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NASA NTRS1985

Progress and supercomputing in computational fluid dynamics; Proceedings of U.S.-Israel Workshop, Jerusalem, Israel, December 1984

Current developments and future trends in the application of supercomputers to computational fluid dynamics are discussed in reviews and reports. Topics examined include algorithm development for personal-size supercomputers, a multiblock three-dimensional Euler code for out-of-core and multiprocessor calculations, simulation of compressible inviscid and viscous flow, high-resolution solutions of the Euler equations for vortex flows, algorithms for the Navier-Stokes equations, and viscous-flow simulation by FEM and related techniques. Consideration is given to marching iterative methods for the parabolized and thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations, multigrid solutions to quasi-elliptic schemes, secondary instability of free shear flows, simulation of turbulent flow, and problems connected with weather prediction.

Murman, E. M.↗

NASA NTRS1995

A predictor-corrector technique for visualizing unsteady flow

We present a method for visualizing unsteady flow by displaying its vortices. The vortices are identified by using a vorticity-predictor pressure-corrector scheme that follows vortex cores. The cross-sections of a vortex at each point along the core can be represented by a Fourier series. A vortex can be faithfully reconstructed from the series as a simple quadrilateral mesh, or its reconstruction can be enhanced to indicate helical motion. The mesh can reduce the representation of the flow features by a factor of one thousand or more compared with the volumetric dataset. With this amount of reduction it is possible to implement an interactive system on a graphics workstation to permit a viewer to examine, in three dimensions, the evolution of the vortical structures in a complex, unsteady flow.

Banks, David C.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Effects of Vehicle Weight and True Versus Indicated Airspeed on BVI Noise During Steady Descending Flight

Blade-vortex interaction noise measurements are analyzed for an AS350B helicopter operated at 7000 ft elevation above sea level. Blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise from four, 6 degree descent conditions are investigated with descents flown at 80 knot true and indicated airspeed, as well as 4400 and 3915 pound take-off weights. BVI noise is extracted from the acquired acoustic signals by way of a previously developed time-frequency analysis technique. The BVI extraction technique is shown to provide a better localization of BVI noise, compared to the standard Fourier transform integration method. Using this technique, it was discovered that large changes in BVI noise amplitude occurred due to changes in vehicle gross weight. Changes in BVI noise amplitude were too large to be due solely to changes in the vortex strength caused by varying vehicle weight. Instead, it is suggested that vehicle weight modifies the tip-path-plane angle of attack, as well as induced inflow, resulting in large variations of BVI noise. It was also shown that defining flight conditions by true airspeed, rather than indicated airspeed, provides more consistent BVI noise signals.

Stephenson, James H.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Some methods for reducing wing drag and wing-Nacelle interference

Primary efforts directed toward drag reduction centered on the design of both supercritical and subcritical families of airfoils, the reduction of induced drag through the use of vortex diffusers, and the reduction of interference drag for executive-type aircraft.

Kelly, T. C.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Multi-element airfoil viscous-inviscid interactions

Subsonic viscous-inviscid interactions for multi-element airfoils are predicted by iterating between inviscid and viscous solutions until the performance coefficients converge. Inviscid flow is modelled by using distributed source-vortex singularities on configuration surface panels. Viscous effects are calculated by an existing laminar separation bubble model and a NASA-Lockheed boundary layer-wake method. Numerical formulations and example calculations are presented.

Gross, L. W.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Theoretical analysis of an augmentor wing for a VTOL fighter

A method based on potential flow theory was developed for predicting forces and moments acting on augmentor wings for prescribed ejector jet characteristics. A three dimensional nonplanar vortex lattice is laid out on the chordal planes of the augmentor wing components. Jet induced effects are included in the boundary condition from which the horseshoe vortex strengths are obtained. The jet within the diffusor is made to expand from the primary nozzles to the diffusor exit and is represented by a distribution of vorticity on the jet boundary to provide proper entrainment. The jet downstream of the diffusor exit is modeled by a vorticity distribution and blockage panels and its centerline location and spreading rate are taken from experimental data. The vortex lattice and jet models are used in an iterative manner until the predicted diffusor exit velocity matches the specified one. Some comparisons with available data show good agreement at lower power settings.

