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NASA NTRS2013

Aerodynamic Investigation of Incidence Angle Effects in a Large Scale Transonic Turbine Cascade

Aerodynamic measurements showing the effects of large incidence angle variations on an HPT turbine blade set are presented. Measurements were made in NASA's Transonic Turbine Blade Cascade Facility which has been used in previous studies to acquire detailed aerodynamic and heat transfer measurements for CFD code validation. The current study supports the development of variable-speed power turbine (VSPT) speed-change technology for the NASA Large Civil Tilt Rotor (LCTR) vehicle. In order to maintain acceptable main rotor propulsive efficiency, the VSPT operates over a nearly 50 percent speed range from takeoff to altitude cruise. This results in 50deg or more variations in VSPT blade incidence angles. The cascade facility has the ability to operate over a wide range of Reynolds numbers and Mach numbers, but had to be modified in order to accommodate the negative incidence angle variation required by the LCTR VSPT operation. Using existing blade geometry with previously acquired aerodynamic data, the tunnel was re-baselined and the new incidence angle range was exercised. Midspan exit total pressure and flow angle measurements were obtained at seven inlet flow angles. For each inlet angle, data were obtained at five flow conditions with inlet Reynolds numbers varying from 6.83×10(exp 5) to 0.85×10(exp 5) and two isentropic exit Mach numbers of 0.74 and 0.34. The midspan flowfield measurements were acquired using a three-hole pneumatic probe located in a survey plane 8.6 percent axial chord downstream of the blade trailing edge plane and covering three blade passages. Blade and endwall static pressure distributions were also acquired for each flow condition.

McVetta, Ashlie B.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Aerodynamic Investigation of Incidence Angle Effects in a Large Scale Transonic Turbine Cascade

Aerodynamic measurements showing the effects of large incidence angle variations on an HPT turbine blade set are presented. Measurements were made in NASA's Transonic Turbine Blade Cascade Facility which has been used in previous studies to acquire detailed aerodynamic and heat transfer measurements for CFD code validation. The current study supports the development of variable-speed power turbine (VSPT) speed-change technology for the NASA Large Civil Tilt Rotor (LCTR) vehicle. In order to maintain acceptable main rotor propulsive efficiency, the VSPT operates over a nearly 50 percent speed range from takeoff to altitude cruise. This results in 50 deg or more variations in VSPT blade incidence angles. The cascade facility has the ability to operate over a wide range of Reynolds numbers and Mach numbers, but had to be modified in order to accommodate the negative incidence angle variation required by the LCTR VSPT operation. Using existing blade geometry with previously acquired aerodynamic data, the tunnel was re-baselined and the new incidence angle range was exercised. Midspan exit total pressure and flow angle measurements were obtained at seven inlet flow angles. For each inlet angle, data were obtained at five flow conditions with inlet Reynolds numbers varying from 6.83×10 (exp 5) to 0.85×10(exp 5) and two isentropic exit Mach numbers of 0.74 and 0.34. The midspan flowfield measurements were acquired using a three-hole pneumatic probe located in a survey plane 8.6 percent axial chord downstream of the blade trailing edge plane and covering three blade passages. Blade and endwall static pressure distributions were also acquired for each flow condition.

McVetta, Ashlie B.↗

NASA NTRS1987

A free-wake rotor analysis including ground effect

The objective of this work is to develop a computer program which analytically estimates the wake geometry, vorticity, and velocity distribution over a rotor and in the neighboring airflow for a variety of conditions in and out of ground effect. The resulting wake is used to provide an assessment of the blade loading distribution for various hover and low speed flight conditions. The computer program is based on a lifting line free wake model and provides stable solutions for a variety of steady state conditions, including ground effect and forward flight. The wake program was validated by comparing the computed wake geometry and experimental test data for two different rotors.

Saberi, H. A.↗

NASA NTRS1937

Pressure-Distribution Measurements on O-2H Airplane in Flight

Results are given of pressure-distribution measurements made over two different horizontal tail surfaces and the right wing cellule, including the slipstream area, of an observation-type biplane. Measurements were also taken of air speed, control-surface positions, control-stick forces, angular velocities, and accelerations during various abrupt maneuvers. These maneuvers consisted of push-downs and pull-ups from level flight, dive pull-outs, and aileron rolls with various thrust conditions. The results from the pressure-distribution measurements over the wing cellule are given on charts showing the variation of individual rib coefficients with wing coefficients; the data from the tail-surface pressure-distribution measurements are given mainly as total loads and moments. These data are supplemented by time histories of the measured quantities and isometric views of the rib pressure distributions occurring in abrupt maneuvers.

