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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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1975

Opportunities for aerodynamic-drag reduction

Methods for reducing aerodynamic drag to improve aircraft performance and reduce fuel consumption are discussed. The techniques considered are: (1) pressure drag reduction, (2) supercritical airfoils, (3) subcritical airfoils, (4) induced drag reduction by over-the-wing blowing and increased aspect ratio, and (5) friction drag reduction by laminar flow control and slot injection. It is stated that a 50 percent reduction from current drag values is expected through the application of these techniques.

Bower, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Effect of empennage interference on single-engine afterbody/nozzle drag

An investigation has been conducted in the Langley 16-foot transonic tunnel to determine the effects of empennage surfaces on single-engine afterbody and nozzle drag at Mach numbers up to 1.20. Empennage interference drag was obtained by using experimental values of afterbody/nozzle drag and theoretical values of empennage drag. Three methods for minimizing adverse empennage interference effects were investigated. Results show that empennage interference effects were always detrimental but could be reduced by proper location of tail surfaces. Afterbody contouring and addition of 'contour' bumps were generally ineffective in reducing aft-end drag for Mach numbers less than 0.95.

Berrier, B. L.↗
NASA NTRS1966

Summary of External-Store Drag

The drag problems associated with the addition of external stores to airplanes are reviewed. Current analytic techniques for estimating drag penalties associated with the addition of stores in both subsonic and supersonic flight are discussed. In subsonic flight, the drag penalty caused by the addition of external stores is shown to be a function of the type of store installation. In supersonic flight, the drag is shown to be a function of the type of store installation and also of the location of the store installation with respect to the rest of the airplane components. Special store arrangements and attention to the design of the store itself can reduce the drag penalty of the store installation.

Shrout, B. L.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Some comments on trim drag

A discussion of data of and methods for predicting trim drag is presented. Specifically the following subjects are discussed: (1) economic impact of trim drag; (2) the trim drag problem in propeller driven airplanes and the effect of propeller and nacelle location; (3) theoretical procedures for predicting trim drag; and (4) research needs in the area of trim drag.

Roskam, J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Flicking-wire drag tensioner

Wire-drag system improves wire profile and applies consistent drag to wire. Wire drag is continuously adjustable from zero drag to tensile strength of wire. No-sag wire drag is easier to thread than former system and requires minimal downtime for cleaning and maintenance.

Dassele, M. A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Drag and heat transfer on surfaces with small longitudinal fins

An investigation is conducted regarding the drag characteristics of longitudinally ribbed surfaces using various configurations which attempt to confine the turbulent wall bursts to regions of small transverse extent in the initial birth region. The ratio of heat transfer increase to drag increase for the high area ratio rib configurations is determined and the heat transfer efficiency of the present surfaces is compared with data found in the literature. The drag data obtained indicate local 'wetted area skin friction' reductions but due to the increased surface area the planform drag is increased in most instances. There is no indication of drag reduction with the rectangular ribbed models that had sharp leading and fin tip edges. Heat transfer data indicate that several of the triangular grooved models have efficiencies approximately 10 percent higher than that of a smooth flat plate.

Walsh, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Comparisons of AEROX computer program predictions of lift and induced drag with flight test data

The AEROX aerodynamic computer program which provides accurate predictions of induced drag and trim drag for the full angle of attack range and for Mach numbers from 0.4 to 3.0 is described. This capability is demonstrated comparing flight test data and AEROX predictions for 17 different tactical aircraft. Values of minimum (skin friction, pressure, and zero lift wave) drag coefficients and lift coefficient offset due to camber (when required) were input from the flight test data to produce total lift and drag curves. The comparisons of trimmed lift drag polars show excellent agreement between the AEROX predictions and the in flight measurements.

Axelson, J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Large-eddy breakup scheme for turbulent viscous drag reduction

A concept for reducing turbulent skin friction drag by altering/controlling the large coherent eddy structures within the turbulent boundary layer is proposed. Results of an ongoing experimental and numerical investigation to develop large-eddy breakup devices (LEBU devices) are presented and indicate that the average skin friction drag downstream of the LEBU devices is reduced by up to 24% compared to 'undisturbed' flat plate levels; device drag requires further reduction before net drag reductions can be realized. Future work is discussed and will focus on reducing device drag by taking advantage of the unsteady 'freestream' ahead of the LEBU devices.

