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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 109 records · Page 6

Gamma-effects on 2-dimensional transonic aerodynamics

Nonlifting 10% biconvex airfoils are mounted in a 30 x 40 cm Ludwieg-tube-driven transonic test-section and the flow field recorded with a holographic interferometer. Nitrogen, argon, and carbon dioxide are used as the principal test gases. Experiments are conducted with Reynolds number based on chord of (0.5-3.5) x 10 to the 6th with Mach numbers of 0.70, 0.75, and 0.80. Supporting calculations use inviscid transonic small-disturbance and full-potential computer codes coupled with simple integral boundary-layer modeling. Systematic studies show that significant gamma-effects can occur due to shock-induced separation.

Tuzla, K.↗

Wind tunnel investigation of the effect of high relative velocities on the structural integrity of birds

An experimental investigation was conducted in a supersonic wind tunnel to determine the effect a sudden high velocity headwind had on the physical deformation and structural breakup characteristics of birds. Several sizes of recently killed birds were dropped into the test section at free-stream Mach numbers ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 and photographed with high-speed motion-picture cameras. These conditions simulated flow conditions encountered when birds are ingested into the inlets of high speed aircraft, thereby constituting a safety hazard to the aircraft and its occupants. The investigation shows that, over the range of headwind conditions tested, the birds remained structurally intact and did not suffer any appreciable deformation or structural breakup.

Bresnahan, D. L.↗

Exploratory Investigation of the Effects of Boundary-Layer Control on the Pressure-Recovery Characteristics of a Circular Internal-Contraction Inlet with Translating Centerbody at Mach Numbers of 2.00 and 2.35

Exploratory tests of a circular internal-contraction inlet were made at Mach numbers of 2.00 and 2.35 to determine the effect of a cowl-type boundary-layer control located downstream of the inlet throat. The inlet was designed for a Mach number of 2.5. Tests were also made of the inlet modified to correspond to design Mach numbers of 2.35 and 2.25. Surveys near the minimum area section of the inlet without boundary-layer control indicated maximum averaged pressure recoveries between 0.90 and 0.92 at a free-stream Mach number, M(sub infinity), of 2.35 for the inlets. Farther downstream, after partial subsonic diffusion, a maximum pressure recovery of 0.842 was obtained with the inlet at M(sub infinity) = 2.35. The pressure recovery of the inlet was increased by 0.03 at a Mach number of 2.35 and decreased by 0.02 at a Mach number of 2.00 by the application of cowl-type boundary-layer control. Further investigation with the inlet without bleed demonstrated that an increase of angle of attack from 0 deg to 3 deg reduced the pressure recovery 0.04. The effect of Reynolds number was to increase pressure recovery 0.07 (from 0.785 to 0.855) with an increase in Reynolds number (based on inlet diameter) from 0.79 x 10(exp 6) to 3.19 x 10(exp 6).

Martin, Norman J.↗

Effect of Tabs on a Rectangular Nozzle Studied

In a continuing research program, jets from nozzles of different geometries are being investigated with the aim of increasing mixing and spreading in those flows. Flow fields from nozzles with elliptic, rectangular, and other more complex cross-sectional shapes are being studied in comparison to circular nozzles over a wide Mach number range. As noted by previous researchers, noncircular jets usually spread faster than circular jets. Another technique being investigated to increase jet spreading even further for a given nozzle is the use of "tabs" to generate vortices. A typical tab is a triangular-shaped protrusion placed at the nozzle exit, with the base of the triangle touching the nozzle wall and the apex leaning downstream at 45 to the stream direction. This geometry was determined by a parametric study to produce the optimum effect for a given area blockage. The tabs can increase jet spreading significantly. The underlying mechanism traces to a pair of counter-rotating streamwise vortices originating from each tab. These vortex pairs persist in the flow; and with the appropriate number and strength, they can increase spreading.

Source record↗

An Inviscid Computational Study of the Space Shuttle Orbiter and Several Damaged Configurations

Inviscid aerodynamic characteristics of the Space Shuttle Orbiter were computed in support of the Columbia Accident Investigation. The unstructured grid software FELISA was used and computations were done using freestream conditions corresponding to those in the NASA Langley 20-Inch Mach 6 CF4 tunnel test section. The angle of attack was held constant at 40 degrees. The baseline (undamaged) configuration and a large number of damaged configurations of the Orbiter were studied. Most of the computations were done on a half model. However, one set of computations was done using the full-model to study the effect of sideslip. The differences in the aerodynamic coefficients for the damaged and the baseline configurations were computed. Simultaneously with the computation reported here, tests were being done on a scale model of the Orbiter in the 20-Inch Mach 6 CF4 tunnel to measure the deltas . The present computations complemented the CF4 tunnel test, and provided aerodynamic coefficients of the Orbiter as well as its components. Further, they also provided details of the flow field.