Dillenius, M. F. E.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Summary Proceedings of a Wind Shear Workshop

A number of recent program results and current issues were addressed: the data collection phase of the highly successful Joint Airport Weather Study (JAWS) Project and the NASA-B5f7B Gust Gradient Program, the use of these data for flight crew training through educational programs (e.g., films) and with manned flight training simulators, methods for post-accident determination of wind conditions from flight data recorders, the microburst wind shear phenomenon which was positively measured and described the ring vortex as a possible generating mechanism, the optimum flight procedure for use during an unexpected wind shear encounter, evaluation of the low-level wind shear alert system (LLWSAS), and assessment of the demonstrated and viable application of Doppler radar as an operational wind shear warning and detection system.

Enders, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1985

A supersonic fan equipped variable cycle engine for a Mach 2.7 supersonic transport

The concept of a variable cycle turbofan engine with an axially supersonic fan stage as powerplant for a Mach 2.7 supersonic transport was evaluated. Quantitative cycle analysis was used to assess the effects of the fan inlet and blading efficiencies on engine performance. Thrust levels predicted by cycle analysis are shown to match the thrust requirements of a representative aircraft. Fan inlet geometry is discussed and it is shown that a fixed geometry conical spike will provide sufficient airflow throughout the operating regime. The supersonic fan considered consists of a single stage comprising a rotor and stator. The concept is similar in principle to a supersonic compressor, but differs by having a stator which removes swirl from the flow without producing a net rise in static pressure. Operating conditions peculiar to the axially supersonic fan are discussed. Geometry of rotor and stator cascades are presented which utilize a supersonic vortex flow distribution. Results of a 2-D CFD flow analysis of these cascades are presented. A simple estimate of passage losses was made using empirical methods.

Tavares, T. S.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Prediction of blade-vortex interaction noise using measured blade pressures

In the study reported here, blade-vortex interaction noise was predicted using a simplified model of blade pressures measured on a one-seventh scale model AH-1/OLS main rotor. The methods used for the acoustic prediction are based on the acoustic analogy and have been developed by Nakamura (1981) and by Brentner, Nystrom, and Farassat (referred to as the WOPWOP method). The waveforms predicted by the two methods are in good agreement with each other and with the measurements in terms of the number of pulses, the pulse widths, and the separation times between the pulses. The peak amplitude of the dominant pulse may, however, be underpredicted by up to 40 percent, depending on flight conditions. Ways of improving the accuracy of the prediction methods are suggested.

Joshi, Mahendra C.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Airborne measurements of stratospheric constituents over Antarctica in the austral spring 1987. I - Method and ozone observations

A Fourier transform spectrometer was flown aboard a DC-8 on 10 flights over Antarctica during August and September, 1987, as part of the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment (AAOE). Observing the sun at infrared wavelengths, it was possible to determine the integrated column amount above the flight altitude for ozone and a number of other chemical species that are believed to be important in the perturbed chemistry of the 'ozone hole'. The paper describes the method, the observations, the data analysis procedure, and the ozone results. During the observation period, ozone developed a steep gradient near the edge of the polar vortex; deep within the vortex, the average ozone column decreased by about 1.6 percent per day during September.

Mankin, William G.↗

NASA NTRS1989

New free-wake analysis of rotorcraft hover performance using influence coefficients

Free-wake analyses of helicopter rotor wakes in hover using time stepping have been shown to encounter instabilities which preclude convergence to valid free-vortex solutions for rotor-wake geometries. Previous work has demonstrated that these convergence difficulties can be overcome by implementing a new free-wake analysis method based on the use of influence coefficients. The present paper reviews this approach and documents its incorporation into a hover performance analysis called Evaluation of Hover Performance using Influence Coefficients (EHPIC). The technical principles underlying the EHPIC code are described with emphasis on steps taken to develop the single-filament wake models used in previous work into a multifilament wake valid for realistic hover performance predictions. The coupling of the wake model to a lifting surface loads analysis is described, and sample problems are solved that illustrate the robustness of the method. Performance calculations are also undertaken for hover to illustrate the utility of EHPIC in the analysis of rotorcraft performance.

Quackenbush, Todd R.↗

NASA NTRS1990

A ray-acoustics approach to fuselage scattering of rotor noise

A ray acoustics approach to fuselage scattering of rotor noise is considered. The method is based on a combination of classical geometrical acoustics and the paraxial ray approximation. The method can handle scattering by objects of arbitrary shapes and can be applied in an inhomogeneous moving medium. Applications to aeroacoustics include the scattering of blade vortex interaction (BVI) pulses by rigid scattering objects. The BVI is modeled by a rotating impulsive point force. It has been found that scattering effects of rotating sources cannot be ignored. Flow has also been found to cause a modification and displacement of the directivity pattern and the shadow zones behind scatterers.

