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At least 163 records · Page 9

Experimental studies of shock-wave/wall-jet interaction in hypersonic flow

Experimental studies have been conducted to examine slot film cooling effectiveness and the interaction between the cooling film and an incident planar shock wave in turbulent hypersonic flow. The experimental studies were conducted in the 48-inch shock tunnel at Calspan at a freestream Mach number of close to 6.4 and at a Reynolds number of 35 x 10(exp 6) based on the length of the model at the injection point. The Mach 2.3 planar wall jet was generated from 40 transverse nozzles (with heights of both 0.080 inch and 0.120 inch), producing a film that extended the full width of the model. The nozzles were operated at pressures and velocities close to matching the freestream, as well as at conditions where the nozzle flows were over- and under-expanded. A two-dimensional shock generator was used to generate oblique shocks that deflected the flow through total turnings of 11, 16, and 21 degrees; the flows impinged downstream of the nozzle exits. Detailed measurements of heat transfer and pressure were made both ahead and downstream of the injection station, with the greatest concentration of measurements in the regions of shock-wave/boundary layer interaction. The major objectives of these experimental studies were to explore the effectiveness of film cooling in the presence of regions of shock-wave/boundary layer interaction and, more specifically, to determine how boundary layer separation and the large recompression heating rates were modified by film cooling. Detailed distributions of heat transfer and pressure were obtained in the incident shock/wall-jet interaction region for a series of shock strengths and impingement positions for each of the two nozzle heights. Measurements were also made to examine the effects of nozzle lip thickness on cooling effectiveness. The major conclusion from these studies was that the effect of the cooling film could be readily dispersed by relatively weak incident shocks, so the peak heating in the recompression region was not significantly reduced by even the largest levels of film cooling. For the case studies in the absence of film cooling, the interaction regions were unseparated. However, adding film cooling resulted in regions of boundary layer separation induced in the film cooling layer -- the size of which regions first increased and then decreased with increased film cooling. Surprisingly, the size of the separated regions and the magnitude of the recompression heating were not strongly influenced by the thickness of the cooling film, nor by the point of shock impingement relative to the exit plane of the nozzles. The lip thickness was found to have little effect on cooling effectiveness. Measurements with and in the absence of shock interaction were compared with the results of earlier experimental studies and correlated in terms of the major parameters controlling these flows.

Holden, Michael S.↗

Experimental studies of shock-wave/wall-jet interaction in hypersonic flow, part A

Experimental studies have been conducted to examine slot film cooling effectiveness and the interaction between the cooling film and an incident planar shock wave in turbulent hypersonic flow. The experimental studies were conducted in the 48-inch shock tunnel at Calspan at a freestream Mach number of close to 6.4 and at a Reynolds number of 35 x 10(exp 6) based on the length of the model at the injection point. The Mach 2.3 planar wall jet was generated from 40 transverse nozzles (with heights of both 0.080 inch and 0.120 inch), producing a film that extended the full width of the model. The nozzles were operated at pressures and velocities close to matching the freestream, as well as at conditions where the nozzle flows were over- and under-expanded. A two-dimensional shock generator was used to generate oblique shocks that deflected the flow through total turnings of 11, 16, and 21 degrees; the flows impinged downstream of the nozzle exits. Detailed measurements of heat transfer and pressure were made both ahead and downstream of the injection station, with the greatest concentration of measurements in the regions of shock-wave/boundary layer interaction. The major objectives of these experimental studies were to explore the effectiveness of film cooling in the presence of regions of shock-wave/boundary layer interaction and, more specifically, to determine how boundary layer separation and the large recompression heating rates were modified by film cooling. Detailed distributions of heat transfer and pressure were obtained in the incident-shock/wall-jet interaction region for a series of shock strengths and impingement positions for each of the two nozzle heights. Measurements were also made to examine the effects of nozzle lip thickness on cooling effectiveness. The major conclusion from these studies was that the effect of the cooling film could be readily dispersed by relatively weak incident shocks, so the peak heating in the recompression region was not significantly reduced by even the largest levels of film cooling. For the case studies in the absence of film cooling, the interaction regions were unseparated. However, adding film cooling resulted in regions of boundary layer separation induced in the film cooling layer, the size of which regions first increased and then decreased with increased film cooling. Surprisingly, the size of the separated regions and the magnitude of the recompression heating were not strongly influenced by the thickness of the cooling film, nor by the point of shock impingement relative to the exit plane of the nozzles. The lip thickness was found to have little effect on cooling effectiveness. Measurements with and in the absence of shock interaction were compared with the results of earlier experimental studies and correlated in terms of the major parameters controlling these flows.

