Numerical simulation of high-incidence flow over the F-18 fuselage forebody
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Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Cummings, Russell M..
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The use of suction to trap a vortex is investigated experimentally. Vortex trapping using a finite sink and cross-flow obstructions is shown to be viable in the case of low-speed flow over a flat plate airfoil. A dual-fence geometry is found to be more efficient than a backward-facing step due to the greater restriction of vortex movement in the streamwise direction. The backward-facing step geometry provides for an increase in the sink strength required for trapping, while the more efficient dual-fence geometry permits the use of a lower suction force for trapping.
The injection of thin, high-momentum jets of air into the fuselage forebody boundary layers of the F-18 aircraft is explored numerically as a means of controlling the onset of fuselage vortices and of generating yaw control forces. The study was carried out for an angle of attack of 30 deg with symmetrical and asymmetrical blowing configurations. One-sided blowing results in a strongly asymmetrical flow pattern in the fore portion of the fuselage, leading to a net lateral force.
In support of the NASA High Alpha Technology Program, Navier-Stokes solutions have been obtained using the Chimera overset grid scheme for flow over the wing, fuselage, and wing leading-edge extension (LEX) of the F/A-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) at high incidence. Solutions are also presented for flow over the fuselage forebody at high angles of attack. The solutions are for turbulent flows at high-Reynolds-number flight-test conditions, and are compared with available qualitative and quantitative experimental data. Comparisons of predicted surface flow patterns, off-surface flow visualization, and surface-pressure distributions are in good agreement with flight-test data. The ability of the numerical method to predict the bursting of the LEX vortex as it encounters the adverse pressure gradient field of the wing is demonstrated, and the capability of predicting high-angle-of-attack aerodynamics around realistic aircraft configurations is established.
The F3D thin-layer Navier-Stokes code presently used to numerically investigate the three-dimensional separated flow about a prolate spheroid at high incidence analyzes the effect of different turbulence models on the flowfield solution and the characteristics of the predicted flow. The Johnson-King (1984) model is applied in order to evaluate the importance of modeling nonequilibrium effects in predicting flow about a slender body at high incidence; the computations in question are for steady-state, fully turbulent flow. Insight is gained into the effects of turbulence models on flow characteristics, and model effects on the accurate prediction of highly separated and vortical flows about a slender body are demonstrated.
Navier-Stokes solutions have been obtained using the Chimera overset grid scheme for flow over the wing, fuselage, and wing leading-edge extension (LEX) of the F-18 aircraft at high incidence. Solutions are also presented for flow over the fuselage forebody at high angles of attack. The solutions are for turbulent flows at high-Reynolds number flight-test conditions, and are compared with available qualitative and quantitative experimental data. Comparisons of predicted surface flow patterns, off-surface flow visualizations, and surface-pressure distributions are in good agreement with flight-test data. The ability of the numerical method to predict the bursting of the LEX vortex as it encounters the adverse pressure gradient field of the wing is demonstrated.
Fine-grid Navier-Stokes solutions were obtained for flow over the fuselage forebody and wing leading edge extension of the F/A-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle at large incidence. The resulting flows are complex, and exhibit cross flow separation from the sides of the forebody and from the leading edge extension. A well-defined vortex pattern is observed in the leeward-side flow. Results obtained for laminar flow show good agreement with flow visualizations obtained in ground-based experiments. Further, turbulent flows computed at high Reynolds-number flight-test conditions show good agreement with surface and off-surface visualizations obtained in flight.
As part of the NASA High Alpha Technology Program, fine-grid Navier-Stokes solutions have been obtained for flow over the fuselage forebody and wing leading-edge extension of the F/A-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle at large incidence. The resulting flows are complex and exhibit cross-flow separation from the sides of the forebody and from the leading-edge extension. A well-defined vortex pattern is observed in the leeward-side flow. Results obtained for laminar flow show good agreement with flow visualizations obtained in ground-based experiments. Further, turbulent flows computed at high-Reynolds-number flight-test conditions show good agreement with surface and off-surface visualizations obtained in flight.
Navier-Stokes computations were carried out for high-angle-of-attack flow about bodies of revolution in supersonic and subsonic flow. Numerical and physical factors affecting flow predictions are discussed. Accurate prediction of the complex three-dimensional separated flow is found to depend on using grids sufficiently fine to resolve the details of both the viscous boundary layer and the off-surface separated flow structures, and, for turbulent flow cases, use of an eddy-viscosity turbulence model which accounts for the leeward vortical flow structures. An example of high-incidence flow computed about a more complex geometry, the F-18 fighter fuselage forebody and leading edge extension, is also presented.