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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 181 records · Page 10

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NASA NTRS1992

Advanced ballistic range technology

Experimental interferograms, schlieren, and shadow-graphs are routinely used for validating ideal- and real-gas computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes. Interferograms are used for quantitative comparisons of integrated density. Schlieren and shadowgraphs are used for comparing the locations of flow field features; the types of flowfield features recorded in these images include shocks, shear layers, and expansion fans. By constructing images from flow field simulations, one-to-one comparisons of computation and experiment are possible. During the period from 1 May 1991 to 31 Jan. 1992, the emphasis of this research was on developing techniques for constructing these images from flow field simulations.

Yates, Leslie A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Holographic Flow Diagnostics for the Space Shuttle Main Engine

Summarized here are the results of an effort to produce holograms of the exhaust from the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) being tested on a test stand at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The effort took place from December 1990 to January 1992, during which seven trips were made from MetroLaser to MSFC. A brief outline of each trip is given. Due to the suspension of the SSME program in Huntsville and unexpected complications in resolving safety issues, the proposed holography system was not operated until November 1991. A NASA 100 mW Argon laser was installed in the holography system for an October engine test while these safety issues were being resolved. A video camera shadowgraph was made during this test, which was shut down prematurely after 20 seconds. System problems precluded successful operation of the holography system until the January 1992 engine test. No hologram resulted during this test due to heavy fog conditions around the engine.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1991

Analysis of unsteady pressures induced on a body by a rotor

An analysis was conducted on the unsteady pressures measured on a body surface in proximity to a rotor. Unsteady pressures were measured at strategic points on the body in forward flight at various combination of advance ratio, rotor thrust, and tip-path-plane angle. It was found that the local values of unsteady pressure were significantly altered by small changes in rotor thrust and advance ratio; tip-path-plane angle variations had a much smaller effect. Four characteristic pressure signatures representative of (1) blade passage, (2) close wake interactions with the body, (3) wake impingement on the body, and (4) postwake impingement were distinguished. These classifications were supported by correlations with shadowgraphic flow visualization of the rotor wake/body interaction, as well as unsteady potential flow models. This general classification of the surface pressure signatures has permitted a greater physical understanding of the overall air loads and possible mechanisms responsible for the interactional effects between a helicopter rotor and its fuselage.

Bi, Nai-Pei↗

NASA NTRS1992

Single expansion ramp nozzle simulations

The single-expansion-ramp-nozzle (SERN) experiment underway at NASA Ames Research Center simulates the National Aerospace Plane propulsive jet-plume flow. Recently, limited experimental data has become available from an experiment with a generic nozzle/afterbody model in a hypersonic wind tunnel. The present paper presents full three-dimensional solutions obtained with the implicit Navier-Stokes solver, FL3D, for the baseline model and a version of the model with side extensions. Analysis of the computed flow clearly shows the complex 3-D nature of the flow, critical flow features, and the effect of side extensions on the plume flow development. Flow schematics appropriate for the conditions tested are presented for the baseline model and the model with side extensions. The computed results show excellent agreement with experimental shadowgraph and with surface pressure measurements. The computed and experimental surface oil-flows show the same features but may be improved by appropriate turbulence modeling.

Ruffin, Stephen M.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A study of rotor wake development and wake/body interactions in hover

Experiments were conducted to document the wake geometry and interactional effects between a hovering rotor and a body representing a simplified helicopter fuselage. The wide-field shadowgraph technique was used to visualize the rotor wake vortices and to obtain quantitative information on the wake trajectories, with and without the presence of the body. Particular attention was paid to visualizing and quantifying the wake geometry during the direct impingement of tip vortices on the body surface. The rotor performance with and without the fuselage is also discussed.

Bagai, A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Experimental results for a hypersonic nozzle/afterbody flow field

The flow field created by the interaction of a single-expansion-ramp-nozzle (SERN) flow with a hypersonic external stream has been experimentally characterized using a generic nozzle/afterbody model in the 3.5-foot hypersonic wind tunnel of the NASA Ames Research Center. The presented results include oil-flow and shadowgraph flow visualization photographs, afterbody surface-pressure distributions, boundary layer rake measurements, and Preston-tube skin-friction measurements. The design, construction, and operation of the model was found to be successful. Surface oil-flow patterns show that the jet-plume flow attaches to the afterbody surface at jet pressure ratios between 154 and 234. The oil flow also shows the pattern of lines where the jet flow separates from the ramp, apparently as a result of interaction of the jet-plume internal shock wave with the ramp boundary layer.