Holden, Michael S.↗

Analytical and Experimental Vibration Analysis of a Faulty Gear System

A comprehensive analytical procedure was developed for predicting faults in gear transmission systems under normal operating conditions. A gear tooth fault model is developed to simulate the effects of pitting and wear on the vibration signal under normal operating conditions. The model uses changes in the gear mesh stiffness to simulate the effects of gear tooth faults. The overall dynamics of the gear transmission system is evaluated by coupling the dynamics of each individual gear-rotor system through gear mesh forces generated between each gear-rotor system and the bearing forces generated between the rotor and the gearbox structure. The predicted results were compared with experimental results obtained from a spiral bevel gear fatigue test rig at NASA Lewis Research Center. The Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) was used to give a comprehensive comparison of the predicted and experimental results. The WVD method applied to the experimental results were also compared to other fault detection techniques to verify the WVD's ability to detect the pitting damage, and to determine its relative performance. Overall results show good correlation between the experimental vibration data of the damaged test gear and the predicted vibration from the model with simulated gear tooth pitting damage. Results also verified that the WVD method can successfully detect and locate gear tooth wear and pitting damage.

Choy, F. K.↗

Experimental validation of an integrated controls-structures design methodology for a class of flexible space structures

This paper describes the first experimental validation of an optimization-based integrated controls-structures design methodology for a class of flexible space structures. The Controls-Structures-Interaction (CSI) Evolutionary Model, a laboratory test bed at Langley, is redesigned based on the integrated design methodology with two different dissipative control strategies. The redesigned structure is fabricated, assembled in the laboratory, and experimentally compared with the original test structure. Design guides are proposed and used in the integrated design process to ensure that the resulting structure can be fabricated. Experimental results indicate that the integrated design requires greater than 60 percent less average control power (by thruster actuators) than the conventional control-optimized design while maintaining the required line-of-sight performance, thereby confirming the analytical findings about the superiority of the integrated design methodology. Amenability of the integrated design structure to other control strategies is considered and evaluated analytically and experimentally. This work also demonstrates the capabilities of the Langley-developed design tool CSI DESIGN which provides a unified environment for structural and control design.

Maghami, Peiman G.↗

Experimental Characterization and Micromechanical Modeling of Woven Carbon/Copper Composites

The results of an extensive experimental characterization and a preliminary analytical modeling effort for the elastoplastic mechanical behavior of 8-harness satin weave carbon/copper (C/Cu) composites are presented. Previous experimental and modeling investigations of woven composites are discussed, as is the evolution of, and motivation for, the continuing research on C/Cu composites. Experimental results of monotonic and cyclic tension, compression, and Iosipescu shear tests, and combined tension-compression tests, are presented. With regard to the test results, emphasis is placed on the effect of strain gauge size and placement, the effect of alloying the copper matrix to improve fiber-matrix bonding, yield surface characterization, and failure mechanisms. The analytical methodology used in this investigation consists of an extension of the three-dimensional generalized method of cells (GMC-3D) micromechanics model, developed by Aboudi (1994), to include inhomogeneity and plasticity effects on the subcell level. The extension of the model allows prediction of the elastoplastic mechanical response of woven composites, as represented by a true repeating unit cell for the woven composite. The model is used to examine the effects of refining the representative geometry of the composite, altering the composite overall fiber volume fraction, changing the size and placement of the strain gauge with respect to the composite's reinforcement weave, and including porosity within the infiltrated fiber yarns on the in-plane elastoplastic tensile, compressive, and shear response of 8-harness satin C/Cu. The model predictions are also compared with the appropriate monotonic experimental results.

