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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1975

Heat transfer phase change paint tests of 0.0175-scale models (nos. 21-0 and 46-0) of the Rockwell International space shuttle orbiter in the AEDC tunnel B hypersonic wind tunnel (test OH25A)

Tests were conducted in a hypersonic wind tunnel using various truncated space shuttle orbiter configurations in an attempt to establish the optimum model size for other tests examining body shock-wing leading edge interference effects. The tests were conducted at Mach number 8 using the phase change paint technique. A test description, tabulated data, and tracings of isotherms made from photographs taken during the test are presented.

Dye, W. H.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

USM3D-ME Analyses Performed in Support of a Wind Tunnel Test of a Boundary-Layer Ingestion Configuration

Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI) has been proposed as a technology with the potential to decrease fuel burn. However, one major concern for BLI configurations is the potential degradation of the flow quality, both on the airframe and at the fan face, resulting from the tightly integrated propulsor. A wind tunnel test was performed in the National Transonic Facility (NTF) at the NASA Langley Research Center to investigate the flow quality ingested by a tail cone thruster configuration, similar to the Single Aisle Turboelectric Aircraft Concept with Aft Boundary Layer Ingestion (STARC-ABL). The wind tunnel model was a modified version of the Common Research Model (CRM) to include an aft-mounted, flow-through propulsor. The experimental data obtained from the wind tunnel test provide insight into the flow and enables an assessment of the accuracy of the USM3D-ME flow solver for predicting the flow at the fan face, which will be crucial for fan design purposes. Both grid refinement and turbulence model studies were performed for the Clean and Cruise MFP configurations at the condition corresponding to ReMAC = 5 million, Mach = 0.8, and alpha = 2 deg. The selected grid refinement level and turbulence model were then used to perform simulations over the range of conditions considered in the NTF wind tunnel test. The condition sweep comparisons illustrate favorable agreement with the experimental data over the entire range of conditions and for all Mass Flow Plug (MFP) configurations. The largest differences were observed for the Idle MFP configuration, with approximately 3% difference observed between USM3D-ME and the experimental data. Future work should investigate the impact of higher fidelity turbulence models and grid adaptation on the USM3D-ME predictions.

CRM↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

USM3D-ME Analyses Performed in Support of a Wind Tunnel Test of a Boundary-Layer Ingestion Configuration

Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI) has been proposed as a technology with the potential to decrease fuel burn. However, one major concern for BLI configurations is the potential degradation of the flow quality, both on the airframe and at the fan face, resulting from the tightly integrated propulsor. A wind tunnel test was performed in the National Transonic Facility (NTF) at the NASA Langley Research Center to investigate the flow quality ingested by a tail cone thruster configuration, similar to the Single Aisle Turboelectric Aircraft Concept with Aft Boundary Layer Ingestion (STARC-ABL). The wind tunnel model was a modified version of the Common Research Model (CRM) to include an aft-mounted, flow-through propulsor. The experimental data obtained from the wind tunnel test provide insight into the flow and enables an assessment of the accuracy of the USM3D-ME flow solver for predicting the flow at the fan face, which will be crucial for fan design purposes. Both grid refinement and turbulence model studies were performed for the Clean and Cruise MFP configurations at the condition corresponding to ReMAC = 5 million, Mach = 0.8, and alpha = 2 deg. The selected grid refinement level and turbulence model were then used to perform simulations over the range of conditions considered in the NTF wind tunnel test. The condition sweep comparisons illustrate favorable agreement with the experimental data over the entire range of conditions and for all Mass Flow Plug (MFP) configurations. The largest differences were observed for the Idle MFP configuration, with approximately 3% difference observed between USM3D-ME and the experimental data. Future work should investigate the impact of higher fidelity turbulence models and grid adaptation on the USM3D-ME predictions.

CRM↗
NASA NTRS2001

Wind Tunnel Tests Conducted to Develop an Icing Flight Simulator

As part of NASA's Aviation Safety Program goals to reduce aviation accidents due to icing, NASA Glenn Research Center is leading a flight simulator development activity to improve pilot training for the adverse flying characteristics due to icing. Developing flight simulators that incorporate the aerodynamic effects of icing will provide a critical element in pilot training programs by giving pilots a pre-exposure of icing-related hazards, such as ice-contaminated roll upset or tailplane stall. Integrating these effects into training flight simulators will provide an accurate representation of scenarios to develop pilot skills in unusual attitudes and loss-of-control events that may result from airframe icing. In order to achieve a high level of fidelity in the flight simulation, a series of wind tunnel tests have been conducted on a 6.5-percent-scale Twin Otter aircraft model. These wind tunnel tests were conducted at the Wichita State University 7- by 10-ft wind tunnel and Bihrle Applied Research's Large Amplitude Multiple Purpose Facility in Neuburg, Germany. The Twin Otter model was tested without ice (baseline), and with two ice configurations: 1) Ice on the horizontal tail only; 2) Ice on the wing, horizontal tail, and vertical tail. These wind tunnel tests resulted in data bases of aerodynamic forces and moments as functions of angle of attack; sideslip; control surface deflections; forced oscillations in the pitch, roll, and yaw axes; and various rotational speeds. A limited amount of wing and tail surface pressure data were also measured for comparison with data taken at Wichita State and with flight data. The data bases from these tests will be the foundation for a PC-based Icing Flight Simulator to be delivered to Glenn in fiscal year 2001.

