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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 NTRS1978

Wake vortex measurements of bodies at high angle of attack

Three-dimensional laser velocimeter measurements have been made of the wake vortices of a slender tangent-ogive body which had nose and body fineness ratios of 3.5 and 12, respectively. Data were obtained for an angle of attack to seminose angle ratio of 2.3 at a free-stream Mach number of 0.6 and unit Reynolds number of 2 million/ft. Details of the mean flow field are presented and features of the turbulent and unsteady nature of the vortex flow field are discussed. Problems associated with obtaining meaningful vortex measurements in high-speed flows are addressed.

Owen, F. K.↗
NASA NTRS1959

Investigation of Spherical-Wave-Initiated Flow Fields Around Bodies

Measurements of the velocity flow fields and vortex movements have been made about various simple blunt models undergoing spherical blast waves with a positive overpressure of 4 pounds per square inch. A bullet-optical method was used to determine flow velocities and is applied to velocity fields in which the gradients are largely normal to the free-stream direction. The velocity flow fields are shown at various flow times following passage of the blast front for different models. Vortex movements with time are compared for square-bar models of various aspect ratios. Corner sharpness had no discernible effect on the overall disturbed velocity fields or vortex movements for the square-box models used.

McFarland, Donald R.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Micro-Ramps for External Compression Low-Boom Inlets

The application of vortex generators for flow control in an external compression, axisymmetric, low-boom concept inlet was investigated using RANS simulations with three-dimensional (3-D), structured, chimera (overset) grids and the WIND-US code. The low-boom inlet design is based on previous scale model 1- by 1-ft wind tunnel tests and features a zero-angle cowl and relaxed isentropic compression centerbody spike, resulting in defocused oblique shocks and a weak terminating normal shock. Validation of the methodology was first performed for micro-ramps in supersonic flow on a flat plate with and without oblique shocks. For the inlet configuration, simulations with several types of vortex generators were conducted for positions both upstream and downstream of the terminating normal shock. The performance parameters included incompressible axisymmetric shape factor, separation area, inlet pressure recovery, and massflow ratio. The design of experiments (DOE) methodology was used to select device size and location, analyze the resulting data, and determine the optimal choice of device geometry. The optimum upstream configuration was found to substantially reduce the post-shock separation area but did not significantly impact recovery at the aerodynamic interface plane (AIP). Downstream device placement allowed for fuller boundary layer velocity profiles and reduced distortion. This resulted in an improved pressure recovery and massflow ratio at the AIP compared to the baseline solid-wall configuration.

Rybalko, Michael↗
NASA NTRS1980

Influence of pressure driven secondary flows on the behavior of turbofan forced mixers

An analytical and experimental study was performed to determine the influence of pressure driven secondary flows on the behavior of turbofan forced mixer nozzles. The basic secondary flow structure entering the nozzle was identified experimentally and was composed of a strong vortex system aligned with the radial interface between the fan and core streams. A generic secondary flow vortex structure was constructed for input to the analysis to represent the large scale structure of this inflow condition. Comparison between experiment and analysis at five axial stations showed very good agreement and indicated that this vortex system was convected downstream and dominated the mixing process.

Anderson, B.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Experiments on the ground vortex formed by an impinging jet in cross flow

An inclined jet impinging on the ground creates a wall flow that spreads radially from the point of impingement. If a cross-flow is introduced, the upstream component of the wall flow will separate from the ground and create what has been termed the 'ground vortex.' The ground vortex has been shown to have a significant impact on aircraft aerodynamics and is one of the major contributors to hot gas ingestion. The paper discusses a recent study which included a generic wing-body configuration for assessing the impact of the ground vortex on configuration aerodynamics. Wind tunnel tests using fixed ground boards, moving ground belts, and moving model tests are discussed. The emphasis of the data is macroscopic, i.e. forward location of the vortex, effects of ground height, etc.

