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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Verification Test Suite for Spalart-Allmaras QCR2000 Turbulence Model

The paper presents three benchmark cases for verification of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solvers. The verification studies focus on a one-equation Spalart-Allmaras model, SA-[neg]-QCR2000, that uses a version of quadratic constitutive relations.The benchmark cases are a two-dimensional subsonic flow around a Joukowski airfoil, a three-dimensional supersonic flow through a square duct, and a three-dimensional flow over a wing-fuselage configuration. The turbulence-model formulation, geometry, flow conditions, grids, and the expected output are described in detail. Reference solutions computed by several established codes are shown

Computational Aerodynamics↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Probabalistic Risk Analysis and Thermal Margin Process for an Inflatable Aeroshell

Uncertainties always exist in atmospheric entry aeroheating environments and the thermal response of thermal protection system (TPS) material. These uncertainties are mitigated in the design by ap-plying margin and factors of safety to the TPS. Entry vehicle TPS is often conservatively over-sized for the heat loads that are experienced along the entry trajectory by stacking worst-case scenarios together. Additionally, the current TPS design and margin process used by NASA offers very little insight into the risk of over-temperature during flight and the reliability of the heat shield performance [1,3]. A probabilistic margin process can be used to calculate the amount of TPS margin necessary to survive a given entry heat load at a specified level of risk [2,3,4]. The vehicle’s initial entry state (entry velocity, flight path angle, and entry mass) determines the expected atmospheric entry environmental conditions and resulting heat load that the entry vehicle will experience. If there is flexibility in the entry state, then this process can be used to select an appropriate combination of entry state parameters and TPS size to target a desired reentry reliability. This probabilistic margin process allows engineers to make informed aeroshell design, entry-trajectory design, and TPS performance risk trades while preventing excessive TPS margin from being applied. The probabilistic TPS margin process has been performed to determine TPS thickness and entry heating constraints given an acceptable risk level for the Low Earth Orbit Flight Experiment of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) flight project. The process is used in a manner to size the entry heat load for a given flexible TPS (FTPS) thickness so that it meets project reliability standards while allowing the FTPS and the underlying inflatable structure (IS) to be pushed to adequately high temperatures. Since the LOFTID project is an experimental flight demonstration, it is de-sired to drive the FTPS and IS to temperatures that cover a large range of their thermal response models’ applicability. This will allow the thermal response models to be better improved and validated post-flight using LOFTID’s extensive instrumentation embedded within the aeroshell. The presentation demonstrates how uncertainty analysis is carried out using an end-to-end Monte Carlo process where three separate Monte Carlo simulations are run in sequence. The first Monte Carlo simulation operates on the entry trajectory model to generate trajectory parameter dispersions that are fed into the second Monte Carlo simulation. The second Monte Carlo simulation operates on the aerothermodynamics model to generate aeroheating parameter dispersions that are fed into the third Monte Carlo simulation. The third Monte Carlo simulation operates on the FTPS material thermal response model to generate the final FTPS/IS thermal response dispersions. The end-to-end Monte Carlo simulation propagates the uncertainties of each model into the next to quantify the resulting uncertainty of the FTPS/IS thermal response. The fractional contributions of the uncertain parameters in the trajectory, aerothermal, and thermal response models to the variance in the FTPS/IS thermal response is determined as a byproduct of the Monte Carlo analysis. The structural uncertainty of the FTPS thermal response model is evaluated by flight relevant ground testing and model error analysis using test measurements. This probabilistic TPS margin process had never been applied to an entry vehicle and it is one of the LOFTID project’s goals to demonstrate its merits.

Steven A. Tobin↗
NASA NTRS2023

Highly Restricted Near‐Surface Permafrost Extent During the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period

To better understand how near‐surface permafrost may respond to future warming, we explore the equilibrium spatial extent of near‐surface permafrost during the mid-Pliocene warm period (mPWP), which shares characteristics of the projected future climate. Our simulations, which are constrained by proxy records, suggest highly restricted near‐surface permafrost extent during the mPWP, akin to future large-scale permafrost degradation projections of our model for the end of this century. Our study indicates dramatically smaller-than-present near‐surface permafrost extent in the geological past under climate conditions analogous to those expected if global warming continues unabated. This absence in permafrost will come with critical implications for the global carbon cycle, human livelihoods and infrastructures, and surface and subsurface hydrology.

