of the vortex flap concept to enhance the low-speed performance, stability and control of slender wing aircraft.

Rao, D. M.↗

Grid generation and inviscid flow computation about cranked-winged airplane geometries

An algebraic grid generation procedure that defines a patched multiple-block grid system suitable for fighter-type aircraft geometries with fuselage and engine inlet, canard or horizontal tail, cranked delta wing and vertical fin has been developed. The grid generation is based on transfinite interpolation and requires little computational power. A finite-volume Euler solver using explicit Runge-Kutta time-stepping has been adapted to this grid system and implemented on the VPS-32 vector processor with a high degree of vectorization. Grids are presented for an experimental aircraft with fuselage, canard, 70-20-cranked wing, and vertical fin. Computed inviscid compressible flow solutions are presented for Mach 2 at 3.79, 7 and 10 deg angles of attack. Conmparisons of the 3.79 deg computed solutions are made with available full-potential flow and Euler flow solutions on the same configuration but with another grid system. The occurrence of an unsteady solution in the 10 deg angle of attack case is discussed.

Eriksson, L.-E.↗

Segmented vortex flaps

Segmented vortex flaps were suggested as a means of delaying the vortex spill-over causing thrust loss over the outboard region of single-panel flaps. Also proposed was hinge-line setback for exploiting leading-edge suction in conjunction with vortex flaps to improve the overall thrust per unit flap area. These two concepts in combination were tested on a 60-deg cropped delta wing model. Significant improvement in flap efficiency was indicated by a reduction of the flap/wing area from 11.4% of single-panel flap to 6.3% of a two segment delta flap design, with no lift/drag penalty at lift coefficients between 0.5 and 0.7. The more efficient vortex flap arrangement of this study should benefit the performance attainable with flaps of given area on wings of moderate leading-edge sweep.

Rao, D. M.↗

Measurements of the unsteady vortex flow over a wing-body at angle of attack

Measurements of the unsteady vortex flow over a wing-body at high angles of attack were carried out on a generic test model of a pointed body of revolution with double-delta wings. Vortex patterns and trajectories were quantified from digitized laser sheet video images. The velocity-field measurements showed the jetlike flow in the unburst vortex, unsteady secondary structures below the primary core, and then the reversed flow in the burst vortex. Results of hot-film anemometry revealed the presence of peak frequencies in the velocity spectra over the wing and near the trailing edge, which varied linearly with freestream speed and increased as the measurement point moved upstream. Good Strouhal correlation was found with previous results obtained for a smaller generic wing-body model.

Debry, Benoit↗

Wing rock suppression using forebody vortex control

Static and free-to-roll tests were conducted in a water tunnel with a configuration that consisted of a highly-slender forebody and 78-deg sweep delta wings. Flow visualization was performed and the roll angle histories were obtained. The fluid mechanisms governing the wing rock of this configuration were identified. Different means of suppressing wing rock by controlling the forebody vortices using small blowing jets were also explored. Steady blowing was found to be capable of suppressing wing rock, but significant vortex asymmetries had to be induced at the same time. On the other hand, alternating pulsed blowing on the left and right sides of the forebody was demonstrated to be potentially an effective means of suppressing wing rock and eliminating large asymmetric moments at high angles of attack.

Ng, T. T.↗

Algorithm and code development for unsteady three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations

A streamwise upwind algorithm for solving the unsteady 3-D Navier-Stokes equations was extended to handle the moving grid system. It is noted that the finite volume concept is essential to extend the algorithm. The resulting algorithm is conservative for any motion of the coordinate system. Two extensions to an implicit method were considered and the implicit extension that makes the algorithm computationally efficient is implemented into Ames's aeroelasticity code, ENSAERO. The new flow solver has been validated through the solution of test problems. Test cases include three-dimensional problems with fixed and moving grids. The first test case shown is an unsteady viscous flow over an F-5 wing, while the second test considers the motion of the leading edge vortex as well as the motion of the shock wave for a clipped delta wing. The resulting algorithm has been implemented into ENSAERO. The upwind version leads to higher accuracy in both steady and unsteady computations than the previously used central-difference method does, while the increase in the computational time is small.

