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At least 541 records · Page 30
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1987

Interaction of Tollmien-Schlichting waves and Goertler vortices

There are many fluid flows of practical interest where transition can be caused by competing hydrodynamic instabilities. Thus in three-dimensional boundary-layer flows over curved walls, instability might be caused by Tollmien-Schlichting waves, Goertler vortices or crossflow vortices. If a particular type of instability is suppressed by some means, there is the possibility that another one might be stimulated. Hence it is important to understand the mechanisms by which these different instabilities interact. Some properties of the interaction which can take place between Goertler vortices and Tollmien-Schlichting waves are discussed.

Hall, Phil↗
NASA NTRS1993

A time-accurate finite volume method valid at all flow velocities

A finite volume method to solve the Navier-Stokes equations at all flow velocities (e.g., incompressible, subsonic, transonic, supersonic and hypersonic flows) is presented. The numerical method is based on a finite volume method that incorporates a pressure-staggered mesh and an incremental pressure equation for the conservation of mass. Comparison of three generally accepted time-advancing schemes, i.e., Simplified Marker-and-Cell (SMAC), Pressure-Implicit-Splitting of Operators (PISO), and Iterative-Time-Advancing (ITA) scheme, are made by solving a lid-driven polar cavity flow and self-sustained oscillatory flows over circular and square cylinders. Calculated results show that the ITA is the most stable numerically and yields the most accurate results. The SMAC is the most efficient computationally and is as stable as the ITA. It is shown that the PISO is the most weakly convergent and it exhibits an undesirable strong dependence on the time-step size. The degenerated numerical results obtained using the PISO are attributed to its second corrector step that cause the numerical results to deviate further from a divergence free velocity field. The accurate numerical results obtained using the ITA is attributed to its capability to resolve the nonlinearity of the Navier-Stokes equations. The present numerical method that incorporates the ITA is used to solve an unsteady transitional flow over an oscillating airfoil and a chemically reacting flow of hydrogen in a vitiated supersonic airstream. The turbulence fields in these flow cases are described using multiple-time-scale turbulence equations. For the unsteady transitional over an oscillating airfoil, the fluid flow is described using ensemble-averaged Navier-Stokes equations defined on the Lagrangian-Eulerian coordinates. It is shown that the numerical method successfully predicts the large dynamic stall vortex (DSV) and the trailing edge vortex (TEV) that are periodically generated by the oscillating airfoil. The calculated streaklines are in very good comparison with the experimentally obtained smoke picture. The calculated turbulent viscosity contours show that the transition from laminar to turbulent state and the relaminarization occur widely in space as well as in time. The ensemble-averaged velocity profiles are also in good agreement with the measured data and the good comparison indicates that the numerical method as well as the multipletime-scale turbulence equations successfully predict the unsteady transitional turbulence field. The chemical reactions for the hydrogen in the vitiated supersonic airstream are described using 9 chemical species and 48 reaction-steps. Consider that a fast chemistry can not be used to describe the fine details (such as the instability) of chemically reacting flows while a reduced chemical kinetics can not be used confidently due to the uncertainty contained in the reaction mechanisms. However, the use of a detailed finite rate chemistry may make it difficult to obtain a fully converged solution due to the coupling between the large number of flow, turbulence, and chemical equations. The numerical results obtained in the present study are in good agreement with the measured data. The good comparison is attributed to the numerical method that can yield strongly converged results for the reacting flow and to the use of the multiple-time-scale turbulence equations that can accurately describe the mixing of the fuel and the oxidant.

Kim, S.-W.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Combustor flame flashback

A stainless steel, two-dimensional (rectangular), center-dump, premixed-prevaporized combustor with quartz window sidewalls for visual access was designed, built, and used to study flashback. A parametric study revealed that the flashback equivalence ratio decreased slightly as the inlet air temperature increased. It also indicated that the average premixer velocity and premixer wall temperature were not governing parameters of flashback. The steady-state velocity balance concept as the flashback mechanism was not supported. From visual observation several stages of burning were identified. High speed photography verified upstream flame propagation with the leading edge of the flame front near the premixer wall. Combustion instabilities (spontaneous pressure oscillations) were discovered during combustion at the dump plane and during flashback. The pressure oscillation frequency ranged from 40 to 80 Hz. The peak-to-peak amplitude (up to 1.4 psi) increased as the fuel/air equivalence ratio was increased attaining a maximum value just before flashback. The amplitude suddenly decreased when the flame stabilized in the premixer. The pressure oscillations were large enough to cause a local flow reversal. A simple test using ceramic fiber tufts indicated flow reversals existed at the premixer exit during flickering. It is suspected that flashback occurs through the premixer wall boundary layer flow reversal caused by combustion instability. A theoretical analysis of periodic flow in the premixing channel has been made. The theory supports the flow reversal mechanism.

