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At least 541 records · Page 30
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

A review of instability and noise propagation in supersonic flows

Originally analytical and numerical models were to be developed for noise production in supersonic jets, wakes and free shear layers. While the effort was concentrated initially on these aspects, other topics were also pursued, most were of interest to the Jet Noise Group of the Aeroacoustics Branch. An overview is given of subjects reviewed and the investigations that were carried out. A significant effort was devoted to numerically predicting the flow field of a turbulent supersonic wall jet. This information is necessary for computing the pressure in the far field. The wall jet was selected because it represents a generic flow that can be associated with plug nozzle in supersonic engines. It combines the characteristic of a boundary layer with that of a free shear flow. The spatially evolving flow obtained using Dash's code would form the input for the stability analysis program. This analysis would determine the large scale instability wave within the flow. The far field pressure can be computed from the shape of the evolving large scale structure by asymptotic methods. Flow characteristics obtained from a program that analyses the turbulent downstream supersonic flow in a nozzle are described and compared with experimental results.

Daudpota, Q. Isa↗
NASA NTRS1991

Three-dimensional simulations of large eddies in the compressible mixing layer

Consideration is given to the effect of compressibility on a plane mixing layer that is a prototype free shear layer, amenable to study by numerical simulation and experiment. The full time-dependent compressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically for a temporally evolving mixing layer employing a mixed spectral and high-order finite difference method. Simulations with random initial conditions confirm the prediction of linear stability theory that at high Mach numbers oblique waves grow faster than two-dimensional waves. Simulations are presented of the nonlinear temporal evolution of the most rapidly amplified linear instability waves.

Sandham, N. D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Influence of freestream values on k-omega turbulence model predictions

The Wilcox (1988, 1991) k-omega model for eddy-viscosity turbulence does not require damping functions in the viscous sublayer, and its equations are less stiff near the wall. It has been designed to predict the requisite wake length in equilibrium, adverse pressure-gradient boundary-layer flows. When applied to free shear layers, however, a strong dependency of its results on the freestream value of omega has been noted. This feature is presently investigated via the self-similar equations for incompressible equilibrium boundary layers.

Menter, F. R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Toward large eddy simulation of turbulent flow over an airfoil

The flow field over an airfoil contains several distinct flow characteristics, e.g. laminar, transitional, turbulent boundary layer flow, flow separation, unstable free shear layers, and a wake. This diversity of flow regimes taxes the presently available Reynolds averaged turbulence models. Such models are generally tuned to predict a particular flow regime, and adjustments are necessary for the prediction of a different flow regime. Similar difficulties are likely to emerge when the large eddy simulation technique is applied with the widely used Smagorinsky model. This model has not been successful in correctly representing different turbulent flow fields with a single universal constant and has an incorrect near-wall behavior. Germano et al. (1991) and Ghosal, Lund & Moin have developed a new subgrid-scale model, the dynamic model, which is very promising in alleviating many of the persistent inadequacies of the Smagorinsky model: the model coefficient is computed dynamically as the calculation progresses rather than input a priori. The model has been remarkably successful in prediction of several turbulent and transitional flows. We plan to simulate turbulent flow over a '2D' airfoil using the large eddy simulation technique. Our primary objective is to assess the performance of the newly developed dynamic subgrid-scale model for computation of complex flows about aircraft components and to compare the results with those obtained using the Reynolds average approach and experiments. The present computation represents the first application of large eddy simulation to a flow of aeronautical interest and a key demonstration of the capabilities of the large eddy simulation technique.

Choi, Haecheon↗
NASA NTRS1981

Large-eddy simulation of the shear-free turbulent boundary layer

The shear-free turbulent boundary layer is calculated by the large-eddy simulation technique. The filtered Navier-Stokes equations are used; the method of integration employs Fourier expansions in the homogeneous directions and finite differences in the cross-stream direction. Results indicate that the simulation is capable of predicting the primary Reynolds-number effects.

Biringen, S.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Do large structures control their own growth in a mixing layer? - An assessment

Two different two-dimensional free shear layers, the T-layer developing in time from an initial tangential velocity discontinuity separating the two half-spaces, and the S-layer which develops downstream of the origin where two uniform streams of unequal velocity are brought into tangential contact, are compared. Calculations are performed in order to determine to what extent the perturbations induced upstream by large concentrations of vorticity found downstream hasten or retard the subharmonic instability that leads to the formations of these large structures. The results show that the elliptic influence, or the feedback, in a mixing layer is relatively small for small velocity ratios.

