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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 1,063 records · Page 59
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Vortex flap flight test operations, a safe approach

A flight test experiment was conducted at the Langley Research Center to evaluate a wing leading-edge vortex flap concept designed for use on an aircraft with highly swept wings. The flap concept was designed as a modification to the wing leading edge of an F-106B airplane. The flight testing required operations at conditions that would exceed the structural load envelope of the basic airplane in order to acquire desired research data for the modified configuration. Accordingly, the operational envelope of the modified aircraft was incrementally expanded and real-time monitoring of airframe strains at critical wing locations was mandated to insure safety of flight. The flight tests were conducted in two phases: Phase I to establish baseline data with the unmodified wing, and Phase II to determine the effects of the vortex flap on performance, handling qualities, and flow field characteristics. This paper focuses on a description of the approach and procedures used to provide the strain-gage monitoring to insure structural integrity. Highlights of the wing modification and the overall operation are also included. Within a -year period, 110 research flights were successfully completed, providing researchers with sufficient data to assess the potential benefits ascribed to the vortex flap concept without encountering severe structural problems or mishaps.

Dicarlo, Daniel J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Adaptive computations of flow around a delta wing with vortex breakdown

An adaptive unstructured mesh solution method for the three-dimensional Euler equations was used to simulate the flow around a sharp edged delta wing. Emphasis was on the breakdown of the leading edge vortex at high angle of attack. Large values of entropy, which indicate vortical regions of the flow, specified the region in which adaptation was performed. The aerodynamic normal force coefficients show excellent agreement with wind tunnel data measured by Jarrah, and demonstrate the importance of adaptation in obtaining an accurate solution. The pitching moment coefficient and the location of vortex breakdown are compared with experimental data measured by Hummel and Srinivasan, showing good agreement in cases in which vortex breakdown is located over the wing.

Modiano, David L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Navier-Stokes prediction of a delta wing in roll with vortex breakdown

The three-dimensional, Reynolds-averaged, Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are used to numerically simulate vortical flow about a 65 degree sweep delta wing. Subsonic turbulent flow computations are presented for this delta wing at 30 degrees angle of attack and static roll angles up to 42 degrees. This work is part of an on going effort to validate the RANS approach for predicting high-incidence vortical flows, with the eventual application to wing rock. The flow is unsteady and includes spiral-type vortex breakdown. The breakdown positions, mean surface pressures, rolling moments, normal forces, and streamwise center-of-pressure locations compare reasonably well with experiment. In some cases, the primary vortex suction peaks are significantly underpredicted due to grid coarseness. Nevertheless, the computations are able to predict the same nonlinear variation of rolling moment with roll angle that appeared in the experiment. This nonlinearity includes regions of local static roll instability, which is attributed to vortex breakdown.

Chaderjian, Neal M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Shock-vortex interaction over a 65-degree delta wing in transonic flow

Transonic flow over a 65-deg swept-back, sharp-edged, cropped delta wing is investigated computationally using the time-accurate solution of the unsteady, compressible, full Navier-Stokes equations with an implicit, upwind, flux-difference splitting, finite-volume scheme. Coarse and fine O-H grids are used to obtain the solution. The grid consists of 125 x 85 x 84 points in the wrap-around, normal, and axial directions, respectively. The results are presented for an angle of attack of 20 deg Mach number of 0.85 and Reynolds number of 3.23 x 10 exp 6. With the fine grid, the results show that a system of shocks has been captured over the upper wing surface and that the leading-edge vortex core experiences an unsteady supersonic vortex breakdown after passing through a spanwise shock near the wing trailing edge. The computed results at a certain time are in good agreement with the experimental data. Topological aspects of the vortex breakdown flowfield are also presented and discussed.

Kandil, Osama A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Vortex developments over steady and accelerated airfoils incorporating a trailing edge jet

Computational and experimental studies are conducted to investigate the influence of a trailing edge jet on flow separation and subsequent vortex formation over steady and accelerated airfoils at high angles of attack. A computer code, employing the stream function-vorticity approach, is developed and utilized to conduct numerical experiments on the flow problem. To verify and economize such efforts, an experimental system is developed and incorporated into a subsonic wind tunnel where streamline and vortex flow visualization experiments are conducted. The study demonstrates the role of the trailing edge jet in controlling flow separation and subsequent vortex development for steady and accelerating flow at angles past the static stall angle of attack. The results suggest that the concept of the trailing edge jet may be utilized to control the characteristics of unsteady separated flows over lifting surfaces. This control possibility seems to be quite effective and could have a significant role in controlling unsteady separated flows.

