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At least 163 records · Page 9

Optically thick ablation fronts

The physical characteristics of optically thick ablation fronts such as interstellar clouds are analyzed. Attention is given to cold clumps in both planar and spherical geometries and modifications caused by accelerations in a gravitational field or by evaporation of the clumps when encountered hot gas. The effects of ablation on the appearance of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability are examined in both linear and nonlinear regimes. The results of the calculations are applied to the astrophysical phenomena of cold clumps immersed in a supersonic flow, optically thick jets, and ablation in stellar envelopes. Evaporation in an optically thick front is projected to be orders of magnitude larger than evaporation in electron-conduction fronts in optically thin conditions. The optically thick processes could then be useful for modeling flows from, e.g., newly formed stars and active galactic nuclei.

Konigl, A.↗

Development and evaluation of a 1 kW plasma torch ignitor for scramjets

A low power, uncooled plasma torch was tested in combination with a new injector design to study ignition and flameholding in hydrogen-fueled supersonic flows. Both semifree jet and ducted tests were conducted in a Mach 2 flow under simulated scramjet combustor conditions at 1 atmosphere static pressure and total temperatures between 1400 and 2800 R. The injector design incorporates a small upstream pilot fuel flow, a step for recirculation, and primary fuel injectors downstream of the recirculation region. Using a 1:1 volumetric mixture of hydrogen and argon, good performance at a simulated flight Mach number of 3.7 is found for a 1-kW torch which is located in the recirculation zone and fueled by the upstream pilot fuel injectors. Spectroscopic measurements verified the presence of hydrogen atoms in the torch exhaust, and it is suggested that hydrogen atoms are responsible for the ignition.

Wagner, Timothy C.↗

Low angle injection into a supersonic flow

A study of helium jets injected into a Mach 3 airflow through circular sonic nozzles angled downstream at 15 and 30 deg is presented. An aspirating hot-film probe was employed to measure helium concentrations. The results of Schlieren and nonoshadowgraph photography show the presence of large-scale turbulent structures in the high pressure jets. Concentration data reveal some asymmetries both in the cross section of the jet and in the trajectory of the jet relative to the centerline of the jet. Plotting the decay of maximum concentration with axial distance, it is found that the mixing rate can be increased significantly by increasing the pressure ratio. These low angle jets display good cross-stream penetration.

Mays, R. B.↗

Experiments on the enhancement of compressible mixing via streamwise vorticity. I - Optical measurements

The present study was initiated in an attempt to increase the compressible mixing rate of a supersonic jet injected into a co-flowing supersonic stream by adding streamwise vorticity to the injected flow. This flowfield was imaged using the planar laser scattering technique, and mixing rates were derived entirely from captured images. The results of this image analysis indicate that increases in mixing rate of up to 60 percent are possible through the addition of streamwise vorticity. Furthermore, the degree of mixing enhancement appears to be dependent on the amount of swirl added. Analysis of the instantaneous turbulent structure suggests that this increase in mixing is due to a modification of the largest turbulent structures in the mixing layer.

Naughton, J. W.↗

Very Large Eddy Simulation Technique for Noise Prediction and Control in Turbomachinery and Propulsion

The summer fellowship research project focused on further developing an advanced computational technique based on Very Large Eddy Simulation (VLES) for analysis and control of major sources of noise in turbomachinery and propulsion systems, including jet noise and fan noise. Major part of the work during the 10-week tenure dealt with implementing a low-order, implicit A-stable time-stepping scheme in the existing explicit VLES code of Dr. Ray Hixon. The preliminary plan of the work also included application of a new time marching formulation to the problem of viscous gust-airfoil interaction. Other research items selected for implementation (possibly in the future) included investigating a set of new subgrid turbulent models for the code, and code application to a number of test cases, including a supersonic jet and swirling flow downstream of a rotor stage.

Golubev, Vladimir V.↗

Adaptive computations of multispecies mixing between scramjet nozzle flows and hypersonic freestream

The objective of this paper is to compute the expansion of a supersonic flow through an internal-external nozzle and its viscous mixing with the hypersonic flow of air. The supersonic jet may be that of a multispecies gas other than air. Calculations are performed for one case where both flows are those of air, and another case where a mixture of freon-12 and argon is discharged supersonically to mix with the hypersonic airflow. Comparisons are made between these two cases with respect to gas compositions, and fixed versus flow-adaptive grids. All the computational results are compared successfully with the wind-tunnel tests results.

Baysa, Oktay↗

Sound generated by instability waves of supersonic flows. I Two-dimensional mixing layers. II - Axisymmetric jets

An investigation is conducted of the phenomenon of sound generation by spatially growing instability waves in high-speed flows. It is pointed out that this process of noise generation is most effective when the flow is supersonic relative to the ambient speed of sound. The inner and outer asymptotic expansions corresponding to an excited instability wave in a two-dimensional mixing layer and its associated acoustic fields are constructed in terms of the inner and outer spatial variables. In matching the solutions, the intermediate matching principle of Van Dyke and Cole is followed. The validity of the theory is tested by applying it to an axisymmetric supersonic jet and comparing the calculated results with experimental measurements. Very favorable agreements are found both in the calculated instability-wave amplitude distribution (the inner solution) and the near pressure field level contours (the outer solution) in each case.