Kaul, Upender K.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Prediction and monitoring of clear-air turbulence - An evaluation of the applicability of the rawinsonde system

The importance of sensing turbulent layers in the free atmosphere to further progress in the area of clear air turbulence (CAT) prediction is stressed. The results of an investigation of the applicability of rawinsonde (RW) profiles for the detection of CAT are discussed. It is noted that previous studies have determined that the most significant factor for the existence of turbulent layers is the magnitude of the vertical shear. Certain shear-layer criteria, which are obtained from theoretically consistent statistics of detailed vertical wind profiles, are applied to statistical comparisons of conjunctive rawinsonde and Jimsphere/Jimsonde (J/J) vertical profiles made between 1 and 15 km. It is found that a loose relationship exists between J/J and RW shears. That is, the cross-correlation coefficient that compares their respective shears at the same levels is quite small. This is seen as suggesting that no general statement can be made in consideration of critical shear criteria with respect to RW shears. The suggestion is made that reasons for such a loose empirical relationship include the mesoscale nature of the apparent CAT mechanism.

Keller, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Wave patterns and clear air turbulence.

Two cases of CAT in which the turbulence was apparently associated with Kelvin-Helmholtz billows are discussed. In the first case, long waves embedded in the mean flow appeared to modify a deep shear layer and produce local regions of enhanced shear, which subsequently gave rise to billow development. In the second case, the billows formed near the lower boundary of a strong baroclinic zone. In both cases, moderate CAT was encountered by T-33 aircraft, and the clear air structures were discernible with a sensitive 10.7-cm wavelength radar.

Hardy, K. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A linear shock cell model for non-circular jets using conformal mapping with a pseudo-spectral hybrid scheme

The shock structure in non-circular supersonic jets is predicted using a linear model. This model includes the effects of the finite thickness of the mixing layer and the turbulence in the jet shear layer. A numerical solution is obtained using a conformal mapping grid generation scheme with a hybrid pseudo-spectral discretization method. The uniform pressure perturbation at the jet exit is approximated by a Fourier-Mathieu series. The pressure at downstream locations is obtained from an eigenfunction expansion that is matched to the pressure perturbation at the jet exit. Results are presented for a circular jet and for an elliptic jet of aspect ratio 2.0. Comparisons are made with experimental data.

Bhat, Thonse R. S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Linear stability of the confined compressible reacting mixing layer

This paper investigates the linear stability of confined mixing layers with special emphasis on the effects of heat release and compressibility. The results show that reflection of supersonic disturbances by the walls makes the confined supersonic mixing layer more unstable than the unconfined free shear layer. Decreasing the distance between the walls makes the flow more unstable. However, subsonic disturbances are relatively unaffected by the walls. Heat release and Mach number hardly change the growth rates of supersonic disturbances. The most unstable supersonic disturbances are two-dimensional in rectangular channel flows, but three-dimensional in partially confined flows. Finally, the reactants are not strongly mixed by supersonic instabilities, which mainly disturb one side of the layer.

Shin, D. S.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Direct Numerical Simulation of Smooth-Body Flow Separation Around a Ramp

Spanwise-periodic computation of a turbulent flow past a two-dimensional smooth ramp geometry is performed in the form of a direct numerical simulation. The Reynolds number based on the ramp height is about 147,000. A straight section that precedes the smooth ramp allows the incoming turbulent boundary layer to grow under a weak favorable pressure gradient. The boundary layer introduced at the domain inlet has a momentum-thickness based Reynolds number of 2000. The turbulent boundary layer nearing the ramp first interacts with a relatively stronger favorable pressure gradient, followed by a strong adverse pressure gradient. Consequently, the boundary layer experiences a modest acceleration before decelerating and separating. Analysis of the data over this region hints at the formation of an internal layer beneath the accelerated boundary layer. The analysis also reveals that this internal layer forms the origin of the free shear layer that emerges in the deceleration region and separates. The streamwise extent of the separated region is comparable to the ramp length, while the viscous layer thickness near reattachment is about the same as the ramp height; hence, the boundary layer undergoing separation and subsequent reattachment in the present configuration experiences its thickness being amplified by about tenfold. The reattached flow continues to develop further under a diminishing pressure gradient in the recovery region in a similar fashion to a zero pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer.