Prabhu, Ramadas K.↗

Supersonic aerodynamic characteristics of some reentry concepts for angles of attack to 90 deg

Past studies of reentry vehicles tested to high angles of attack (up to 90 deg) in the Mach number range from 2 to 4.8 are reviewed. Two basic planforms are considered: highly-swept deltas and circular. The delta concepts include variations in cross section (and thus volume) and in camber distribution. The effectiveness of various types of aerodynamic control devices is also included. The purpose of the paper is to examine the characteristics of the vehicles with a view toward the potential usefulness of such concepts in a flight regime that would include reentry from space into the atmosphere followed by a transition to sustained atmospheric flight.

Spearman, M. L.↗

Sound power spectrum and wave drag of a propeller in flight

Theory is presented for the sound power and sound power spectrum of a single rotation propeller in forward flight. Calculations are based on the linear wave equation with sources distributed over helicoidal surfaces to represent effects of blade thickness and steady loading. Sound power is distributed continuously over frequecy, as would be expected from Doppler effects, rather than in discrete harmonics. The theory is applied to study effects of sweep and Mach number in propfans. An acoustic efficiency is defined as the ratio of radiated sound power to shaft input power. This value is the linear estimate of the effect of wave drag due to the supersonic blade section speeds. It is shown that the acoustic efficiency is somewhat less than 1 percent for a well designed propfan.

Hanson, D. B.↗

Aerothermal Protuberance Heating Design and Test Configurations for Ascent Vehicle Design

A series of tests were conducted to evaluate protuberance heating for the purposes of vehicle design and modification. These tests represent a state of the art approach to both testing and instrumentation for defining aerothermal protuberance effects on the protuberance and surrounding areas. The testing was performed with a number of wind tunnel entries beginning with the proof of concept "pathfinder" test in the Test Section 1 (TS1) tunnel in the Langley Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel (UPWT). The TS1 section (see Figures 1a and 1b) is a lower Mach number tunnel and the Test Section 2 (TS2) has overlapping and higher Mach number capability as showin in Figure 1c. The pathfinder concept was proven and testing proceeded for a series of protuberance tests using an existing splitter aluminum protuberance mounting plate, Macor protuberances, thin film gages, total temperature and pressure gages, Kulite pressure transducers, Infra-Red camera imaging, LASER velocimetry evaluations and the UPWT data collection system. A boundary layer rake was used to identify the boundary layer profile at the protuberance locations for testing and helped protuberance design. This paper discusses the techniques and instrumentation used during the protuberance heating tests performed in the UPWT in TS1 and TS2. Runs of the protuberances were made Mach numbers of 1.5, 2.16, 2.65, and 3.51. The data set generated from this testing is for ascent protuberance effects and is termed Protuberance Heating Ascent Data (PHAD) and this testing may be termed PHAD-1 to distinguish it from future testing of this type.

Martin, Charles E.↗

Numerical calculation of transonic flow about slender bodies of revolution

A relaxation method is described for the numerical solution of the transonic small disturbance equation for flow about a slender body of revolution. Results for parabolic arc bodies, both with and without an attached sting, are compared with wind-tunnel measurements for a free-stream Mach number range from 0.90 to 1.20. The method is also used to show the effects of wind-tunnel wall interference by including boundary conditions representing porous-wall and open-jet wind-tunnel test sections.

Bailey, F. R.↗

Combustion-Powered Actuation for Dynamic Stall Suppression - Simulations and Low-Mach Experiments

An investigation on dynamic-stall suppression capabilities of combustion-powered actuation (COMPACT) applied to a tabbed VR-12 airfoil is presented. In the first section, results from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations carried out at Mach numbers from 0.3 to 0.5 are presented. Several geometric parameters are varied including the slot chordwise location and angle. Actuation pulse amplitude, frequency, and timing are also varied. The simulations suggest that cycle-averaged lift increases of approximately 4% and 8% with respect to the baseline airfoil are possible at Mach numbers of 0.4 and 0.3 for deep and near-deep dynamic-stall conditions. In the second section, static-stall results from low-speed wind-tunnel experiments are presented. Low-speed experiments and high-speed CFD suggest that slots oriented tangential to the airfoil surface produce stronger benefits than slots oriented normal to the chordline. Low-speed experiments confirm that chordwise slot locations suitable for Mach 0.3-0.4 stall suppression (based on CFD) will also be effective at lower Mach numbers.

