Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Vortex Flow”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,441 records · Page 80

A wing-jet interaction theory for USB configurations

The aerodynamic interaction between the wing and an inviscid upper-surface blowing (USB) thick jet with Mach number nonuniformity is treated within the framework of a linear inviscid subsonic compressible flow theory. A two-vortex-sheet model for the jet surface is used to represent the induced flowfields inside and outside the jet. Comparison of the predicted results with experimental data shows good agreement in lift, induced drag, and pitching moment. It is shown that the thin jet flap theory is inadequate for USB configurations with thick jet.

Lan, C. E.↗

Utilization of the wing-body aerodynamic analysis program

The analysis program was used to investigate several aircraft characteristics. The studies performed included vehicle stability analysis, determination of upwash angle, identification of nonpotential flow, launch dynamics, and wake vortex upset loads. The techniques and are discussed. When possible, computed results are compared with experimental data.

Curry, R. E.↗

Characteristics of future aircraft impacting aircraft and airport compatibility

Results are reported of an opinion survey of selected individuals at the decision-making level within the five major manufacturers of transport aircraft in the United States and Europe. Opinions were obtained concerning both possible and probable existence of over 50 compatibility-related characteristics of transport aircraft in use in the years 1990, 2000, and 2010. The maximum size of aircraft is expected to increase, at a roughly uniform rate, to the year 2010 by 85 percent in passengers, 55 percent in airfreighter payload, and 35 percent in gross weight weight. Companion to the expected growth in payloads and gross weight was the identification of probable increases in aircraft geometrical dimensions and component capability, and use of fully double-decked passenger compartments. Wing span will increase considerably more than normally expected to provide wings of higher aspect ratio. New aircraft features coming into probable use include large turboprops, synthetic jet-A fuel, winglets, wake-vortex-reducing devices and laminar flow control. New operational concepts considered probable include steep approaches, high-speed turnoffs, and taxiway towing for the aircraft, plus passenger bypass of the terminal building, expedited handling of belly cargo and an intermodal cargo container for the payloads.

Conner, D. W.↗

Nonlinear dynamics; Proceedings of the International Conference, New York, NY, December 17-21, 1979

Papers were presented on turbulence, ergodic and integrable behavior, chaotic maps and flows, chemical and fully developed turbulence, and strange attractors. Specific attention was given to measures describing a turbulent flow, stochastization and collapse of vortex systems, a subharmonic route to turbulent convection, and weakly nonlinear turbulence in a rotating convection layer. The Korteweg-de Vries and Hill equations, plasma transport in three dimensions, a horseshoe in the dynamics of a forced beam, and the explosion of strange attractors exhibited by Duffing's equation were also considered.

Helleman, R. H. G.↗

Numerical Modeling of Turbulent Combustion

The work in numerical modeling is focused on the use of the random vortex method to treat turbulent flow fields associated with combustion while flame fronts are considered as interfaces between reactants and products, propagating with the flow and at the same time advancing in the direction normal to themselves at a prescribed burning speed. The latter is associated with the generation of specific volume (the flame front acting, in effect, as the locus of volumetric sources) to account for the expansion of the flow field due to the exothermicity of the combustion process. The model was applied to the flow in a channel equipped with a rearward facing step. The results obtained revealed the mechanism of the formation of large scale turbulent structure in the wake of the step, while it showed the flame to stabilize on the outer edges of these eddies.

Ghoneim, A. F.↗

Helicopters for the future

Technology needed to provide the basis for creating a widening rotary wing market include: well defined and proven design; reductions in noise, vibration, and fuel consumption; improvement of flying and ride quality; better safety; reliability; maintainability; and productivity. Unsteady transonic flow, yawed flow, dynamic stall, and blade vortex interaction are some of the problems faced by scientists and engineers in the helicopter industry with rotorcraft technology seen as an important development for future advanced high speed vehicle configurations. Such aircraft as the Boeing Vertol medium lift Model 360 composite aircraft, the Sikorsky Advancing Blade Concept (ABC) aircraft, the Bell Textron XV-15 Tilt Rotor Aircraft, and the X-wing rotor aircraft are discussed in detail. Even though rotorcraft technology has become an integral part of the military scene, the potential market for its civil applications has not been fully developed.