Obayashi, Shigeru↗

Wind Tunnel Investigation of the Effects of Surface Porosity and Vertical Tail Placement on Slender Wing Vortex Flow Aerodynamics at Supersonic Speeds

A wind tunnel experiment was conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel (UPWT) to determine the effects of passive surface porosity and vertical tail placement on vortex flow development and interactions about a general research fighter configuration at supersonic speeds. Optical flow measurement and flow visualization techniques were used that featured pressure sensitive paint (PSP), laser vapor screen (LVS), and schlieren, These techniques were combined with conventional electronically-scanned pressure (ESP) and six-component force and moment measurements to quantify and to visualize the effects of flow-through porosity applied to a wing leading edge extension (LEX) and the placement of centerline and twin vertical tails on the vortex-dominated flow field of a 65 cropped delta wing model. Test results were obtained at free-stream Mach numbers of 1.6, 1.8, and 2.1 and a Reynolds number per foot of 2.0 million. LEX porosity promoted a wing vortex-dominated flow field as a result of a diffusion and weakening of the LEX vortex. The redistribution of the vortex-induced suction pressures contributed to large nose-down pitching moment increments but did not significantly affect the vortex-induced lift. The trends associated with LEX porosity were unaffected by vertical tail placement. The centerline tail configuration generally provided more stable rolling moments and yawing moments compared to the twin wing-mounted vertical tails. The strength of a complex system of shock waves between the twin tails was reduced by LEX porosity.

Erickson, Gary E.↗

Prediction and control of slender-wing rock

The unsteady Euler equations and the Euler equations of rigid-body dynamics, both written in the moving frame of reference, are sequentially solved to simulate the limit-cycle rock motion of slender delta wings. The governing equations of the fluid flow and the dynamics of the present multidisciplinary problem are solved using an implicit, approximately-factored, central-difference-like, finite-volume scheme and a four-stage Runge-Kutta scheme, respectively. For the control of wing-rock motion, leading-edge flaps are forced to oscillate anti-symmetrically at prescribed frequency and amplitude, which are tuned in order to suppress the rock motion. Since the computational grid deforms due to the leading-edge flaps motion, the grid is dynamically deformed using the Navier-displacement equations. Computational applications cover locally-conical and three-dimensional solutions for the wing-rock simulation and its control.

Kandil, Osama A.↗

Influence of wing geometry on leading-edge vortices and vortex-induced aerodynamics at supersonic speeds

An assessment of the influence of wing geometry on wing leading-edge vortex flows at supersonic speeds is discussed as well as the applicability of various aerodynamic codes for predicting these results. A series of delta-wing wind-tunnel models were tested in the NASA Langley Research Center Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel over a Mach number range from 1.6 to 4.6. The data show that wing airfoil has a significant impact on the localized loading on the wing. The experimental data for the flat wings were compared with results from full-potential, Euler, and Parabolized Navier-Stokes (PNS) computer codes. The theoretical evaluation showed that the full-potential analysis predicted accurate results for the attached-flow (alpha = 0 deg) conditions and that the Euler and PNS analyses made reasonable predictions for both attached and separated flow conditions.

Wood, Richard M.↗

Wind Tunnel Investigation of Passive Vortex Control and Vortex-Tail Interactions on a Slender Wing at Subsonic and Transonic Speeds

A wind tunnel experiment was conducted in the NASA Langley 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel to determine the effects of passive porosity on vortex flow interactions about a slender wing configuration at subsonic and transonic speeds. Flow-through porosity was applied in several arrangements to a leading-edge extension, or LEX, mounted to a 65-degree cropped delta wing as a longitudinal instability mitigation technique. Test data were obtained with LEX on and off in the presence of a centerline vertical tail and twin, wing-mounted vertical fins to quantify the sensitivity of the aerodynamics to tail placement and orientation. A close-coupled canard was tested as an alternative to the LEX as a passive flow control device. Wing upper surface static pressure distributions and six-component forces and moments were obtained at Mach numbers of 0.50, 0.85, and 1.20, unit Reynolds number of 2.5 million, angles of attack up to approximately 30 degrees, and angles of sideslip to +/-8 degrees. The off-surface flow field was visualized in cross planes on selected configurations using a laser vapor screen flow visualization technique. Tunnel-to-tunnel data comparisons and a Reynolds number sensitivity assessment were also performed. 15.

Erickson, Gary E.↗