Pearson, H A↗

NASA NTRS2010

Aero-Heating of Shallow Cavities in Hypersonic Freestream Flow

The purpose of these experiments and analysis was to augment the heating database and tools used for assessment of impact-induced shallow-cavity damage to the thermal protection system of the Space Shuttle Orbiter. The effect of length and depth on the local heating disturbance of rectangular cavities tested at hypersonic freestream conditions has been globally assessed using the two-color phosphor thermography method. These rapid-response experiments were conducted in the Langley 31-Inch Mach 10 Tunnel and were initiated immediately prior to the launch of STS-114, the initial flight in the Space Shuttle Return-To-Flight Program, and continued during the first week of the mission. Previously-designed and numerically-characterized blunted-nose baseline flat plates were used as the test surfaces. Three-dimensional computational predictions of the entire model geometry were used as a check on the design process and the two-dimensional flow assumptions used for the data analysis. The experimental boundary layer state conditions were inferred using the measured heating distributions on a no-cavity test article. Two test plates were developed, each containing 4 equally-spaced spanwise-distributed cavities. The first test plate contained cavities with a constant length-to-depth ratio of 8 with design point depth-to-boundary-layer-thickness ratios of 0.1, 0.2, 0.35, and 0.5. The second test plate contained cavities with a constant design point depth-to-boundary-layer-thickness ratio of 0.35 with length-to-depth ratios of 8, 12, 16, and 20. Cavity design parameters and the test condition matrix were established using the computational predictions. Preliminary results indicate that the floor-averaged Bump Factor (local heating rate nondimensionalized by upstream reference) at the tested conditions is approximately 0.3 with a standard deviation of 0.04 for laminar-in/laminar-out conditions when the cavity length-to-boundary-layer thickness is between 2.5 and 10 and for cavities in the depth-to-boundary-layer-thickness range of 0.3 to 0.8. Over this same range of conditions and parameters, preliminary results also indicate that the maximum Bump Factor on the cavity centerline falls between 2.0 and 2.75, as long as the cavity-exit conditions remain laminar. Cavities with length-to-boundary-layer-thickness ratio less than 2.5 can not be easily classified with this approach and require further analysis.

Everhart, Joel L.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Turbulent plane Couette flow using probability distribution functions

A numerical scheme employing a combination of the discrete ordinate method and finite differences is developed for solving the one-dimensional form of Lundgren's (1967) model equation for turbulent plane Couette flow. The approach used requires no a priori assumption about the form of the turbulent distribution function, and the numerical solution is obtained directly from the governing differential equations. Two different types of boundary conditions (zero-gradient and Chapman-Enskog) for the distribution function are evaluated by comparing the numerical results with experimental data. It is found that: (1) the present approach gives convergent and stable results over a wide range of Reynolds numbers; (2) Lundgren's equation yields results that compare well with experimental data for mean velocity and skin friction in the case of simple Couette flow; (3) the zero-gradient boundary condition leads to a logarithmic flow profile; and (4) the Chapman-Enskog boundary condition provides very good agreement with experimental data when applied within the near-wall region.

Srinivasan, R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Activated recombinative desorption: A potential component in mechanisms of spacecraft glow

The concept of activated recombination of atomic species on surfaces can explain the production of vibrationally and translationally excited desorbed molecular species. Equilibrium statistical mechanics predicts that the molecular quantum state distributions of desorbing molecules is a function of surface temperature only when the adsorption probability is unity and independent of initial collision conditions. In most cases, the adsorption probability is dependent upon initial conditions such as collision energy or internal quantum state distribution of impinging molecules. From detailed balance, such dynamical behavior is reflected in the internal quantum state distribution of the desorbing molecule. This concept, activated recombinative desorption, may offer a common thread in proposed mechanisms of spacecraft glow. Using molecular beam techniques and equipment available at Los Alamos, which includes a high translational energy 0-atom beam source, mass spectrometric detection of desorbed species, chemiluminescence/laser induced fluorescence detection of electronic and vibrationally excited reaction products, and Auger detection of surface adsorbed reaction products, a fundamental study of the gas surface chemistry underlying the glow process is proposed.

