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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 1,027 records · Page 57
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

Higher order derivative correlations of velocity and temperature in isotropic and sheared numerical turbulence

Through a combination of small scale statistics and flow visualization it is shown that the small scales of a numerically generated turbulent flow are strongly aligned around vortex tubes. Movies of the time developing flow will be used to illustrate the nature of these structures. An inertial subrange is found with a Kolmogorov constant, alpha, equal to 2.45. This is consistent with simulated and measured values for the skewness, but disagrees with experimental values for the Kolmogorov constant, which usually range between 1.4 to 1.7.

Kerr, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Numerical Simulations of Wing-Body Junction Flows

The goal of the research project is to contribute to the optimized design of fan bypass systems in advanced turbofan engines such as the Advanced Ducted Propulsors (ADP). The immediate objective is to perform numerical simulation of duct-strut interactions to elucidate the loss mechanisms associated with this configuration that is characteristic of ADP. These numerical simulations would complement an experimental study being undertaken at Purdue University. As the first step in the process, a numerical study of wing-body junction flow is being undertaken as it shares a number of characteristics with the duct-strut interaction flow. The presence of the characteristic horseshoe vortex and the associated secondary flow are the salient features that contribute to making this flow a challenge to predict numerically. The simulations will be performed with the NPARC code on the CRAY Y-MP platform at LeRC. The grids for the simulation have been generated using an algebraic mapping technique with a multisurface algorithm.

Krishnamurthy, R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Forebody vortex management for yaw control at high angles of attack

The yaw-control potential of deployable forebody strakes at angles of attack above the range of conventional rudder effectiveness has been investigated. The conformally-stored strakes when deployed force asymmetrical vortex shedding from the forebody, thereby generating a controlled yawing moment. The concept was explored through low-speed wind tunnel tests on a conical forebody in isolation and in a generic fighter configuration. Force and moment measurements on the complete model were supplemented with circumferential pressure and flow-visualization surveys on an isolated forebody, in order to gain insight into the vortex flow mechanisms resulting from forced asymmetrical separations and to quantify the obtainable yaw power at angles of attack to 80 deg. This preliminary, low-Reynolds-number study showed asymmetrically-deployed forebody strakes to have considerable yaw control potential, whose sensitivity to scale effects needs further investigation.

Rao, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Numerical simulation of vortex breakdown by the vortex-filament method

The vortex filament method was applied to the simulation of vortex breakdown. The principal vortex region was represented by multiple filaments, and an axial velocity component was induced by a spiral winding of the filaments. First, an accuracy check was performed for a cylindrical swirling flow with simple analytical expressions for the axial and theta velocities. The result suggests that the flow field is simulated to any accuracy by increasing the number of filaments. Second, an axisymmetric type vortex breakdown was simulated, with experimental data serving as upstream conditions. The calculated axial and theta velocity contours show the breakdown of the vortex, including a rapid change in the vortex core, followed axially by a recovery zone and then a second breakdown. When three dimensional initial data are used the second breakdown appears to be of the spiral type in correspondence with experimental observations. The present method is easily used to simulate other types of vortex breakdown or other vortex flows with axial velocity.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Navier-Stokes Simulation of UH-60A Rotor/Wake Interaction Using Adaptive Mesh Refinement

Time-dependent Navier-Stokes simulations have been carried out for a flexible UH-60A rotor in forward flight, where the rotor wake interacts with the rotor blades. These flow conditions involved blade vortex interaction and dynamic stall, two common conditions that occur as modern helicopter designs strive to achieve greater flight speeds and payload capacity. These numerical simulations utilized high-order spatial accuracy and delayed detached eddy simulation. Emphasis was placed on understanding how improved rotor wake resolution affects the prediction of the normal force, pitching moment, and chord force of the rotor. Adaptive mesh refinement was used to highly resolve the turbulent rotor wake in a computationally efficient manner. Moreover, blade vortex interaction was found to trigger dynamic stall. Time-dependent flow visualization was utilized to provide an improved understanding of the numerical and physical mechanisms involved with three-dimensional dynamic stall.