Spaid, Frank W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Improved accuracy in ground-based facilities - Development of an automated film-reading system for ballistic ranges

Software for an automated film-reading system that uses personal computers and digitized shadowgraphs is described. The software identifies pixels associated with fiducial-line and model images, and least-squares procedures are used to calculate the positions and orientations of the images. Automated position and orientation readings for sphere and cone models are compared to those obtained using a manual film reader. When facility calibration errors are removed from these readings, the accuracy of the automated readings is better than the pixel resolution, and it is equal to, or better than, the manual readings. The effects of film-reading and facility-calibration errors on calculated aerodynamic coefficients is discussed.

Yates, Leslie A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Images constructed from computed flowfields

A method for constructing interferograms, schlieren, and shadowgraphs from ideal- and real-gas, two- and three-dimensional computed flowfileds is described. The computational grids can be structured or unstructured, and multiple grids are an option. The constructed images are compared to experimental images for several types of flow, including a ramp, a blunt-body, a nozzle, and a reacting flow. The constructed images simulate the features observed in the experimental images. They are sensitive to errors in the flowfield solutions and can be used to identify solution errors. In addition, techniques for obtaining phase shifts from experimental finite-fringe interferograms and for removing experimentally induced phase-shift errors are discussed. Both the constructed images and calculated phase shifts can be used for validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes.

Yates, Leslie A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Investigation of aerothermodynamics and optical radiation in the AFE hypersonic flow field

Research for the radiation experiments on the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (AFE) was performed to obtain a data base for development of engineering requirements for aerobrakes. Due to funding restrictions, the necessary Aerobrake design data were obtained from ground based experiments, specifically arc-jet wind tunnels. Except for the instrument windows, final development of the AFE radiometers was completed. Window definition included several designs to be flight validated in arc-jets. This work was completed, and successful designs have evolved which will yield full scientific return from the flight experiment. The theoretical work includes final code development to describe the spacecraft environment to support instrument definition, optical radiation codes that operate at significantly improved speeds, and calculation of radiation forebody loads and effects on experiment objectives for varying AFE weights and trajectories. Furthermore, radiant flux vectors at the AFE base were predicted to be used for afterbody instrument definition. The Vacuum Ultraviolet Experiment for the Arc-Jet was completed, and arc-jet experiment conditions and experiment objectives were refined to incorporate the most current thinking. Ballistic range experiments were completed. Several shadowgraphs indicating corner turning angles and waviness structures were obtained, and the results were used to estimate the compression region location for the AFE flight. The waviness measured has helped to model the temporal variations of wake radiation for purposes of defining radiometers to measure the energy content of wake dynamics.

Palumbo, Giusseppe↗

NASA NTRS1993

Calibration of a shock wave position sensor using artificial neural networks

This report discusses the calibration of a shock wave position sensor. The position sensor works by using artificial neural networks to map cropped CCD frames of the shadows of the shock wave into the value of the shock wave position. This project was done as a tutorial demonstration of method and feasibility. It used a laboratory shadowgraph, nozzle, and commercial neural network package. The results were quite good, indicating that artificial neural networks can be used efficiently to automate the semi-quantitative applications of flow visualization.

Decker, Arthur J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Experimental study of rotor wake/body interactions in hover

Experiments were conducted to document the tip vortex geometries and interactional effects betwen a hovering rotor and a body representing a simplified helicopter fuselage. The wide-field shadowgraph technique was used to visualize the rotor tip vortices and to obtain quantitative information on the trajectories, with and without the presence of the body. It was found that the effects of the body caused significant changes to both the radial contraction and axial displacements of the tip vortices compared to the isolated case. Direct impingement of the tip vortices on the body surface was also observed, and found to cause large local wake deformations. The rotor performance was significantly affected by the body, producing a higher figure of merit relative to the isolated case.

Bagai, A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Numerical simulation of shock-induced combustion/detonation

A numerical study is conducted to simulate the shock-induced combustion in premixed H2-air mixtures. Two types of bodies, blunt (spherical projectile) and sharp (wedge), are considered in the study. A nine-species, 18-step finite-rate H2-air chemical reaction mechanism coupled with the Navier-Stokes equations is solved. The flow field over the blunt body is found to be unsteady, when the projectile velocity is same as the Chapman-Jouget velocity of the mixture. The unsteadiness is caused by the periodic instabilities originating in the stagnation zone. Numerical results show good qualitative agreement with the ballistic range shadowgraph. In addition, the frequency of oscillations, determined by using the Fourier power spectrum, is found to be in good agreement with the experiment. The flow field over the wedge is found to be stable for the conditions considered in this study. The oblique detonation wave structure is investigated and the important flow features are discussed.