near‐surface permafrost↗
NASA NTRS2024

Quantifying Risk to Improve Medical System Design for Long Duration Artemis Missions: A Demonstration of NASA's IMPACT Tradespace Analysis Tool

BACKGROUND NASA’s human exploration spaceflight missions to the Moon and Mars present unprecedented challenges for in-mission medical care. A greater distance from Earth will mean increased mission durations, communication delays, limited to no resupply opportunities, and constraints on the evacuation of ill or injured crew. Mass, volume, and power will be limited while higher demands will be placed on the crews to manage medical events. NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration strategy outlines increasingly complex Artemis missions both in terms of duration and operations. In these more challenging deep space missions, it is important to quantitatively estimate the human system risk attributable to medical conditions and use these estimates to advance medical system design. METHODS IMPACT (Informing Mission Planning via Analysis of Complex Tradespaces) is a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) and tradespace analysis tool developed by NASA to advance exploration mission medical system design. IMPACT v1.0 includes a novel evidence library baselined to exploration environments; an expanded list of 119 medical conditions; a large increase in the number of medical resources and the flexibility of their use; and the ability for rapid and iterative analysis. Medical system risk estimates include loss of crew life, consideration of the need for return to definitive care (medical evacuation), and an estimate of crew time affected due to medical conditions. A notional long duration lunar orbit and lunar surface design reference mission (DRM) was chosen with a 4-astronaut crew to mimic a foundational exploration Artemis mission. The DRM profile includes outbound transit on Orion, Gateway space station rendezvous in lunar orbit, 6 months on the Lunar surface with extravehicular activity (EVA), return rendezvous with Gateway, and transit back to Earth. RESULTS/DISCUSSION: Overall, IMPACT successfully quantified medical risk and derived an optimal medical system to support crew on a long duration lunar mission. In this DRM, the calculated loss of crew life from a medical event was 0.008 events per mission, risk of potential need for evacuation was 0.30 events per mission, and cumulative crew time affected by medical conditions was 103 days. The medical conditions that most contributed to medical risk were decompression sickness, trauma, and respiratory failure. The conditions that had the largest effects on crew performance included musculoskeletal injuries and lunar dust exposure. The IMPACT-generated medical system included resources that target the most common and highest risk conditions and performed as expected. This demonstrates the value of the IMPACT tool in medical system design for human exploration spaceflight missions.

Arian Anderson↗
NASA NTRS1987

The effect of front-to-rear propeller spacing on the interaction noise of a model counterrotation propeller at cruise conditions

The effect of front-to-rear propeller spacing on the interaction noise of a counterrotation propeller model was measured at cruise conditions. The data taken at an axial Mach number of 0.80 behaved as expected: interaction noise was reduced with increased spacing. The data taken at M=0.76 and M=0.72 did not behave as expected. At some of the test conditions the noise was unchanged; others even showed noise increases with increased spacing. A possible explanation, involving the amount of downstream blade area impacted by the tip vortex, is presented.

Dittmar, James H.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Validating Arc-jet Condition Targets Using Inverse 1D Material Response Models

Experiments were conducted using both the Interaction Heating Facility (IHF) and Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF), two hypersonic arc-jet facilities at NASA Ames. These tests were run to understand the material response of ablative thermal protection system materials by exposing them to high-enthalpy flows. Using thermocouple data from the materials, test conditions were inversely determined and compared with expected results from a one-dimensional model using facility target conditions; this allowed an approximate environmental scale factor to be determined and applied to more accurately predict material response in additional tests.

material response↗
NASA NTRS2000

On the Relationship of Multiple Solutions in Tropospheric Photochemistry to Observable Phenomena