UH-60A RotorWake↗
NASA NTRS1994

Flow quality studies of the NASA Lewis Research Center Icing Research Tunnel diffuser

The purpose was to document the airflow characteristics in the diffuser of the NASA Lewis Research Center Icing Research Tunnel and to determine the effects of vortex generators on the flow quality in the diffuser. The results were used to determine how to improve the flow in this portion of the tunnel so that it can be more effectively used as an icing test section and such that overall tunnel efficiency can be improved. The demand for tunnel test time and the desire to test models that are too large for the test section were two of the drivers behind this diffuser study. For all vortex generator configurations tested, the flow quality was improved.

Arrington, E. Allen↗
NASA NTRS1983

Numerical simulation of vortex breakdown by the vortex-filament method

The vortex-filament method was applied to the simulation of vortex breakdown. The principal vortex region was represented by multiple filaments, and an axial velocity component was induced by a spiral winding of the filaments. An accuracy check was performed for a cylindrical swirling flow with simple analytical expressions for the axial and theta velocities. The result suggests that the flow field can be simulated to any accuracy by increasing the number of filaments. An axisymmetric-type vortex breakdown was simulated, with experimental data serving as upstream conditions. The calculated axial- and theta-velocity contours show the breakdown of the vortex, including a rapid change in the vortex core, followed axially by a recovery zone and then a second breakdown. When three dimensional initial data are used the second breakdown appears to be of the spiral type in correspondence with experimental observations. The present method can easily be used to simulate other types of vortex breakdown or other vortex flows with axial velocity.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Unsteady interaction of a rotor with a vortex

The unsteady, three-dimensional flow field of a helicopter rotor blade encountering a passing vortex is calculated by solving the Euler/thin layer Navier-Stokes equations by a finite-difference numerical procedure. A prescribed vortex method is adopted to preserve the structure of the interacting vortex. The cases considered for computation correspond to the experimental model rotor test conditions of Caradonna, et al. and consist of parallel and oblique interactions. Comparison of the numerical results with test data show good agreement for both parallel and oblique interactions at subsonic and transonic tip speeds.

Srinivasan, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Flow Visualization Techniques in Wind Tunnel Tests of a Full-Scale F/A-18 Aircraft

The proposed paper presents flow visualization performed during experiments conducted on a full-scale F/A-18 aircraft in the 80- by 120-Foot Wind-Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. The purpose of the flow-visualization experiments was to document the forebody and leading edge extension (LEX) vortex interaction along with the wing flow patterns at high angles of attack and low speed high Reynolds number conditions. This investigation used surface pressures in addition to both surface and off-surface flow visualization techniques to examine the flow field on the forebody, canopy, LEXS, and wings. The various techniques used to visualize the flow field were fluorescent tufts, flow cones treated with reflective material, smoke in combination with a laser light sheet, and a video imaging system for three-dimension vortex tracking. The flow visualization experiments were conducted over an angle of attack range from 20 deg to 45 deg and over a sideslip range from -10 deg to 10 deg. The various visualization techniques as well as the pressure distributions were used to understand the flow field structure. The results show regions of attached and separated flow on the forebody, canopy, and wings as well as the vortical flow over the leading-edge extensions. This paper will also present flow visualization comparisons with the F-18 HARV flight vehicle and small-scale oil flows on the F-18.

Lanser, Wendy R.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Combination of Kinematics with Flow Visualization to Compute Total Circulation

A method is described in which kinematics is exploited to compute the total circulation of a vortex from relatively simple flow visualization experiments. There are several advantages in the technique, including the newly acquired ability to calculate the changes in strength of a single vortex as it evolves. The main concepts and methodology are discussed in a general way for application to vortices which carry along with them definable regions of essentially irrotational fluid; however, the approach might be generalized to other flows which contain regions of concentrated vorticity. As an illustrative example, an application to the study of the transient changes in total circulation of individual vortex rings as they travel up a tube is described, taking into account the effect of the tube boundary. The accuracy of the method, assessed in part by a direct comparison with a laser Doppler measurement is felt to be well within experimental precision for vortex rings over a wide range of Reynolds numbers.

