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Simmonds, A. L.

Publications and source records attributed to Simmonds, A. L..

Viscous shock-layer solutions with nonequilibrium chemistry for hypersonic flows past slender bodies

Laminar nonequilibrium heat transfer to slender vehicles is discussed, with heating-rate results presented as a ratio of the noncatalytic to the corresponding fully catalytic value to illustrate the maximum potential for a heating reduction in dissociated nonequilibrium flow at a given flight condition. Larger blunted cone half-angles are shown to produce the most significant nonequilibrium effects at distances beyond 100 nose radii, except in the fore-cone region. Increasing nose bluntness is found to produce large reductions in the ratio for the smaller cone angles at relatively large downstream surface lengths. It is noted that the nose radius and freestream density are not independent scaling parameters in nonequilibrium flow.

Zoby, E. V.

Hypersonic low-density solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations with chemical nonequilibrium and multicomponent surface slip

Solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations with chemical nonequilibrium and multicomponent surface slip are presented along the stagnation streamline under low-density hypersonic flight conditions. The conditions analyzed are those encountered by the nose region of the Space Shuttle Orbiter during reentry. A detailed comparison of the Navier-Stokes (NS) results is made with the viscous shock-layer (VSL) and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) predictions. With the inclusion of surface-slip boundary conditions in NS calculations, the surface heat transfer and other flow field quantities adjacent to the surface are predicted favorably with the DSMC calculations from 75 km to 115 km in altitude. Therefore, the practical range for the applicability of Navier-Stokes solutions is much wider than previously thought. This is appealing because the continuum (NS and VSL) methods are commonly used to solve the fluid flow problems and are less demanding in terms of computer resource requirements than the noncontinuum (DSMC) methods. The NS solutions agree well with the VSL results for altitudes less than 92 km. An assessment is made of the frozen flow approximation employed in the VSL calculations.

Gupta, R. N.

Temperature-dependent reaction-rate expression for oxygen recombination at Shuttle entry conditions

A temperature-dependent oxygen surface reaction-rate coefficient has been determined from experimental STS-2 heating and wall temperature data at altitudes of 77.91 km, 74.98 km, and 71.29 km. The coefficient is presented in an Arrhenius form and is shown to be less temperature dependent than previous results. Finite-rate viscous-shock-layer heating rates based on this present expression have been compared with predicted heating rates using the previous rate coefficients and with experimental heating data obtained over an extensive range of STS-2 and STS-3 entry conditions. A substantial improvement is obtained in comparison of experimental data and predicted heating rates using the present oxygen reaction-rate expression.

Zoby, E. V.

Comparison of viscous-shock-layer heating analysis with Shuttle flight data in slip flow regime

Comparison of STS-2 Shuttle flight heating data along the windward centerline has been made with two-dimensional nonequilibrium viscous shock-layer solutions obtained with shock and wall-slip conditions at an altitude range of 90 to 110 km. The shock slip condition used is the modified Rankine-Hugoniot relations of Cheng as used by Davis, and the wall-slip conditions are based on the first order consideration derived from kinetic theory as given by Scott and Hendricks. The results indicate that the calculated heating distributions with slip boundary conditions agree better with the flight data than those without slip conditions. The agreement improves when the accommodation coefficient or freestream density is decreased to one-half, suggesting the possibility of less than full accommodation for the tile surface and (or) an overestimate of freestream density using the Jacchia-Roberts model. Heating reduction due to the slip effect becomes very pronounced as the flow becomes more rarefied, and the effect is more significant for the stagnation region than the aft region of the vehicle.

Shinn, J. L.

Engineering flowfield method with angle-of-attack applications

An approximate inviscid flowfield method has been extended to include heat-transfer predictions using a technique to account for variable-entropy edge conditions. The engineering code computes the flowfield over hyperboloids, ellipsoids, paraboloids, and sphere cones at 0 deg angle of attack (AOA). For angle-of-attack applications, an approximation to sphere-cone streamline-spreading effects on the heat transfer along the windward and leeward rays and an empirical circumferential heating technique have been incorporated also in the method. The present engineering calculations yield good comparisons with existing pressure and heating data over sphere cones even at high incidence values with the restriction that the sonic-line location remain on the spherical cap.

