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NASA NTRS1999

X-33 Experimental Aeroheating at Mach 6 Using Phosphor Thermography

The goal of the NASA Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technology program is to mature and demonstrate essential, cost effective technologies for next generation launch systems. The X-33 flight vehicle presently being developed by Lockheed Martin is an experimental Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) demonstrator that seeks to validate critical technologies and insure applicability to a full scale RLV. As with the design of any hypersonic vehicle, the aeroheating environment is an important issue and one of the key technologies being demonstrated on X-33 is an advanced metallic Thermal Protection System (TPS). As part of the development of this TPS system, the X-33 aeroheating environment is being defined through conceptual analysis, ground based testing, and computational fluid dynamics. This report provides an overview of the hypersonic aeroheating wind tunnel program conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center in support of the ground based testing activities. Global surface heat transfer images, surface streamline patterns, and shock shapes were measured on 0.013 scale (10-in.) ceramic models of the proposed X-33 configuration in Mach 6 air. The test parametrics include angles of attack from -5 to 40 degs, unit Reynolds numbers from 1x106 to 8x106/ft, and body flap deflections of 0, 10, and 20 deg. Experimental and computational results indicate the presence of shock/shock interactions that produced localized heating on the deflected flaps and boundary layer transition on the canted fins. Comparisons of the experimental data to laminar and turbulent predictions were performed. Laminar windward heating data from the wind tunnel was extrapolated to flight surface temperatures and generally compared to within 50 deg F of flight prediction along the centerline. When coupled with the phosphor technique, this rapid extrapolation method would serve as an invaluable TPS design tool.

Horvath, Thomas J.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Integrating Kinetic Effects into Global Models for Reconnection

Magnetic reconnection is the most striking example of how the coupling between global and kinetic scales can lead to fast energy release. Explosive solar activity, such as coronal mass ejections and flares for example, is widely believed to be due to the release of magnetic energy stored on global scales by magnetic reconnection operating on kinetic scales. Understanding how processes couple across spatial scales is one of the most difficult challenges in all of physics, and is undoubtedly the main obstacle to developing predictive models for the Sun's activity. Consequently, the NASA Living With a Star Program selected a Focused Science Team to attack the problem of cross-scale coupling in reconnection. In this talk I will present some of the results of the Team and review our latest theories and methods for modeling the global-local coupling in solar reconnection.

Antiochos, S. K.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Development of a 3-D upwind PNS code for chemically reacting hypersonic flowfields

Two new parabolized Navier-Stokes (PNS) codes were developed to compute the three-dimensional, viscous, chemically reacting flow of air around hypersonic vehicles such as the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP). The first code (TONIC) solves the gas dynamic and species conservation equations in a fully coupled manner using an implicit, approximately-factored, central-difference algorithm. This code was upgraded to include shock fitting and the capability of computing the flow around complex body shapes. The revised TONIC code was validated by computing the chemically-reacting (M(sub infinity) = 25.3) flow around a 10 deg half-angle cone at various angles of attack and the Ames All-Body model at 0 deg angle of attack. The results of these calculations were in good agreement with the results from the UPS code. One of the major drawbacks of the TONIC code is that the central-differencing of fluxes across interior flowfield discontinuities tends to introduce errors into the solution in the form of local flow property oscillations. The second code (UPS), originally developed for a perfect gas, has been extended to permit either perfect gas, equilibrium air, or nonequilibrium air computations. The code solves the PNS equations using a finite-volume, upwind TVD method based on Roe's approximate Riemann solver that was modified to account for real gas effects. The dissipation term associated with this algorithm is sufficiently adaptive to flow conditions that, even when attempting to capture very strong shock waves, no additional smoothing is required. For nonequilibrium calculations, the code solves the fluid dynamic and species continuity equations in a loosely-coupled manner. This code was used to calculate the hypersonic, laminar flow of chemically reacting air over cones at various angles of attack. In addition, the flow around the McDonnel Douglas generic option blended-wing-body was computed and comparisons were made between the perfect gas, equilibrium air, and the nonequilibrium air results.