Tam, C. K. W.↗

Subsonic and supersonic jets and supersonic suppressor characteristics

Convergent and parallel flow nozzles were used with room temperature air to investigate the flow and acoustic characteristics over a Mach number range of 0.6 to 1.5. For subsonic jets the maximum sound pressure levels occurred at 19.1 from the axis and the sound pressure level decreased monotonically with increasing angle. But for supersonic jets the sound pressure was nearly constant over most of angular positions. The power spectra for subsonic jets were similar with the peak occurring at 4 KHz and for a Mach 1.4 jet the peak occurred at 5 KHz. Near field sound pressure level distributions were quite similar for subsonic jets, but for supersonic jets the distributions were quite different. Mean and fluctuating velocity contours were determined for a convergent nozzle with the impact and piezoelectric impact pressure gage probes for Mach numbers of 0.6 to 1.4. A supersonic suppressor of 191 tubes and shrouds was investigated at Mach numbers of 1.4 and 0.7.

Nagamatsu, H. T.↗

Evaluation of Turbulence-Model Performance in Jet Flows

The importance of reducing jet noise in both commercial and military aircraft applications has made jet acoustics a significant area of research. A technique for jet noise prediction commonly employed in practice is the MGB approach, based on the Lighthill acoustic analogy. This technique requires as aerodynamic input mean flow quantities and turbulence quantities like the kinetic energy and the dissipation. The purpose of the present paper is to assess existing capabilities for predicting these aerodynamic inputs. Two modern Navier-Stokes flow solvers, coupled with several modern turbulence models, are evaluated by comparison with experiment for their ability to predict mean flow properties in a supersonic jet plume. Potential weaknesses are identified for further investigation. Another comparison with similar intent is discussed by Barber et al. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop a reliable flow solver applicable to the low-noise, propulsion-efficient, nozzle exhaust systems being developed in NASA focused programs. These programs address a broad range of complex nozzle geometries operating in high temperature, compressible, flows. Seiner et al. previously discussed the jet configuration examined here. This convergent-divergent nozzle with an exit diameter of 3.6 inches was designed for an exhaust Mach number of 2.0 and a total temperature of 1680 F. The acoustic and aerodynamic data reported by Seiner et al. covered a range of jet total temperatures from 104 F to 2200 F at the fully-expanded nozzle pressure ratio. The aerodynamic data included centerline mean velocity and total temperature profiles. Computations were performed independently with two computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes, ISAAC and PAB3D. Turbulence models employed include the k-epsilon model, the Gatski-Speziale algebraic-stress model and the Girimaji model, with and without the Sarkar compressibility correction. Centerline values of mean velocity and mean temperature are compared with experimental data.

Woodruff, S. L.↗

PIV Measurements of the CEV Hot Abort Motor Plume for CFD Validation

NASA s next manned launch platform for missions to the moon and Mars are the Orion and Ares systems. Many critical aspects of the launch system performance are being verified using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions. The Orion Launch Abort Vehicle (LAV) consists of a tower mounted tractor rocket tasked with carrying the Crew Module (CM) safely away from the launch vehicle in the event of a catastrophic failure during the vehicle s ascent. Some of the predictions involving the launch abort system flow fields produced conflicting results, which required further investigation through ground test experiments. Ground tests were performed to acquire data from a hot supersonic jet in cross-flow for the purpose of validating CFD turbulence modeling relevant to the Orion Launch Abort Vehicle (LAV). Both 2-component axial plane Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and 3-component cross-stream Stereo Particle Image Velocimetry (SPIV) measurements were obtained on a model of an Abort Motor (AM). Actual flight conditions could not be simulated on the ground, so the highest temperature and pressure conditions that could be safely used in the test facility (nozzle pressure ratio 28.5 and a nozzle temperature ratio of 3) were used for the validation tests. These conditions are significantly different from those of the flight vehicle, but were sufficiently high enough to begin addressing turbulence modeling issues that predicated the need for the validation tests.