Multiple steady-state solutions are a fairly robust feature of simplified models of tropospheric photochemistry and have been reported for a range of different modeling assumptions. Multiple solutions occur through a bifurcation as changes in a control parameter induce a transition from low to high NO(x) conditions. The usual control parameters are the sources of NO and of CO, CH4 or non-methane hydrocarbons. Typically, with increasing NO source, bifurcations occur at NO(x). concentrations that are higher than would be expected of even heavily polluted conditions. However, there are other ways of inducing a low NO(x) - high NO(x) transition. In this paper the primary control parameter is solar zenith angle. This is varied throughout the year by computing noontime steady states on successive days. Background NO(x), varied by assuming different NO(x) sources values, is used as a secondary control parameter. It is found that bifurcations can occur from high to low NO(x) conditions, for reasonable background NO(x) levels, as the model progresses through spring and then from low to high NO,, during the progression through fall. A time dependent version of this model has been run for the same parameter values as in the steady state runs. This shows rapid spring and fall transitions between high and low NO(x) states. H2O2, for example, rises from sub-ppb levels to about 2 ppb over a five day period in spring and declines quickly, but less precipitously, in fall. This study supports the suggestions that the rapid change in peroxide concentrations between summer and winter conditions may be understood as a manifestation of different underlying steady-state behavior.

Stewart, Richard W.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Characterization of Ice Roughness Variations in Scaled Glaze Icing Conditions

Because of the significant influence of surface tension in governing the stability and breakdown of the liquid film in flooded stagnation regions of airfoils exposed to glaze icing conditions, the Weber number is expected to be a significant parameter governing the formation and evolution of ice roughness. To investigate the influence of the Weber number on roughness formation, 53.3-cm (21-in.) and 182.9-cm (72-in.) NACA 0012 airfoils were exposed to flow conditions with essentially the same Weber number and varying stagnation collection efficiency to illuminate similarities of the ice roughness created on the different airfoils. The airfoils were exposed to icing conditions in the Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Following exposure to the icing event, the airfoils were then scanned using a ROMER Absolute Arm scanning system. The resulting point clouds were then analyzed using the self-organizing map approach of McClain and Kreeger (2013) to determine the spatial roughness variations along the surfaces of the iced airfoils. The roughness characteristics on each airfoil were then compared using the relative geometries of the airfoil. The results indicate that features of the ice shape and roughness such as glaze-ice plateau limits and maximum airfoil roughness were captured well by Weber number and collection efficiency scaling of glaze icing conditions. However, secondary ice roughness features relating the instability and waviness of the liquid film on the glaze-ice plateau surface are scaled based on physics that were not captured by the local collection efficiency variations.

Roughness Formation↗
NASA NTRS1980

Small solar electric system components demonstration

The design and testing of high temperature thermal storage modules (TSM) are reported. The test goals were to demonstrate the thermocline propagation in the TSM, to measure the steepness of the thermocline, and to measure the effectiveness of the TSM when used in a Brayton system. In addition, a high temperature valve suitable for switching the TSM at temperatures to 1700 F is described and tested. Test results confirm the existence of a sharp thermocline under design conditions. The thermal profile was steeper than expected and was insensitive to air density over the range of the test conditions. Experiments were performed which simulated the airflow of a small Brayton engine, 20 KWe, having a pair of thermal storage modules acting as efficient recuperators. Low pressure losses, averaging 12 inches of water, and high effectiveness, 93% for a 15 minute switching cycle, were measured. The insulation surrounding the ceramic core limited thermal losses to approximately 1 KWt. The hot valve was operated over 100 cycles and performed well at temperatures up to 1700 F.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1999

Non-Intrusive Laser-Induced Imaging for Speciation and Patternation in High Pressure Gas Turbine Combustors

The next generation of was turbine combustors for aerospace applications will be required to meet increasingly stringent constraints on fuel efficiency, noise abatement, and emissions. The power plants being designed to meet these constraints will operate at extreme conditions of temperature and pressure, thereby generating unique challenges to the previously employed diagnostic methodologies. Current efforts at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) utilize optically accessible, high pressure flametubes and sector combustor rigs to probe, via advanced nonintrusive laser techniques, the complex flowfields encountered in advanced combustor designs. The fuel-air mixing process is of particular concern for lowering NO(x) emissions generated in lean, premixed engine concepts. Using planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) we have obtained real-time, detailed imaging of the fuel spray distribution for a number of fuel injector over a wide range of operational conditions that closely match those expected in the proposed propulsion systems. Using a novel combination of planar imaging, of fuel fluorescence and computational analysis that allows an examination of the flowfield from any perspective, we have produced spatially and temporally resolved fuel-air distribution maps. These maps provide detailed insight into the fuel injection at actual conditions never before possible, thereby greatly enhancing the evaluation of fuel injector performance and combustion phenomena.

