Development of an Atmospheric-Boundary-Layer Profile at the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel
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An analysis has been made of a considerable amount of data for turbulent boundary layers along wings and bodies of various shapes in order to determine the fundamental variables that control the development of turbulent boundary layers. It was found that the type of velocity distribution in the boundary layer could be expressed in terms of a single parameter. This parameter was chosen as the ratio of the displacement thickness to the momentum thickness of the boundary layer. The variables that control the development of the turbulent boundary layer apparently are: (1) the ratio of the nondimensional pressure gradient, expressed in terms of the local dynamic pressure outside the boundary layer and boundary-layer thickness, to the local skin-friction coefficient and (2) the shape of the boundary layer. An empirical equation has been developed in terms of these variables that, when used with the momentum equation and the skin-friction relation, makes it possible to trace the development of the turbulent boundary layer to the separation point.
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The viscosity-dominated dynamic flow in a row of small transverse square cavities lying submerged in a turbulent boundary layer is considered. Experiments show that the cavity flow can be excited by free-stream disturbances in a narrow frequency band which is independent of the flow speed. The turbulent boundary layer in which the cavities are submerged remains transparent to the disturbances. The cavity flow resonates when the depths of the cavity and the Stokes layer match.
Boundary layer, flight control, and structural dynamics research for x-15a aircraft
The focus of the research was in two broad areas: (1) the nature and dynamics of time-dependent deformation and stress along major seismic zones, and (2) the nature of long-wavelength oceanic geoid anomalies in terms of lateral variations in upper mantle temperature and composition. The principal findings are described in the appendices.
The focus of the research was in two broad areas: (1) the nature and dynamics of time dependent deformation and stress along major seismic zones; and (2) the nature of long wavelength oceanic geoid anomalies in terms of lateral variations in upper mantle temperature and composition. The principle findings of the research are described in the accompanying appendices. The first two and the fourth appendices are reprints of papers recently submitted for publication, and the third is the abstract of a recently completed thesis supported by this project.
My NASA proposal included plans to examine the dynamics of the eastern oceanic boundary, with a view towards those processes important to the interior. Several relevant tasks have been completed and either have appeared or will appear soon in the refereed literature.
The present effort simulates the flow dynamics resulting from hairpin-shaped vortices in a boundary layer through the solution of the time-dependent, three-dimensional, compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Two simulations have been carried out. In the first case, the initial condition contains only one imposed hairpin-shaped vortex. In the second case, there are two incipient vortices separated by a short distance in the streamwise direction. The results add to the detailed understanding of the dynamic role of hairpin vortices in the entrainment, production and continual replenishment of turbulent structure, as well as the process of the interaction, intertwining and eventual conglomeration of vortices in boundary layers.
Observations from the AMPTE/Charge Composition Explorer (AMPTE/CCE) indicate the presence of two distinct O(+) populations in the dayside subsolar low latitude boundary layer during some periods of northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF). The first population is O(+) convected into the boundary layer from the outer magnetosphere and has been reported previously. It is suggested here that the new, second, O(+) population is injected into the dayside boundary layer directly from the high latitude ionosphere. This second population can have a significant density and distinct characteristics such as field-aligned flow relative to boundary layer H(+) that modify both the plasma composition and dynamics in the low latitude boundary layer.
Dynamic stall and unsteady boundary layer separation have been studied in incompressible flow at moderately large Reynolds numbers. By varying the leading-edge geometry of an NACA 0012 airfoil, three different types of stall were produced. For most of the configurations studied, including the basic NACA 0012 profile, dynamic stall was found not to originate with the bursting of a leading-edge laminar separation bubble, as is commonly believed. Instead, the vortex shedding phenomenon, which is the predominant feature of dynamic stall, appears to be fed its vorticity by the breakdown of the turbulent boundary layer.
The realization of measures to improve the performance of the Space Shuttle is, to a large extent, dependent on an improved understanding of the fluid flow phenomena occurring in the main engine. The overall arrangement of the primary components of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) are presented. The impingement of the hot gases from the transfer ducts onto the LOX posts causes them to be subjected to severe thermal and gas dynamic loads, which in the past have resulted in the occasional breakage of some elements of the outer row of posts during test firings of the engine, particularly at higher power levels. Large velocities in the gap between the LOX posts may also be a contributing factor in causing dynamic stability problems. The deforming structural response of the posts to the pressure loading may likely affect the gas flowfield by producing a moving flowfield boundary, thereby creating a dynamically coupled unsteady fluid-structure system. The objective was to investigate the three-dimensional, turbulent flow around a simplified SSME LOX post array using an existing Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes flow solver and a suitable turbulence model to parameterize the turbulent shear stresses. Numerical computations were performed to analyze the effect on the flowfield of varying the spacing between the LOX posts, which were modeled as rigid, three-dimensional circular cylinders. The methodology used in the computations is described. Results are presented.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were used to study the possible effects that the Boundary Layer Transition (BLT) Flight Experiments may have on the heating environment of the Space Shuttle during its entry to Earth. To investigate this issue, hypersonic calculations using the Data-Parallel Line Relaxation (DPLR) and Langley Aerothermodynamic Upwind Relaxation (LAURA) CFD codes were computed for a 0.75 tall protuberance at flight conditions of Mach 15 and 18. These initial results showed high surface heating on the BLT trip and the areas surrounding the protuberance. Since the predicted peak heating rates would exceed the thermal limits of the materials selected to construct the BLT trip, many changes to the geometry were attempted in order to reduce the surface heat flux. The following paper describes the various geometry revisions and the resulting heating environments predicted by the CFD codes.