Turbulence↗
NASA NTRS1992

Improved two-equation k-omega turbulence models for aerodynamic flows

Two new versions of the k-omega two-equation turbulence model will be presented. The new Baseline (BSL) model is designed to give results similar to those of the original k-omega model of Wilcox, but without its strong dependency on arbitrary freestream values. The BSL model is identical to the Wilcox model in the inner 50 percent of the boundary-layer but changes gradually to the high Reynolds number Jones-Launder k-epsilon model (in a k-omega formulation) towards the boundary-layer edge. The new model is also virtually identical to the Jones-Lauder model for free shear layers. The second version of the model is called Shear-Stress Transport (SST) model. It is based on the BSL model, but has the additional ability to account for the transport of the principal shear stress in adverse pressure gradient boundary-layers. The model is based on Bradshaw's assumption that the principal shear stress is proportional to the turbulent kinetic energy, which is introduced into the definition of the eddy-viscosity. Both models are tested for a large number of different flowfields. The results of the BSL model are similar to those of the original k-omega model, but without the undesirable freestream dependency. The predictions of the SST model are also independent of the freestream values and show excellent agreement with experimental data for adverse pressure gradient boundary-layer flows.

Menter, Florian R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Assessment of meanflow solutions for instability analysis of transitioning flows

Meanflow solutions of 3D supersonic flow past a cone at incidence and a swept leading edge wing have been obtained by thre methods, viz., boundary-layer, parabolized Navier-Stokes, and thin shear-layer Navier-Stokes solvers. The smoothness and accuracy of the solution profiles are compared with a view to applying the meanflow solution to boundary-layer stability analysis.

Iyer, Venkit↗
NASA NTRS1992

Measurements in a leading-edge separation bubble due to a simulated airfoil ice accretion

The separation bubble formed on an airfoil at low Reynolds number behind a simulated leading-edge glaze ice accretion is studied experimentally. Surface pressure and split hot-film measurements as well as flow visualization studies of the bubble reattachment point are reported. The simulated ice generates an adverse pressure gradient that causes a laminar separation bubble of the long bubble type to form. The boundary layer separates at a location on the ice accretion that is independent of angle of attack and reattaches at a downstream location 5-40 percent chord behind the leading edge, depending on the angle of attack. Velocity profiles show a large region of reverse flow that extends up from the airfoil surface as much as 2.5 percent chord. After reattachment, a thick distorted turbulent boundary layer exists. The separation bubble growth and reattachment are clearly seen in the plots of boundary-layer momentum thickness vs surface distance. Local minima and maxima in the boundary-layer momentum thickness development compare well with the shear layer transition point as indicated by the surface pressures and the reattachment point as measured from surface oil flow, respectively.

Bragg, M. B.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Building wakes in disturbed layers

The wind profiles in the wakes of buildings in a disturbed shear layer are investigated for conditions experienced during aircraft take-off and landing. Experiments were conducted in a pipe flow apparatus in which an equilibrium flow is disturbed by pipe roughness, simulating obstacles upwind of a building, with the disturbed flow made to flow past a second obstacle, simulating a building. Velocity and turbulence profiles of disturbed and equilibrium flows upstream and downstream of the obstacles are presented. It is concluded that the integrated momentum flow of a boundary layer behind an obstacle can be greater than the upstream momentum flow, if the exponent of the upstream velocity profile is sufficiently high and the boundary layer has been disturbed by upstream obstacles. The rise of the turbulence level behind the obstacle is also dependent on the profile exponent in a disturbed layer.

Logan, E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Roles of initial condition and vortex pairing in jet noise

Sound generation by vortex pairing in circular and elliptic cold-air jets at Mach 0.15-0.35 is investigated experimentally, with a focus on the effects of initial conditions. The results are presented in graphs and interpreted using the theory of vortex sound proposed by Moehring (1978) and vortex-filament models of jet coherent structure. Tripping the nozzle boundary layer is shown to (1) preempt formation of shear-layer vortices, (2) remove the sound they produce in later pairing, and (3) increase the diffusion of coherent vorticity in the vortex rings. Hence pairing noise should not be significant in practical jets, which are initially turbulent.

Bridges, J. E.↗