Locke, Randy J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Real-time diagnostics for a reusable rocket engine

A hierarchical, decentralized diagnostic system is proposed for the Real-Time Diagnostic System component of the Intelligent Control System (ICS) for reusable rocket engines. The proposed diagnostic system has three layers of information processing: condition monitoring, fault mode detection, and expert system diagnostics. The condition monitoring layer is the first level of signal processing. Here, important features of the sensor data are extracted. These processed data are then used by the higher level fault mode detection layer to do preliminary diagnosis on potential faults at the component level. Because of the closely coupled nature of the rocket engine propulsion system components, it is expected that a given engine condition may trigger more than one fault mode detector. Expert knowledge is needed to resolve the conflicting reports from the various failure mode detectors. This is the function of the diagnostic expert layer. Here, the heuristic nature of this decision process makes it desirable to use an expert system approach. Implementation of the real-time diagnostic system described above requires a wide spectrum of information processing capability. Generally, in the condition monitoring layer, fast data processing is often needed for feature extraction and signal conditioning. This is usually followed by some detection logic to determine the selected faults on the component level. Three different techniques are used to attack different fault detection problems in the NASA LeRC ICS testbed simulation. The first technique employed is the neural network application for real-time sensor validation which includes failure detection, isolation, and accommodation. The second approach demonstrated is the model-based fault diagnosis system using on-line parameter identification. Besides these model based diagnostic schemes, there are still many failure modes which need to be diagnosed by the heuristic expert knowledge. The heuristic expert knowledge is implemented using a real-time expert system tool called G2 by Gensym Corp. Finally, the distributed diagnostic system requires another level of intelligence to oversee the fault mode reports generated by component fault detectors. The decision making at this level can best be done using a rule-based expert system. This level of expert knowledge is also implemented using G2.

Guo, T. H.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Isotopic NO as a Chemical Tracer in the Global Stratosphere

Stratospheric NO originates from nitrous oxide reacting with O(1D) and ion-molecule reactions. Most ionic reactions take place in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The resulting NO is transported into the stratosphere at high latitudes. Cosmic radiation and tropospheric lightning also produce nitric oxide. This NO originates from ion reactions involving N2. Ionic reactions preserve the N(15)/N(14) ratio present in atmospheric N2. Nitrous oxide has a mass-dependent sink that varies with altitude so that there is an altitude-dependent isotopic distinction in nitrous oxide. This difference will appear in NO formed from N2O. The expected NO isotopic distribution under different conditions will be a combination of NO derived from nitrous oxide with different masses and NO from ion reactions. The expected NO isotopic distribution will be presented talking into account the different processes, including particle events and downward transport in winter.

Aikin, A. C.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Structural Similitude and Scaling Laws

Aircraft and spacecraft comprise the class of aerospace structures that require efficiency and wisdom in design, sophistication and accuracy in analysis and numerous and careful experimental evaluations of components and prototype, in order to achieve the necessary system reliability, performance and safety. Preliminary and/or concept design entails the assemblage of system mission requirements, system expected performance and identification of components and their connections as well as of manufacturing and system assembly techniques. This is accomplished through experience based on previous similar designs, and through the possible use of models to simulate the entire system characteristics. Detail design is heavily dependent on information and concepts derived from the previous steps. This information identifies critical design areas which need sophisticated analyses, and design and redesign procedures to achieve the expected component performance. This step may require several independent analysis models, which, in many instances, require component testing. The last step in the design process, before going to production, is the verification of the design. This step necessitates the production of large components and prototypes in order to test component and system analytical predictions and verify strength and performance requirements under the worst loading conditions that the system is expected to encounter in service. Clearly then, full-scale testing is in many cases necessary and always very expensive. In the aircraft industry, in addition to full-scale tests, certification and safety necessitate large component static and dynamic testing. Such tests are extremely difficult, time consuming and definitely absolutely necessary. Clearly, one should not expect that prototype testing will be totally eliminated in the aircraft industry. It is hoped, though, that we can reduce full-scale testing to a minimum. Full-scale large component testing is necessary in other industries as well, Ship building, automobile and railway car construction all rely heavily on testing. Regardless of the application, a scaled-down (by a large factor) model (scale model) which closely represents the structural behavior of the full-scale system (prototype) can prove to be an extremely beneficial tool. This possible development must be based on the existence of certain structural parameters that control the behavior of a structural system when acted upon by static and/or dynamic loads. If such structural parameters exist, a scaled-down replica can be built, which will duplicate the response of the full-scale system. The two systems are then said to be structurally similar. The term, then, that best describes this similarity is structural similitude. Similarity of systems requires that the relevant system parameters be identical and these systems be governed by a unique set of characteristic equations. Thus, if a relation or equation of variables is written for a system, it is valid for all systems which are similar to it. Each variable in a model is proportional to the corresponding variable of the prototype. This ratio, which plays an essential role in predicting the relationship between the model and its prototype, is called the scale factor.