Brasseur, J. G↗
NASA NTRS2010

Flow Control on Low-Pressure Turbine Airfoils Using Vortex Generator Jets

Motivation - Higher loading on Low-Pressure Turbine (LPT) airfoils: Reduce airfoil count, weight, cost. Increase efficiency, and Limited by suction side separation. Growing understanding of transition, separation, wake effects: Improved models. Take advantage of wakes. Higher lift airfoils in use. Further loading increases may require flow control: Passive: trips, dimples, etc. Active: plasma actuators, vortex generator jets (VGJs). Can increased loading offset higher losses on high lift airfoils. Objectives: Advance knowledge of boundary layer separation and transition under LPT conditions. Demonstrate, improve understanding of separation control with pulsed VGJs. Produce detailed experimental data base. Test and develop computational models.

Volino, Ralph J.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Experimental and numerical investigations of a two-body floating-point absorber wave energy converter in regular waves

This paper presents experimental and numerical studies on the hydrodynamics of a two-body floating-point absorber (FPA) wave energy converter (WEC) under both extreme and operational wave conditions. In this study, the responses of the WEC in heave, surge, and pitch were evaluated for various regular wave conditions. For extreme condition analysis, we assume the FPA system has a survival mode that locks the power-take-off (PTO) mechanism in extreme waves, and the WEC moves as a single body in this scenario. A series of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations was performed for the survival condition analysis, and the results were validated with the measurements from experimental wave tank tests. For the FPA system in operational conditions, both a boundary element method (BEM) and the RANS simulations were used to analyze the motion response and power absorption performance. Additional viscous damping, primarily induced by flow separation and vortex shedding, is included in the BEM simulation as a quadratic drag force proportional to the square of body velocity. The inclusion of viscous drag improves the accuracy of BEM's prediction of the heave response and the power absorption performance of the FPA system, which agrees well with experimental data and the RANS simulation results over a broad range of incident wave periods, except near resonance in large wave height scenarios. Overall, the experimental and numerical results suggest that nonlinear effects, caused by viscous damping and interaction between waves and the FPA, significantly influence the system response and power absorption performance. Nonlinear effects were found to be particularly significant when the wave height was large and the period was near or shorter than the resonant period of the FPA system. The study is expected to be helpful for understanding the nonlinear interaction between waves and the FPA system so that the structure of the FPA can be adequately designed.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2022

Enhanced convection for higher module and system efficiency (Final Technical Report)

The goal of this work is to develop new solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and solar system-scale designs that promote an increase of the convective heat transfer coefficient of at least 40%, reducing the operating temperature of the solar PV panels, and leading to a boost on the annual energy yield by at least 5%. By achieving this goal, we further foresee decreasing solar panel degradation by +0.3%/year, reducing the LCOE by 2.9-4.5¢/kWh. Currently, this question and/or approach is not considered though it is a relevant factor in performance/efficiency. The technology proposed will be at a mature stage by the end of the project and could be aligned to be proven on a full-field test. PV users, installers and manufacturers will be interested in the technology due to the aforementioned benefits. The work was conducted through a suite of wind tunnel experiments, numerical simulations and field experiments. These were then evaluated through a correlation encompassing the entire data set and implementing findings into NREL SAM. The work resulted in eight peer reviewed publications with three others in preparation. The key results of the project are 1.) Showing the capability of increasing the solar farm power production by increasing the heat transfer coefficient; 2.) Providing strategies for achieving this through large scale arrangement manipulation (heights, spacings, angles), flow deflectors and vortex generators; 3.) Demonstrating scalability of results by comparing numerical simulations, wind tunnel experiments and field experiments; 4.) Providing a correlation to be able to capture the various arrangements while exploiting the heat transfer coefficient; and 5.) Proving the feasibility of such strategies and their capacity through a comprehensive techno-economic analysis. For the heat transfer coefficients, gains of 40% were attained and increases in power in the excess of 5% were observed. For heat mitigation strategies, consideration at the PV array scale were inter-panel spacing, panel height and panel angles while at the module level, wind breaks such as solid walls and selected gaps were evaluated as well as vortex generators on the panel. All proposed strategies saw an increase in heat transfer coefficient. For scalability, results were compared against field experiments and a correlation for the heat transfer quantity was attained leading to a parametric understanding of the variations and impact in the heat transfer coefficient independent of tools implemented (wind tunnel/numerical simulations). The strategies were also further assessed by a technoeconomic analysis finding improvements based on LCOE with respect to location (several states with varies atmospheric conditions/geographic locations) yielded different results. Improvements on this end were also observed especially towards the colder climates and when considering bi-facial modules. The quantitative demonstrations of such conclusions are provided in the main portion of this document with complementary results and their narration. Milestones and go/no-go points were successfully met in the project.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1976