Zoby, E. V.

A comparative study of time-marching and space-marching numerical methods

Menees (1981) has conducted an evaluation of three different flowfield codes for the Jupiter entry conditions. However, a comparison of the codes has been made difficult by the fact that the three codes use different solution procedures, different computational mesh sizes, and a different convergence criterion. There are also other differences. For an objective evaluation of the different numerical solution methods employed by the codes, it would be desirable to select a simple no-blowing perfect-gas flowfield case for which the turbulent models are well established. The present investigation is concerned with the results of such a study. It is found that the choice of the numerical method is rather problem dependent. The time-marching and the space-marching method provide both comparable results if care is taken in selecting the appropriate mesh size near the body surface.

Gupta, R. N.

Space Shuttle heating analysis with variation in angle of attack and surface condition

The effects of variations in the angle of attack and surface catalycity condition on the Space Shuttle surface heating along the windward centerline are evaluated. Further, the time history of the nonequilibrium-to-equilibrium surface heating ratio and the boundary edge quantities are analyzed. Results show that a + or - 5% change in the angle of attack does not appreciably influence either the nonequilibrium heating or the nonequilibrium-to-equilibrium heat transfer ratio at higher (75 km) or lower (48 km) altitudes. The variation in the recombination rate parameter is found to affect the surface heating most at an altitude of about 75 km for the STS-2 flight. A maximum reduction of 49% in heating due to nonequilibrium chemistry is obtained at about a 75 km altitude in the nose region of the Orbiter for the STS-2 flight data. In addition, the nonequilibrium effects at the boundary layer edge are found to become less significant for altitudes less than 65 km even though the boundary layer flow may still be in nonquilibrium.

Gupta, R. N.

An evaluation of turbulence models for massively blown surfaces

In this study, an evaluation of the various turbulence models for massively blown as well as unblown viscous shock layers has been made. The direct impact of the variations introduced through the different turbulent models has been evaluated by employing a single numerical code for the flow-field computations. The cases analyzed include flows with low and high Reynolds numbers and peaked and uniform surface injection rates. It is observed that with appropriate mixing-length formulation, and the use of an intermittency factor, most of the turbulence models considered predict comparable results for both blown and unblown surfaces.

Gupta, R. N.

Viscous-shock-layer heating analysis for the shuttle windward-symmetry plane with surface finite catalytic recombination rates

The paper demonstrates the capability of a reacting, two-dimensional viscous-shock-layer solution using the equivalent axisymmetric body concept to predict heating rates on the shuttle windward centerline for a wide range of altitudes. Results indicate that the nonequilibrium effects persist through most of the STS-2 entry heating pulse down to an altitude of about 50 km. When results are compared to those of the inviscid flowfield plus boundary layer solution of Scott (1980), agreement is fair to poor for nonequilibrium calculations, although very good for equilibrium calculations. A parametric study to demonstrate the effect of uncertainties in oxygen surface recombination rate for RCG coated HRSI on heating, indicates favorable results when a wall recombination rate of 100 cm/sec is used in the temperature range 1400-900 K.

Shinn, J. L.

Galileo probe forebody flowfield predictions during Jupiter entry

This paper presents forebody flowfield solutions for Jupiter entry conditions where the ablation injection rate is coupled with the surface heating rate. The calculations are made with a time-dependent viscous-shock-layer analysis where the flow is assumed to be in chemical equilibrium. The results obtained demonstrate how variations in various properties influence the calculations and how recent modifications in probe forebody heatshield design influence the heating and mass-loss conditions for Jupiter entry. The heatshield mass-loss rates are shown to decrease when the new radiative and thermodynamic property values are used as well as when the nose bluntness is reduced. Also, the inclusion of a finite surface reflectivity reduces the mass loss whereas spallation increases the mass loss by about 6 percent. Finally, the heating, mass-loss, and flowfield structure characteristics are described for a 335-kg probe as it enters the atmosphere of Jupiter.