Finaish, F.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Wake-vortex structure from lift and torque induced on a following wing

A procedure based on vortex lattice theory to interpret the lift and torque measured on a following model in a wind tunnel is developed to retrieve the velocity distribution in the vortex wake that caused the induced forces. It is concluded that the retrieval procedure has a potential for reliably determining the structure of vortex wakes that trail from the wings of subsonic transport aircraft. Tests using idealized theoretical models show that the procedure is highly reliable and accurate. However, certain difficulties are found in the retrieval procedure when applied to actual data measured with following wings of various sizes in a wind tunnel.

Rossow, Vernon J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Numerical simulation and physical aspects of supersonic vortex breakdown

Existing numerical simulations and physical aspects of subsonic and supersonic vortex-breakdown modes are reviewed. The solution to the problem of supersonic vortex breakdown is emphasized in this paper and carried out with the full Navier-Stokes equations for compressible flows. Numerical simulations of vortex-breakdown modes are presented in bounded and unbounded domains. The effects of different types of downstream-exit boundary conditions are studied and discussed.

Liu, C. H.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Quasi-periodic transverse plasma flow associated with an evolving MHD vortex street in the outer heliosphere

We study a transverse plasma flow induced by the evolution of a Karman vortex street using a Chebyshev-Fourier spectral algorithm to solve both the compressible Navier-Stokes and MHD equations. The evolving vortex street is formed by the nonlinear interaction of two vortex sheets initially in equilibrium. We study spatial profiles of the total plasma velocity, the density, the meridional flow angle and the location of sector boundaries and find generally good agreement with Voyager 2 measurements of quasi-periodic transverse flow in the outer heliosphere. The pressure pulses associated with the meridional flows in the simulation are too small, although they are correctly located, and this may be due to the lack of any 'warp' in the current sheet in this model. A strong, flow-aligned magnetic field, such as would occur in the inner heliosphere, is shown to lead to weak effects that would be masked by the background interplanetary turbulence. We also study the plasma and magnetic transport resulting from the meridional flow and find that deficits of magnetic quantities do occur near the ecliptic. While the effect is relatively small, it is in general agreement with the most recent analysis of 'flux deficit' in the outer heliosphere.

Siregar, Edouard↗
NASA NTRS1991

The interaction of superfluid vortex filaments with a normal fluid channel flow

Vortex filaments in superfluids such as helium 2 may provide new insights into very high Reynolds number flows. The behavior of a superfluid vortex ring interacting with a normal fluid shear flow, specifically channel flow, is simulated. The vortex ring evolves into a stable horseshoe configuration which propagates without further change of form. In this simulation, a boundary layer behavior in a superfluid through the coupling of the superfluid and the normal fluid is demonstrated.

Samuels, David C.↗
NASA NTRS1940

A generalized vortex theory of the screw propeller and its application

The vortex theory as presented by the author in earlier papers has been extended to permit the solution of the following problems: (1) the investigation of the relation between thrusts and torque distribution and energy loss as given by the induction of helical vortex sheets and by the parasite drag; (2) the checking of the theorem of Betz of the rigidly behaving helical vortex sheet of minimum induced energy loss; (3) the extension of the theory of the screw propeller of minimum energy loss for the inclusion of parasite-drag distribution along the blades. A simple system of diagrams has been developed to systematize the design of airplane propellers for a wide range of parasite-drag distribution along the blades.

Reissner, Hans↗
NASA NTRS1950

Downwash in Vortex Region Behind Rectangular Half-wing at Mach Number 1.91

Results of an experimental investigation to determine downwash and wake characteristics in region of trailing vortex system behind a rectangular half-wing at Mach number 1.91 are presented. The wing had a 5-percent thick symmetric diamond cross section beveled to a knife edge at the tip. At small angles of attack, downwash angles were in close agreement with predictions of linearized theory based on the assumption of an undistorted vortex sheet. At higher angles of attack, the flow was greatly influenced by the rolling up of the vortex sheet.

Cummings, John L↗
NASA NTRS1952

The Use of the Rolled-up Vortex Concept for Predicting Wing-tail Interference and Comparison with Experiment at Mach Number of 1.62 for a Series of Missile Configurations Having Tandem Cruciform Lifting Surfaces

The method for predicting wing- tail interference whereby the trailing vortex system behind lifting wings is replaced by fully rolled-up vortices has been applied to the calculation of tail efficiency parameters, lift characteristics, and center -of-pressure locations for a series of generalized missile configurations. The calculations have been carried out with assumed and experimental vortex locations, and comparisons made with experimental data. The measured spanwise locations of the vortices for the inline case were found to be in good agreement with the asymptotic values computed from the center of gravity of the vorticity using the method of Lagerstrom and Graham. For the interdigitated configurations the measured spanwise locations were in only fair agreement with the asymptotic locations computed for the inline case. The vertical displacement of the vortices with angle of attack for both inline and interdigitated configurations was small. The method utilizing the rolled -up vortex concept was shown to give good results in the prediction of tail efficiency variations with angle of attack for inline configurations. Not as good correlation with experiment was shown for the interdigitated configurations. Complete configuration lift -curve slopes and center -of-pressure locations, obtained using t ail efficiency calculations together with the characteristics of the components obtained from available theoretical methods, showed excellent correlation with experimental results.

