SEARCH · Engineering Papers
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Asymmetries in magnetospheric shock layer due to upstream interplanetary magnetic field, considering forward stagnation region of solar wind-magnetosphere interaction
Nonequilibrium dissociating gas flow past blunt body using time dependent shock layer analysis
The radiation models were compared on the basis of the approaches used for the transport calculations and absorption coefficients and of results obtained for the radiation flux profiles and spectral distributions. The calculated results were for shock layer conditions representative of manned earth reentry from an interplanetary mission. The three models are RATRAP, RADICAL, and MDAC. The results show that significant differences exist in the radiation flux computed by the three models. The RADICAL model was found to depend on fewer approximations, to include more detail, and to require less computer time than the other models.
Possible Earth reentry simulation of shallow-angle (3 to 30 deg) Jupiter entry was investigated in terms of four parameters of the bow shock layer ahead of a blunt vehicle: peak (equilibrium) temperature, peak pressure, peak inward radiative flux, and time-integrated radiative flux. It is shown that simulation ranging from fair to good can be achieved. Reentry is easiest (lowest Earth reentry speed) at steep Earth reentry, in the Earth entry speed range of 15 to 22 km/sec, for both the Jupiter nominal and cool atmospheres. Increased Earth speed is required, generally, for increasing Jupiter entry angle, and for increasing temperature, radiative flux, time-integrated flux and pressure, in that order.
The method of integral relations is applied in a one-strip approximation to the perturbation equations governing small motions of an inclined, sharp-edged, flat surface about the mean supersonic steady flow. Algebraic expressions for low reduced-frequency aerodynamics are obtained and a set of ordinary differential equations are obtained for general oscillatory motion. Results are presented for low reduced-frequency aerodynamics and for the variation of the unsteady forces with frequency. The method gives accurate results for the aerodynamic forces at low reduced frequency which are in good agreement with available experimental data. However, for cases in which the aerodynamic forces vary rapidly with frequency, the results are qualitatively correct, but of limited accuracy. Calculations indicate that for a range of inclination angles near shock detachment such that the flow in the shock layer is low supersonic, the aerodynamic forces vary rapidly both with inclination angle and with reduced frequency.
The reentry flow field and thermal environment around the straight wing shuttle orbiter vehicle were determined. Both rarefied and continuum flow fields and associated heating rates on various configurations representative of the orbiter at high angle of attack were calculated. Rarefied flow fields and heating rates were computed by the Monte Carlo direct simulation technique for altitudes above 82.3 km. Continuum inviscid flow fields were calculated by 2-D unsteady and 3-D steady finite difference/artificial viscosity methods and also by a 2-D shock layer analysis technique. Viscous flow fields and heating rates in the continuum regime were computed by a boundary layer integral matrix method for laminar flow and by an aerodynamic surface heating technique for turbulent flow. Shapes considered in the study included flat plates (representing the underside of the orbiter fuselage or the wing MAC), orbiter fuselage cross sections, orbiter wing airfoils, and 3-D orbiter configurations, all at high angle of attack (40 - 60 deg). The theoretical results showed good agreement with measured pressure and heat transfer data.
Line radiation, in the wavelength region from 1040 to 2500 A from nitrogen plasmas, was measured at conditions typical of those produced in the shock layer in front of vehicles entering the earth's atmosphere at superorbital velocities. The radiation was also predicted with a typical radiation transport computer program to determine whether such calculations adequately model plasmas for the conditions tested. The results of the comparison show that the radiant intensities of the lines between 1040 and 1700 A are actually lower than are predicted by such computer models.
A general method for the analysis of the inviscid asymmetric hypersonic flow fields enveloping smooth bodies of general shape is given. The method is based on the assumption of a thin shock layer which yields an expression for pressure in generalized Mises coordinates. Numerical results for elliptic cones at angle of attack are shown to compare well with experiments and other theories. The computing logic for a blunt body is described, and a limiting solution at the stagnation point is presented.
Heat shielding for planetary entry probes of future Jovian and Venusian missions will encounter heating levels well beyond those previously experienced. These entries are typically dominated by radiative heating from the shock layer. This paper demonstrates the potential of reflecting this incident radiation diffusely from an ablating material. This technique contrasts with the absorption experienced by char-forming or graphitic ablators. Two dielectric materials, Teflon (polytetra-fluoroethylene) and boron nitride, are examined for their ablative performance, including reflection, in a combined convective- and radiative-heating environment. For Teflon, at the conditions obtained, superimposition of radiative heating upon a convective stream causes no additional increase in surface recession over the convective only results. For boron nitride, an excellent room-temperature reflector in the visible spectrum, a decrease in reflectivity from 90 to 55 percent is experienced when the surface undergoes sublimation at high temperatures. The process of reflection in each of these materials is described in terms of backscattering from crystals. The significance of a sizable reflection as a mode of energy accommodation is demonstrated for Venusian entries as a potential reduction in mass loss due to ablation.