Wernet, Mark↗

Design and Analysis of A Jet Stretcher for High-Altitude Supersonic Free Jet Testing

A jet stretcher can be used to extend the region of clean flow for a test article in a supersonic free jet. The device acts to shield the article from shock waves reflected from the free jet shear layer. It can also allow for overexpanded nozzle operation through blocking shocks emanating from the nozzle lip, enlarging the potential test envelope. The FUN3D computational fluid dynamics solver was used to test a design process for developing jet stretchers. The inner surface of the axisymmetric jet stretcher was obtained from a streamline extracted from a free flight simulation around a notional test article at the intended test condition of Mach 3.2, 53,000 ft. The test article and jet stretcher were then simulated in a free jet nozzle exhaust, and the flowfield within a notional inlet aperture was compared between the installed and free flight calculations. Ambient pressure was increased until separation within the free jet nozzle finally induced disturbances at the inlet. The jet stretcher was shown to provide clean flow to the inlet at cell pressure ratios up to 2.8. A process for trimming the axisymmetric jet stretcher was also tested. This was intended to provide blockage relief for complex test articles, aiding with starting, as well as reducing weight and fabrication cost. The trimmed jet stretcher performed identically to the axisymmetric model at slightly-overexpanded conditions, but at cell pressure ratios above 1.3 allowed disturbances from the trailing edge to reach the inlet.

free jet↗

Design and Analysis of A Jet Stretcher for High-Altitude Supersonic Free Jet Testing

A jet stretcher can be used to extend the region of clean flow for a test article in a supersonic free jet. The device acts to shield the article from shock waves reflected from the free jet shear layer. It can also allow for overexpanded nozzle operation through blocking shocks emanating from the nozzle lip, enlarging the potential test envelope. The FUN3D computational fluid dynamics solver was used to test a design process for developing jet stretchers. The inner surface of the axisymmetric jet stretcher was obtained from a streamline extracted from a free flight simulation around a notional test article at the intended test condition of Mach 3.2, 53,000 ft. The test article and jet stretcher were then simulated in a free jet nozzle exhaust, and the flowfield within a notional inlet aperture was compared between the installed and free flight calculations. Ambient pressure was increased until separation within the free jet nozzle finally induced disturbances at the inlet. The jet stretcher was shown to provide clean flow to the inlet at cell pressure ratios up to 2.8. A process for trimming the axisymmetric jet stretcher was also tested. This was intended to provide blockage relief for complex test articles, aiding with starting, as well as reducing weight and fabrication cost. The trimmed jet stretcher performed identically to the axisymmetric model at slightly overexpanded conditions, but at cell pressure ratios above 1.3 allowed disturbances from the trailing edge to reach the inlet.

free jet↗

Shock noise features using the SCIPVIS code

The numerical computational supersonic jet plume model SCIPVIS was analyzed in order to determine its effectiveness for predicting the complicated flow structure associated with supersonic shock containing jet plumes. The analysis focused on assessing the applicability of using this code for predicting the broadband shock noise radiation. The analysis was carried out for several exit Mach number cases (including 1.00, 1.41, and 1.99) covering both underexpanded and overexpanded flow conditions. The three primary turbulence closure models incorporated in the SCIPVIS code were utilized for comparisons to measured plume static pressure distributions. Among other results, the prediction of plume static pressures for all three nozzle exit Mach numbers was found to perform exceptionally well when compared with experimental data for both underexpanded and overexpanded cases. Computations performed using this code for calculating the average shock wavelength for the 1.99 exit Mach number case were shown to provide an excellent prediction of the peak frequency for broadband shock noise. The spatial variation of the turbulent kinetic energy was found to be in qualitative agreement with wedge hot-film measurements.

Seiner, J. M.↗

An experimental investigation of mixing enhancement in a simulated scramjet combustor by use of swirling jets

It is desired to maintain supersonic flow through the combustor of supersonic airbreathing engines to reduce static temperatures and total pressure losses inherent in reducing flow to subsonic speeds. Due to the supersonic speeds through the combustor, mixing of the fuel and air must by rapid for complete combustion to occur within a reasonable streamwise distance. It was proposed that the addition of swirl to the fuel jet prior to injection might enhance the mixing of the fuel with the air. The effects of swirl on the mixing of a 30 deg wall jet into a Mach 2 flow were experimentally investigated. Swirl was introduced into the fuel stream by tangential injection into a cylindrical swirl chamber. The flow was then accelerated through a convergent-divergent nozzle with an area ratio of two, and supersonically injected into the Mach 2 flow such that the static pressure of the fuel matched the effective back pressure of the main flow. Two different cases with swirl and one without swirl were investigated, with both helium and air simulating the fuel. Rayleigh scattering was used to visualize the flow and seeding the fuel with water allowed it to be traced through the main flow. Using histograms of the pure molecular Rayleigh scattering images, the helium concentration in the jet-mixing region of the flow was monitored and found to decrease slightly with swirl, indicating better mixing. Thresholding the water-seeded images allowed the jet-mixing region to be isolated and showed a slight increase in this area with swirl. Penetration, however, was slightly less with swirl. Rescaling the data for equal mass flow rates allowed comparison for a scramjet application of a combustor with a single injector and the desire to fuel to a specified fuel-to-oxidant ratio. These results showed a substantial increase in the spreading area with swirl, an increase in the mixing occurring in this area, and slightly better penetration.

Kraus, Donna Karen↗