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At least 145 records · Page 8

Shock capturing finite-difference and characteristic reference plane techniques for the prediction of three-dimensional nozzle-exhaust flowfields

This report summarizes work accomplished under Contract No. NAS1-12726 towards the development of computational procedures and associated numerical. The flow fields considered were those associated with airbreathing hypersonic aircraft which require a high degree of engine/airframe integration in order to achieve optimized performance. The exhaust flow, due to physical area limitations, was generally underexpanded at the nozzle exit; the vehicle afterbody undersurface was used to provide additional expansion to obtain maximum propulsive efficiency. This resulted in a three dimensional nozzle flow, initialized at the combustor exit, whose boundaries are internally defined by the undersurface, cowling and walls separating individual modules, and externally, by the undersurface and slipstream separating the exhaust flow and external stream.

Dash, S.

Fuel saving potential of Mach 0.8 twin engine prop-fan transports

The fuel saving and economic potentials of the prop-fan high-speed propeller concept have been evaluated for twin-engine commercial transport airplanes designed for 3333.6 km range, 180 passengers, and Mach 0.8 cruise. A fuel saving of 9.7% at the design range was estimated for a prop-fan aircraft having wing-mounted engines, while a 5.8% saving was estimated for a design having the engines mounted on the aft body. The fuel savings and cost were found to be sensitive to the propeller noise level and to aerodynamic drag effects due to wing-slipstream interaction. Uncertainties in these effects could change the fuel savings as much as plus or minus 50%. A modest improvement in direct operating cost was estimated for the wing-mounted prop-fan at current fuel prices.

Davenport, F. J.

Flight test evaluation of an RAF high altitude partial pressure protective assembly

A partial pressure suit was evaluated during tests in an F-104 and F-15 as a protective garment for emergency descents. The garment is an pressure jerkin and modified anti-g suit combined with an oronasal mask. The garment can be donned and doffed at the aircraft to minimize thermal buildup. The oronasal mask was favored by the pilots due to its immobility on the face during high g-loading. The garment was chosen to provide optimum dexterity for the pilot, which is not available in a full pressure suit, while protecting the pilot at altitudes up to 18,288 meters, during a cabin decompression, and subsequent aircraft descent. During cabin decompressions in the F-104 and F-15, cabin pressure altitude was measured at various aircraft angles of attack, Mach numbers, and altitudes to determine the effect of the aerodynamic slipstream on the cabin altitude.

Ashworth, G. R.

Summary of past experience in natural laminar flow and experimental program for resilient leading edge

The potential of natural laminar flow for significant drag reduction and improved efficiency for aircraft is assessed. Past experience with natural laminar flow as reported in published and unpublished data and personal observations of various researchers is summarized. Aspects discussed include surface contour, waviness, and smoothness requirements; noise and vibration effects on boundary layer transition, boundary layer stability criteria; flight experience with natural laminar flow and suction stabilized boundary layers; and propeller slipstream, rain, frost, ice and insect contamination effects on boundary layer transition. The resilient leading edge appears to be a very promising method to prevent leading edge insect contamination.

Carmichael, B. H.

Full-scale wind-tunnel investigation of an Ayres S2R-800 Thrush Agricultural Airplane

This paper summarizes the significant results of recent full-scale wind tunnel tests at the NASA-Langley Research Center of the Ayres S2R-800 Thrush Agricultural Aircraft. The purpose of the tests was to provide fundamental aerodynamic, performance, and stability and control information of the airplane and dispersal equipment; and to study near-field wake interaction characteristics behind the aircraft. The aerodynamic tests included the use of a propeller thrust-torque balance to measure the efficiency of the propeller in the presence of the engine and to provide data for determining slipstream interference effects and slip-stream drag.

Johnson, J. L., Jr.

Advanced turboprop installation aerodynamics

The expected aerodynamic effects of a propfan installed on a thick supercritical wing are summarized qualitatively. Nacelle/wing and jet interactions, slipstream incremental velocity, nonuniform inflow, and swirl loss recovery are discussed.

Smith, R. C.

Propfan installation aerodynamics of a supercritical swept wing transport configuration

A semispan model with a powered propeller has been tested to provide data on the installation drag penalty of advanced propfan-powered transports designed to cruise at a Mach number of 0.8. These tests, conducted in 14-foot and 11-foot transonic wind tunnels, are a part of a NASA program to develop efficient, high-speed propellers for more fuel-efficient commercial transports for the 1990s and beyond. The model is instrumented for measuring propeller forces, wing/nacelle forces and moments, and pressure distributions over the wing and nacelle. The body in these tests was nonmetric, being connected to the wing by an RTV seal at the wing/body juncture. Tests were run at angles of attack from -3 to +5 deg over the Mach number range 0.6 to 0.85 at a Reynolds number of about 9,000,000. Results of these tests indicate that the nacelle interference drag can be quite large relative to an uninstalled nacelle. However, the losses due to the nacelle were reduced to acceptable levels by changes to the wing leading edge and nacelle intersection. The propeller slipstream causes substantial changes in the wing span load distribution indicating that twist modifications are needed to recover a more favorable span load distribution.

Smith, R. C.

NASA aerial applications wake interaction research

A computer code has been developed for predicting trajectories of particles released in the wakes of airplanes or helicopters. The code accounts for effects of turbulence, crosswind, propeller slipstream, terrain variations, and plant canopy density on particle trajectories. Comparisons are given between experiments and theory. Applications of the code for spray pattern improvement are illustrated.

Morris, D. J.