Cross, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Implications of summertime marine stratocumulus on the North American climate

This study focuses on the effects of summertime stratocumulus over the eastern Pacific. This cloud is linked to the semi-permanent sub-tropical highs that dominate the low-level circulation over the Pacific and Atlantic. Subsidence on the eastern flank of these highs creates an inversion based about 800 m above sea level that caps moist air near the surface. This air overlies cool waters driven by upwelling along the coastal regions of North America. Strong surface north-westerlies mix the boundary layer enough to saturate the air just below the capping inversion. Widespread stratocumulus is thus formed. All calculations were carried out using the GENESIS general circulation model that was run at MSFC. Among the more important properties of the model is that it includes radiative forcing due to absorption of solar radiation and the emission of infrared radiation, interactive clouds (both stratocumulus and cumulus types), exchanges of heat and moisture with the lower boundary. Clouds are interactive in the sense that they impact the circulation by modifying the fields of radiative heating and turbulent fluxes of heat and moisture in the boundary layer. In turn, clouds are modified by the winds through the advection of moisture. In order to isolate the effects of mid- and high-latitude stratocumulus, two runs were made with the model: one with and the other without stratocumulus. The runs were made for a year, but with perpetual July conditions, i.e., solar forcing was fixed. The diurnal solar cycle, however, was allowed for. The sea surface temperature distribution was fixed in both runs to represent climatological July conditions. All dependent variables were represented at 12 surfaces of constant sigma = p/p(sub O), where p is pressure and p(sub O) is surface pressure. To facilitate analysis, model output was transformed to constant pressure surfaces. Structures no smaller in size than 7.5 degrees longitude and 4.5 degrees in latitude were resolved. Smaller features of the circulation were parameterized. The model thus captures synoptic- and planetary-scale circulation features.

Clark, John H. E.↗

NASA NTRS2016

The Pilatus Unmanned Aircraft System for Lower Atmospheric Research

This paper presents details of the University of Colorado (CU) "Pilatus" unmanned research aircraft, assembled to provide measurements of aerosols, radiation and thermodynamics in the lower troposphere. This aircraft has a wingspan of 3.2 m and a maximum take-off weight of 25 kg, and it is powered by an electric motor to reduce engine exhaust and concerns about carburetor icing. It carries instrumentation to make measurements of broadband up- and downwelling shortwave and longwave radiation, aerosol particle size distribution, atmospheric temperature, relative humidity and pressure and to collect video of flights for subsequent analysis of atmospheric conditions during flight. In order to make the shortwave radiation measurements, care was taken to carefully position a high-quality compact inertial measurement unit (IMU) and characterize the attitude of the aircraft and its orientation to the upward-looking radiation sensor. Using measurements from both of these sensors, a correction is applied to the raw radiometer measurements to correct for aircraft attitude and sensor tilt relative to the sun. The data acquisition system was designed from scratch based on a set of key driving requirements to accommodate the variety of sensors deployed. Initial test flights completed in Colorado provide promising results with measurements from the radiation sensors agreeing with those from a nearby surface site. Additionally, estimates of surface albedo from onboard sensors were consistent with local surface conditions, including melting snow and bright runway surface. Aerosol size distributions collected are internally consistent and have previously been shown to agree well with larger, surface-based instrumentation. Finally the atmospheric state measurements evolve as expected, with the near-surface atmosphere warming over time as the day goes on, and the atmospheric relative humidity decreasing with increased temperature. No directional bias on measured temperature, as might be expected due to uneven heating of the sensor housing over the course of a racetrack pattern, was detected. The results from these flights indicate that the CU Pilatus platform is capable of performing research-grade lower tropospheric measurement missions.

de Boer, Gijs↗

NASA NTRS2012

Aerodynamic Measurements of an Incidence Tolerant Blade in a Transonic Turbine Cascade

