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Tauber, Michael E.

Publications and source records attributed to Tauber, Michael E..

36 records · Page 2

Study Of Flow About A Helicopter Rotor

Noninvasive instrument verifies computer program predicting velocities. Laser velocimeter measurements confirm predictions of transonic flow field around tip of helicopter-rotor blade. Report discusses measurements, which yield high-resolution orthogonal velocity components of flow field at rotor-tip. Mach numbers from 0.85 to 0.95, and use of measurements in verifying ability of computer program ROT22 to predict transonic flow field, including occurrences, strengths, and locations of shock waves causing high drag and noise.

Tauber, Michael E.↗

A review of high-speed, convective, heat-transfer computation methods

The objective is to provide useful engineering formulations and to instill a modest degree of physical understanding of the phenomena governing convective aerodynamic heating at high flight speeds. Some physical insight is not only essential to the application of the information presented here, but also to the effective use of computer codes which may be available to the reader. Given first is a discussion of cold-wall, laminar boundary layer heating. A brief presentation of the complex boundary layer transition phenomenon follows. Next, cold-wall turbulent boundary layer heating is discussed. This topic is followed by a brief coverage of separated flow-region and shock-interaction heating. A review of heat protection methods follows, including the influence of mass addition on laminar and turbulent boundary layers. Next is a discussion of finite-difference computer codes and a comparison of some results from these codes. An extensive list of references is also provided from sources such as the various AIAA journals and NASA reports which are available in the open literature.

Tauber, Michael E.↗

A review of high-speed, convective, heat-transfer computation methods

Formulations useful for engineering formulations are sought, with a view to a clearer physical understanding, of the phenomena that govern convective aerodynamic heating at the elevated speeds encountered in atmospheric missile trajectories. After discussing cold-wall laminar boundary layer heating, the complex boundary layer transition phenomenon and cold-wall turbulent boundary layer heating are treated. The current understanding of separated flow-region and shock-interaction heating is presented, together with an evaluation of heat-protection methods and a characterization of the influence of mass addition on laminar and turbulent boundary layers. Finite-difference method-based CFD code results are evaluated.

Tauber, Michael E.↗

The heating environment during Martian atmospheric descent

It has been shown that a vehicle with a lift/drag ratio of 2.3 entering the Martian atmosphere at parabolic speed of 5 km/sec, or from a low orbit at 3.5 km/sec, has a very large landing footprint. At the 5-km/sec entry speed, the trajectory exhibits large skipping motions; however, a lateral range of up to 3300 km is attainable. The entries from low satellite orbit yield a gliding lateral range of 2500 km. The distances correspond to latitude changes of 57 and 42 deg, respectively. The high-speed, skipping entries were accompanied by the most intense heating. The peak stagnation point convective rates varied from 59 W/sq cm to 88 W/sq cm for partially and fully catalytic walls, respectively; the corresponding equilibrium wall temperatures were 1900 K and 2100 K. The peak heating at a wing leading-edge point reached 50 W/sq cm because of the presence of a transitional boundary layer. The lower-speed, gliding entries experienced much milder heating with a peak stagnation point rate of about 14 W/sq cm, resulting in a wall temperature near 1300 K. However, the longer duration of the gliding entries resulted in comparable heat loads for both entry speeds. The highest heat loads approached values experienced by the Shuttle orbiter stagnation point during a typical entry.

Tauber, Michael E.↗

Entry aeromaneuvering capabilities of transatmospheric vehicles

The landing footprint of a conceptual high-lift transatmospheric vehicle is defined for aeromaneuvering entry from a typical low-earth orbit. The flight strategy for trajectory construction to maximize the landing area by extending downrange and crossrange as far as possible is developed in four phases by optimal programming of the vehicle's roll angle. Trajectories that reach any given landing site were calculated with the corresponding heating rates at three critical vehicle locations (stagnation point, wing leading edge, and body centerline). An optimization methodology was developed that demonstrates the trades between crossrange, peak heating and total heat loads as a function of three key flight parameters (altitude, flight-path angle, and vehicle roll angle). The maximum extent of the landing footprint was found to be 29,690 km downrange and 6560 km crossrange. Large variations in the ballistic coefficient had negligible effect on the extent of the footprint but could significantly affect heating. However, the footprint's longitude was displaced downstream or upstream with increasing or decreasing ballistic coefficient, respectively.

Menees, Gene P.↗

Atmospheric maneuvering during Martian entry

A comparative-advantages study is made of two different Martian atmospheric entry maneuvers, on the basis of calculation results for the case of a vehicle with a maximum L/D ratio of 2.3. Entries from a highly elliptical Martian orbit at 5 km/sec are more difficult than those from a lower altitude and speed orbit at 3.5 km/sec, due to their more stringent guidance requirements. Efforts to reduce the deceleration for the higher speed entry by lift-modulation achieved a 40-percent reduction, but at the cost of a 50-percent decrease in lateral range. The lower-speed entry's gliding trajectory is noted to encounter a far more benign atmospheric environment.

Tauber, Michael E.↗

Hypervelocity gliding maneuvers

Atmospheric maneuvering during orbital return is a major advantage of high-lift space vehicle configurations, affording the Space Shuttle Orbiter a variety of possible landing sites. A brief analysis is presented for turning maneuvers during gliding flight, including the lateral distances traversed, at velocities up to circular satellite speed. Lateral distances of 3000 and 6000 km can be traversed during 90- and 180-deg turns for L/D of 2 and 3, respectively.