Proctor, M. P.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Nature and the nonlinear evolution of electrostatic waves associated with the AMPTE solar wind releases

The nonlinear evolution of the electrostatic waves observed during the AMPTE (Active Magnetosphere Particle Tracer Explorers) solar wind releases is investigated. Previous linear studies indicate two distinct sets of instabilities may be responsible for the generation. One set consists of ion-acoustic type instabilities which are insensitive to the presence of a background magnetic field, while the other group corresponds to the modified two stream instabilities and requires the solar wind flow to be across the ambient magnetic field. To establish which set of instabilities is more viable a detailed linear Vlasov theory has been conducted by numerically solving the full electromagnetic dispersion relation. In addition both the plasma wave as well as the magnetic field measurements by the IRM (Ion Release Module) spacecraft were used to correlate the frequency and the power of the observed waves with the magnitude and the direction of the solar wind magnetic field. The results of these analyses indicate that the ion-acoustic type instabilities have growth rates that are an order of magnitude or more larger than those of the modified two stream instabilities. Results show that both the solar wind protons and the released ions may be heated and accelerated in the directions oblique to the solar wind flow velocity.

Omidi, N.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Further study of the atmospheric gravity waves over the eastern seaboard on 18 March 1969

Washington, D.C., microbarograph records for Mar. 18, 1969 reveal gravity-wave-associated pressure oscillations which appear to be directly related to upper tropospheric wave structure observed at the same time with a Wallops Island 10-cm wavelength radar. The consistency between the two sets of data provides observational support for the hypothesis that shear instability in the upper tropospheric flow is the mechanism responsible for the generation of such waves. The comparison presented suggests that microbarograph arrays might be useful adjuncts to future radar studies of upper tropospheric wave dynamics, supplying such wave parameters as phase velocity and wavelength in favorable cases. The radar data pertinent to this event show an apparent vertical wave phase variation, permitting a very approximate and somewhat uncertain estimate of the wave-associated vertical flux of horizontal momentum, which is found to be about 4 dyn per sq cm. Wave generation by shear instability in the upper tropospheric air flow and the resulting vertical momentum transport may be an important element of the global atmospheric momentum budget.

Hooke, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Development and Breakdown of Goertler Vortices in High Speed Boundary Layers

The nonlinear development of G rtler instability over a concave surface gives rise to a highly distorted stationary flow in the boundary layer that has strong velocity gradients in both spanwise and wall-normal directions. This distorted flow is susceptible to strong, high frequency secondary instability that leads to the onset of transition. For high Mach number flows, the boundary layer is also subject to the second mode instability. The nonlinear development of G rtler vortices and the ensuing growth and breakdown of secondary instability, the G rtler vortex interactions with second mode instabilities as well as oblique second mode interactions are examined in the context of both internal and external hypersonic configurations using nonlinear parabolized stability equations, 2-D eigenvalue analysis and direct numerical simulation. For G rtler vortex development inside the Purdue Mach 6 Ludwieg tube wind tunnel, multiple families of unstable secondary eigenmodes are identified and their linear and nonlinear evolution is examined. The computation of secondary instability is continued past the onset of transition to elucidate the physical mechanisms underlying the laminar breakdown process. Nonlinear breakdown scenarios associated with transition over a Mach 6 compression cone configuration are also explored.

Li, Fei↗
NASA NTRS1974

Tail structures far from the head of Comet Kohoutek. I

Two tail structures 0.1 AU from the head of Comet Kohoutek were photographed during January 1974. One was a wavy structure resembling a helix while the other was an irregular swan-like cloud. Both features were propagating down the tail at approximately 250 km/sec, and the observed speed is probably the phase speed. We discuss the physical origin of these structures and interpret the helix as a kink instability resulting from currents flowing along the tail axis.

