Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “conical shocks”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5

Experimental studies of hypersonic shock-wave boundary-layer interactions

Two classes of shock-wave boundary-layer interactions were studied experimentally in a shock tunnel in which a low Reynolds number, turbulent flow at Mach 8 was developed on a cold, flat test surface. The two classes of interactions were: (1) a swept interaction generated by a wedge ('fin') mounted perpendicularly on the flat plate; and (2) a two-dimensional, unseparated interaction induced by a shock impinging near an expansion corner. The swept interaction, with wedge angles of 5-20 degrees, was separated and there was also indication that the strongest interactions prossessed secondary separation zones. The interaction spread out extensively from the inviscid shock location although no indication of quasi-conical symmetry was evident. The surface pressure from the upstream influence to the inviscid shock was relatively low compared to the inviscid downstream value but it rose rapidly past the inviscid shock location. However, the surface pressure did not reach the downstream inviscid value and reasons were proposed for this anomalous behavior compared to strongly separated, supersonic interactions. The second class of interactions involved weak shocks impinging near small expansion corners. As a prelude to studying this interaction, a hypersonic similarity parameter was identified for the pure, expansion corner flow. The expansion corner severely damped out surface pressure fluctuations. When a shock impinged upstream of the corner, no significant changes to the surface pressure were found as compared to the case when the shock impinged on a flat plate. But, when the shock impinged downstream of the corner, a close coupling existed between the two wave systems, unlike the supersonic case. This close coupling modified the upstream influence. Regardless of whether the shock impinged ahead or behind the corner, the downstream region was affected by the close coupling between the shock and the expansion. Not only was the mean pressure distribution modified but the unsteadiness in the surface pressure was reduced compared to the flat-plate case.

Lu, Frank K.↗

The Three-Dimensional Bow Shock of Mars as Observed by MAVEN

The Martian magnetosphere is a product of the interaction of Mars with the interplanetary magnetic field and the supersonic solar wind. The location of the bow shock has been previously modeled as conic sections using data from spacecraft such as Phobos 2, Mars Global Surveyor, and Mars Express. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission spacecraft arrived in orbit about Mars in November 2014 resulting in thousands of crossings to date. We identify over 1,000 bow shock crossings. We model the bow shock as a three-dimensional surface accommodating asymmetry caused by crustal magnetic fields. By separating MAVEN's bow shock encounters based on solar condition, we also investigate the variability of the surface. We find that the shock surface varies in shape and location in response to changes in the solar radiation, the solar wind Mach number, dynamic pressure of the solar wind, and the relative local time location of the strong crustal magnetic fields (i.e., whether they are on the dayside or on the nightside).

Supersonic↗

Aerodynamic heating in the vicinity of hypersonic, axisymmetric, shock-wave boundary-layer interactions

Aerodynamic heating rates are calculated from time-dependent temperature measurements in the vicinity of shock-wave boundary-layer interactions due to conical compression ramps on an axisymmetric body. The data were acquired at the Ohio State University Aeronautical and Astronautical Research Laboratory and at the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory at Mach numbers of 6 and 10. The model is a cylindrical body with a 10 deg conical nose. Conical ramps with half-angles of 10, 20, 25, 30, and 35 deg serve as shock-wave generators. Flowfield surveys are made in the vicinity of the ramp vertices, separation points, and reattachment points. Experimental results quantify temperature response and the resulting heat transfer rates as a function of ramp angle, Reynolds number and freestream Mach number. The temperature responses within the flowfield appear to be steady-state for all angles and all Reynolds numbers, and hence, the heat transfer rates appear to be steady-state.