An overview of the recent facility modifications to NASA s Transonic Turbine Blade Cascade Facility and aerodynamic measurements on the VSPT incidence-tolerant blade are presented. This work supports the development of variable-speed power turbine (VSPT) speed-change technology for the NASA Large Civil Tilt Rotor (LCTR) vehicle. In order to maintain acceptable main rotor propulsive efficiency, the VSPT operates over a nearly 50% speed range from takeoff to altitude cruise. This results in 50 or more variations in VSPT blade incidence angles. The Transonic Turbine Blade Cascade Facility has the ability to operate over a wide range of Reynolds numbers and Mach numbers, but had to be modified in order to accommodate the negative incidence angle variation required by the LCTR VSPT operation. Details of the modifications are described. An incidence-tolerant blade was developed under an RTPAS study contract and tested in the cascade to look at the effects of large incidence angle and Reynolds number variations. Recent test results are presented which include midspan exit total pressure and flow angle measurements obtained at three inlet angles representing the cruise, take-off, and maximum incidence flight mission points. For each inlet angle, data were obtained at five flow conditions with exit Reynolds numbers varying from 2.12 106 to 2.12 105 and two isentropic exit Mach numbers of 0.72 and 0.35. Three-dimensional flowfield measurements were also acquired at the cruise and take-off points. The flowfield measurements were acquired using a five-hole and three-hole pneumatic probe located in a survey plane 8.6% axial chord downstream of the blade trailing edge plane and covering three blade passages. Blade and endwall static pressure distributions were also acquired for each flow condition.

McVetta, Ashlie B.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Heat generation in aircraft tires under free rolling conditions

A method was developed for calculating the internal temperature distribution in an aircraft tire while free rolling under load. The method uses an approximate stress analysis of each point in the tire as it rolls through the contact patch, and from this stress change the mechanical work done on each volume element may be obtained and converted into a heat release rate through a knowledge of material characteristics. The tire cross-section is then considered as a body with internal heat generation, and the diffusion equation is solved numerically with appropriate boundary conditions of the wheel and runway surface. Comparison with data obtained with buried thermocouples in tires shows good agreement.

Clark, S. K.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Particle Size Distributions Measured in the B757 Engine Plume During EXCAVATE

The Experiment to Characterize Aircraft Volatile Aerosols and Trace Species Emissions (EXCAVATE) took place at NASA Langley Research Center during January 2002. This ground based study was conducted to examine the role of fuel sulfur content on particulate emissions. Size distributions as a function of engine operating conditions were measured in the exhaust plume of a B-757 at four downstream axial locations (1 m, 10 m, 25 m and 35 m). The engine was run on JP-5 with three different sulfur concentrations, 810 ppm, 1050 ppm, 1820 ppm; and was operated over a range of power settings from idle to near-full power. Zalabsky differential-mobility analyzers DMAS), Met One condensation-nuclei counters (CNCs), and a TSI 3022 condensation-particle counter (CPC) were used to measure the size distributions. The total number-count (particle concentration), number-based Emissions Index (EInumber) and mass-based Emissions Index (E1-J increased with fuel sulfur-content and engine pressure ratio (EPR). Count Mean Diameter (Ch4D) also increased with EPR yet remained fairly constant with fuel sulfur-content for a fixed location in the exhaust plume. Also the mode and CMD both increased with distance in the plume.

Sanders, Terry↗

NASA NTRS1999

Engineering Overview of a Multidisciplinary HSCT Design Framework Using Medium-Fidelity Analysis Codes