A survey of leeside flow and heat transfer on delta planform configurations

The dominant feature of hypersonic leeside flow fields is the presence of coiled vortices which are generated as the leeside boundary layer responds to the inviscid flow field. Depending on geometric and stream parameters, the vortices can be completely maintained within the boundary layer or can lie outside which is the more familiar case of rolled-up vortices associated with separated flow. Three main areas are covered: (1) fundamental leeside flow phenomena associated with inviscid flows, separation and vortex phenomena involving viscid-inviscid interactions on sharp-edged delta wings and cones; (2) the application of these fundamental concepts to delta-wing bodies such as the space shuttle; and (3) the opportunity and a proposed approach to use early shuttle orbiter entry flights to obtain leeside data.

Dunavant, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1977

A three-dimensional viscous/potential flow interaction analysis method for multi-element wings

An analysis method and computer program were developed for the calculation of the viscosity dependent aerodynamic characteristics of multi-element, finite wings in incompressible flow. A fully-three dimensional potential flow program is used to determine the inviscid pressure distribution about the configuration. The potential flow program uses surface source and vortex singularities to represent the inviscid flow. The method is capable of analysing configurations having at most one slat, a main element, and two slotted flaps. Configurations are limited to full span slats or flaps. The configuration wake is allowed to relax as a force free wake, although roll up is not allowed at this time. Once the inviscid pressure distribution is calculated, a series of boundary layer computations are made along streamwise strips.

Dvorak, F. A.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Prediction of aerodynamic characteristics for slender bodies alone and with lifting surfaces to high angles of attack

A method is presented for computing normal force and pitching moment coefficients for slender bodies of circular and noncircular cross section alone and with lifting surfaces. A semiempirical term representing viscous-separation crossflow is added to a term representing potential-theory crossflow. For bodies of revolution, computed aerodynamic characteristics agree with measured results for investigated free-stream Mach numbers from 0.6 to 2.9 and for angles of attack from 0 deg to 180 deg. For bodies of elliptic cross section, measured results are predicted well over the investigated Mach number range from 0.6 to 2.0 and the angle range from 0 deg to 60 deg. For all bodies the predictions are best at supersonic Mach numbers. For body-wing and body-wing-tail configurations, measured normal force coefficients and centers are predicted at the upper test Mach number of 2.0. As the Mach number is decreased to 0.6, the agreement for the normal-force coefficients rapidly deteriorates. When model flow-separation and vortex patterns are asymmetric, undesirable side forces are usually measured on the models at subsonic Mach numbers and zero sideslip angle. Generally, the side-force coefficients decrease or vanish with: increase in Mach number, decrease in nose fineness ratio, nose blunting, and flattening of body cross section.

Jorgensen, L. H.↗
NASA NTRS1979

An Experimental Investigation of Forced Mixing of a Turbulent Boundary Layer in an Annular Diffuser

The forced mixing process of a turbulent boundary layer in an axisymmetric annular diffuser using conventional wing-like vortex generators was studied. Flow field measurements were made at four axial locations downstream of the vortex generators. At each axial location, a total of 25 equally spaced profiles were measured behind three consecutive vortex generators which formed two pairs of vortex generators. Hot film anemometry probes measured the boundary layer turbulence structure at the same locations where pressure measurements were made. Both single and cross film probes were used. The diffuser turbulence data was teken only for a nominal inlet Mach number of 0.3. Three vortex generator configurations were tested. The differences between configurations involved changes in size and relative vortex generator positions. All three vortex generator configurations tested provided increases in diffuser performance. Distinct differences in the boundary layer integral properties and skin friction levels were noted between configurations. The axial turbulence intensity and Reynolds stress profiles measured displayed similarities in trends but differences in levels for the three configurations.

Shaw, R. J.↗