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Results for “HYPERSONIC HEAT TRANSFER”

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 19 records

Assessing the Effects of Various Surface Textures and Features on Turbulent Heat Transfer in Hypersonic Flight

Experiments were conducted in the NASA Ames Hypervelocity Free Flight Aerodynamic Facility (ballistic range) to quantify the effects on turbulent convective heat transfer of distributed surface roughness, and of isolated features, representative of thermal protection systems on atmospheric entry vehicles. The surface textures and features were applied on the conic frusta of 45o sphere-cone models having a nose-to-base radius ratio of 0.5, similar to the forebody geometry of the Galileo and Pioneer-Venus entry probes. Test conditions were selected to provide turbulent roughness Reynolds numbers, k+, in the ranges expected for outer planet entry missions. Turbulent flow on the conic frustum was achieved by tripping the flow on the sphere-segment nose cap with distributed surface roughness, created by sand-blasting the nose cap. Surface textures included distributed, acreage, roughness, as well as cavity and groove discrete features. The majority of the data to be presented are results for distributed roughness, which includes both random, sand-grain-like roughness, and regular pattern roughness. The pattern roughness was designed to represent the roughness on woven thermal protection system materials, such as NASA’s 3-D Medium Density Carbon Phenolic (3MDCP), also known as HEEET, developed by the Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environments Technology project. The pattern roughness tested is a 3-D wavy surface, and includes three different roughness element height-to-spacing ratios representative of two configurations of 3MDCP, and spanning ratios measured both before, and after, ablation in an arc jet test facility. The patterns tested in the ballistic range were laser-etched on metal models, and represented an idealized version of the real-world materials in which each roughness element was nearly identical. Additional tests were performed wherein the laser-etched patterns were degraded by sand-blasting with various sized grit media, to produce regular patterns with superimposed irregular roughness, more representative of flight materials. Results of each will be compared. The discrete features tested included cylindrical cavities and rectangular grooves of various width-to-depth ratios. Cavities represent either heatshield damage, such as from micro-meteoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) damage, or from designed penetrations, such as on the Genesis sample return capsule. The grooves were scaled representations of seams between segments of HEEET material in a notional tiled thermal protection system. The tests examined the effects on turbulent heating downstream of the isolated features. The tests were conducted at speeds between 3 km/s and 4 km/s in air between 0.15 atm and 0.25 atm (Mach numbers between 9 and 12). Roughness Reynolds numbers, k+, ranged from 12 to 70 for the sand roughness, and as high as 200 for the pattern roughness. Boundary-layer parameters required for calculating k+ were evaluated using computational fluid dynamics simulations using the DPLR (Data Parallel Line Relaxation) code. Each model included both rough- and smooth-wall segments, and heat transfer augmentation factors were determined as the ratio of the rough-wall to smooth-wall heat flux measured on each test.

hypersonic↗

Hypersonic heat-transfer and transition correlations for a roughened shuttle orbiter

The effect of roughness on the heat transfer distributions and the transition criteria for the windward pitch plane of the shuttle orbiter at an angle of attack of 30 deg was studied using data obtained in hypersonic wind tunnels. The heat transfer distributions and the transition locations for the roughened models were compared with the corresponding data for smooth models. The data were correlated using theoretical solutions for a nonsimilar, laminar boundary layer subject to two different flow field models for the orbiter.

Bertin, J. J.↗

Laminar-turbulent transition calculations of heat transfer at hypersonic Mach numbers over sharp cones

Computations of the hypersonic flow around sharp cones were carried out using the PNS code with attention given to the heat transfer predictions around the transition region. Results of calculations performed over 5, 8, and 10 deg half-angle sharp cones in the Mach number range of 7 to 10 are presented. It is noted that calculations of this type have become an integral part of the general design procedure for hypersonic vehicles such as the National Aerospace Plane and the Space Shuttle.

Kaul, U. K.↗

A numerical study of hypersonic stagnation heat transfer predictions at a coordinate singularity

The problem of grid induced errors associated with a coordinate singularity on heating predictions in the stagnation region of a three-dimensional body in hypersonic flow is examined. The test problem is for Mach 10 flow over an Aeroassist Flight Experiment configuration. This configuration is composed of an elliptic nose, a raked elliptic cone, and a circular shoulder. Irregularities in the heating predictions in the vicinity of the coordinate singularity, located at the axis of the elliptic nose near the stagnation point, are examined with respect to grid refinement and grid restructuring. The algorithm is derived using a finite-volume formulation. An upwind-biased total-variation diminishing scheme is employed for the inviscid flux contribution, and central differences are used for the viscous terms.

Grasso, Francesco↗

Heat transfer characteristics of hypersonic waveriders with an emphasis on the leading edge effects

The heat transfer characteristics in surface radiative equilibrium and the aerodynamic performance of blunted hypersonic waveriders are studied along two constant dynamic pressure trajectories for four different Mach numbers. The inviscid leading edge drag was found to be a small (4 to 8 percent) but not negligible fraction of the inviscid drag of the vehicle. Although the viscous drag at the leading edge can be neglected, the presence of the leading edge will influence the transition pattern of the upper and the lower surfaces and therefore affect the viscous drag of the entire vehicle. For an application similar to the National Aerospace Plane (NASP), the present study demonstrates that the waverider remains a valuable concept at high Mach numbers if a state-of-the-art active cooling device is used along the leading edge. At low Mach number (less than 5), the study shows the surface radiative cooling might be sufficient. In all cases, radiative cooling is sufficient for the upper and lower surfaces of the vehicle if ceramic composites are used as thermal protection.

Vanmol, Denis O.↗

Radiation heat transfer in the wake of a hypersonic vehicle

Radiation heat transfer (RHT) from the wake of a hypersonic vehicle to its afterbody is evaluated from Gnoffo and Greene's (1987) calculated wake flowfield and the radiative properties of ionized high-temperature air with the calculated nonequilibrium composition. The 4.2-m aeroassisted flight experiment at an altitude of 75 km and velocity of 8900 m/s causes a 0.1-m-thick layer initially at T = 10,000 K and P = 1 kN/sq m to separate from the shoulder of the forebody heat shield and spread aft to form a wake at approximately T = 5000 K and P = 20 N/sq m. Gas in the separated flow region at approximately T = 3000 K and P = 10 N/sq m, recirculates about the afterbody. It is shown that the radiating layer, recirculating gases, and wake are optically thin for purposes of making engineering RHT calculations. Directional, spectral, and spatial variations of the radiation incident upon the afterbody are presented.

Babikian, D. S.↗

Aerodynamic heat transfer to a hypersonic research aircraft model /X-24C/ at Mach 6

The paper reports on results of heat-transfer tests conducted on a 1/29-scale model of the X-24C-12I hypersonic research aircraft configuration in a Mach 6 tunnel at a Reynolds number of thirteen million using the phase-change heat transfer technique. Sequences of phase-change heat transfer pattern photographs are presented showing windward side and leeward side heating processes. Theoretical predictions of dimensionless heat transfer coefficients along a data line on lower fuselage and on fuselage side bracket the experimental values. A turbulent heating theory gives good agreement with data when shifted to a new virtual origin.

Lawing, P. L.↗