An objective of the HPCC Program at NASA Langley has been to promote the use of advanced computing techniques to more rapidly solve the problem of multidisciplinary optimization of a supersonic transport configuration. As a result, a software system has been designed and is being implemented to integrate a set of existing discipline analysis codes, some of them CPU-intensive, into a distributed computational framework for the design of a High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) configuration. The proposed paper will describe the engineering aspects of integrating these analysis codes and additional interface codes into an automated design system. The objective of the design problem is to optimize the aircraft weight for given mission conditions, range, and payload requirements, subject to aerodynamic, structural, and performance constraints. The design variables include both thicknesses of structural elements and geometric parameters that define the external aircraft shape. An optimization model has been adopted that uses the multidisciplinary analysis results and the derivatives of the solution with respect to the design variables to formulate a linearized model that provides input to the CONMIN optimization code, which outputs new values for the design variables. The analysis process begins by deriving the updated geometries and grids from the baseline geometries and grids using the new values for the design variables. This free-form deformation approach provides internal FEM (finite element method) grids that are consistent with aerodynamic surface grids. The next step involves using the derived FEM and section properties in a weights process to calculate detailed weights and the center of gravity location for specified flight conditions. The weights process computes the as-built weight, weight distribution, and weight sensitivities for given aircraft configurations at various mass cases. Currently, two mass cases are considered: cruise and gross take-off weight (GTOW). Weights information is obtained from correlations of data from three sources: 1) as-built initial structural and non-structural weights from an existing database, 2) theoretical FEM structural weights and sensitivities from Genesis, and 3) empirical as-built weight increments, non-structural weights, and weight sensitivities from FLOPS. For the aeroelastic analysis, a variable-fidelity aerodynamic analysis has been adopted. This approach uses infrequent CPU-intensive non-linear CFD to calculate a non-linear correction relative to a linear aero calculation for the same aerodynamic surface at an angle of attack that results in the same configuration lift. For efficiency, this nonlinear correction is applied after each subsequent linear aero solution during the iterations between the aerodynamic and structural analyses. Convergence is achieved when the vehicle shape being used for the aerodynamic calculations is consistent with the structural deformations caused by the aerodynamic loads. To make the structural analyses more efficient, a linearized structural deformation model has been adopted, in which a single stiffness matrix can be used to solve for the deformations under all the load conditions. Using the converged aerodynamic loads, a final set of structural analyses are performed to determine the stress distributions and the buckling conditions for constraint calculation. Performance constraints are obtained by running FLOPS using drag polars that are computed using results from non-linear corrections to the linear aero code plus several codes to provide drag increments due to skin friction, wave drag, and other miscellaneous drag contributions. The status of the integration effort will be presented in the proposed paper, and results will be provided that illustrate the degree of accuracy in the linearizations that have been employed.

Weston, R. P.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Non Urban Troposphere Composition Symposium, Hollywood, Fla., November 10-12, 1976, Proceedings

Papers are presented which originate from a conference on 'The Non-Urban Troposphere Composition', held in 1976. Attention is given to distributions of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere, and to tropospheric and stratospheric compositions which are perturbed by NO(x) emissions from high-altitude aircraft. Ozone is studied in terms of in situ measurements; various meteorological analyses of tropopause folding, ozone measurements in the Boston area, and ozone measurements in rural areas are presented. A one-dimensional model used to study tropospheric photochemistry numerically is presented as are vertical profiles of tropospheric and stratospheric molecular hydrogen. The oxidation of ammonia, methane, and hydrogen sulfide is assessed in nonurban tropospheres along with nonurban measurements of ethane and methane for various atmospheric conditions. With reference to the particle size distribution of chloride in the marine aerosol, organic and inorganic chlorine concentrations are evaluated, and measurements of sea-air CO2 flux by eddy correlation are investigated.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2004

Full-waveform, Laser Altimeter Measurements of Vegetation Vertical Structure and Sub-canopy Topography in Support of the North American Carbon Program

Full-waveform, scanning laser altimeters (i.e. lidar) provide a unique and precise view of the vertical and horizontal structure of vegetation across wide swaths. These unique laser altimeters systems are able to simultaneously image sub-canopy topography and the vertical structure of any overlying vegetation. These data reveal the true 3-D distribution of vegetation in leaf-on conditions enabling important biophysical parameters such as canopy height and aboveground biomass to be estimated with unprecedented accuracy. An airborne lidar mission was conducted in the summer of 2003 in support of preliminary studies for the North America Carbon Program. NASA's Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) was used to image approximately 2,000 sq km in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maryland. Areas with available ground and other data were included (e.g., experimental forests, FLUXNET sites) in order to facilitate numerous bio- and geophysical investigations. Data collected included ground elevation and canopy height measurements for each laser footprint, as well as the vertical distribution of intercepted surfaces (i.e. the return waveform). Data are currently available at the LVIS website (http://lvis.gsfc.nasa.gov/). Further details of the mission, including the lidar system technology, the locations of the mapped areas, and examples of the numerous data products that can be derived from the return waveform data products are available on the website and will be presented. Future applications including potential fusion with other remote sensing data sets and a spaceborne implementation of wide-swath, full-waveform imaging lidar will also be discussed.