Flanagan, M. J., Jr.↗

Heavy, overpressured jets and the radio source Hercules A

The flow of jets with pressure and density initially much greater than the medium into which they are injected is investigated. Analytic expressions which describe the cocoon formation and recollimation processes are developed. Under the assumption that the rings seen in high-resolution images of Hercules A are shocks, the western lobe of this source is modeled as a heavy overpressured flow where, about 20 arcsec from the nucleus, the jet suddenly becomes much greater in pressure than the surrounding medium and freely expands. It is argued that jet models which are supersonic with respect to both the internal and external speeds are applicable, and it is found that, in spite of the prominent ring structure in Her A, the flow must be dominated by a smooth conical jet. The Mach disk, bow shock, and the plug in the radio map of the western lobe are tentatively identified as the two outer arcs of emission and the space between them, respectively.

Meier, David L.↗

Numerical solution for the inviscid supersonic flow in the corner formed by two intersecting wedges.

The inviscid, interference corner flow generated by two intersecting wedges immersed in a supersonic stream is obtained by use of a second-order, shock-capturing, finite-difference approach. The governing equations are solved iteratively in conical coordinates to yield the flow structure consisting of multiple shock and slip surfaces. The numerical results for shock wave and slip surface position and structure, pitot pressure traverses, and surface pressure distributions are compared with experimental data obtained over a wide range of Reynolds numbers. The comparisons show the best agreement with the high Reynolds number (greater than 3,000,000) results for which the boundary layer is turbulent.

Kutler, P.↗

Quasiconical free interaction between a swept shock and a turbulent boundary layer

Previous observations that fin-generated interactions are quasi-conical in nature were further confirmed by surface pressure measurements spanning Mach 2.5-3.5, which encompassed unseparated through strongly separated interactions. For strongly separated interactions in which the shock wave is bifurcated into a lambda-foot structure, the conical free interaction hypothesis was validated through an appropriate scaling of the far-field surface pressure distribution. The behavior of the lambda-foot structure, such as the decrease of the slope of the separation shock with interaction strength, was explained by invoking the conical free interaction hypothesis. Through the conical free interaction hypothesis, it was further shown that the triple-shock intersection behaves in a complicated manner with changes in interaction strength.

Lu, Frank K.↗

The NCOREL computer program for 3D nonlinear supersonic potential flow computations

An innovative computational technique (NCOREL) was established for the treatment of three dimensional supersonic flows. The method is nonlinear in that it solves the nonconservative finite difference analog of the full potential equation and can predict the formation of supercritical cross flow regions, embedded and bow shocks. The method implicitly computes a conical flow at the apex (R = 0) of a spherical coordinate system and uses a fully implicit marching technique to obtain three dimensional cross flow solutions. This implies that the radial Mach number must remain supersonic. The cross flow solutions are obtained by using type dependent transonic relaxation techniques with the type dependency linked to the character of the cross flow velocity (i.e., subsonic/supersonic). The spherical coordinate system and marching on spherical surfaces is ideally suited to the computation of wing flows at low supersonic Mach numbers due to the elimination of the subsonic axial Mach number problems that exist in other marching codes that utilize Cartesian transverse marching planes.

Siclari, M. J.↗

Inward-Turning Streamline-Traced Inlet Design Method for Low-Boom, Low-Drag Applications

A new design method for inward-turning, streamline-traced inlets is presented. Resulting designs are intended for moderate supersonic, low-drag, low-boom applications such as that required for NASA's proposed low-boom flight demonstration aircraft. A critical feature of these designs is the internal cowl lip angle that allows for little or no flow turning on the outer nacelle. Present methods using conical-flow Busemann parent flowfields have simply truncated, or otherwise modified the stream-traced contours to include this internal cowl angle. Such modifications disrupt the parent flowfield, reducing inlet performance and flow uniformity. The method presented herein merges a conical flowfield that includes a leading shock with a truncated Busemann flowfield in a manner that minimizes unwanted interactions. A leading internal cowl angle is now inherent in the parent flowfield, and inlet contours traced from this flowfield retain its high performance and good flow uniformity. CFD analysis of a candidate inlet design is presented that verifies the design technique, and reveals a starting issue with the basic geometry. A minor modification to the cowl lip region is shown to eliminate this phenomenon, thereby allowing starting and smooth transition to sub-critical operation as back-pressure is increased. An inlet critical-point total pressure recovery of 96 is achieved based on CFD results for a Mach 1.7 freestream design. Correction for boundary-layer displacement thickness, and sizing for a given engine airflow requirement are also discussed.