Tauber, Michael E.↗

The thermal environment of transatmospheric vehicles

A transatmospheric vehicle using primarily air-breathing propulsion must fly in the denser part of the atmosphere to achieve adequate acceleration to reach orbital speed. The potentially long ascent times, combined with the need for a low-drag configuration, result in a severe aerothermodynamics environment. To achieve low drag, the vehicle must have a relatively sharp nose and wing leading edges. The ascent peak stagnation point and equilibrium wall temperatures for the wing leading edge can reach values of 4000 K and 3000 K, respectively, for high dynamic pressure trajectories, making some form of mass addition cooling mandatory. The corresponding temperatures during entry are about 1500 K lower. The vehicle windward centerline temperatures are more moderate, however, with values peaking around 1500 K. Therefore, radiative cooling should be effective over large areas of the vehicle. The windward, centerline heat loads are relatively insensitive to the dynamic pressure of the ascent trajectory, in contrast to the stagnation point and wing leading edge. The windward surface entry heat loads are much lower, but depend strongly on the flightpath.

Tauber, Michael E.↗

Ascent aeromaneuvering capabilities of transatmospheric vehicles

The low-earth orbit rendezvous capability of a conceptual transatmospheric vehicle is analyzed for two endo-/exo-atmospheric ascent missions. Both cases involve coasting aerodynamic maneuvers starting from the burn-out conditions corresponding to air-breathing propulsion systems that achieve orbital velocity within the atmosphere. The powered phase of the ascent trajectories approximate constant dynamic pressure, fuel-efficient flightpaths typically flown by supersonic aircraft. The aeromaneuvering coast phases of the ascent include both coplanar (to determine altitude capability without plane-inclination changes) and aeroturning to LEO rendezvous at 400 km altitude (to assess plane-change capability). The coast-phase ascent maneuvers are correlated with G-load requirements and aerothermodynamic heating characteristics at two critical locations on the vehicle surface (i.e., the nose stagnation point and the body centerline). The results are correlated and recommendations are made concerning thermal protection and structural requirements.

Menees, Gene P.↗

Performance comparisons of maneuvering vehicles returning from orbit

In the present study of maneuvering reentry vehicles employing skipping and gliding flight paths, attention is given to aerodynamic heating pulses during longitudinal flight and lateral maneuvers. While skipping vehicles can achieve longer ranges than gliding ones, the deceleration loads can be an order of magnitude higher and involve heating rates 4-5 times higher, even for shallow entries, therefore requiring much heavier structural components and heavier thermal protection systems than gliders. A total lateral range of 8000 km is noted to be achievable by a gliding aerodynamic maneuver involving a 90-deg turn initiated at entry.

Tauber, Michael E.↗

Scaling relations for heating during gliding entry at parabolic speed

The scaling relations presently derived illustrate the influence of ballistic coefficient and L/D primary vehicle parameters on the peak heating rate and total heating/unit area for gliding entry of the earth atmosphere at parabolic speed. Comparisons with stagnation-point and windward centerline laminar and turbulent heating during three Space Shuttle flights are presented. It is found that total heat input/unit area is reduced by decreasing both of the primary vehicle parameters.

Tauber, Michael E.↗

Trajectory characteristics and heating of hypervelocity projectiles having large ballistic coefficients

A simple, approximate equation describing the velocity-density relationship (or velocity-altitude) has been derived from the flight of large ballistic coefficient projectiles launched at high speeds. The calculations obtained by using the approximate equation compared well with results for numerical integrations of the exact equations of motion. The flightpath equation was used to parametrically calculate maximum body decelerations and stagnation pressures for initial velocities from 2 to 6 km/s. Expressions were derived for the stagnation-point convective heating rates and total heat loads. The stagnation-point heating was parametrically calculated for a nonablating wall and an ablating carbon surface. Although the heating rates were very high, the pulse decayed quickly. The total nose-region heat shield weight was conservatively estimated to be only about 1 percent of the body mass.

Tauber, Michael E.↗

Transonic rotor tip design using numerical optimization

The aerodynamic design procedure for a new blade tip suitable for operation at transonic speeds is illustrated. For the first time, 3 dimensional numerical optimization was applied to rotor tip design, using the recent derivative of the ROT22 code, program R22OPT. Program R22OPT utilized an efficient quasi-Newton optimization algorithm. Multiple design objectives were specified. The delocalization of the shock wave was to be eliminated in forward flight for an advance ratio of 0.41 and a tip Mach number of 0.92 at psi = 90 deg. Simultaneously, it was sought to reduce torque requirements while maintaining effective restoring pitching moments. Only the outer 10 percent of the blade span was modified; the blade area was not to be reduced by more than 3 percent. The goal was to combine the advantages of both sweptback and sweptforward blade tips. A planform that featured inboard sweepback was combined with a sweptforward tip and a taper ratio of 0.5. Initially, the ROT22 code was used to find by trial and error a planform geometry which met the design goals. This configuration had an inboard section with a leading edge sweep of 20 deg and a tip section swept forward at 25 deg; in addition, the airfoils were modified.

Tauber, Michael E.↗