Tannehill, J. C.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Raman scattering applied to hypersonic air flow

The Raman scattering technique was applied to measure the local static temperature and gas number density over a sharp-edge flat-plate model in a Mach 5 nozzle of the Langley nozzle test chamber with air as the test gas. The angle of attack varied from -5 to 15 deg, and the stagnation temperature varied from 317 to 442 K, with stagnation pressures ranging from 170 kN to 2.8 MN/sq m. The measured values of static temperature and density ranged from 60 to 100 K and from 0.03 to 0.8 kg/cu m, respectively. A comparison with calculated values based on static pressure measurements along the model shows that the Raman scattering technique is a viable measurement method in applications to high-speed three-dimensional flows.

Hillard, M. E., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Results of an investigation to determine local flow characteristics at the air data probe locations using an 0.030-scale model (45-0) of the space shuttle vehicle orbiter configuration 140A/B (modified) in the NASA Ames Research Center unitary plan wind tunnel (OA161, A, B, C), volume 1

Results are presented of wind tunnel test 0A161 of a 0.030-scale model 45-0 of the configuration 140A/B (modified) space shuttle vehicle orbiter in the NASA Ames Research Center Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel facilities. The purpose of this test was to determine local total and static pressure environments for the air data probe locations and relative effectiveness of alternate flight-test probe configurations. Testing was done in the Mach number range from 0.30 to 3.5. Angle of attack was varied from -8 to 25 degrees while sideslip varied between -8 and 8 degrees.

Nichols, M. E.↗

NASA NTRS1958

Droplet Impingement and Ingestion by Supersonic Nose Inlet in Subsonic Tunnel Conditions

The amount of water in cloud droplet form ingested by a full-scale supersonic nose inlet with conical centerbody was measured in the NACA Lewis icing tunnel. Local and total water impingement rates on the cowl and centerbody surfaces were also obtained. All measurements were made with a dye-tracer technique. The range of operating and meteorological conditions studied was: angles of attack of 0 deg and 4.2 deg, volume-median droplet diameters from about 11 to 20 microns, and ratios of inlet to free-stream velocity from about 0.4 to 1.8. Although the inlet was designed for supersonic (Mach 2.0) operation of the aircraft, the tunnel measurements were confined to a free-stream velocity of 156 knots (Mach 0.237). The data are extendable to other subsonic speeds and droplet sizes by dimensionless impingement parameters. Impingement and ingestion efficiencies are functions of the ratio of inlet to free-stream velocity as well as droplet size. For the model and range of conditions studied, progressively increasing the inlet velocity ratio from less than to greater than 1.0 increased the centerbody impingement efficiency and shifted the cowl impingement region from the inner- to outer-cowl surfaces, respectively. The ratio of water ingested by the inlet plane to that contained in a free-stream tube of cross section equal to that at the inlet plane also increased with increasing inlet velocity ratio. Theoretically calculated values of inlet water (or droplet) ingestion are in good agreement with experiment for annular inlet configurations.

Gelder, Thomas F.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Topology of three-dimensional separated flows

A Legendre formulation for a pattern of streamlines adjacent to a surface considered as trajectories with properties consistent with those of a constant vector field is used to develop a mathematical framework for three-dimensional separated flows. Convergence of skin-friction lines onto a particular skin-friction line originating from a particular saddle point is defined as a necessary condition for flow separation. Steady, three-dimensional flow is considered, and singular points occurring in the skin-friction lines are shown to happen where the skin friction or the surface vorticity become zero, and become nodal or saddle points. The separation initiates and continues only globally, as a mixture of an infinite set of friction lines, or locally, with one line. The topography of streamlines in two-dimensional sections of three-dimensional flows is discussed, and examples are provided of a round-nosed body of revolution at varying angles of attack.

Tobak, M.↗

NASA NTRS1982

A miniature electro-optical air flow sensor

Miniature sensors are needed for rapid and uncomplicated installation on light aircraft engaged in stability research programs. One particularly difficult sensor to miniaturize to the required degree has been a flow angle and velocity sensor for measuring the local flow ahead of a wing. However, by using an electrooptical technique it was possible to overcome the encountered difficulties and to design a sensor satisfying the requirements. The developed sensor for measuring angle-of-attack, yaw, and airspeed was shown to be suitable for rapid instrumentation of research aircraft because of its small size. The size reduction was accomplished by a design feature which eliminates the need for slip rings and wiring within the movable components of the sensor.