Bednarcyk, Brett A.↗

An Experimental and Theoretical Study of Radiative Extinction of Diffusion Flames

The objective of this research was to experimentally and theoretically investigate the radiation-induced extinction of gaseous diffusion flames in microgravity. The microgravity conditions were required because radiation-induced extinction is generally not possible in 1-g but is highly likely in microgravity. In 1-g, the flame-generated particulates (e.g. soot) and gaseous combustion products that are responsible for flame radiation, are swept away from the high temperature reaction zone by the buoyancy-induced flow and a steady state is developed. In microgravity, however, the absence of buoyancy-induced flow which transports the fuel and the oxidizer to the combustion zone and removes the hot combustion products from it enhances the flame radiation due to: (1) transient build-up of the combustion products in the flame zone which increases the gas radiation, and (2) longer residence time makes conditions appropriate for substantial amounts of soot to form which is usually responsible for most of the radiative heat loss. Numerical calculations conducted during the course of this work show that even non-radiative flames continue to become "weaker" (diminished burning rate per unit flame area) due to reduced rates of convective and diffusive transport. Thus, it was anticipated that radiative heat loss may eventually extinguish the already "weak" microgravity diffusion flame. While this hypothesis appears convincing and our numerical calculations support it, experiments for a long enough microgravity time could not be conducted during the course of this research to provide an experimental proof. Space shuttle experiments on candle flames show that in an infinite ambient atmosphere, the hemispherical candle flame in microgravity will burn indefinitely. It was hoped that radiative extinction can be experimentally shown by the aerodynamically stabilized gaseous diffusion flames where the fuel supply rate was externally controlled. While substantial progress toward this goal was made during this project, identifying the experimental conditions for which radiative extinction occurs for various fuels requires further study. Details concerning this research which are discussed in published articles are included in the appendices.

Atreya, Arvind↗

Experimental Studies of the Interaction Between a Parallel Shear Flow and a Directionally-Solidifying Front

It has long been recognized that flow in the melt can have a profound influence on the dynamics of a solidifying interface and hence the quality of the solid material. In particular, flow affects the heat and mass transfer, and causes spatial and temporal variations in the flow and melt composition. This results in a crystal with nonuniform physical properties. Flow can be generated by buoyancy, expansion or contraction upon phase change, and thermo-soluto capillary effects. In general, these flows can not be avoided and can have an adverse effect on the stability of the crystal structures. This motivates crystal growth experiments in a microgravity environment, where buoyancy-driven convection is significantly suppressed. However, transient accelerations (g-jitter) caused by the acceleration of the spacecraft can affect the melt, while convection generated from the effects other than buoyancy remain important. Rather than bemoan the presence of convection as a source of interfacial instability, Hurle in the 1960s suggested that flow in the melt, either forced or natural convection, might be used to stabilize the interface. Delves considered the imposition of both a parabolic velocity profile and a Blasius boundary layer flow over the interface. He concluded that fast stirring could stabilize the interface to perturbations whose wave vector is in the direction of the fluid velocity. Forth and Wheeler considered the effect of the asymptotic suction boundary layer profile. They showed that the effect of the shear flow was to generate travelling waves parallel to the flow with a speed proportional to the Reynolds number. There have been few quantitative, experimental works reporting on the coupling effect of fluid flow and morphological instabilities. Huang studied plane Couette flow over cells and dendrites. It was found that this flow could greatly enhance the planar stability and even induce the cell-planar transition. A rotating impeller was buried inside the sample cell, driven by an outside rotating magnet, in order to generate the flow. However, it appears that this was not a well-controlled flow and may also have been unsteady. In the present experimental study, we want to study how a forced parallel shear flow in a Hele-Shaw cell interacts with the directionally solidifying crystal interface. The comparison of experimental data show that the parallel shear flow in a Hele-Shaw cell has a strong stabilizing effect on the planar interface by damping the existing initial perturbations. The flow also shows a stabilizing effect on the cellular interface by slightly reducing the exponential growth rate of cells. The left-right symmetry of cells is broken by the flow with cells tilting toward the incoming flow direction. The tilting angle increases with the velocity ratio. The experimental results are explained through the parallel flow effect on lateral solute transport. The phenomenon of cells tilting against the flow is consistent with the numerical result of Dantzig and Chao.

Zhang, Meng↗

High-Area-Ratio Rocket Nozzle at High Combustion Chamber Pressure: Experimental and Analytical Validation