low sonic boom↗

Aeroacoustics of contoured and solid/porous conical plug-nozzle supersonic jet flows

The acoustic far field, the shock-associated noise and characteristics of the repetitive shock structure of supersonic jet flows issuing from a contoured plug-nozzle and uncontoured plug-nozzle having a short conical plug of either a solid or a combination of solid/porous surface with pointed termination operated at a range of supercritical pressure are reported. The contoured and the uncontoured plug-nozzles had the same throat area and the same annular-radius ratio.

Dosanjh, D. S.↗

Remotely-Controlled Docking System

Spring-loaded drogue cones tolerate and correct misalinement. Attachment Mechanism equipped with spring-loaded latches, shock-absorbing springs, and self-alining conical mating surfaces. Docking system includes three attachment mechanisms plus television camera that views set of crosshairs for alinement of vehicle and payload. Originally developed for Space Shuttle, mechanism adapted for robot manipulator arms, trailer hitches, and docking devices for in-flight refueling of airplanes.

Chandler, J. A.↗

Internal and external axial corner flows

The inviscid, internal, and external axial corner flows generated by two intersecting wedges traveling supersonically are obtained by use of a second-order shock-capturing, finite-difference approach. The governing equations are solved iteratively in conical coordinates to yield the complicated wave structure of the internal corner and the simple peripheral shock of the external corner. The numerical results for the internal flows compare favorably with existing experimental data.

Kutler, P.↗

The Venus ionosphere as an obstacle to the solar wind

Pioneer Venus Orbiter Electron Temperature Probe measurements of hundreds of bow shock and ionopause crossings are employed in describing the configuration of these two boundaries and their variations in response to changes in solar wind pressure. The average bow shock configuration is found to be well represented by an Archimedian hyperboloid whose altitude at the subsolar point is 0.46 Venus radii, a value slightly greater than that derived from Pioneer Venus magnetometer data using a fit to a general conic section. It is noted that the average bow shock configuration exhibits a high degree of azimuthal symmetry near the terminator. The orbit to orbit variability of the shock location is unexpectedly large, the standard deviation being about 10%. A tendency is noted for the bow shock and the ionopause to expand and contract simultaneously, but the weakness of their orbit by orbit correlation suggests that the ionopause of Venus is not the only obstacle to the solar wind. It is thought that such processes as photoion pickup and charge exchange with neutrals may be important in diverting the solar wind plasma around the planet.

Theis, R. F.↗

Acoustic and aerodynamic performance investigation of inverted velocity profile coannular plug nozzles

The results of model scale parametric static and wind tunnel aerodynamic performance tests on unsuppressed coannular plug nozzle configurations with inverted velocity profile are discussed. The nozzle configurations are high-radius-ratio coannular plug nozzles applicable to dual-stream exhaust systems typical of a variable cycle engine for Advanced Supersonic Transport application. In all, seven acoustic models and eight aerodynamic performance models were tested. The nozzle geometric variables included outer stream radius ratio, inner stream to outer stream ratio, and inner stream plug shape. When compared to a conical nozzle at the same specific thrust, the results of the static acoustic tests with the coannular nozzles showed noise reductions of up to 7 PNdB. Extensive data analysis showed that the overall acoustic results can be well correlated using the mixed stream velocity and the mixed stream density. Results also showed that suppression levels are geometry and flow regulation dependent with the outer stream radius ratio, inner stream-to-outer stream velocity ratio and inner stream velocity ratio and inner stream plug shape, as the primary suppression parameters. In addition, high-radius ratio coannular plug nozzles were found to yield shock associated noise level reductions relative to a conical nozzle. The wind tunnel aerodynamic tests showed that static and simulated flight thrust coefficient at typical takeoff conditions are quite good - up to 0.98 at static conditions and 0.974 at a takeoff Mach number of 0.36. At low inner stream flow conditions significant thrust loss was observed. Using an inner stream conical plug resulted in 1% to 2% higher performance levels than nozzle geometries using a bent inner plug.