Kershner, D. D.↗

NASA NTRS1957

Experimental Investigation of Effects of Moderate Sideslip on the Flow Fields near a 45 Degree Swept-wing-fuselage Combination at Low Speed

The flow fields near a 45 degree swept-wing-fuselage combination at moderate angles of sideslip (plus-or-minus 8 degrees), as determined experimentally at low speed, are presented as variations with chordwise distance for various spanwise and vertical locations and angles of attack. The results indicated that for positions close to the fuselage (on and near the plane of symmetry) changes in the angle of sideslip caused large changes in the flow-field characteristics and particularly in the local angles of sideslip, which in some cases were nearly double the static angle of sideslip. In general, the effects of changing the angle of sideslip on the flow-field characteristics for all of the outboard underwing locations were qualitatively similar, although conditions at the more inboard and outboard locations were somewhat more severe for lifting conditions than at the one-half semispan location. The chordwise gradients in the flow parameters for the underwing locations were more severe than for the fuselage locations although the effect of changing the angle of sideslip was less severe, in that the incremental changes in the local angles of sideslip were approximately equal to the static angle of sideslip. Flow conditions near the wing tip were found to be critically dependent on vertical location, with the largest sideslip-induced variations occurring at the nearest vertical locations. The results also indicated that for the outboard underwing locations the wing was the predominant factor in disturbing the field of flow for the conditions investigated.

Alford, William J , Jr↗

NASA NTRS2014

What Was Learned in Predicting Slender Airframe Aerodynamics with the F16-XL Aircraft

The CAWAPI-2 coordinated project has been underway to improve CFD predictions of slender airframe aerodynamics. The work is focused on two flow conditions and leverages a unique flight data set obtained with the F-16XL aircraft for comparison and verification. These conditions, a low-speed high angle-of-attack case and a transonic low angle-of-attack case, were selected from a prior prediction campaign wherein the CFD failed to provide acceptable results. In re-visiting these two cases, approaches for improved results include better, denser grids using more grid adaptation to local flow features as well as unsteady higher-fidelity physical modeling like hybrid RANS/URANS-LES methods. The work embodies predictions from multiple numerical formulations that are contributed from multiple organizations where some authors investigate other possible factors that could explain the discrepancies in agreement, e.g. effects due to deflected control surfaces during the flight tests, as well as static aeroelastic deflection of the outer wing. This paper presents the synthesis of all the results and findings and draws some conclusions that lead to an improved understanding of the underlying flow physics, and finally making the connections between the physics and aircraft features.

Rizzi, Arthur↗

NASA NTRS2016

What Was Learned in Predicting Slender Airframe Aerodynamics with the F-16XL Aircraft

The second Cranked-Arrow Wing Aerodynamics Project, International, coordinated project has been underway to improve high-fidelity computational-fluid-dynamics predictions of slender airframe aerodynamics. The work is focused on two flow conditions and leverages a unique flight data set obtained with the F-16XL aircraft for comparison and validation. These conditions, a low-speed high-angle-of-attack case and a transonic low-angle-of-attack case, were selected from a prior prediction campaign wherein the computational fluid dynamics failed to provide acceptable results. In revisiting these two cases, approaches for improved results include better, denser grids using more grid adaptation to local flow features as well as unsteady higher-fidelity physical modeling like hybrid Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes/unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes/large-eddy simulation methods. The work embodies predictions from multiple numerical formulations that are contributed from multiple organizations where some authors investigate other possible factors that could explain the discrepancies in agreement (e.g., effects due to deflected control surfaces during the flight tests as well as static aeroelastic deflection of the outer wing). This paper presents the synthesis of all the results and findings and draws some conclusions that lead to an improved understanding of the underlying flow physics, finally making the connections between the physics and aircraft features.

Rizzi, Arthur↗

NASA NTRS1986

Euler solutions for high-speed flow about complex three-dimensional configurations

A numerical algorithm based on a finite-volume explicit scheme with Runge-Kutta time integration of the Euler equations is presented for calculating high-speed three-dimensional flow about complex aerospace configurations. The use of enhancing factors such as artificial dissipative terms, enthalpy damping and local time-stepping are described. An algebraic method for generating quasi-three-dimensional computational grids for realistic aerospace configurations is presented. Computed results for various three-dimensional bodies at different Mach numbers and angles of attack have been obtained using the methods for grid-generation and flow simulation. Comparison of computed and experimental data for an advanced tactical aircraft-like configuration is presented, and a reasonable agreement of the data is noticed.