To better understand the role of surface boundary forcing upon interannual and decadal variability of droughts and precipitation excesses over the continental U. S., an observational study has been carried out to better investigate the dynamical linkages between surface boundary forcing and droughts/floods. This study examines the relationship during the warm season between observed mean wind patterns on the 10-15 day time scale and anomalies in precipitation on that same time scale over the U. S. Each of the 7 cases of significant 10-day, warm-season drought over the U, S. since 1948 that has been investigated was accompanied by significant continental-scale ridging of the mean 10-day 250 mb wind pattern over the continental U.S. and a mid-Pacific relative maximum of 250 mb wind speed of at least 30 m/sec within 20 degrees of the international Date Line. This perhaps suggests the presence of a wave-guide phenomenon over the Pacific. The drought signal for each of these cases was still quite evident when averaged over the monthly time scale. While peak magnitudes of the precipitation anomalies were much larger for the 7 chosen cases of significant of precipitation excess were than for the drought cases none of the patterns of precipitation excess were as unambiguous or wide-spread as the drought cases. In only 2 to 3 cases was there evidence of a continental trough in the 250 mb winds. In fact, one case showed slight ridging over Canada and the extreme northern U.S. Strong southerly low-level jets, however, were evident in the 925 mb winds over south-central Texas or the nearby Gulf of Mexico in virtually all of the excessive precipitation cases, while the Great Plains LLJ was weak or displaced to the north of Texas in most of the drought cases. We will further investigate the asymmetry between droughts and precipitation excesses in their horizontal homogeneity and extent, in their temporal evolution, and in how the are forced by the combined effects of the mean 250 mb westerlies and the mean 925 mb southerly winds.
The Computational Aeroelasticity Program - Transonic Small Disturbance (CAP-TSD) code, developed at the NASA Langley Research Center, is applied to the Active Flexible Wing (AFW) wind tunnel model for prediction of the model's transonic aeroelastic behavior. A semi-span computational model is used for evaluation of symmetric motions and a full span model is used for evaluation of antisymmetric motions. Static aeroelastic solutions using CAP-TSD are computed. Dynamic (flutter) analyses are then performed as perturbations about the static aeroelastic deformations and presented as flutter boundaries in terms of Mach number and dynamic pressure. Flutter boundaries that take into account modal refinements, vorticity and entropy corrections, antisymmetric motions and sensitivity to the modeling of the wing tip ballast stores are also presented and compared with experimental flutter results.
The Computational Aeroelasticity Program - Transonic Small Disturbance (CAP-TSD) code is applied to the Active Flexible Wing (AFW) wind tunnel model for prediction of the model's transonic aeroelastic behavior. A semi-span computational model is used for evaluation of symmetric motions and a full span model is used for evaluation of antisymmetric motions. Static aeroelastic solutions using CAP-TSD are computed. Dynamic flutter analyses are then performed as perturbations about the static aeroelastic deformations and presented as flutter boundaries in terms of Mach number and dynamic pressure. Flutter boundaries that take into account modal refinements, vorticity, and entropy corrections, antisymmetric motions and sensitivity to the modeling of the wing tip ballast stores are also presented and compared with experimental flutter results.
The CAP-TSD (Computational Aeroelasticity Program - Transonic Small Disturbance) code, developed at the NASA Langley Research Center, is applied to the Active Flexible Wing wind-tunnel model for prediction of transonic aeroelastic behavior. A semi-span computational model is used for evaluation of symmetric motions, and a full-span model is used for evaluation of antisymmetric motions. Static aeroelastic solutions using CAP-TSD are computed. Dynamic (flutter) analyses then are performed as perturbations about the static aeroelastic deformations and presented as flutter boundaries in terms of Mach number and dynamic pressure. Flutter boundaries that take into account modal refinements, vorticity and entropy corrections, antisymmetric motions and sensitivity to the modeling of the wing tip ballast stores also are presented and compared with experimental flutter results.