Matalanis, Claude G.↗

A numerical study of the effects of geometry on the performance of a supersonic combustor

A numerical study is conducted to investigate the effects of two combustor scale parameters, the expansion angle and the length of the constant area combustor section, on the mixing and combustion within a supersonic combustor. This study uses the SPARK 3D Navier-Stokes code. Turbulence is modeled utilizing an algebraic eddy viscosity model and the chemical mechanism is modeled with a 7-reaction, 7-species finite-rate chemistry model. The calculations show that, even at the relatively low flight Mach numbers (5-7) associated with the conditions examined, the chemical constituents are far from equilibrium, and therefore that kinetics effects are important.

Eklund, Dean R.↗

Investigation of nose bluntness and angle of attack effects on slender bodies in viscous hypersonic flows

Hypersonic flows over cones and straight biconic configurations are calculated for a wide range of free stream conditions in which the gas behind the shock is treated as perfect. Effect of angle of attack and nose bluntness on these slender cones in air is studied extensively. The numerical procedures are based on the solution of complete Navier-Stokes equations at the nose section and parabolized Navier-Stokes equations further downstream. The flow field variables and surface quantities show significant differences when the angle of attack and nose bluntness are varied. The complete flow field is thoroughly analyzed with respect to velocity, temperature, pressure, and entropy profiles. The post shock flow field is studied in detail from the contour plots of Mach number, density, pressure, and temperature. The effect of nose bluntness for slender cones persists as far as 200 nose radii downstream.

Sehgal, A. K.↗

Combined effect of nose bluntness and angle of attack on slender bodies in viscous hypersonic flows

Hypersonic flows over cones and straight biconic configurations are calculated for a wide range of free stream conditions in which the gas behind the shock is treated as perfect. Effect of angle of attack and nose bluntness on these slender cones in air is studied extensively. The numerical procedures are based on the solution of complete Navier-Stokes equations at the nose section and parabolized Navier-Stokes equations further downstream. The flow field variables and surface quantities show significant differences when the angle of attack and nose bluntness are varied. The complete flow field is thoroughly analyzed with respect to velocity, temperature, pressure, and entropy profiles. The post shock flow field is studied in detail from the contour plots of Mach number, density, pressure, and temperature. The effect of nose bluntness for slender cones persists as far as 200 nose radii downstream.

Tiwari, S. N.↗

The Effect of Nose Shape on the Drag of Bodies of Revolution at Zero Angle of Attack

The subject of this paper is the drag of the nose section of bodies of revolution at zero angle of attack. The magnitude of the nose drag in relation to the total drag is very distinctly a function of the body design and the Mach number. It can range from a very small fraction of the total drag of the order of 10 percent to a very large fraction as high as 80 percent. The natural objective of nose design is to minimize the drag, but this objective is not always the primary one. Sometimes other factors overshadow the desire for minimum drag. The most conspicuous example of this is the proposal of guidance engineers that large-diameter spheres and other very blunt shapes be used at the nose tip. This paper will attempt to discuss both phases of the problem, noses for minimum drag and noses with very blunt tips. The state of the theory will also be reviewed and recent theoretical developments described, since the theory still remains a very valuable tool for assaying the effects of compromises in design and departure from shapes for which experimental data are available.

Seiff, Alvin↗

Effect on Drag of Longitudinal Positioning of Half-Submerged and Pylon-Mounted Douglas Aircraft Stores on a Fuselage with and without Cavities between Mach Numbers 0.9 and 1.8

