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At least 163 records · Page 9

Instrument Measures Airflow Friction Without Contact

Dual beam laser interferometer determines airflow friction against body by measuring time-varying thickness of wind sheared oil film. Measurements yield skin friction between film and airstream. Errors from prerun oil flow, tunnel starting transients, and initial surface waves therefore eliminated.

Monson, D. J.↗

An Experimental Study of Turbulent Skin Friction Reduction in Supersonic Flow Using a Microblowing Technique

A new turbulent skin friction reduction technology, called the microblowing technique has been tested in supersonic flow (Mach number of 1.9) on specially designed porous plates with microholes. The skin friction was measured directly by a force balance and the boundary layer development was measured by a total pressure rake at the tailing edge of a test plate. The free stream Reynolds number was 1.0(10 exp 6) per meter. The turbulent skin friction coefficient ratios (C(sub f)/C(sub f0)) of seven porous plates are given in this report. Test results showed that the microblowing technique could reduce the turbulent skin friction in supersonic flow (up to 90 percent below a solid flat plate value, which was even greater than in subsonic flow).

Hwang, Danny P.↗

Measurement of Heat Transfer in the Turbulent Boundary Layer on a Flat Plate in a Supersonic Flow and Comparison with Skin Friction Results

Local heat-transfer rates on the surface of a heated flat plate at zero incidence to an air stream flowing at Mach numbers of 1.69 and 2.27 are presented. The Reynolds number range for both Mach numbers was 1 million to 10 million. Surface temperatures were maintained near recovery temperature. It was found that the variation of heat transfer with Mach number was in agreement with previously reported variations of directly measured skin friction with Mach number on unheated bodies. The variation with Mach number of the average skin coefficient, as determined from impact-pressure surveys, was in agreement with that from other momentum loss measurements but differed from the variation obtained from directly measured skin friction as reported by others. (author)

Pappas, C C↗

The laser interferometer skin-friction meter - A numerical and experimental study

Limits to the applicability of thin-film lubrication theory are established. The following two problems are considered: (1) the response of the oil film to a time-varying skin friction such as is encountered in turbulent boundary layers, and (2) a 'surface-wave instability' encountered at high skin-friction levels. Results corresponding to the first problem reveal that the laser interferometer skin-friction meter may, in principle, be applied to the measurement of instantaneous skin friction. In addressing the second problem, it is shown that the observed surface waves are not the result of a hydrodynamic instability.

Murphy, J. D.↗

Colorimetric qualification of shear sensitive liquid crystal coatings

The work that has been done to date on the Shear Sensitive Liquid Crystal Project demonstrated that cholesteric liquid crystal coatings respond to both the direction and magnitude of a shearing force. The response of the coating is to selectively scatter incident white light into a spectrum of colors. Discernible color changes at a fixed angle of observation and illumination are the result of an applied shear stress. The intention was to be able to convert these observable color patterns from a flow visualization technique into a quantitative tool. One of the earlier intentions was to be able to use liquid crystals in dynamic flow fields. This was assumed possible because liquid crystals had made it possible to visualize transients in surface shear forces. Although the transients were visualized by color changes to an order one micro second, the time response of a coating to align to a shearing force is dependent on the magnitude of the change between its initial and final states. Unfortunately, the response is not instantaneous. It is for this reason any future attempt at quantifying the magnitude and directions of a shearing force are limited to surface shear stress vector fields in three dimensional steady state flows. This limitation does not significantly detract from the utility of liquid crystal coatings. The measurement of skin friction in the study of transition on wings, prediction of drag forces, performance assessment, and the investigation of boundary layer behavior is of great importance in aerodynamics. There exist numerous examples of techniques for the measurement of surface shear stress. Most techniques require arduous calibrations and necessitate extensive preparation of the receiving surfaces. However, the main draw back of instruments such as Preston tubes, hot films, buried wire gages, and floating element balances is that they only provide a point measurement. The advantages of capturing global shear data would be appreciable when compared with conventional point measurement sensors. It has yet to be determined if a repeatable correlation exists between the measured color of a liquid crystal coating and the magnitude/directional components of a shear vector imposed onto it.