Simitses, George J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Computational Fluid Dynamics Models of the NASA White Sands Test Facility Particle Impact Test Nozzles

The particle impact ignition mechanism is considered to be the most effective means for igniting metals in gaseous oxygen environments and is a concern for every oxygen system. For this reason, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) commits a large amount of resources attempting to understand and defend against this phenomenon. The most practical means of accomplishing this is through extensive of testing. To this end, over the years NASA has developed and built a facility and various apparatuses to test material or component vulnerability to a particle impact ignition. In testing materials, NASA uses sub-sonic and supersonic nozzles to replicate the conditions that a material is expected to experience in service. However, challenges include obtaining an understanding of the gas dynamics and of the particle behavior through and up to the point of impact at the material under test. One means of addressing these challenges is the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). If a CFD model can be built and validated, the model can then be used to confidently interrogate changes to inlet conditions and particle geometries, as well as changes to nozzle geometries to better simulate a material’s in-situ conditions and greatly reduce or eliminate trial-and-error approaches in testing. This paper will show NASA’s approach to and results of using CFD to better understand their particle impact nozzles.

Computational Fluid Dynamics↗
NASA NTRS2003

Design and Testing of Non-Toxic RCS Thrusters for Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle

The current NASA Space Shuttle auxiliary propulsion system utilizes nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) and monomethylhydrazine (MMH), hypergolic propellants. This use of these propellants has resulted in high levels of maintenance and precautions that contribute to costly launch operations. By employing alternate propellant combinations, those less toxic to humans, the hazards and time required between missions can be significantly reduced. Use of alternate propellants can thereby increase the efficiency and lower the cost in launch operations. In support of NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI), TRW proposed a three-phase project structured to significantly increase the technology readiness of a high-performance reaction control subsystem (RCS) thruster using non-toxic propellant for an operationally efficient and reusable auxiliary propulsion system (APS). The project enables the development of an integrated primary/vernier thruster capable of providing dual-thrust levels of both 1000-lbf class thrust and 25-lbf thrust. The intent of the project is to reduce the risk associated with the development of an improved RCS flight design that meets the primary NASA objectives of improved safety and reliability while reducing systems operations and maintenance costs. TRW proposed two non-toxic auxiliary propulsion engine designs, one using liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen and the other using liquid oxygen and liquid ethanol, as candidates to meet the goals of reliability and affordability at the RCS level. Both of these propellant combinations offer the advantage of a safe environment for maintenance, while at the same time providing adequate to excellent performance for a conventional liquid propulsion systems. The key enabling technology incorporated in both TRW thrusters is the coaxial liquid on liquid pintle injector. This paper will concentrate on only the design and testing of one of the thrusters, the liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) thruster. The LOX/LH2 thruster design includes a LOX-centered pintle injector, consisting of two rows of slots that create a radial spoke spray pattern in the combustion chamber. The main fuel injector creates a continuous sheet of LH2 originating upstream of the LOX pintle injector. The two propellants impinge at the pintle slots, where the resulting momentum ratio and spray pattern determines the combustion efficiency and thermal effects on the hardware. Another enabling technology used in the design of this thruster is fuel film cooling through a duct, lining the inner wall of the combustion chamber barrel section. The duct is also acts as a secondary fuel injection point. The variation in the amount of LH2 used for the duct allows for adjustments in the cooling capacity for the thruster. The Non-Toxic LOX-LH2 RCS Workhorse Thruster was tested at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Test Stand 500. Hot-fire tests were conducted between March 08, 2002 and April 05, 2002. All testing during the program base period were performed at sea-level conditions. During the test program, 7 configurations were tested, including 2 combustion chambers, 3 LOX injector pintle tips, and 4 LH2 injector stroke settings. The operating conditions that were surveyed varied thrust levels, mixture ratio and LH2 duct cooling flow. The copper heat sink chamber was used for 16 burns, each burn lasting from 0.4 to 10 seconds, totaling 51.4 seconds, followed by Haynes chamber testing ranging from 0.9 to 120 seconds, totaling 300.9 seconds. The total accumulated burn time for the test program is 352.3 seconds. C* efficiency was calculated and found to be within expectable limits for most operating conditions. The temperature on the Haynes combustion chamber remained below established material limits, with the exception of one localized hot spot. The test results demonstrate that both the coaxial liquid-on-liquid pintle injector design and fuel duct concepts are viable for the intended application. The thruster head-e design maintained cryogenic injection temperatures while firing, which validates the concept for minimal heat soak back. By injecting fuel into the duct, the throat temperatures were manageable, yet the split of fuel through the cooling duct does not compromise the overall combustion efficiency, which indicates that, provided proper design refinement, such a concept can be applied to a high-performance version of the thruster. These hot fire tests demonstrate the robustness of the duct design concept and good capability to withstand off-nominal operating conditions without adversely impacting the thermal response of the engine, a key design feature for a cryogenic thruster.