Experimental data were obtained on an optimally contoured nozzle with an area ratio of 1025:1 and on a truncated version of this nozzle with an area ratio of 440:1. The nozzles were tested with gaseous hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants at combustion chamber pressures of 1800 to 2400 psia and mixture ratios of 3.89 to 6.15. This report compares the experimental performance, heat transfer, and boundary layer total pressure measurements with theoretical predictions of the current Joint Army, Navy, NASA, Air Force (JANNAF) developed methodology. This methodology makes use of the Two-Dimensional Kinetics (TDK) nozzle performance code. Comparisons of the TDK-predicted performance to experimentally attained thrust performance indicated that both the vacuum thrust coefficient and the vacuum specific impulse values were approximately 2.0-percent higher than the turbulent prediction for the 1025:1 configurations, and approximately 0.25-percent higher than the turbulent prediction for the 440:1 configuration. Nozzle wall temperatures were measured on the outside of a thin-walled heat sink nozzle during the test fittings. Nozzle heat fluxes were calculated front the time histories of these temperatures and compared with predictions made with the TDK code. The heat flux values were overpredicted for all cases. The results range from nearly 100 percent at an area ratio of 50 to only approximately 3 percent at an area ratio of 975. Values of the integral of the heat flux as a function of nozzle surface area were also calculated. Comparisons of the experiment with analyses of the heat flux and the heat rate per axial length also show that the experimental values were lower than the predicted value. Three boundary layer rakes mounted on the nozzle exit were used for boundary layer measurements. This arrangement allowed total pressure measurements to be obtained at 14 different distances from the nozzle wall. A comparison of boundary layer total pressure profiles and analytical predictions show good agreement for the first 0.5 in. from the nozzle wall; but the further into the core flow that measurements were taken, the more that TDK overpredicted the boundary layer thickness.

Jankovsky, Robert S.↗

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Acceleration Disturbances on Microgravity Experiments

Normal vibrational modes on large spacecraft are excited by crew activity, operating machinery, and other mechanical disturbances. Periodic engine burns for maintaining vehicle attitude and random impulse type disturbances also contribute to the acceleration environment of a Spacecraft. Accelerations from these vibrations (often referred to as g-jitter) are several orders of magnitude larger than the residual accelerations from atmospheric drag and gravity gradient effects. Naturally, the effects of such accelerations have been a concern to prospective experimenters wishing to take advantage of the microgravity environment offered by spacecraft operating in low Earth orbit and the topic has been studied extensively, both numerically and analytically. However, these studies have not produced a general theory that predicts the effects of multi-spectral periodic accelerations on a general class of experiments nor have they produced scaling laws that a prospective experimenter could use to assess how his/her experiment might be affected by this acceleration environment. Furthermore, there are no actual flight experimental data that correlates heat or mass transport with measurements of the periodic acceleration environment. The present investigation approaches this problem with carefully conducted terrestrial experiments and rigorous numerical modeling thereby providing comparative theoretical and experimental data. The modeling, it is hoped will provide a predictive tool that can be used for assessing experiment response to Spacecraft vibrations.

Ramachandran, Narayanan↗

A Comparison of Analytical and Experimental Data for a Magnetic Actuator

Theoretical and experimental force-displacement and force-current data are compared for two configurations of a simple horseshoe, or bipolar, magnetic actuator. One configuration utilizes permanent magnet wafers to provide a bias flux and the other configuration has no source of bias flux. The theoretical data are obtained from two analytical models of each configuration. One is an ideal analytical model which is developed under the following assumptions: (1) zero fringing and leakage flux, (2) zero actuator coil mmf loss, and (3) infinite permeability of the actuator core and suspended element flux return path. The other analytical model, called the extended model, is developed by adding loss and leakage factors to the ideal model. The values of the loss and leakage factors are calculated from experimental data. The experimental data are obtained from a magnetic actuator test fixture, which is described in detail. Results indicate that the ideal models for both configurations do not match the experimental data very well. However, except for the range around zero force, the extended models produce a good match. The best match is produced by the extended model of the configuration with permanent magnet flux bias.

Groom, Nelson J.↗

Experimental Validation of a Thermoelastic Model for SMA Hybrid Composites

This study presents results from experimental validation of a recently developed model for predicting the thermomechanical behavior of shape memory alloy hybrid composite (SMAHC) structures, composite structures with an embedded SMA constituent. The model captures the material nonlinearity of the material system with temperature and is capable of modeling constrained, restrained, or free recovery behavior from experimental measurement of fundamental engineering properties. A brief description of the model and analysis procedures is given, followed by an overview of a parallel effort to fabricate and characterize the material system of SMAHC specimens. Static and dynamic experimental configurations for the SMAHC specimens are described and experimental results for thermal post-buckling and random response are presented. Excellent agreement is achieved between the measured and predicted results, fully validating the theoretical model for constrained recovery behavior of SMAHC structures.