Knott, P. R.↗

Surface-flow, pressure, and heat-transfer studies on two conical delta wings at a Mach number of 6

An experimental investigation of the surface flow, pressures, and heat transfer on two conical delta wings having attached leading-edge shocks has been conducted at a Mach number of 6. The angle of attack was varied between 0 deg and 12 deg. The pressure data were compared with predictions obtained by the method-of-lines technique, and the heating data were compared with the heating levels predicted by the Spalding-Chi method.

Hefner, J. N.↗

VCE early acoustic test results of General Electric's high-radius ratio coannular plug nozzle

Results of variable cycle engine (VCE) early acoustic engine and model scale tests are presented. A summary of an extensive series of far field acoustic, advanced acoustic, and exhaust plume velocity measurements with a laser velocimeter of inverted velocity and temperature profile, high radius ratio coannular plug nozzles on a YJ101 VCE static engine test vehicle are reviewed. Select model scale simulated flight acoustic measurements for an unsuppressed and a mechanical suppressed coannular plug nozzle are also discussed. The engine acoustic nozzle tests verify previous model scale noise reduction measurements. The engine measurements show 4 to 6 PNdB aft quadrant jet noise reduction and up to 7 PNdB forward quadrant shock noise reduction relative to a fully mixed conical nozzle at the same specific thrust and mixed pressure ratio. The influences of outer nozzle radius ratio, inner stream velocity ratio, and area ratio are discussed. Also, laser velocimeter measurements of mean velocity and turbulent velocity of the YJ101 engine are illustrated. Select model scale static and simulated flight acoustic measurements are shown which corroborate that coannular suppression is maintained in forward speed.

Knott, P. R.↗

Measurements of Mean Static Pressure and Far Field Acoustics of Shock Containing Supersonic Jets

The far field acoustic data base generated in studies of broadband shock noise from supersonic jets is presented. Both conical and contoured nozzles of exit Mach numbers 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 were tested using unheated air at pressure ratios ranging from 1.9 to 14. Tests were performed both with and without screech suppression tabs. Overall sound pressure variations and representative 1/3-octave and narrowband spectra are presented. The mean static pressure measured within these jets is also surveyed.

Norum, T. D.↗

High-Order Polynomial Expansions (HOPE) for flux-vector splitting

The Van Leer flux splitting is known to produce excessive numerical dissipation for Navier-Stokes calculations. Researchers attempt to remedy this deficiency by introducing a higher order polynomial expansion (HOPE) for the mass flux. In addition to Van Leer's splitting, a term is introduced so that the mass diffusion error vanishes at M equals 0. Several splittings for pressure are proposed and examined. The effectiveness of the HOPE scheme is illustrated for 1-D hypersonic conical viscous flow and 2-D supersonic shock-wave boundary layer interactions. Also, the authors give the weakness of the scheme and suggest areas for further investigation.

Liou, Meng-Sing↗

High-Order Polynomial Expansions (HOPE) for flux-vector splitting

The Van Leer flux splitting is known to produce excessive numerical dissipation for Navier-Stokes calculations. Researchers attempt to remedy this deficiency by introducing a higher order polynomial expansion (HOPE) for the mass flux. In addition to Van Leer's splitting, a term is introduced so that the mass diffusion error vanishes at M = 0. Several splittings for pressure are proposed and examined. The effectiveness of the HOPE scheme is illustrated for 1-D hypersonic conical viscous flow and 2-D supersonic shock-wave boundary layer interactions.

Liou, Meng-Sing↗