Ratvasky, Thomas P.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Institutional Schlieren: A Production-Level Wind Tunnel Test Measurement

The following details recent efforts undertaken at the NASA Ames Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel to design and deploy an advanced, institutional, production-level data system for the classical Schlieren-shadowgraph technique. Motivation for the selection of individual system components is discussed along with a software methodology that combines image acquisition and processing into a production-level wind tunnel test measurement. In general terms, a production-level measurement refers to any data system that is seamlessly integrated into the primary wind tunnel data system, and whose data products are available real-time (e.g. force and moment, pressure, temperature data). The advantage of integrating a measurement in such a manner is an immediate increase in data product efficiency, productivity, reliability, and quality. Coupled with these benefits and leveraging recent advancements in high-speed imaging and image processing, automated, synchronized, time-resolved Schlieren-shadowgraph imaging for dynamic flow phenomena is now a reality. This makes possible the synthesis of dynamic off-body imaging with unsteady on-body measurements to produce a uniquely descriptive data product invaluable to the modern researcher.

Shadowgraph↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Evaluation of CFD as a Surrogate for Wind-Tunnel Testing for Mach 2.4 to 4.6 - Project Overview

The debate over when wind-tunnel testing (WTT) will be replaced by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) comes and goes. More recently the debate has subsided with a more collaborative spirit between practitioners of these two disciplines resulting in significant improvements in the outcomes of both. There may come a time, however, when CFD has sufficient accuracy to supplant WTT as the dominant or perhaps only tool for aerodynamic simulation. If and/or when that happens, financial pressure result in efforts to close or severely limit the operations of wind tunnels. Presumably additional resources will go toward CFD in order to generate aerodynamic databases, load environments, and new aero/fluid-dynamic knowledge. It is therefore important to develop appropriate processes by which wind-tunnel closure decisions are made to ensure that facilities critical to industry and government research and development aren’t closed prematurely without ensuring that the existing CFD tools have sufficient accuracy and low-enough cost (and enough experts and computational facilities) to take on the traditional role of wind tunnels. This paper will describe a project intended to answer the specific question of whether CFD can replace WTT for the limited Mach-number range 2.4 to 4.6. The wind tunnel being examined in this context is the high-speed leg of the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center (LaRC UPWT).

James C. Ross↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Brothers Were Wright - An Abridged History of Wind Tunnel Testing at Ames Research Center

The Wright Brothers used wind tunnel data to refine their design for the first successful airplane back in 1903. Today, wind tunnels are still in use all over the world gathering data to improve the design of cars, trucks, airplanes, missiles and spacecraft. Ames Research Center is home to many wind tunnels, including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel complex. Built in the early 1950s, it is one of the premiere transonic and supersonic testing facilities in the country. Every manned spacecraft has been tested in the wind tunnels at Ames. This is a testing history from past to present.

Buchholz, Steve↗
NASA NTRS1977

Wind-tunnel tests of wide-chord teetering rotors with and without outboard flapping hinges

Wind tunnel tests of aeroelastically designed helicopter rotor models were conducted to obtain rotor aerodynamic performance and dynamic response data pertaining to two-bladed teetering rotors with a wider chord and lower hover tip speed than currently employed on production helicopters. The effects of a flapping hinge at 62 percent radius were also studied. Finally, the effects of changing tip mass on operating characteristics of the rotor with the outboard flapping hinge were examined. The models were tested at several shaft angles of attack for five advance ratios, 0.15, 0.25, 0.35, 0.40, and 0.45. For each combination of shaft angle and advance ratio, the rotor lift was varied over a wide range to include simulated maneuver conditions. At each test condition, rotor aerodynamic performance and dynamic response data were obtained. From these tests, it was found that wide-chord rotors may be subject to large control forces. An outboard flapping hinge may be used to reduce beamwise bending moments over a significant part of the blade radius without significantly affecting the chordwise bending moments.

Weller, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Wind-tunnel test results of a full-scale multicyclic controllable twist rotor

Results of wind tunnel testing of a multicyclic controllable twist rotor at several flight conditions and advance ratios of 0.22 and 0.33 are evaluated. It is found that blade flatwise bending moments and root control actuator loads (fixed system) can be reduced with multicyclic control. Flatwise bending moment reductions of 22-30% with concurrent 83% reductions in control loads were predicted. Analysis of profile power changes indicates a decrease in profile power coefficient of 0.00016, corresponding to a loss of 0.12 sq m of equivalent drag area.