Moitra, A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Air-breathing hypersonic vehicle guidance and control studies: An integrated trajectory/control analysis methodology, phase 2

An integrated trajectory/control analysis algorithm has been used to generate trajectories and desired control strategies for two different hypersonic air-breathing vehicle models and orbit targets. Both models used cubic spline curve fit tabulated winged-cone accelerator vehicle representations. Near-fuel-optimal, horizontal takeoff trajectories, imposing a dynamic pressure limit of 1000 psf, were developed. The first model analysis case involved a polar orbit and included the dynamic effects of using elevons to maintain longitudinal trim. Analysis results indicated problems with the adequacy of the propulsion model and highlighted dynamic pressure/altitude instabilities when using vehicle angle of attack as a control variable. Also, the magnitude of computed elevon deflections to maintain trim suggested a need for alternative pitch moment management strategies. The second analysis case was reformulated to use vehicle pitch attitude relative to the local vertical as the control variable. A new, more realistic, air-breathing propulsion model was incorporated. Pitch trim calculations were dropped and an equatorial orbit was specified. Changes in flight characteristics due to the new propulsion model have been identified. Flight regimes demanding rapid attitude changes have been noted. Also, some issues that would affect design of closed-loop controllers were ascertained.

Hattis, Philip D.↗

NASA NTRS1959

A Simple Method for Determining Heat Transfer, Skin Friction, and Boundary-Layer Thickness for Hypersonic Laminar Boundary-Layer Flows in a Pressure Gradient

A procedure based on the method of similar solutions is presented by which the skin friction, heat transfer, and boundary-layer thickness in a laminar hypersonic flow with pressure gradient may be rapidly evaluated if the pressure distribution is known. This solution, which at present is. restricted to power-law variations of pressure with surface distance, is presented for a wide range of exponents in the power law corresponding to both favorable and adverse pressure gradients. This theory has been compared to results from heat-transfer experiments on blunt-nose flat plates and a hemisphere cylinder at free-stream Mach numbers of 4 and 6.8. The flat-plate experiments included tests made at a Mach number of 6.8 over a range of angle of attack of +/- 10 deg. Reasonable agreement of the experimental and theoretical heat-transfer coefficients has been obtained as well as good correlation of the experimental results over the entire range of angle of attack studied. A similar comparison of theory with experiment was not feasible for boundary-layer-thickness data; however, the hypersonic similarity theory was found to account satisfactorily for the variation in boundary-layer thickness due to local pressure distribution for several sets of measurements.

Bertram, Mitchel H.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Characteristics of Pressure Sensitive Paint Intrusiveness Effects on Aerodynamic Data

One effect of using pressure sensitive paint (PSP) is the potential intrusiveness to the aerodynamic characteristics of the model. The paint thickness and roughness may affect the pressure distribution, and therefore, the forces and moments on the wind tunnel model. A study of these potential intrusive effects was carried out at NASA Langley Research Center where a series of wind tunnel tests were conducted using the Modem Design of Experiments (MDOE) test approach. The PSP effects on the integrated forces were measured on two different models at different test conditions in both the Low Turbulence Pressure Tunnel (LTPT) and the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel (UPWT) at Langley. The paint effect was found to be very small over a range of Reynolds numbers, Mach numbers and angles of attack. This is due to the very low surface roughness of the painted surface. The surface roughness, after applying the NASA Langley developed PSP, was lower than that of the clean wing. However, the PSP coating had a localized effects on the pressure taps, which leads to an appreciable decrease in the pressure tap reading.

Amer, Tahani R.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Characterization of Pressure Sensitive Paint Intrusiveness Effects on Aerodynamic Data

One effect of using pressure sensitive paint (PSP) is the potential intrusiveness to the aerodynamic characteristics of the model. The paint thickness and roughness may affect the pressure distribution. and therefore, the forces and moments on the wind tunnel model. A study of these potential intrusive effects was carried out at NASA Langley Research Center where a series of wind tunnel tests were conducted using the Modem Design of Experiments (MDOE) test approach. The PSP effects on the integrated forces were measured on two different models at different test conditions in both the Low Turbulence Pressure Tunnel (LTPT) and the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel (UPWT) at Langley. The paint effect was found to be very small over a range of Reynolds numbers, Mach numbers and angles of attack. This is due to the very low surface roughness of the painted surface. The surface roughness, after applying the NASA Langley developed PSP, was lower than that of the clean wing. However, the PSP coating had a localized effects on the pressure taps, which leads to an appreciable decrease in the pressure tap reading.