Turner, Travis L.↗

A Review of Evidence for High Life Coefficients on Propeller and Rotor Blades Under Static Thrust Conditions with Some New Experimental Results

Interest has increased recently in the thrust-producing capability of rotors at very high collective pitch angles. An early reference noted this behaviour in rotors and offered alternative models for section lift characteristics to explain it. The same phenomenon was coincidentally noted and used in a propeller code, resulting in very good correlation with static thrust data. The proposed paper will present experimental data demonstrating the pronounced persistence of thrust for propellers at increasing collective pitch angles. Comparisons with blade element/momentum theory will be made. These results are expected to point to the need to define (ultimately to explain) aerodynamic lift and drag behaviour in a rotating environment. Experimental measurements made by the U.S. Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate at the Ames Research Center have shown that locally measured normal force coefficients along the span of a highly twisted rotor blade continue to increase at high values of collective pitch. In some cases these coefficients exceed expected values for the same type of airfoil tested under two dimensional conditions. To date no one to the authors' knowledge has defined the variation of C(n) with pitch for very high angles (to 45 deg) in a rotating environment and for a blade of reasonably high aspect ratio; however, total propeller thrust measurements support the idea that stalling does not occur in the same way as on a wing. This paper will present experimental data in the form of surface pressure distributions as well as flow visualization (microtufts) to explore the aerodynamic behavior of the rotating airfoil at high values of blade incidence. This paper also reviews experimental evidence and infers some high lift coefficient behavior from it. Comparisons between predicted thrust, utilizing modified airfoil characteristics and a blade element model, and measured thrust for both rotors and propellers that cover the extremes of collective pitch are shown and discussed.

Talbot, Peter D.↗

Experimental and Computational Study of Sonic and Supersonic Jet Plumes

Study of sonic and supersonic jet plumes are relevant to understanding such phenomenon as jet-noise, plume signatures, and rocket base-heating and radiation. Jet plumes are simple to simulate and yet, have complex flow structures such as Mach disks, triple points, shear-layers, barrel shocks, shock-shear-layer interaction, etc. Experimental and computational simulation of sonic and supersonic jet plumes have been performed for under- and over-expanded, axisymmetric plume conditions. The computational simulation compare very well with the experimental observations of schlieren pictures. Experimental data such as temperature measurements with hot-wire probes are yet to be measured and will be compared with computed values. Extensive analysis of the computational simulations presents a clear picture of how the complex flow structure develops and the conditions under which self-similar flow structures evolve. From the computations, the plume structure can be further classified into many sub-groups. In the proposed paper, detail results from the experimental and computational simulations for single, axisymmetric, under- and over-expanded, sonic and supersonic plumes will be compared and the fluid dynamic aspects of flow structures will be discussed.

Venkatapathy, E.↗

Experimental and Computational Investigation of Multiple Injection Ports in a Convergent-Divergent Nozzle for Fluidic Thrust Vectoring

A computational and experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of multiple injection ports in a two-dimensional, convergent-divergent nozzle, for fluidic thrust vectoring. The concept of multiple injection ports was conceived to enhance the thrust vectoring capability of a convergent-divergent nozzle over that of a single injection port without increasing the secondary mass flow rate requirements. The experimental study was conducted at static conditions in the Jet Exit Test Facility of the 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel Complex at NASA Langley Research Center. Internal nozzle performance was obtained at nozzle pressure ratios up to 10 with secondary nozzle pressure ratios up to 1 for five configurations. The computational study was conducted using the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics code PAB3D with two-equation turbulence closure and linear Reynolds stress modeling. Internal nozzle performance was predicted for nozzle pressure ratios up to 10 with a secondary nozzle pressure ratio of 0.7 for two configurations. Results from the experimental study indicate a benefit to multiple injection ports in a convergent-divergent nozzle. In general, increasing the number of injection ports from one to two increased the pitch thrust vectoring capability without any thrust performance penalties at nozzle pressure ratios less than 4 with high secondary pressure ratios. Results from the computational study are in excellent agreement with experimental results and validates PAB3D as a tool for predicting internal nozzle performance of a two dimensional, convergent-divergent nozzle with multiple injection ports.