Mccloud, J. L., III↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Spectral Proper Orthogonal Decomposition of uPSP Measurements in Recent NASA Ames Wind Tunnel Test

This paper discusses Spectral Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (SPOD) of the Unsteady Pressure-Sensitive Paint (uPSP) measurements in recent NASA Ames wind tunnel test. The uPSP measurements were collected using Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc. (ISSI) porous, fast-response pressure-sensitive paint, 40 ISSI four-inch air-cooled Light-Emitting Diodes, and 8 Phantom v2512 high-speed cameras at 10,000 frames per second in the uPSP Launch Vehicle Demonstration Test (LVDT) of the Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle in the 11-by 11-foot transonic test section of the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center in April 2024. SPOD is derived from a space-time proper orthogonal decomposition problem for statistically stationary flows. SPOD modes are determined in the frequency domain. Each SPOD mode oscillates at a single frequency. SPOD can be viewed as an extension of the Discrete Fourier Transform composition and the Dynamic Mode Decomposition. In this paper, the outputs of SPOD of the uPSP measurements in the uPSP LVDT are presented and the effectiveness of SPOD in the identification, diagnosis and analysis of the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic phenomena is demonstrated. The unsteady and dynamic property of the pressure field on the surface of the SLS Block 1B crew vehicle is presented with the visualization of the SPOD modes of the uPSP measurements in the tests of a Mach sweep run of the uPSP LVDT. The SPOD outputs were generated with the execution in parallel of a code in Python, with the library of Message Passing Interface for parallel processing, on the NASA Pleiades supercomputer. The work described in this paper is a part of NASA’s development of a new state-of-the-art uPSP capability in production wind tunnels. Funding was provided by the NASA Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities Portfolio Office.

Aeroacoustics↗
NASA NTRS2011

Aeroservoelastic Wind-Tunnel Tests of a Free-Flying, Joined-Wing SensorCraft Model for Gust Load Alleviation

A team comprised of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Boeing, and the NASA Langley Research Center conducted three aeroservoelastic wind-tunnel tests in the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel to demonstrate active control technologies relevant to large, exible vehicles. In the first of these three tests, a full-span, aeroelastically scaled, wind-tunnel model of a joined-wing SensorCraft vehicle was mounted to a force balance to acquire a basic aerodynamic data set. In the second and third tests, the same wind-tunnel model was mated to a new, two-degree-of-freedom, beam mount. This mount allowed the full-span model to translate vertically and pitch. Trimmed flight at -10% static margin and gust load alleviation were successfully demonstrated. The rigid body degrees of freedom required that the model be own in the wind tunnel using an active control system. This risky mode of testing necessitated that a model arrestment system be integrated into the new mount. The safe and successful completion of these free-flying tests required the development and integration of custom hardware and software. This paper describes the many systems, software, and procedures that were developed as part of this effort. The balance and free ying wind-tunnel tests will be summarized. The design of the trim and gust load alleviation control laws along with the associated results will also be discussed.

Scott, Robert C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

High speed wind tunnel tests of the PTA aircraft

Propfans, advanced highly-loaded propellers, are proposed to power transport aircraft that cruise at high subsonic speeds, giving significant fuel savings over the equivalent turbofan-powered aircraft. NASA is currently sponsoring the Propfan Test Assessment Program (PTA) to provide basic data on the structural integrity and acoustic performance of the propfan. The program involves installation design, wind-tunnel tests, and flight tests of the Hamilton Standard SR-7 propfan in a wing-mount tractor installation on the Gulfstream II aircraft. This paper reports on the high-speed wind-tunnel tests and presents the computational aerodynamic methods that were employed in the analyses, design, and evaluation of the configuration. In spite of the complexity of the configuration, these methods provide aerodynamic predictions which are in excellent agreement with wind-tunnel data.

Aljabri, A. S.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Validation of the Lockheed Martin Morphing Concept with Wind Tunnel Testing

The Morphing Aircraft Structures (MAS) program is a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) led effort to develop morphing flight vehicles capable of radical shape change in flight. Two performance parameters of interest are loiter time and dash speed as these define the persistence and responsiveness of an aircraft. The geometrical characteristics that optimize loiter time and dash speed require different geometrical planforms. Therefore, radical shape change, usually involving wing area and sweep, allows vehicle optimization across many flight regimes. The second phase of the MAS program consisted of wind tunnel tests conducted at the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel to demonstrate two morphing concepts and their enabling technologies with large-scale semi-span models. This paper will focus upon one of those wind tunnel tests that utilized a model developed by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company (LM). Wind tunnel success criteria were developed by NASA to support the DARPA program objectives. The primary focus of this paper will be the demonstration of the DARPA objectives by systematic evaluation of the wind tunnel model performance relative to the defined success criteria. This paper will also provide a description of the LM model and instrumentation, and document pertinent lessons learned. Finally, as part of the success criteria, aeroelastic characteristics of the LM derived MAS vehicle are also addressed. Evaluation of aeroelastic characteristics is the most detailed criterion investigated in this paper. While no aeroelastic instabilities were encountered as a direct result of the morphing design or components, several interesting and unexpected aeroelastic phenomenon arose during testing.

Ivanco, Thomas G.↗