Moss, J. N.

Comparison of viscous-shock-layer solutions by time-asymptotic and steady-state methods

Two flow-field codes employing the time- and space-marching numerical techniques were evaluated. Both methods were used to analyze the flow field around a massively blown Jupiter entry probe under perfect-gas conditions. In order to obtain a direct point-by-point comparison, the computations were made by using identical grids and turbulence models. For the same degree of accuracy, the space-marching scheme takes much less time as compared to the time-marching method and would appear to provide accurate results for the problems with nonequilibrium chemistry, free from the effect of local differences in time on the final solution which is inherent in time-marching methods. With the time-marching method, however, the solutions are obtainable for the realistic entry probe shapes with massive or uniform surface blowing rates; whereas, with the space-marching technique, it is difficult to obtain converged solutions for such flow conditions. The choice of the numerical method is, therefore, problem dependent. Both methods give equally good results for the cases where results are compared with experimental data.

Gupta, R. N.

The impact of turbulence on a radiating shock layer with coupled ablation injection

This paper provides a description of the potential impact of turbulence on a radiating flow field with large surface blowing. This is accomplished by calculating the forebody flow field with coupled carbon-phenolic mass injection for a probe entering the Jupiter atmosphere. Both laminar and turbulent flow conditions are assumed. For the no blowing solutions, turbulence is shown to have no impact on the surface radiative heating. However, with ablation injection, turbulence significantly increases the surface radiative heating rate. This occurs because the turbulence brings the high temperature gases closer to the surface, thus thinning the cool molecular gases at the wall which are responsible for blocking much of the radiation.

Moss, J. N.

Radiative flux penetration through a blown shock layer for Jupiter entry conditions

A study is made of the radiative blockage due to carbonaceous ablation injection for a probe entering the Jupiter atmosphere. This is accomplished by calculating the stagnation-point blockage factors for three entry trajectories that account for variations in probe configuration, atmospheric gas composition, and entry conditions. The radiative blockage within the relatively cool ablation layer is shown to be large and to be primarily dependent upon the absorption of the C2 and C3 species. The C3 absorption is significant, particularly when the new experimental data for C3 spectral absorption properties are used. Also, the stagnation-point radiative blockage factors are shown to correlate well in terms of the no-injection radiative heating rates for various entry conditions.

Moss, J. N.

Tables and charts of equilibrium thermodynamic properties of ammonia for temperatures from 500 to 50,000 K.

Equilibrium thermodynamic properties for pure ammonia were generated for a range of temperature from 500 to 50,000 K and pressure from 0.01 to 40 MN/sq m and are presented in tabulated and graphical form. Properties include pressure, temperature, density, enthalpy, speed of sound, entropy, molecular-weight ratio, specific heat at constant pressure, specific heat at constant volume, isentropic exponent, and species mole fractions. These properties were calculated by the method which is based on minimization of the Gibbs free energy. The data presented herein are for an 18-species ammonia model. Heats of formation and spectroscopic constants used as input data are presented. Comparison of several thermodynamic properties calculated with the present program and a second computer code is performed for a range of pressure and for temperatures up to 30,000 K.

Simmonds, A. L.

An inlet analysis for the NASA hypersonic research engine aerothermodynamic integration model

A theoretical analysis for the inlet of the NASA Hypersonic Research Engine (HRE) Aerothermodynamic Integration Model (AIM) has been undertaken by use of a method-of-characteristics computer program. The purpose of the analysis was to obtain pretest information on the full-scale HRE inlet in support of the experimental AIM program (completed May 1974). Mass-flow-ratio and additive-drag-coefficient schedules were obtained that well defined the range effected in the AIM tests. Mass-weighted average inlet total-pressure recovery, kinetic energy efficiency, and throat Mach numbers were obtained.

Andrews, E. H., Jr.