Muratore, Joseph J., Jr.↗

Navier-Stokes Computations With One-Equation Turbulence Model for Flows Along Concave Wall Surfaces

This report presents the use of a time-marching three-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equation numerical solver with a one-equation turbulence model to simulate the flow fields developed along concave wall surfaces without and with a downstream extension flat wall surface. The 3-D Navier- Stokes numerical solver came from the NASA Glenn-HT code. The one-equation turbulence model was derived from the Spalart and Allmaras model. The computational approach was first calibrated with the computations of the velocity and Reynolds shear stress profiles of a steady flat plate boundary layer flow. The computational approach was then used to simulate developing boundary layer flows along concave wall surfaces without and with a downstream extension wall. The author investigated the computational results of surface friction factors, near surface velocity components, near wall temperatures, and a turbulent shear stress component in terms of turbulence modeling, computational mesh configurations, inlet turbulence level, and time iteration step. The computational results were compared with existing measurements of skin friction factors, velocity components, and shear stresses of the developing boundary layer flows. With a fine computational mesh and a one-equation model, the computational approach could predict accurately the skin friction factors, near surface velocity and temperature, and shear stress within the flows. The computed velocity components and shear stresses also showed the vortices effect on the velocity variations over a concave wall. The computed eddy viscosities at the near wall locations were also compared with the results from a two equation turbulence modeling technique. The inlet turbulence length scale was found to have little effect on the eddy viscosities at locations near the concave wall surface. The eddy viscosities, from the one-equation and two-equation modeling, were comparable at most stream-wise stations. The present one-equation turbulence model is an effective approach for turbulence modeling in the near solid wall surface region of flow over a concave wall.

Wang, Chi R.↗

Wind-tunnel measurements and comparison with flight of the boundary layer and heat transfer on a hollow cylinder at Mach 3

The wind tunnel tests were conducted both with and without boundary layer trips at Mach 3 and nominal free stream Reynolds numbers per meter ranging from 3.3 x 10 the 6th power. Instrumentation consisted of pressure orifices, thermocouples, a boundary layer pitot pressure rake, and a floating element skin friction balance. Measurements from both wind tunnel and flight were compared with existing engineering prediction methods.

Stallings, R. L., Jr.↗

Turbulent boundary layer over solid and porous surfaces with small roughness

The wind tunnel models and instrumentation used as well as data reduction and error analysis techniques employed are described for an experimental study conducted to measure directly skin friction and obtain profiles of mean velocity, axial and normal turbulence intensity, and Reynolds stress in the untripped boundary on a large diameter axisymmetric body. Results are given for such a body with a (1) smooth, solid surface; (2) a sandpaper roughened, solid surface; (3) a sintered metal, porous surface; (4) a ""smooth'' performated titanium surface; (5) a rough, solid surface made of fine diffusion bonded screening; and (6) a rough, porous surface made of the same screening. The roughness values were in low range (k+ 5 to 7) just above what is normally considered ""hydraulically smooth''. Measurements were taken at several axial locations and tow or normal stream freestream velocities, 45.1 m/sec and 53.5 m/sec.

Kong, F. Y.↗

Skin-friction gauge for use in hypervelocity impulse facilities

A transducer is presented which can measure as rise-time of about 20 microsec, and is thereby applicable to measurements in the high-enthalpy flows associated with hypervelocity impulse facilities. Results are presented which demonstrate the effectiveness of the concept in the case of skin-friction measurements conducted on a flat plate at Mach 3.2. The calibration used was against theoretical skin-friction values in a simple flow.

Kelly, G. M.↗

A Two-Axis Direct Fluid Shear Stress Sensor

This innovation is a miniature or micro sized semiconductor sensor design that provides two axis direct non-intrusive measurement of skin friction or wall shear stress in fluid flow. The sensor is fabricated by micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology, enabling small size and low cost reproductions. The sensors have been fabricated by utilizing MEMS fabrication processes to bond a sensing element wafer to a fluid coupling wafer. This layering technique provides for an out of plane dimension that is on the same order of length as the inplane dimensions. The sensor design has the following characteristics: a shear force collecting plate with dimensions that can be tailored to various application specific requirements such as spatial resolution, temporal resolution and shear force range and resolution. This plate is located coplanar to both the sensor body and flow boundary, and is connected to a dual axis gimbal structure by a connecting column or lever arm. The dual axis gimbal structure has torsional hinges with embedded piezoresistive torsional strain gauges which provide a voltage output that is correlated to the applied shear stress (and excitation current) on force collection plate that is located on the flow boundary surface (hence the transduction method). This combination of design elements create a force concentration and resolution structure that enables the generation of a large stress on the strain gauge from the small shear stress on the flow boundary wall. This design as well as the use of back side electrical contacts establishes a non-intrusive method to quantitatively measure the shear force vector on aerodynamic bodies.

Adcock, Edward E.↗

Measurements of Reynolds analogy for a hypersonic turbulent boundary layer on a nonadiabatic flat plate.