Inlet design for high-speed propfans

A two-part study was performed to design inlets for high-speed propfan installation. The first part was a parametric study to select promising inlet concepts. A wide range of inlet geometries was examined and evaluated - primarily on the basis of cruise thrust and fuel burn performance. Two inlet concepts were than chosen for more detailed design studies - one apropriate to offset engine/gearbox arrangements and the other to in-line arrangements. In the second part of this study, inlet design points were chosen to optimize the net installed thrust, and detailed design of the two inlet configurations was performed. An analytical methodology was developed to account for propfan slipstream effects, transonic flow efects, and three-dimensional geometry effects. Using this methodology, low drag cowls were designed for the two inlets.

Little, B. H., Jr.

PAN AIR modeling studies

PAN AIR is a computer program that predicts subsonic or supersonic linear potential flow about arbitrary configurations. The code's versatility and generality afford numerous possibilities for modeling flow problems. Although this generality provides great flexibility, it also means that studies are required to establish the dos and don'ts of modeling. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate a variety of methods for modeling flows with PAN AIR. The areas discussed are effects of panel density, internal flow modeling, forebody modeling in subsonic flow, propeller slipstream modeling, effect of wake length, wing-tail-wake interaction, effect of trailing-edge paneling on the Kutta condition, well- and ill-posed boundary-value problems, and induced-drag calculations. These nine topics address problems that are of practical interest to the users of PAN AIR.

Towne, M. C.

Flight investigation of natural laminar flow on the Bellanca Skyrocket II

Two major concerns have inhibited the use of natural laminar flow (NLF) for viscous drag reduction on production aircraft. These are the concerns of achieveability of NLF on practical airframe surfaces, and maintainability in operating environments. Previous research in this area left a mixture of positive and negative conclusions regarding these concerns. While early (pre-1950) airframe construction methods could not achieve NLF criteria for waviness, several modern construction methods (composites for example) can achieve the required smoothness. This paper presents flight experiment data on the achieveability and maintainability of NLF on a high-performance, single-propeller, composite airplane, the Bellanca Skyrocket II. The significant contribution of laminar flow to the performance of this airplane was measured. Observations of laminar flow in the propeller slipstream are discussed, as are the effects of insect contamination on the wing. These observations have resulted in a new appreciation of the operational feasibility for achieving and maintaining NLF on modern airframe surfaces.

Holmes, B. J.

NASA wake interactions research and applications

This report describes the development, validation, and application of a computer program for predicting trajectories and ground deposit patterns for particle released in the wakes of airplanes or helicopters. The computer program accounts for the effects of atmospheric turbulence, crosswind, propeller slipstream, terrain variations, evaporation, and plant canopy density on the particle trajectories. In order to validate the prediction method, some comparisons are shown between experimental data and theoretical predictions. Possible applications of the code for spray pattern improvement and for mission operations analysis are illustrated. In addition, the effect of winglets on pattern uniformity, drift, and airplane aerodynamics are presented.

Morris, D. J.

An overview of V/STOL aircraft development

In reviewing the years of aviation development, it can be seen that vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) flight was considered before conventional fixed-wing operations. However, it has been difficult to develop a VTOL capability. The present investigation is concerned with a review of the historical development of VTOL aircraft, taking into account lessons learned from a selected group of concepts. Attention is given to the Flying Bedsteads, the tail-sitter designs, the Air Test Vehicle (ATV) and X-14 aircraft, the SC-1, the XV-3 tilt-rotor aircraft, the VZ3-RY deflected slipstream, the X-18 tilt wing, the VZ-2 tilt wing, the VZ-4 ducted fan, the Harrier, the XV-4A (Hummingbird), the Forger, and the XV-15 advanced tilt rotor.

Anderson, S. B.

Exploratory low-speed wind-tunnel investigation of advanced commuter configurations including an over-the-wing propeller design

A recent low-speed wind-tunnel investigation of a three-surface regional transport configuration has shown large favorable power effects on longitudinal and lateral stability and marginal engine-out trim characteristics for some aft engine and empennage configurations. The present paper discusses these results in terms of static force test information obtained for power-off and power-on conditions. Also discussed in this paper are wind-tunnel results which indicate that mounting propellers over the wing can introduce large favorable slipstream interference effects which significantly reduce the wing drag at climb power conditions.

Johnson, J. L., Jr.

A modified lifting line theory for wing-propeller interference

An inviscid incompressible model for the interaction of a wing with a single propeller slipstream is presented. The model allows the perturbation quantities to be potential even though the undisturbed flow is rotational. The governing equations for the spanwise lift distribution are derived and a simple method of solving these is indicated. Spanwise lift and induced drag distribution for two cases are computed.

Prabhu, R. K.

A numerical simulation of the dispersal of aerial sprays

A computer program was developed to predict the trajectory, ground deposition, and drift of liquid sprays injected into the wake of an agricultural aircraft in ground effect. The program uses a horseshoe vortex wake model and includes the effects of liquid droplet evaporation, crosswind, the propeller slipstream, ground effect, and tunnel walls on small scale models. This user's guide includes several case examples demonstrating user options. A complete listing of the FORTRAN program is provided.

Bragg, M. B.

Elements of computational engine-airframe integration

Computerized flow simulation methods are being developed to refine the traditional engine-airframe integration process. These analyses reduce design risk, minimize wind tunnel and flight test requirements, and provide detailed design information not available by any other means. This paper describes computational tools which have matured sufficiently to permit project applications. Several applications are combined with research studies to illustrate the prediction of high-speed nonlinear phenomena associated with engine inlet flow rate, nacelle shape and position, afterbody shape and integration, propeller slipstream interactions, airframe-induced inlet flow, and pylon integration. Both fighter and transport configurations are used to highlight current capabilities and future requirements.

Boppe, C. W.