Hefner, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Drag reduction characteristics of small amplitude rigid surface waves

The possibility of reducing drag by using rigid, wavy surfaces is investigated both analytically and experimentally. Although pressure drag for rigid sine-wave surfaces can be predicted empirically, viscous drag for even shallow waves was poorly predicted by state-of-the-art turbulent boundary layer calculation procedures. Calculations for the effects of geometric and fluid variables on total wave drag are presented under the philosophy that trends will be nearly correct even though levels are probably incorrect. Experiments by the present authors indicate that a total drag reduction with wavy walls is possible.

Cary, A. M., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1954

Effect of Ice Formations on Section Drag of Swept NACA 63A-009 Airfoil with Partial-Span Leading-Edge Slat for Various Modes of Thermal Ice Protection

The effects of primary and runback ice formations on the section drag of a 36 deg swept NACA 63A-009 airfoil section with a partial-span leading-edge slat were studied over a range of angles of attack from 2 to 8 deg and airspeeds up to 260 miles per hour for icing conditions with liquid-water contents ranging from 0.39 to 1.23 grams per cubic meter and datum air temperatures from 10 to 25 F. The results with slat retracted showed that glaze-ice formations caused large and rapid increases in section drag coefficient and that the rate of change in section drag coefficient for the swept 63A-009 airfoil was about 2-1 times that for an unswept 651-212 airfoil. Removal of the primary ice formations by cyclic de-icing caused the drag to return almost to the bare-airfoil drag value. A comprehensive study of the slat icing and de-icing characteristics was prevented by limitations of the heating system and wake interference caused by the slat tracks and hot-gas supply duct to the slat. In general, the studies showed that icing on a thin swept airfoil will result in more detrimental aerodynamic characteristics than on a thick unswept airfoil.

VonGlahn, Uwe H.↗
NASA NTRS1981

RSRA vertical drag test report

The Rotor Systems Research Aircraft (RSRA), because of its ability to measure rotor loads, was used to conduct an experiment to determine vertical drag, tail rotor blockage, and thrust augmentation as affected by ground clearance and flight velocity. The RSRA was flown in the helicopter configuration at speeds from 0 to 15 knots for wheel heights from 5 to 150 feet, and to 60 knots out of ground effect. The vertical drag trends in hover, predicted by theory and shown in model tests, were generally confirmed. The OGE hover vertical drag is 4.0 percent, 1.1 percent greater than predicted. The vertical drag decreases rapidly as wheel height is reduced, and is zero at a wheel height of 6 feet. The vertical drag also decreases with forward speed, approaching zero at sixty knots. The test data show the effect of wheel height and forward speed on thrust, gross weight capability, and power, and provide the relationships for power and collective pitch at constant gross weight required for the simulation of helicopter takeoffs and landings.

Flemming, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Flat-plate drag measurements with vortex generators in turbulent boundary layer

Direct drag measurements were obtained on a flat plate with a spanwise row of vortex generators near the leading edge, to produce an array of stream wise vortices within the approaching turbulent boundary layer. The object was to explore the possibility of modifying the large scale structure of the boundary layer through embedded longitudinal vortices with a view to obtaining a reduction in wall shear. Both obstacle and vane type vortex generators were tested at free stream velocities 40 ft/sec to 130 ft/sec corresponding to plate length Reynolds no. 0.3 million to 0.8 million with a nominal boundary layer thickness of approximately 0.6 in. at the leading edge. A few vortex generator configurations were tested both on and off the plate to measure the total drag as well as the plate drag alone. The obstacle type devices reduced the plate drag, indicating that the wake momentum defect predominated even in the presence of streamwise vortices. The vane type vortex generators however always increased the plate drag.

Rao, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The effect of atmospheric drag on the design of solar-cell power systems for low Earth orbit

The feasibility of reducing the atmospheric drag of low orbit solar powered satellites by operating the solar-cell array in a minimum-drag attitude, rather than in the conventional Sun pointing attitude was determined. The weights of the solar array, the energy storage batteries, and the fuel required to overcome the drag of the solar array for a range of design life times in orbit were considered. The drag of the array was estimated by free molecule flow theory, and the system weights were calculated from unit weight estimates for 1990 technology. The trailing, minimum drag system was found to require 80% more solar array area, and 30% more battery capacity, the system weights for reasonable life times were dominated by the thruster fuel requirements.