The purpose of the described experiment was to obtain simultaneous measurements of skin friction and heat transfer at hypersonic Mach numbers, especially with conditions of considerable heat transfer. The experiment was conducted in air in the Ames Hypersonic Wind Tunnel, in which cold air was passed through an alumina storage heater system and heated to total temperatures ranging from about 670 to 1170 K. The nozzle was contoured to produce a flow at Mach 7.4. Thin-skin heat-transfer gauges were placed at equal intervals along the centerline of a sharp-edge flat plate, which was used as the model. A skin-friction balance and a boundary-layer pitot-pressure rake were mounted on each side of the centerline at a certain distance from the leading edge.

Keener, E. R.↗

An experimental study of slot injection into a supersonic stream

An experimental investigation of two-dimensional tangential-slot injection into a turbulent boundary layer at a freestream Mach number of 2.4 has been conducted. Nearly adiabatic surface temperatures were maintained during all tests. Static and pitot pressure profiles at four stations downstream of the slot were obtained. Skin friction was measured at the last three stations with a self-nulling balance. Schlieren photographs of the flow field were also obtained. Most of the data were obtained with slot Mach numbers of 0.31 and 0.66 corresponding to slot pressure less than and equal to stream static pressure, respectively. For the latter matched-pressure case, tangential slot injection reduced the surface shear at the three measuring stations by about 60 to 20 percent for increasing downstream distances from the slot of 12 to 28 slot heights. However, for the other case where slot pressure was less than stream static pressure, the effect of injection was to increase the shear by about 90 percent at the last downstream station of 28 slot heights. This increase in shear is attributed to the rapid acceleration of the low speed injectant stream by the high speed main stream and the increasing pressure through the recompression zone which is absent for the matched pressure case.

Kenworthy, M.↗

Asymmetric trailing-edge flows at high Reynolds number

Results from an experimental investigation of asymmetric trailing-edge flows at high Reynolds numbers and subsonic Mach numbers are presented. Measurements include skin friction; surface and flow-field pressures; and mean-velocity, turbulent shear-stress, and turbulent kinetic-energy profiles in the trailing-edge region. Comparisons are made with computed solutions using Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes and boundary-layer equations; two different turbulence models are used. Two attached flow are considered, one having a moderate adverse pressure gradient and the other a more severe gradient. From the comparisons, an evaluation is made of the predictions for these two pressure-gradient cases. Although the comparisons demonstrate reasonable agreement for the moderate pressure-gradient case, some differences are noted for the severe pressure-gradient case.

Cleary, J. W.↗

Influence of wall permeability on turbulent boundary-layer properties

Experimental boundary-layer studies of a series of low pressure drop, permeable surfaces have been conducted to characterize their surface interaction with a turbulent boundary layer. The models were flat and tested at nominally zero pressure gradient in low speed air. The surfaces were thin metal sheets with discrete perforations. Direct drag balance measurements of skin friction indicate that the general effect of surface permeability is to increase drag above that of a smooth plate reference level. Heuristic arguments are presented to show that this type of behavior is to be expected. Other boundary-layer data are also presented including mean velocity profiles and conditionally sampled streamwise velocity fluctuations (hot wire) for selected models.

Wilkinson, S. P.↗

Experimental study of flow reattachment in a single-sided sudden expansion

The reattachment of a fully turbulent, two dimensional, separated shear layer downstream of a single-sided sudden expansion in a planar duct flow was examined experimentally. The importance of changing the structure of the separated shear layer on the reattachment process itself was examined. For all cases, the Reynolds number based on step height was greater than 20,000, the expansion ratio was 5/3, and the inlet boundary layer was less than one-half step height in thickness. A crucially important phase was the development of a pulsed wall probe for measurement of skin friction in the reattachment region, thus providing an unambiguous definition of the reattachment length. Quantitative features of reattachment - including streamwise development of the mean and fluctuating velocity field, pressure rise, and skin friction - were found to be similar for all cases studied when scaled by the reattachment length. A definition of the reattachment zone is proposed.

Westphal, R. V.↗

Instrumentation in wind tunnels

Requirements in designing instrumentation systems and measurements of various physical quantities in wind tunnels are surveyed. Emphasis is given to sensors used for measuring pressure, temperature, and angle, and the measurements of air turbulence and boundary layers. Instrumentation in wind tunnels require accuracy, fast response, diversity and operational simplicity. Measurements of force, pressure, attitude angle, free flow, pressure distribution, and temperature are illustrated by a table, and a block diagram. The LDV (laser Doppler velocimeter) method for measuring air turbulence and flow velocity and measurement of skin friction and flow fields using laser holograms are discussed. The future potential of these techniques is studied.

Takashima, K.↗