Grigsby, Carl E↗
NASA NTRS1957

Determination of Vortex Paths by Series Expansion Technique with Application to Cruciform Wings

A series method of determining two-dimensional vortex paths is considered and applied to the computation of vortex positions behind a slender equal-span cruciform wing at any angle of bank as a function of the distance behind the trailing edge. Calculated paths are shown for four bank angles. For a bank angle of 45 degrees comparison is made with the results of a closed expression given in NACA-TN-2605. For other bank angles water-tank experiments provide qualitative comparison. Satisfactory agreement is found for a sufficient distance downstream to include most practical missile-tail positions. The interference forces on an equal-span cruciform wing are calculated for five angles of bank (including the trivial case of zero bank) from the vortex positions found by use of the series.

Alksne, Alberta Y↗
NASA NTRS1994

Ignition dynamics of a laminar diffusion flame in the field of a vortex embedded in a shear flow

The role of streamwise-spanwise vorticity interactions that occur in turbulent shear flows on flame/vortex interactions is examined by means of asymptotic analysis and numerical simulation in the limit of small Mach number. An idealized model is employed to describe the interaction process. The model consists of a one-step, irreversible Arrhenius reaction between initially unmixed species occupying adjacent half-planes which are then allowed to mix and react in the presence of a streamwise vortex embedded in a shear flow. It is found that the interaction of the streamwise vortex with shear gives rise to small-scale velocity oscillations which increase in magnitude with shear strength. These oscillations give rise to regions of strong temperature gradients via viscous heating, which can lead to multiple ignition points and substantially decrease ignition times. The evolution in time of the temperature and mass-fraction fields is followed, and emphasis is placed on the ignition time and structure as a function of vortex and shear strength.

Macaraeg, Michele G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

F/A-18 and F-16 forebody vortex control, static and rotary-balance results

The results from research on forebody vortex control on both the F/A-18 and the F-16 aircraft will be shown. Several methods of forebody vortex control, including mechanical and pneumatic schemes, will be discussed. The wind tunnel data includes both static and rotary balance data for forebody vortex control. Time lags between activation or deactivation of the pneumatic control and when the aircraft experiences the resultant forces are also discussed. The static (non-rotating) forces and pressures are then compared to similar configurations tested in the NASA Langley and DTRC Wind Tunnel, the NASA Ames 80'x120' Wind Tunnel, and in flight on the High Angle of Attack Research Vehicle (HARV).

Kramer, Brian↗
NASA NTRS1995

Flow structure generated by perpendicular blade vortex interaction and implications for helicopter noise predictions

This report summarizes accomplishments and progress for the period ending April 1995. Much of the work during this period has concentrated on preparation for an analysis of data produced by an extensive wind tunnel test. Time has also been spent further developing an empirical theory to account for the effects of blade-vortex interaction upon the circulation distribution of the vortex and on preliminary measurements aimed at controlling the vortex core size.

Devenport, William J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

The decay of longitudinal vortices shed from airfoil vortex generators

An experimental study is conducted to examine the crossplane structure and streamwise decay of vortices shed from airfoil-type vortex generators. The vortex generators are set in a counter-rotating array spanning the full circumference of a straight pipe. The span of the vortex generators above the duct surface, h, is approximately equal to the local turbulent boundary layer thickness, delta. Measurement of three-component mean flow velocity in downstream crossplanes are used to characterize the structure of the shed vortices. Measurements in adjacent crossplanes (closely spaced along the streamwise coordinate) characterize the interaction and decay of the embedded vortices. A model constructed by the superposition of Oseen vortices is compared to the data for one test case.

Wendt, Bruce J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The anomalous Arctic lower stratospheric polar vortex of 1992-1993

Potential vorticity (PV) gradients defining the lower stratospheric vortex during the 1992-1993 winter were anomalously strong and persistent compared to those during the last 16 Arctic winters. For approximately equal to 3 months PV gradients were closer to typical Antarctic values than to most Arctic values. Air motion diagnostics computed for 3-dimensional air parcels confirm that the 1992-1993 Arctic lower stratospheric vortex was substantially more isolated than is typical. Such isolation will delay and reduce the export of the higher ozone typical of the winter lower stratospheric vortex to mid-latitudes. This may have contributed to the record-low total ozone amounts observed in northern mid-latitudes in 1993.

Manney, G. L.↗