The effect on drag of positioning symmetrically mounted Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc. stores in pairs on a parabolic fuselage of fineness ratio 10.0 has been determined by flight tests of rocket-propelled, zero-lift models through a range of Mach number from 0.9 to 1.8. The stores were mounted in half-submerged positions and on pylons and were tested in three longitudinal locations on the fuselage with the forward position being located at the maximum diameter of the fuselage. The effects on drag of removing the half-submerged stores or extending them outward on pylons also was investigated by tests of models with half-submerged-store cavities on the fuselage. Two pylons differing in airfoil section and thickness were tested at the forward position of the stores on the fuselage with cavities. The half-submerged stores gave the smallest drag increments, which were approximately equal regardless of their respective longitudinal locations. Removing the half-submerged stores to expose the cavities increased the drag increments from two to three times. For the pylon-mounted stores, the store in the midposition had less drag than in the forward or rear positions at supersonic speeds. Adding the half-submerged-store cavities to the pylon-mounted-store configurations reduced the drag at the rear position between Mach numbers 0.95 and 1.50 and increased the drag at the midposition throughout the speed range. Changing from the 6-percent-thick flat pylon to the 10-percent-thick airfoil pylon increased the total drag slightly above Mach number 1.10. Good agreement was obtain& between the experimental and theoretical interference drag coefficients for the pylon-mounted stores (without fuselage cavities} in the three longitudinal locations tested at Mach numbers 1.2 and 1.5.

Hoffman, Sherwood↗

Force and pressure tests of the GA(W)-1 airfoil with a 20% aileron and pressure tests with a 30% Fowler flap

Wind tunnel force and pressure tests were conducted for the GA(W)-1 airfoil equipped with a 20% aileron, and pressure tests were conducted with a 30% Fowler flap. All tests were conducted at a Reynolds number of 2.2 and a Mach number of 0.13. The aileron provides control effectiveness similar to ailerons applied to more conventional airfoils. Effects of aileron gaps from 0% to 2% chord were evaluated, as well as hinge moment characteristics. The aft camber of the GA(W)-1 section results in a substantial up-aileron moment, but the hinge moments associated with aileron deflection are similar to other configurations. Fowler flap pressure distributions indicate that unseparated flow is achieved for flap settings up to 40 deg., over a limited angle of attack range. Theoretical pressure distributions compare favorably with experiments for low flap deflections, but show substantial errors at large deflections.

Wentz, W. H., Jr.↗

Altitude-Wind-Tunnel Investigation of Performance of Several Propellers on YP-47M Airplane at High Blade Loading: Curtiss 838-1C2-18R1 Four-Blade Propeller - 2

An investigation was conducted in the Cleveland altitude wind tunnel to determine the performance of a Curtiss propeller with four 838-lC2-lSRl blades on a YP-47M airplane at high blade loadings and engine powers. The study was made for a range of power coefficients between 0.30 and 1.00 at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.40 and 0.50. The results of the force measurements indicate primarily the trend of propeller efficiency for changes in power coefficient or advance-diameter ratio, inasmuch as corrections for the effects of tunnel-wall constriction on the installation have not been applied. Slip-stream pressure surveys across the propeller disk are presented to illustrate blade thrust load distribution for several operating conditions. At a free-stream Mach number of 0.40, nearly constant peak efficiencies were obtained at power coefficients from 0.30 to 0.70. A change in power coefficient from 0.70 to 0.90 reduced the peak efficiency about 5 percent. Blade stall at the tip sections became evident for a power coefficient of 0.91 when the advance-diameter ratio was reduced to 1.87. At a free-stream Mach number of 0.50, the highest propeller efficiencies were obtained for power coefficients from 0.80 to 1.00 at advance-diameter ratios above 2.90. At advance-diameter ratios below 2.90, the highest efficiencies were obtained for power coefficients of 0.60 and 0.70. The envelope of the efficiency curves decreased about 12 percent between advance-diameter ratios of 2.60 and 4.20. Local compressibility effects became evident for a power coefficient of 0.40 when the advance-diameter ratio was decreased to 1.75.

Wallner, Lewis E.↗

On the Application of Contour Bumps for Transonic Drag Reduction(Invited)

The effect of discrete contour bumps on reducing the transonic drag at off-design conditions on an airfoil have been examined. The research focused on fully-turbulent flow conditions, at a realistic flight chord Reynolds number of 30 million. State-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics methods were used to design a new baseline airfoil, and a family of fixed contour bumps. The new configurations were experimentally evaluated in the 0.3-m Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel at the NASA Langley Research center, which utilizes an adaptive wall test section to minimize wall interference. The computational study showed that transonic drag reduction, on the order of 12% - 15%, was possible using a surface contour bump to spread a normal shock wave. The computational study also indicated that the divergence drag Mach number was increased for the contour bump applications. Preliminary analysis of the experimental data showed a similar contour bump effect, but this data needed to be further analyzed for residual wall interference corrections.

Milholen, William E., II↗