Atalla, Noureddine↗

NASA NTRS2004

Starting Vortex Identified as Key to Unsteady Ejector Performance

Unsteady ejectors are currently under investigation for use in some pulse-detonation-engine-based propulsion systems. Experimental measurements made in the past, and recently at the NASA Glenn Research Center, have demonstrated that thrust augmentation can be enhanced considerably when the driver is unsteady. In ejector systems, thrust augmentation is defined as = T(sup Total)/T(sup j), where T(sup Total) is the total thrust of the combined ejector and driving jet and T(sup j) is the thrust due to the driving jet alone. There are three images in this figure, one for each of the named thrust sources. The images are color contours of measured instantaneous vorticity. Each image is an ensemble average of at least 150 phase-locked measurements. The flow is from right to left, and the shape and location of each driver is shown on the far right of each image. The emitted vortex is a clearly defined "doughnut" of highly vortical (spinning) flow. In these planar images, the vortex appears as two distorted circles, one above, and one below the axis of symmetry. Because they are spinning in the opposite direction, the two circles have vorticity of opposite sign and thus are different colors. There is also a rectangle shown in each image. Its width represents the ejector diameter that was found experimentally to yield the highest thrust augmentation. It is apparent that the optimal ejector diameter is that which just "captures" the vortex: that is, the diameter bounding the outermost edge of the vortex structure. The exact mechanism behind the enhanced performance is unclear; however, it is believed to be related to the powerful vortex emitted with each pulse of the unsteady driver. As such, particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) measurements were obtained for three unsteady drivers: a pulsejet, a resonance tube, and a speaker-driven jet. All the drivers were tested with ejectors, and all exhibited performance enhancement over similarly sized steady drivers. The characteristic starting vortices of each driver are shown in these images. The images are color contours of measured instantaneous vorticity. Each image is an ensemble average of at least 150 phase-locked measurements. The flow is from right to left. The shape and location of each driver is shown on the far right of each image. The rectangle shown in each image represents the ejector diameter that was found experimentally to yield the highest thrust augmentation. It is apparent that the optimal ejector diameter is that which just "captures" the vortex: that is, the diameter bounding the outermost edge of the vortex structure. Although not shown, it was observed that the emitted vortex spread as it traveled downstream. The spreading rate for the pulsejet is shown as the dashed lines in the top image. A tapered ejector was fabricated that matched this shape. When tested, the ejector demonstrated superior performance to all those previously tested at Glenn (which were essentially of straight, cylindrical form), achieving a remarkable thrust augmentation of 2. The measured thrust augmentation is shown as a function of ejector length. Also shown are the thrust augmentation values achieved with the straight, cylindrical ejectors of varying diameters. Here, thrust augmentation is plotted as a function of ejector length for several families of ejector diameters. It can be seen that large thrust augmentation values are indeed obtained and that they are sensitive to both ejector length and diameter, particularly the latter. Five curves are shown. Four correspond to straight ejector diameters of 2.2, 3.0, 4.0, and 6.0 in. The fifth curve corresponds to the tapered ejector contoured to bound the emitted vortex. For each curve, there are several data points corresponding to different lengths. The largest value of thrust augmentation is 2.0 for the tapered ejector and 1.81 for the straight ejectors. Regardless of their diameters, all the ejectors trend toward peak performance at a particular leng. That the cross-sectional dimensions of optimal ejectors scaled precisely with the vortex dimensions on three separate pulsed thrust sources demonstrates that the action of the vortex is responsible for the enhanced ejector performance. The result also suggests that, in the absence of a complete understanding of the entrainment and augmentation mechanisms, methods of characterizing starting vortices may be useful for correlating and predicting unsteady ejector performance.

Paxson, Daniel E.↗

NASA NTRS2011

The Effects of Ambient Conditions on Helicopter Rotor Source Noise Modeling

A new physics-based method called Fundamental Rotorcraft Acoustic Modeling from Experiments (FRAME) is used to demonstrate the change in rotor harmonic noise of a helicopter operating at different ambient conditions. FRAME is based upon a non-dimensional representation of the governing acoustic and performance equations of a single rotor helicopter. Measured external noise is used together with parameter identification techniques to develop a model of helicopter external noise that is a hybrid between theory and experiment. The FRAME method is used to evaluate the main rotor harmonic noise of a Bell 206B3 helicopter operating at different altitudes. The variation with altitude of Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) noise, known to be a strong function of the helicopter s advance ratio, is dependent upon which definition of airspeed is flown by the pilot. If normal flight procedures are followed and indicated airspeed (IAS) is held constant, the true airspeed (TAS) of the helicopter increases with altitude. This causes an increase in advance ratio and a decrease in the speed of sound which results in large changes to BVI noise levels. Results also show that thickness noise on this helicopter becomes more intense at high altitudes where advancing tip Mach number increases because the speed of sound is decreasing and advance ratio increasing for the same indicated airspeed. These results suggest that existing measurement-based empirically derived helicopter rotor noise source models may give incorrect noise estimates when they are used at conditions where data were not measured and may need to be corrected for mission land-use planning purposes.