Amer, Tahani R.↗

NASA NTRS1946

Plane and Three-Dimensional Flow at High Subsonic Speeds

For two- and three-dimensional flow in a compressible medium, a simple relation is given by which, to a first approximation, the quantitative influence of compressibility upon the velocities and pressures can be understood in a clear manner. In the application of this relation the distinct behaviors of two-dimensional and axially symmetric three-dimensional flow with increasing Mach number are brought out. For slender elliptic cylinders and ellipsoids of revolution, calculations are made of the critical Mach number; that is, the Mach number at which local sonic velocity is achieved on the body. As a further example, the lifting wing of finite span is considered, and it is shown that the increase of wing lift with Mach number at a given angle of attack is greatly dependent upon the aspect ratio b(exp 2)/F.

Gothert, B.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Description, Usage, and Validation of the MVL-15 Modified Vortex Lattice Analysis Capability

MVL-15 is the most recent version of the Modified Vortex-Lattice (MVL) code developed within the Aerodynamics Systems Analysis Branch (ASAB) at NASA LaRC. The term "modified" refers to the primary modification of the core vortex-lattice methodology: inclusion of viscous aerodynamics tables that are linked to the linear solution via iterative processes. The inclusion of the viscous aerodynamics inherently converts the MVL-15 from a purely analytic linearized method to a semi-empirical blend which retains the rapid execution speed of the linearized method while empirically characterizing the section aerodynamics at all spanwise lattice points. The modification provides a means to assess non-linear effects on lift that occur at angles of attack near stall, and provides a means to determine the drag associated with the application of design strategies for lift augmentation such as the use of flaps or blowing. The MVL-15 code is applicable to the analyses of aircraft aerodynamics during cruise, but it is most advantageously applied to the analysis of aircraft operating in various high-lift configurations. The MVL methodology has been previously conceived and implemented; the initial concept version was delivered to the ASAB in 2001 (van Dam, C.), subsequently revised (Gelhausen, P. and Ozoroski, T. 2002 / AVID Inc., Gelhausen, P., and Roberts, M. 2004), and then overhauled (Ozoroski, T., Hahn, A. 2008). The latest version, MVL-15 has been refined to provide analysis transparency and enhanced to meet the analysis requirements of the Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project. Each revision has been implemented with reasonable success. Separate applications of the methodology are in use, including a similar in-house capability, developed by Olson, E. that is tailored for structural and acoustics analyses. A central premise of the methodology is that viscous aerodynamic data can be associated with analytic inviscid aerodynamic results at each spanwise wing section, thereby providing a pathway to map viscous data to the inviscid results. However, a number of factors can sidetrack the analysis consistency during various stages of this process. For example, it should be expected that the final airplane lift curve and drag polar results depend strongly on the geometry and aerodynamics of the airfoil section; however, flap deflections and flap chord extensions change the local reference geometry of the input airfoil, the airplane wing, the tabulated non-dimensional viscous aerodynamics, and the spanwise links between the linear and the viscous aerodynamics. These changes also affect the bound circulation and therefore, calculation and integration of the induced angle of attack and induced drag. MVL-15 is configured to ensure these types of challenges are properly addressed. This report is a comprehensive manual describing the theory, use, and validation of the MVL-15 analysis tool. Section 3 summarizes theoretical, procedural, and characteristic features of MVL-15, and includes a list of the files required to setup, execute, and summarize an analysis. Section 4, Section 5, Section 6, and Section 7 combine to comprise the User's Guide portions of this report. The MVL-15 input and output files are described in Section 4 and Section 5, respectively; the descriptions are supplemented with example files and information about the file formats, parameter definitions, and typical parameter values. Section 6 describes the Wing Geometry Setup Utility and the 2d-Variants Utility files that simplify and assist setting up a consistent set of MVL-15 geometry and aerodynamics input parameters and input files. Section 7 describes the use of the 3d-Results Presentation Utility file that can be used to automatically create summary tables and charts from the MVL-15 output files. Section 8 documents the Validation Results of an extensive and varied validation test matrix, including results of an airplane analysis representative of the ERA Program. A start-to-finish example of the airplane analysis procedure is described in Section 7.

Ozoroski, Thomas A.↗