Hyder, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Low-heat-leak current leads for intermittent use

The paper reports on the development of current leads for an orbiting superconducting magnetic spectrometer that were required to achieve a zero-current heat leak of 0.03 W with a total coolant flow rate as low as 0.011 g/sec cooling only the coldest third of the length of a lead. Analysis of heat flow phenomena in an insulated current lead in thermal contact with cryogenic gas flow is given for prediction of lead performance. A basic lead design was then tested and modified by such techniques as tapering, adding superconducting sections, and operating above the optimum current, until a lead satisfying the low-leak requirements was obtained. Operating the insulated leads at well above their optimum current for short periods at high mass flow is possible, and instability behavior is predictable.

Smoot, G. F.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Observations of velocity shear driven plasma turbulence

Electrostatic and magnetic turbulence observations from HAWKEYE-1 during the low altitude portion of its elliptical orbit over the Southern Hemisphere are presented. The magnetic turbulence is confined near the auroral zone and is similar to that seen at higher altitudes by HEOS-2 in the polar cusp. The electrostatic turbulence is composed of a background component with a power spectral index of 1.89 + or - .26 and an intense component with a power spectral index of 2.80 + or - .34. The intense electrostatic turbulence and the magnetic turbulence correlate with velocity shears in the convective plasma flow. Since velocity shear instabilities are most unstable to wave vectors perpendicular to the magnetic field, the shear correlated turbulence is anticipated to be two dimensional in character and to have a power spectral index of 3 which agrees with that observed in the intense electrostatic turbulence.

Kintner, P. M., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Theories of magnetospheres around accreting compact objects

The paper reviews theoretical models of magnetospheres formed around neutron stars and other strongly magnetized compact objects in the presence of mass accretion from a companion star. Emphasis is placed on the interaction of the accretion process with the magnetic field of the compact object and the formation of a magnetosphere. The following models are discussed: magnetospheres with polar funnels; closed magnetospheres and their instabilities; models of internal flow; and disk accretion magnetospheres.

Vasyliunas, V. M.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Thermocapillary flows and their stability

Steady convective flows for geometries of varying complexity are described. This in general involves the solution of nonlinear free boundary problems. The stability of these flows were determined to more complicated (perhaps time dependent) modes of fluid motion. These include shear flow and free surface instability modes, with possible coupling between them. The effect of surface chemical species is described, including impurities which act as surfactants and insoluble oxide films, on the convective patterns and their stability.

Davis, S.↗
NASA NTRS1981

X-ray bursters and the X-ray sources of the galactic bulge

An attempt is made to distill from observational and theoretical information on the galactic bulge X-ray sources in general, and on the X-ray burst sources in particular, those aspects which seem to have the greatest relevance to the understanding of these sources. Galactic bulge sources appear to be collapsed objects of roughly solar mass, in most cases neutron stars, which are accreting matter from low-mass stellar companions. Type I bursts seem to result from thermonuclear flashes in the surface layers of some of these neutron stars, while the type II bursts from the Rapid Burster are almost certainly due to an instability in the accretion flow onto a neutron star. It is concluded that the studies cited offer a new and powerful observational handle on the fundamental properties of neutron stars and of the interacting binary systems in which they are often contained.

Lewin, W. H. G.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Structure and dynamics of monsoon depressions: The Monex depression (July 1979)

Literature on monsoon formation is surveyed. Monsoon depressions over the Bay of Bengal are caused either by amplification of westward propagating weak disturbances or by downward propagation of the internal jet instability of the easterly jet. Barotropic instability of low level flow helps the growth of weak disturbances. Rapid growth of an already existing weak perturbation is due to CISK. If the disturbance attains adequate amplitude in the lower levels (either by downward propagation of wave energy of by CISK), the low level moisture convergence and latent heat of condensation are utilized more efficiently for the development of a vertically coupled deep disturbance, which along with upper level easterlies contributes to the westward propagation of the disturbance. Absence of strong vertical coupling leads to vertical tilt and decay of the disturbance.

Shukla, J.↗