Blake, William B.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Design and testing of new center inlet and S-duct for B-727 airplane with refanned JT8D engines

The work described in this paper was part of the NASA refan program. The airflow requirement of the refanned JT8D (-100 series) engine increased about 50% above that of the basic JT8D. This required a redesign of the center inlet and S-duct of the Boeing 727 airplane. The paper describes the design constraints for the S-duct and the analytic method used to define the lines of the new duct. Model tests that were conducted at static, angle-of-attack, and crosswind conditions are described with a variety of flow control devices. Test results showed that the new inlet and S-duct have a pressure recovery comparable to that of the existing inlet. By employing corotating vortex generators, less flow distortion was obtained for the core region than the existing duct has with its counter rotating vortex generators.

Ting, C. T.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Pinning, flux diodes and ratchets for vortices interacting with conformal pinning arrays

A conformal pinning array can be created by conformally transforming a uniform triangular pinning lattice to produce a new structure in which the six-fold ordering of the original lattice is conserved but where there is a spatial gradient in the density of pinning sites. Here we examine several aspects of vortices interacting with conformal pinning arrays and how they can be used to create a flux flow diode effect for driving vortices in different directions across the arrays. Under the application of an ac drive, a pronounced vortex ratchet effect occurs where the vortices flow in the easy direction of the array asymmetry. When the ac drive is applied perpendicular to the asymmetry direction of the array, it is possible to realize a transverse vortex ratchet effect where there is a generation of a dc flow of vortices perpendicular to the ac drive due to the creation of a noise correlation ratchet by the plastic motion of the vortices. We also examine vortex transport in experiments and compare the pinning effectiveness of conformal arrays to uniform triangular pinning arrays. We find that a triangular array generally pins the vortices more effectively at the first matching field and below, while the conformal array is more effective at higher fields where interstitial vortex flow occurs.

Olson Reichhardt, C. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Vortex rings and the solar granulation

Observations indicate that solar granules have the flow topology of updraft vortex loops. We interpret granule behavior in terms of the mutual and self-interactions of such loops. In particular, the expansion phase that granules commonly undergo is explained by the self-expansion of a vortex ring in a stratified fluid. For a range of granular parameters, we find that the expansion velocity of a vortex ring varies from 0.7 to 1.5 times the maximum surface flow velocity, in agreement with granule observations. We also present speculation on the nature of granule fragmentation.

Arendt, Steve↗
NASA NTRS1988

The mean flow structure around and within a turbulent junction or horseshoe vortex. I - The upstream and surrounding three-dimensional boundary layer

An experimental study of the mean flow structure upstream, around, and in a turbulent junction or horseshoe vortex is presented for the case of an incompressible subsonic flow. Mean velocity field and turbulent kinetic energy field measurements (obtained with hot film anemometry) and local wall shear stress measurements are used to monitor the upstream and surrounding three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer-like flow away from separation. Freestream or edge velocity and floor static pressure results are reported.

Menna, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Numerical simulation of separated flows

A new numerical method, based on the Vortex Method, for the simulation of two-dimensional separated flows, was developed and tested on a wide range of gases. The fluid is incompressible and the Reynolds number is high. A rigorous analytical basis for the representation of the Navier-Stokes equation in terms of the vorticity is used. An equation for the control of circulation around each body is included. An inviscid outer flow (computed by the Vortex Method) was coupled with a viscous boundary layer flow (computed by an Eulerian method). This version of the Vortex Method treats bodies of arbitrary shape, and accurately computes the pressure and shear stress at the solid boundary. These two quantities reflect the structure of the boundary layer. Several versions of the method are presented and applied to various problems, most of which have massive separation. Comparison of its results with other results, generally experimental, demonstrates the reliability and the general accuracy of the new method, with little dependence on empirical parameters. Many of the complex features of the flow past a circular cylinder, over a wide range of Reynolds numbers, are correctly reproduced.

Spalart, P. R.↗
DOE OSTI2012

Integrated Study of the Nonlinear Dynamics of Collisional Drift Wave Turbulence (Final Technical Report)