Waithe, Kenrick A.↗

Experimental and Computational Investigation of Multiple Injection Ports in a Convergent-Divergent Nozzle for Fluidic Thrust Vectoring

A computational and experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of multiple injection ports in a two-dimensional, convergent-divergent nozzle, for fluidic thrust vectoring. The concept of multiple injection ports was conceived to enhance the thrust vectoring capability of a convergent-divergent nozzle over that of a single injection port without increasing the secondary mass flow rate requirements. The experimental study was conducted at static conditions in the Jet Exit Test Facility of the 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel Complex at NASA Langley Research Center. Internal nozzle performance was obtained at nozzle pressure ratios up to 10 with secondary nozzle pressure ratios up to 1 for five configurations. The computational study was conducted using the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics code PAB3D with two-equation turbulence closure and linear Reynolds stress modeling. Internal nozzle performance was predicted for nozzle pressure ratios up to 10 with a secondary nozzle pressure ratio of 0.7 for two configurations. Results from the experimental study indicate a benefit to multiple injection ports in a convergent-divergent nozzle. In general, increasing the number of injection ports from one to two increased the pitch thrust vectoring capability without any thrust performance penalties at nozzle pressure ratios less than 4 with high secondary pressure ratios. Results from the computational study are in excellent agreement with experimental results and validates PAB3D as a tool for predicting internal nozzle performance of a two dimensional, convergent-divergent nozzle with multiple injection ports.

Waithe, Kenrick A.↗

Solar Pumped Solid State Lasers for Space Solar Power: Experimental Path

We outline an experimentally based strategy designed to lead to solar pumped solid state laser oscillators useful for space solar power. Our method involves solar pumping a novel solid state gain element specifically designed to provide efficient conversion of sunlight in space to coherent laser light. Kilowatt and higher average power is sought from each gain element. Multiple such modular gain elements can be used to accumulate total average power of interest for power beaming in space, e.g., 100 kilowatts and more. Where desirable the high average power can also be produced as a train of pulses having high peak power (e.g., greater than 10(exp 10 watts). The modular nature of the basic gain element supports an experimental strategy in which the core technology can be validated by experiments on a single gain element. We propose to do this experimental validation both in terrestrial locations and also on a smaller scale in space. We describe a terrestrial experiment that includes diagnostics and the option of locating the laser beam path in vacuum environment. We describe a space based experiment designed to be compatible with the Japanese Experimental Module (JEM) on the International Space Station (ISS). We anticipate the gain elements will be based on low temperature (approx. 100 degrees Kelvin) operation of high thermal conductivity (k approx. 100 W/cm-K) diamond and sapphire (k approx. 4 W/cm-K). The basic gain element will be formed by sequences of thin alternating layers of diamond and Ti:sapphire with special attention given to the material interfaces. We anticipate this strategy will lead to a particularly simple, robust, and easily maintained low mass modelocked multi-element laser oscillator useful for space solar power.

Fork, Richard L.↗

Experimental and Theoretical Study of Heat Conduction for Air up to 5000 K

The theoretical value of the integral of thermal conductivity is compared with the experimental values from shock-tube measurements. The particular case considered is the one-dimensional nonsteady flow of heat through air at constant pressure. This approach has been previously described in NASA TR R-27. experiment was uncertain because of the large scatter in the experimental data. In this paper, an attempt is made to improve the correlation by use of a more refined calculation of the integral of thermal conductivity, and by use of improved experimental techniques and instrumentation. As a result of these changes, a much closer correlation is shown between the experimental and theoretical heat-flux potentials. This indicates that the predicted values of the coefficient of thermal conductivity for high-temperature air may be suitably accurate for many engineering needs, up to the limits of the test (4600 K).

Peng, Tzy-Cheng↗

Numerical Simulation of 3-D Supersonic Viscous Flow in an Experimental MHD Channel

The 3-D supersonic viscous flow in an experimental MHD channel has been numerically simulated. The experimental MHD channel is currently in operation at NASA Ames Research Center. The channel contains a nozzle section, a center section, and an accelerator section where magnetic and electric fields can be imposed on the flow. In recent tests, velocity increases of up to 40% have been achieved in the accelerator section. The flow in the channel is numerically computed using a new 3-D parabolized Navier-Stokes (PNS) algorithm that has been developed to efficiently compute MHD flows in the low magnetic Reynolds number regime. The MHD effects are modeled by introducing source terms into the PNS equations which can then be solved in a very e5uent manner. To account for upstream (elliptic) effects, the flowfield can be computed using multiple streamwise sweeps with an iterated PNS algorithm. The new algorithm has been used to compute two test cases that match the experimental conditions. In both cases, magnetic and electric fields are applied to the flow. The computed results are in good agreement with the available experimental data.

Kato, Hiromasa↗