Ward, J. F.↗

Approximate analysis for resonance of an incompressible shear layer plus edges

A method for approximately analyzing the feedback between downstream and upstream edges in incompressible shear flow is described. The shear flow is modeled by a vortex sheet. Equations for resonance eigenvalues are derived. After the reduction of growth rate by finite shear layer thickness is allowed for, agreement is found between calculated resonances and those that have been observed experimentally.

Durbin, P. A.↗

Effects of upstream-biased third-order space correction terms on multidimensional Crowley advection schemes

The impact of upstream-biased corrections for third-order spatial truncation error on the stability and phase error of the two-dimensional Crowley combined advective scheme with the cross-space term included is analyzed, putting primary emphasis on phase error reduction. The various versions of the Crowley scheme are formally defined, and their stability and phase error characteristics are intercompared using a linear Fourier component analysis patterned after Fromm (1968, 1969). The performances of the schemes under prototype simulation conditions are tested using time-dependent numerical experiments which advect an initially cone-shaped passive scalar distribution in each of three steady nondivergent flows. One such flow is solid rotation, while the other two are diagonal uniform flow and a strongly deformational vortex.

Schlesinger, R. E.↗

Simulation of self-induced unsteady motion in the near wake of a Joukowski airfoil

The unsteady Navier-Stokes analysis is shown to be capable of analyzing the massively separated, persistently unsteady flow in the post-stall regime of a Joukowski airfoil for an angle of attack as high as 53 degrees. The analysis has provided the detailed flow structure, showing the complex vortex interaction for this configuration. The aerodynamic coefficients for lift, drag, and moment were calculated. So far only the spatial structure of the vortex interaction was computed. It is now important to potentially use the large-scale vortex interactions, an additional energy source, to improve the aerodynamic performance.

Ghia, K. N.↗

Laser velocimetry in highly three-dimensional and vortical flows

The need for experimentally determined 3-D velocity information is crucial to the understanding of highly 3-dimensional and vortical flow fields. In addition to gaining an understanding of the physics of flow fields, a correlation of velocity data is needed for advanced computational modelling. A double pass method for acquiring 3-D flow field information using a 2-D laser velocimeter (LV) is described. The design and implementation of a 3-D LV with expanded capabilities to acquire real-time 3-D flow field information are also described. Finally, the use of such an instrument in a wind tunnel study of a generic fighter configuration is described. The results of the wind tunnel study highlight the complexities of 3-D flow fields, particularly when the vortex behavior is examined over a range of angles of attack.

Novak, C. J.↗

Formation of asymmetric separated flow past slender bodies of revolution at large angles of attack

The paper examines the problem of determining stationary positions of pairs of vortices of unequal intensity in the flow behind a cylinder modeling the axisymmetric separated flow past a slender body at large angles of attack. The possible asymmetric stationary positions of two vortices are calculated, and their stability with respect to small perturbations is determined. Bifurcations of the flow field with changes in vortex intensity are analyzed.

Goman, M. G.↗

Transport of atmospheric tracers by planetary waves during a winter stratospheric warming event - A three-dimensional model simulation

In a simple three-dimensional primitive equation model, a wave number 1 major stratospheric warming is simulated. With the aid of two idealized tracers it is shown that the transport during a major warming event is characterized by a small, well-organized tongue of subtropical air flowing around the displaced winter vortex into the polar cap and by a wide area with strong quasi-horizontal mixing (surf zone). The description of these dynamical processes requires a full three-dimensional space resolution.