An existing linear magnetized plasma device, the Controlled Shear Decorrelation experiment (CSDX) was used to study the transition from a state of coherent wave like activity to a state of turbulent activity using the magnetic field and thus magnetization of the plasma as the control parameter. The results show the onset of coherent drift waves consistent with linear stability analysis. As the magnetization is raised, at first multiple harmonics appear, consistent with wave steepening. This period is then followed by the beginning of nonlinear interactions between different wave modes, which then results in the formation of narrow frequency but distributed azimuthal wave number fluctuations that are consistent with the formation of long-lived coherent nonlinear structures within the plasmas. These structures, termed quasicoherent modes, persist as the magnetic field is raised. Measurements of turbulent momentum flux indicate that the plasma is also forming an azimuthally symmetric radially sheared fluid flow that is nonlinearly driven by smaller scaled turbulent fluctuations. Further increases in the magnetic field result in the breakup of the quasicoherent mode, and the clear formation of the sheared flow. Numerical simulations of the experiment reproduce the formation of the sheared flow via a vortex merging process, and confirm that the experiment is providing the first clear experimental evidence of the formation of sheared zonal flows from drift turbulent fluctuations in a magnetized plasma.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Helical vortex formation in three-dimensional electrochemical systems with ion-selective membranes

The rate of electric-field-driven transport across ion-selective membranes can exceed the limit predicted by Nernst (the limiting current), and encouraging this “overlimiting” phenomenon can improve efficiency in many electrochemical systems. Overlimiting behavior is the result of electroconvectively induced vortex formation near membrane surfaces, a conclusion supported so far by two-dimensional (2D) theory and numerical simulation, as well as experiments. We show that the third dimension plays a critical role in overlimiting behavior. In particular, the vortex pattern in shear flow through wider channels is helical rather than planar, a surprising result first observed in three-dimensional (3D) simulation and then verified experimentally. We present a complete experimental and numerical characterization of a device exhibiting this recently discovered 3D electrokinetic instability, and show that the number of parallel helical vortices is a jump-discontinuous function of width, as is the overlimiting current and overlimiting conductance. In addition, we show that overlimiting occurs at lower fields in wider channels, because the associated helical vortices are more readily triggered than the planar vortices associated with narrow channels (effective 2D systems). These unexpected width dependencies arise in realistic electrochemical desalination systems, and have important ramifications for design optimization.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Flow-excited acoustic resonance of a Helmholtz resonator: Discrete vortex model compared to experiments

The acoustic resonance in a Helmholtz resonator excited by a low Mach number grazing flow is studied theoretically. The nonlinear numerical model is established by coupling the vortical motion at the cavity opening with the cavity acoustic mode through an explicit force balancing relation between the two sides of the opening. The vortical motion is modeled in the potential flow framework, in which the oscillating motion of the thin shear layer is described by an array of convected point vortices, and the unsteady vortex shedding is determined by the Kutta condition. The cavity acoustic mode is obtained from the one-dimensional acoustic propagation model, the time-domain equivalent of which is given by means of a broadband time-domain impedance model. The acoustic resistances due to radiation and viscous loss at the opening are also taken into account. The physical processes of the self-excited oscillations, at both resonance and off-resonance states, are simulated directly in the time domain. Results show that the shear layer exhibits a weak flapping motion at the off-resonance state, whereas it rolls up into large-scale vortex cores when resonances occur. Single and dual-vortex patterns are observed corresponding to the first and second hydrodynamic modes. The simulation also reveals different trajectories of the two vortices across the opening when the first and second hydrodynamic modes co-exist. The strong modulation of the shed vorticity by the acoustic feedback at the resonance state is demonstrated. The model overestimates the pressure pulsation amplitude by a factor 2, which is expected to be due to the turbulence of the flow which is not taken into account. The model neglects vortex shedding at the downstream and side edges of the cavity. This will also result in an overestimation of the pulsation amplitude.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Interfacial gauge methods for incompressible fluid dynamics

Designing numerical methods for incompressible fluid flow involving moving interfaces, for example, in the computational modeling of bubble dynamics, swimming organisms, or surface waves, presents challenges due to the coupling of interfacial forces with incompressibility constraints. A class of methods, denoted interfacial gauge methods, is introduced for computing solutions to the corresponding incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. These methods use a type of "gauge freedom" to reduce the numerical coupling between fluid velocity, pressure, and interface position, allowing high-order accurate numerical methods to be developed more easily. Making use of an implicit mesh discontinuous Galerkin framework, developed in tandem with this work, high-order results are demonstrated, including surface tension dynamics in which fluid velocity, pressure, and interface geometry are computed with fourth-order spatial accuracy in the maximum norm. Applications are demonstrated with two-phase fluid flow displaying fine-scaled capillary wave dynamics, rigid body fluid-structure interaction, and a fluid-jet free surface flow problem exhibiting vortex shedding induced by a type of Plateau-Rayleigh instability. The developed methods can be generalized to other types of interfacial flow and facilitate precise computation of complex fluid interface phenomena.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1993