Singh, D. J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Uniformity and transmission of proportional counter window materials for use with AXAF

The X-ray detection system used to calibrate the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) mirrors will include gas flow and sealed proportional counters. To meet the ultimate 1 percent goal of the calibration project, the transmission and uniformity of the windows must be well known for the soft X-ray wavelengths involved. Various window materials for use with proportional counters are examined for transmission at X-ray wavelengths in the range of 0.1 to 5.9 keV. These include the usual window materials (polypropylene and beryllium), as well as materials only recently employed for detector applications (polyimide and diamond). The transmission uniformity of beryllium at 1.49 keV is examined with a microchannel plate detector, producing a 'shadowgraph' of the window material illuminated with soft X-rays. This technique allows us to investigate nonuniformities on a spatial scale of about .2 mm.

Flanagan, K.↗

NASA NTRS1956

The Near Noise Field of Static Jets and Some Model Studies of Devices for Noise Reduction

An experimental study is presented of the pressure fluctuations near jet exhaust streams made during unchoked operation of a turbojet engine and a 1-inch-diameter high-temperature model jet and during choked operation of various sizes of model jets with unheated air. The tests for unchoked operation indicate a random spectrum of rather narrow band width which varies in frequency content with axial position along the jet. Pressure surveys from the model tests along lines parallel to the 15 degree jet boundary indicate that the station of greatest pressure fluctuations is determined by the jet velocity and the radial distance, with a tendency of the maximum to shift downstream as either parameter is increased. From model tests the magnitude of the fluctuations appears to increase as about the second power of jet velocity at points just outside the jet boundary and as increasingly higher powers of jet velocity as distance from the boundary is increased. A laboratory method of noise reduction with model jets was found to produce large decreases in the magnitude of the lower-frequency components of the spectra and thereby also to reduce the total radiated energy. Choked operation of model jets with unheated air indicates the appearance of a discrete-frequency component of very large magnitude. Shadowgraph records of the flow show that this condition is associated with the appearance of flow formations suggestive of partly formed toroidal vortices in the vicinity of the shocks. Elimination of these formations is found to eliminate the discrete component and thereby to reduce the overall noise level.

Lassiter, Leslie W↗

NASA NTRS1958

Investigation of Separated Flows in Supersonic and Subsonic Streams with Emphasis on the Effect of Transition

Report presents the results of experimental and theoretical research conducted on flow separation associated with steps, bases, compression corners, curved surfaces, shock-wave boundary-layer reflections, and configurations producing leading-edge separation. Results were obtained from pressure-distribution measurements, shadowgraph observations, high-speed motion pictures, and oil-film studies. The maximum scope of measurement encompassed Mach numbers between 0.4 and 3.6, and length Reynolds numbers between 4,000 and 5,000,000.

Chapman, Dean R↗

NASA NTRS1992

Images constructed from computed flow fields

A method for constructing interferograms, schlieren, and shadowgraphs from ideal- and real-gas, two- and three-dimensional computed flow fields is described. The computational grids can be structured or unstructured, and multiple grids are an option. The constructed images are compared to experimental images for several types of flow, including a ramp, a blunt-body, a nozzle, and a reacting flow. The constructed images simulate the features observed in the experimental images. They are sensitive to errors in the flow-field solutions and can be used to identify solution errors. In addition, techniques for obtaining phase shifts from experimental finite-fringe interferograms and for removing experimentally induced phase-shift errors are discussed. Both the constructed images and calculated phase shifts can be used for validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes.

Yates, Leslie A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Development of an automated film-reading system for ballistic ranges

Yates, Leslie A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Advanced ballistic range technology

Experimental interferograms, schlieren, and shadowgraphs are used for quantitative and qualitative flow-field studies. These images are created by passing light through a flow field, and the recorded intensity patterns are functions of the phase shift and angular deflection of the light. As part of the grant NCC2-583, techniques and software have been developed for obtaining phase shifts from finite-fringe interferograms and for constructing optical images from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solutions. During the period from 1 Nov. 1992 - 30 Jun. 1993, research efforts have been concentrated in improving these techniques.

Yates, Leslie A.↗