Kouker, W.↗

Aerodynamic interaction between vortical wakes and lifting two-dimensional bodies

Unsteady rotor wake interactions with the empenage, tail boom, and other aerodynamic surfaces of a helicopter have a significant influence on its aerodynamic performance, the ride quality, and amount of vibration. A numerical method for computing the aerodynamic interaction between an interacting vortex wake and the viscous flow about arbitrary two-dimensional bodies has been developed to address this helicopter problem. The method solves for the flow field velocities on a body-fitted computational mesh using finite-difference techniques. The interaction of a rotor wake with the flow about a 4:1 elliptic cylinder at 45-deg incidence was calculated for a Reynolds number of 3000.

Stremel, Paul M.↗

Spur-type instability observed on numerically simulated vortex filaments

An instability observed on vortex filaments during numerical simulations of the three-dimensional, time-dependent dynamics of vortex wakes is studied to determine when and why it occurs. It is concluded that the observed instability is a consequence of the use of straight-line vortex segments of finite length to model continuously curving vortex filaments. The instability appears to occur only when the link length is a sizable fraction of the vortex span and, therefore, is not expected in an experiment. Guidelines are then given that help avoid numerical instabilities when vortex filaments are used in flow simulations.

Rossow, Vernon J.↗

A computational study on the interaction between a vortex and a shock wave

A computational study of two-dimensional shock vortex interaction is discussed in this paper. A second order upwind finite volume method is used to solve the Euler equations in conservation form. In this method, the shock wave is captured rather than fitted so that the cases where shock vortex interaction may cause secondary shocks can also be investigated. The effects of vortex strength on the computed flow and acoustic field generated by the interaction are qualitatively evaluated.

Meadows, Kristine R.↗

Experimental and numerical study of the British Experimental Rotor Programme blade

Wind-tunnel tests on the British Experimental Rotor Programme (BERP) tip are described, and the results are compared with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results. The test model was molded using the Lynx-BERP blade tooling to provide a semispan, cantilever wing comprising the outboard 30 percent of the rotor blade. The tests included both surface-pressure measurements and flow visualization to obtain detailed information of the flow over the BERP tip for a range of angles of attack. It was observed that, outboard of the notch, favorable pressure gradients exist which ensure attached flow, and that the tip vortex also remains stable to large angles of attack. On the rotor, these features yield a very gradual break in control loads when the retreating-blade limit is eventually reached. Computational and experimental results were generally found to be in good agreement.

Brocklehurst, Alan↗

Research reports: 1990 NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program

A collection of technical reports on research conducted by the participants in this program is presented. The topics covered include: human-computer interface software, multimode fiber optic communication links, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, rocket-triggered lightning, robotics, a flammability study of thin polymeric film materials, a vortex shedding flowmeter, modeling of flow systems, monomethyl hydrazine vapor detection, a rocket noise filter system using digital filters, computer programs, lower body negative pressure, closed ecological systems, and others. Several reports with respect to space shuttle orbiters are presented.

Anderson, Loren A.↗

On the nonlinear development of the most unstable Goertler vortex mode

The nonlinear development of the most unstable Gortler vortex mode in boundary layer flows over curved walls is investigated. The most unstable Gortler mode is confined to a viscous wall layer of thickness O(G -1/5) and has spanwise wavelength O(G 11/5); it is, of course, most relevant to flow situations where the Gortler number G is much greater than 1. The nonlinear equations covering the evolution of this mode over an O(G -3/5) streamwise lengthscale are derived and are found to be of a fully nonparallel nature. The solution of these equations is achieved by making use of the numerical scheme used by Hall (1988) for the numerical solution of the nonlinear Gortler equations valid for O(1) Gortler numbers. Thus, the spanwise dependence of the flow is described by a Fourier expansion, whereas the streamwise and normal variations of the flow are dealt with by employing a suitable finite difference discretization of the governing equations. Our calculations demonstrate that, given a suitable initial disturbance, after a brief interval of decay, the energy in all the higher harmonics grows until a singularity is encountered at some downstream position. The structure of the flowfield as this singularity is approached suggests that the singularity is responsible for the vortices, which are initially confined to the thin viscous wall layer, moving away from the wall and into the core of the boundary layer.

Denier, James P.↗