Kyser, A. C.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Iterative optimal subcritical aerodynamic design code including profile drag

A subcritical aerodynamic design computer code has been developed, which uses linearized aerodynamics along with sweep theory and airfoil data to obtain minimum total drag preliminary designs for multiple planform configurations. These optimum designs consist of incidence distributions yielding minimum total drag at design values of Mach number and lift and pitching moment coefficients. Linear lofting is used between airfoil stations. Solutions for isolated transport wings have shown that the solution is unique, and that including profile drag effects decreases tip loading and incidence relative to values obtained for minimum induced drag solutions. Further, including effects of variation of profile drag with Reynolds number can cause appreciable changes in the optimal design for tapered wings. Example solutions are also discussed for multiple planform configurations.

Kuhlman, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Wave drag as the objective function in transonic fighter wing optimization

The original computational method for determining wave drag in a three dimensional transonic analysis method was replaced by a wave drag formula based on the loss in momentum across an isentropic shock. This formula was used as the objective function in a numerical optimization procedure to reduce the wave drag of a fighter wing at transonic maneuver conditions. The optimization procedure minimized wave drag through modifications to the wing section contours defined by a wing profile shape function. A significant reduction in wave drag was achieved while maintaining a high lift coefficient. Comparisons of the pressure distributions for the initial and optimized wing geometries showed significant reductions in the leading-edge peaks and shock strength across the span.

Phillips, P. S.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Base drag determination for STS flights 1-5

Predicting the base drag characteristics for blunt based vehicles such as the Space Shuttle orbiter in gliding flight is difficult, particularly at transonic speeds. Data from the first five flights (STS 1-5) of the orbiter Columbia have been utilized to obtain the interference-free, base drag characteristics. These base drag characteristics are compared to preflight predictions derived from wind tunnel tests. Base drag is shown to account for as much as 50 percent of the total orbiter drag at transonic speeds.

Phillips, W. P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Observations from varying the lift and drag inputs to a noise prediction method for supersonic helical tip speed propellers

Previous comparisons between calculated and measured supersonic helical tip speed propeller noise show them to have different trends of peak blade passing tone versus helical tip Mach number. It was postulated that improvements in this comparison could be made first by including the drag force terms in the prediction and then by reducing the blade lift terms at the tip to allow the drag forces to dominate the noise prediction. Propeller hub to tip lift distributions were varied, but they did not yield sufficient change in the predicted lift noise to improve the comparison. This result indicates that some basic changes in the theory may be needed. In addition, the noise predicted by the drag forces did not exhibit the same curve shape as the measured data. So even if the drag force terms were to dominate, the trends with helical tip Mach number for theory and experiment would still not be the same. The effect of the blade shock wave pressure rise was approxmated by increasing the drag coefficient at the blade tip. Predictions using this shock wdave approximation did have a curve shape similar to the measured data. This result indicates that the shock pressure rise probably controls the noise at supersonic tip speed and that the linear prediction method can give the proper noise trend with Mach number.

Dittmar, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Supercritical airfoil drag reduction by passive shock wave/boundary layer control in the Mach number range .75 to .90

Airfoils operating in the transonic region are subject to large increases in drag due to shock wave/boundary layer interactions. The concept of passive shock wave/boundary layer control seeks drag reduction by placing a thin cavity with a porous top surface at the airfoil chordwise position where a shock wave would normally occur. The higher pressure behind the shock wave circulates flow through the cavity to the lower pressure ahead of the shock wave. The effects from this circulation prevent boundary layer separation and reduce entropy increases through the shock wave. In this investigation this concept is studied at a freestream Mach number range of .75 and .90. The Mach number distributions over the model, the wake impact pressure surveys used to determine profile drag and schlieren photographs for 2.8 percent porosity and solid airfoil cases are presented and compared. Results indicate that the profile drag coefficient can be reduced by as much as 40 percent through the use of this passive drag control system.

Nagamatsu, H. T.↗