Blair, B.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Diagnosing Aircraft Icing Potential from Satellite Cloud Retrievals

The threat for aircraft icing in clouds is a significant hazard that routinely impacts aviation operations. Accurate diagnoses and forecasts of aircraft icing conditions requires identifying the location and vertical distribution of clouds with super-cooled liquid water (SLW) droplets, as well as the characteristics of the droplet size distribution. Traditional forecasting methods rely on guidance from numerical models and conventional observations, neither of which currently resolve cloud properties adequately on the optimal scales needed for aviation. Satellite imagers provide measurements over large areas with high spatial resolution that can be interpreted to identify the locations and characteristics of clouds, including features associated with adverse weather and storms. This paper describes new techniques for interpreting cloud products derived from satellite data to infer the flight icing threat to aircraft. For unobscured low clouds, the icing threat is determined using empirical relationships developed from correlations between satellite imager retrievals of liquid water path and droplet size with icing conditions reported by pilots (PIREPS). For deep ice over water cloud systems, ice and liquid water content (IWC and LWC) profiles are derived by using the imager cloud properties to constrain climatological information on cloud vertical structure and water phase obtained apriori from radar and lidar observations, and from cloud model analyses. Retrievals of the SLW content embedded within overlapping clouds are mapped to the icing threat using guidance from an airfoil modeling study. Compared to PIREPS and ground-based icing remote sensing datasets, the satellite icing detection and intensity accuracies are approximately 90% and 70%, respectively, and found to be similar for both low level and deep ice over water cloud systems. The satellite-derived icing boundaries capture the reported altitudes over 90% of the time. Satellite analyses corresponding to the time and location of several recent aviation accidents and with icing PIREPS are also presented that reveal skill in identifying severe icing conditions. These results demonstrate the utility of satellite cloud retrievals for quantitatively diagnosing the potential for icing conditions on temporal and spatial scales that should be useful to the aviation community. Plans are being developed to deliver these new satellite products to the GOES-R Proving Ground in the near future so that they can be evaluated in operational applications.

Smith, William L., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Tone-excited jet: Theory and experiments

A detailed study to understand the phenomenon of broadband jet-noise amplification produced by upstream discrete-tone sound excitation has been carried out. This has been achieved by simultaneous acquisition of the acoustic, mean velocity, turbulence intensities, and instability-wave pressure data. A 5.08 cm diameter jet has been tested for this purpose under static and also flight-simulation conditions. An open-jet wind tunnel has been used to simulate the flight effects. Limited data on heated jets have also been obtained. To improve the physical understanding of the flow modifications brought about by the upstream discrete-tone excitation, ensemble-averaged schlieren photographs of the jets have also been taken. Parallel to the experimental study, a mathematical model of the processes that lead to broadband-noise amplification by upstream tones has been developed. Excitation of large-scale turbulence by upstream tones is first calculated. A model to predict the changes in small-scale turbulence is then developed. By numerically integrating the resultant set of equations, the enhanced small-scale turbulence distribution in a jet under various excitation conditions is obtained. The resulting changes in small-scale turbulence have been attributed to broadband amplification of jet noise. Excellent agreement has been found between the theory and the experiments. It has also shown that the relative velocity effects are the same for the excited and the unexcited jets.

Ahuja, K. K.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Experimental and Computational Aerothermodynamics of a Mars Entry Vehicle

An aerothermodynamic database has been generated through both experimental testing and computational fluid dynamics simulations for a 70 deg sphere-cone configuration based on the NASA Mars Pathfinder entry vehicle. The aerothermodynamics of several related parametric configurations were also investigated. Experimental heat-transfer data were obtained at hypersonic test conditions in both a perfect gas air wind tunnel and in a hypervelocity, high-enthalpy expansion tube in which both air and carbon dioxide were employed as test gases. In these facilities, measurements were made with thin-film temperature-resistance gages on both the entry vehicle models and on the support stings of the models. Computational results for freestream conditions equivalent to those of the test facilities were generated using an axisymmetric/2D laminar Navier-Stokes solver with both perfect-gas and nonequilibrium thermochemical models. Forebody computational and experimental heating distributions agreed to within the experimental uncertainty for both the perfect-gas and high-enthalpy test conditions. In the wake, quantitative differences between experimental and computational heating distributions for the perfect-gas conditions indicated transition of the free shear layer near the reattachment point on the sting. For the high enthalpy cases, agreement to within, or slightly greater than, the experimental uncertainty was achieved in the wake except within the recirculation region, where further grid resolution appeared to be required. Comparisons between the perfect-gas and high-enthalpy results indicated that the wake remained laminar at the high-enthalpy test conditions, for which the Reynolds number was significantly lower than that of the perfect-gas conditions.

Hollis, Brian R.↗