Calvignac, Jacky↗
NASA NTRS1983

Development of environmental criteria guidelines for aerospace vehicle design

The types of guideline data on natural environmental conditions for the various major geographic locations that are applicable to the design of aerospace vehicles and associated equipment are discussed. Since relationships between aerospace vehicle parameters and atmospheric variables cannot always be clearly defined, there should be a close working relationship and team philosophy between the design/operational engineer and the respective organizations' aerospace meteorologists. Consideration should be given to protecting aerospace vehicles from some extremes by using support equipment and specialized monitoring personnel to advise on the expected occurrence of critical environmental conditions. It is pointed out that the services of these specialized personnel may be very economical in comparison with the more expensive designing that would be necessary to cope with all environmental possibilities. The environment considered here includes wind, atmospheric electricity, upper atmospheric density, and solar wind.

Turner, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Critical point wetting drop tower experiment

The 100 m Drop Tower at NASA-Marshall was used to provide the step change in acceleration from 1.0 to 0.0005 g. An inter-fluid meniscus oscillates vertically within a cylindrical container when suddenly released from earth's gravity and taken into a microgravity environment. Oscillations damp out from energy dissipative mechanisms such as viscosity and interfacial friction. Damping of the oscillations by the later mechanism is affected by the nature of the interfacial junction between the fluid-fluid interface and the container wall. In earlier stages of the project, the meniscus shape which developed during microgravity conditions was applied to evaluations of wetting phenomena near the critical temperature. Variations in equilibrium contact angle against the container wall were expected to occur under critical wetting conditions. However, it became apparent that the meaningful phenomenon was the damping of interfacial oscillations. This latter concept makes up the bulk of this report. Perfluoromethyl cyclohexane and isopropanol in glass were the materials used for the experiment. The wetting condition of the fluids against the wall changes at the critical wetting transition temperature. This change in wetting causes a change in the damping characteristics of the interfacial excursions during oscillation and no measurable change in contact angle. The effect of contact line friction measured above and below the wetting transition temperature was to increase the period of vertical oscillation for the vapor-liquid interface when below the wetting transition temperature.

Kaukler, William F.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Scramjet Engine Flowpath Development for the Hyper-X Mach 10 Flight Test

The third flight of the Hyper-X Research Vehicle at nearly Mach 10 in November 2004 demonstrated the potential for airbreathing propulsion at hypersonic speeds. The flowpath of the scramjet engine used in the Hyper-X Research Vehicle was developed using computational fluid dynamic based design method in combination with a systematic series of ground tests in the NASA HyPulse Shock Tunnel at conditions duplicating Mach 10 flight. The test model was a true scale height and length of the internal flight engine flowpath that was partial width and truncated fore and aft. Tests were conducted using a mixture of hydrogen augmented with two-percent silane. Silane gas served as an ignition aid during the short duration of the pulse facility tests. The engine inflow values of pressure, temperature, and Mach number were parametrically varied during the ground test entries to broaden the database over the expected uncertainty in the flight conditions. A review of the ground test technique and comparisons of the ground test pressures along with selected data from the third flight are presented.

Rogers, R. C.↗