Several examples where turbulence models fail in inlet flow field analysis

Computational uncertainties in turbulence modeling for three dimensional inlet flow fields include flows approaching separation, strength of secondary flow field, three dimensional flow predictions of vortex liftoff, and influence of vortex-boundary layer interactions; computational uncertainties in vortex generator modeling include representation of generator vorticity field and the relationship between generator and vorticity field. The objectives of the inlet flow field studies presented in this document are to advance the understanding, prediction, and control of intake distortion and to study the basic interactions that influence this design problem.

Anderson, Bernhard H.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Unsteady Flowfield Around Tandem Cylinders as Prototype for Component Interaction in Airframe Noise

Synergistic application of experiments and numerical simulations is crucial to understanding the underlying physics of airframe noise sources. The current effort is aimed at characterizing the details of the flow interaction between two cylinders in a tandem configuration. This setup is viewed to be representative of several component-level flow interactions that occur when air flows over the main landing gear of large civil transports. Interactions of this type are likely to have a significant impact on the noise radiation associated with the aircraft undercarriage. The paper is focused on two-dimensional, time-accurate flow simulations for the tandem cylinder configuration. Results of the unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) computations with a two-equation turbulence model, at a Reynolds number of 0.166 million and a Mach number of 0.166, are presented. The experimental measurements of the same flow field are discussed in a separate paper by Jenkins, Khorrami, Choudhari, and McGinley (2005). Two distinct flow regimes of interest, associated with short and intermediate separation distances between the two cylinders, are considered. Emphasis is placed on understanding both time averaged and unsteady flow features between the two cylinders and in the wake of the rear cylinder. Predicted mean flow quantities and vortex shedding frequencies show reasonable agreement with the measured data for both cylinder spacings. Computations for short separation distance indicate decay of flow unsteadiness with time, which is not unphysical; however, the predicted sensitivity of mean lift coefficient to small angles of attack explains the asymmetric flowfield observed during the experiments.

Khorrami, Meldi R.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Active attenuation of a trailing vortex inspired by a parabolized stability analysis

Designing effective control for complex three-dimensional flow fields proves to be non-trivial. Often, intuitive control strategies lead to suboptimal control. To navigate the control space, we use a linear parabolized stability analysis to guide the design of a control scheme for a trailing vortex flow field aft of a NACA0012 half-wing at an angle of attack $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=5^{\circ }$ and a chord-based Reynolds number $Re=1000$ . The stability results show that the unstable mode with the smallest growth rate (fifth wake mode) provides a pathway to excite a vortex instability, whereas the principal unstable mode does not. Inspired by this finding, we perform direct numerical simulations that excite each mode with body forces matching the shape function from the stability analysis. Furthermore, relative to the uncontrolled case, the controlled flows show increased attenuation of circulation and peak streamwise vorticity, with the fifth-mode-based control set-up outperforming the principal-mode-based set-up. From these results, we conclude that a rudimentary linear stability analysis can provide key insights into the underlying physics and help engineers design effective physics-based flow control strategies.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1987

On the onset of three-dimensionality and time-dependence in the Goertler vortex problem

The instability of large amplitude Goertler vortices in a growing boundary layer is discussed in the fully nonlinear regime. It is shown that a three-dimensional breakdown to a flow with wavy vortex boundaries similar to that which occurs in the Taylor vortex problem takes place. However, the instability is confined to the thin shear layers which have been shown to trap the region of vortex activity. The disturbance eigenfunctions decay exponentially away from the center of these layers so that the upper and lower shear layers can support independent modes of instability. The structure of the instability, in particular its location and speed of downstream propagation, is found to be entirely consistent with recent experimental results. Furthermore, it is shown that the upper and lower layers support wavy vortex instabilities with quite different frequencies. This result is again consistent with the available experimental observations.

Hall, Philip↗