Rarefied flow fields and heating rates are calculated by a Monte Carlo direct simulation technique for several shuttle orbiter configurations at angles of attack between 40 and 60 deg. Continuum inviscid flow fields are determined by 2-D unsteady and 3-D steady finite-difference/artificial viscosity techniques used in combination with a 2-D shock layer analysis method. Continuum viscous flow fields and heating rates are computed by a boundary-layer integral matrix technique and an aerodynamic heating method.
An integral method which has previously been applied to the hypersonic blunt body thermal problem is improved and extended to obtain downstream flux predictions and to improve stagnation predictions. To account for the effect of downstream conditions propagated upstream through the subsonic shock layer region, the normal momentum equation is solved simultaneously with the other governing conservation equations. The effects of viscosity, conduction, dissociation and ionization, nongray radiation, surface emissivity, and ablation are included. Illustrative results are presented for body models of hemispheres and a continuous curvature body which closely approximates a hemispherically blunted wide angle (60 half angle) cone. The atmospheric models are air and a 50% Co2-50% N mixture at low densities, which should be representative of the Martian or Venusian atmospheres.
Measurements of the heat transfer to a hemispherical body in a Mach 4.6, low density, argon plasma are reported. The experiments demonstrated that local wall currents affected the heat flux to the electrically conducting surface, both without and with internally applied magnetic fields. Such currents were induced by a nonuniform shock-layer plasma potential; but with applied fields, Hall currents dominated. Magnetic fields significantly increased the stagnation-region heat flux while causing a reduction over the remainder of the hemisphere. For an electrically nonconducting surface, the local heat flux was reduced, and magnetic fields insignificantly affected the heat flux. Analytical treatments indicate that joule and radiation heating were negligible.
The computer programs developed for computation of viscous shock layer flow distribution surrounding the nose of a shuttle orbiter during reentry are presented. The problem formulation and the numerical procedures used to solve the basic set of equations are described. The results of flow distribution properties at several trajectory points, ranging from the high altitude rarefied region to the low altitude boundary layer region are analyzed.
Principal approaches are examined to the theoretical study of the shock layer structure. The choice of a molecular model is discussed and three procedures are formulated. These include a numerical calculation method, solution of the kinetic relaxation equation, and solution of the Boltzmann equation.
Determination of the stagnation region heating of probes entering the Venusian atmosphere. Both convective and radiative heat-transfer rates are predicted, and account is taken of the important effects of radiative transport in the vehicle shock layer. A nongray radiative transport model is utilized which parallels a four-band treatment previously developed for air (Page et al., 1969), but includes two additional bands to account for the important CO(4+) molecular band system. Some comparisons are made between results for Venus entry and results for earth entry obtained using a viscous earth entry program.
The length of the entry blackout period during descent of the Viking Lander into the Mars atmosphere is predicted from calculated profiles of electron density in the shock layer over the aeroshell. Nonequilibrium chemistry plays a key role in the calculation, both in the inviscid flow and in the boundary layer. This is especially true in the boundary layer contaminated with ablation material, for which nonequilibrium chemistry predicts electron densities two decades lower than the same case calculated with equilibrium chemistry.
A simple modification to the constant half-width approximation of Wilson and Greif, which is an extension of the well-known Curtis-Godson method to the treatment of temperature variations along the integration path, is introduced which permits a more accurate evaluation of line radiative transport in nonhomogeneous gases. To demonstrate the method's accuracy, comparisons are made with Wilson and Greif and numerical frequency integrated results for the line equivalent width and radiative flux in a planar slab with prescribed Planck function and line half-width spatial variations. These variations are chosen to represent typical shock layer conditions. It is found that the modified procedure reduces the inaccuracies inherent in Wilson and Greif's approximation by factors ranging from 5 to 10, while retaining the latter method's ease of application.
An analysis for viscous radiating shock layer flow over a blunt body with massive blowing is presented. Detailed equilibrium computations for the thermodynamics and transport properties are included in the solution. Molecular band and atomic line, as well as continuum radiation are included. For a typical Jovian entry problem, a 40% reduction in total radiative flux at stagnation point, due to the injection of carbon gas, was found. The reduction increases to about 70% at about four body nose radii downstream. The increase of flux reduction indicates that most of the radiative energy is absorbed by the injected carbon gas and dumped into the wake. An examination of the spectral distribution of the surface radiative flux reveals that most of the flux reduction occurs in molecular bands of C2.