Schmitz, Frederic H.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Progress in Integrated Fluid/Structure/Controls Computations Using High Fidelity Equations

Aeroelasticity that involves strong coupling of fluids, structures and controls is an important element in designing an aircraft. Computational aeroelasticity using low fidelity methods such as the linear aerodynamic flow equations coupled with the modal structural equations are well advanced. Though these low fidelity approaches are computationally less intensive, they are not adequate for the analysis of aircraft which can experience complex flow/structure interactions. Supersonic transports can experience vortex induced aeroelastic oscillations whereas subsonic transports can experience transonic buffet associated structural oscillations. Both aircraft may experience a dip in the flutter speed at the transonic regime. For accurate aeroelastic computations at these complex fluid/structure interaction situations, high fidelity equations such as the Navier-Stokes for fluids and the finite-elements for structures are needed. Using these high fidelity methods, design quantities such as structural stresses can be directly computed. Computations using these high fidelity equations require state-of-the-art large computational resources. This paper will describe the transition from potential equations to Euler/Navier-Stokes equations for fluids and from modal equations to finite element equations for structures. Complexities associated with grids for moving control surfaces will be discussed. All contents of the paper will be limited to those already presented at domestic conferences within U.S. such as those sponsored by AIAA. It will not include any materials related to HPCCP computational work.

Guruswamy, Guru P.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Algorithm and code development for unsteady three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations

A streamwise upwind algorithm for solving the unsteady 3-D Navier-Stokes equations was extended to handle the moving grid system. It is noted that the finite volume concept is essential to extend the algorithm. The resulting algorithm is conservative for any motion of the coordinate system. Two extensions to an implicit method were considered and the implicit extension that makes the algorithm computationally efficient is implemented into Ames's aeroelasticity code, ENSAERO. The new flow solver has been validated through the solution of test problems. Test cases include three-dimensional problems with fixed and moving grids. The first test case shown is an unsteady viscous flow over an F-5 wing, while the second test considers the motion of the leading edge vortex as well as the motion of the shock wave for a clipped delta wing. The resulting algorithm has been implemented into ENSAERO. The upwind version leads to higher accuracy in both steady and unsteady computations than the previously used central-difference method does, while the increase in the computational time is small.

Obayashi, Shigeru↗

NASA NTRS1982

Simulation of large turbulent structures with the parabolic Navier-Stokes equations

The theoretical basis for well posed marching of a Parabolic Navier-Stokes (PNS) computational technique for supersonic flow is discussed and examples given to verify the analysis. It is demonstrated that stable computations can be made even with very small steps in the marching direction. The method is applied to cones at large angle of attack in high Reynolds number, supersonic flow. Streamline trajectories generated from the numerical solutions demonstrate the development of vortex structures on the lee side of the cone.

Rakich, J. V.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Influence of numerical dissipation in computing supersonic vortex-dominated flows

Steady supersonic vortex-dominated flows are solved using the unsteady Euler equations for conical and three-dimensional flows around sharp- and round-edged delta wings. The computational method is a finite-volume scheme which uses a four-stage Runge-Kutta time stepping with explicit second- and fourth-order dissipation terms. The grid is generated by a modified Joukowski transformation. The steady flow solution is obtained through time-stepping with initial conditions corresponding to the freestream conditions, and the bow shock is captured as a part of the solution. The scheme is applied to flat-plate and elliptic-section wings with a leading edge sweep of 70 deg at an angle of attack of 10 deg and a freestream Mach number of 2.0. Three grid sizes of 29 x 39, 65 x 65 and 100 x 100 have been used. The results for sharp-edged wings show that they are consistent with all grid sizes and variation of the artificial viscosity coefficients. The results for round-edged wings show that separated and attached flow solutions can be obtained by varying the artificial viscosity coefficients. They also show that the solutions are independent of the way time stepping is done. Local time-stepping and global minimum time-steeping produce same solutions.

Kandil, O. A.↗