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The effects of stall on a rotor blade element in a three-dimensional rotating environment was investigated. The model rotor test provided blade element airloads and local boundary layer flow characteristics at the three-quarter blade radius position for a wide range of rotor operating conditions. A description of the test program and the test results are presented.
A model of a teetering rotor was tested in a low speed wind tunnel. Blade element airloads measured on an articulated model rotor were compared with the teetering rotor and showed that the teetering rotor is subjected to less extensive flow separation. Retreating blade stall was studied. Results show that stall, under the influence of unsteady aerodynamic effects, consists of four separate stall events, each associated with a vortex shed from the leading edge and sweeping over the upper surface of the rotor blade. Current rotor performance prediction methodology was evaluated through computer simulation.
A method for computation of the flow field around an arbitrary airfoil cascade on an axially symmetric blade-to-blade surface was developed which takes into account the development and separation of the blade surface boundary layers and mixing in the wake. The method predicts the overall fluid turning and total pressure loss in the context of an inviscid-viscous interaction scheme. The inviscid flow solution is obtained from a compressible flow matrix method. The viscous flow is obtained from a differential boundary layer method which calculates laminar, transitional and turbulent boundary layers. Provisions for the calculation of laminar and turbulent separation regions were added to the viscous scheme. The combined inviscid-viscous interaction scheme described yields results which are quantitatively consistent with experimental data. This suggests that the physical basis for the interactive system is correct and justifies continued exploration and use of the method.
A torsional stress analysis of hollow fans blades by the finite element method is presented. The fans are considered to be double circular arc blades, hollowed 30 percent, and twisted by a component of the centrifugal force by the rated revolution. The effects of blade hollowing on strength and rigidity are discussed. The effects of reinforcing webs, placed in the hollowed section in varying numbers and locations, on torsional rigidity and the convergence of stresses, are reported. A forecast of the 30 percent hollowing against torsional loadings is discussed.
Gasdynamic environments applied to the turbine blades and nozzles of the HPFTP and HPOTP were analyzed. Centrifugal loads were applied to blades to account for the pump rotation of FPL and 115 percent RPL. The computer models used in the blade analysis with results presented in the form of temperature and stress contour plots are described. Similar information is given for the nozzles.
This paper discusses experimental data measured on the blading and downstream of an isolated compressor rotor with thick inlet endwall boundary layers. The objective of the study was to compare these results with data acquired previously with thin inlet boundary layers and to assess the impact of inlet boundary layer thickness on the secondary flow. Flow visualization results showed the powerful impact of the hub corner stall and how at the same near stall flow coefficient where with thin inlet boundary layers the blade was separated at midspan, with thick inlet boundary layers it was attached. It was also shown that while secondary flow was very weak, it did produce sufficient radial redistribution to cause an apparent negative loss at the blade root.
The measurement of helicopter blade flapping, bending, and lag modal acceleration and displacement response using blade-mounted accelerometers is described. It is shown that knowledge of the blade mode shapes is sufficient to permit separation of the modal contributions to the accelerometer signals using matrix inversion. The application of the Mckillip (1985) filter to the identification of modal rate response is described. Finally, the design of flapping, bending, and lag mode controllers utilizing the conventional mesh plate is presented. The measurement technique is illustrated using flight test results obtained using a Black Hawk helicopter.
This paper presents a method for the estimation of blade airloads, based on the measurements of flap bending moments. In this procedure, the blade rotation in vacuum modes is calculated, and the airloads are expressed as an algebraic sum of the mode shapes, modal amplitudes, mass distribution, and frequency properties. The method was validated by comparing the calculated airload distribution with the original wind tunnel measurements which were made using ten modes and twenty measurement stations. Good agreement between the predicted and the measured airloads was found up to 0.90 R, but the agreement degraded towards the blade tip. The method is shown to be quite robust to the type of experimental problems that could be expected to occur in the testing of full-scale and model-scale rotors.
Splitter blades as a passive flutter control technique is investigated by developing a mathematical model to predict the stability of an aerodynamically loaded splittered-rotor operating in an incompressible flow field. The splitter blades, positioned circumferentially in the flow passage between two principal blades, introduce aerodynamic and/or combined aerodynamic-structural detuning into the rotor. The two-dimensional oscillating cascade unsteady aerodynamics, including steady loading effects, are determined by developing a complete first-order unsteady aerodynamic analysis together with an unsteady aerodynamic influence coefficient technique. The torsion mode flutter of both uniformly spaced tuned rotors and detuned rotors are predicted by incorporating the unsteady aerodyamic influence coefficients into a single-degree-of-freedom aeroelastic model. This model is then utilized to demonstrate that incorporating splitters into unstable rotor configurations results in stable splittered-rotor configurations.
A 30-inch tip-diameter axial-flow compressor stage was investigated with and without rotor to determine individual blade-row performance, interblade-row effects, and outer-wall boundary-layer conditions. Velocity gradients at guide-vane outlet without rotor approximated design assumptions, when the measured variation of leaving angle was considered. With rotor in operation, Mach number and rotor-blade effects changed flow distribution leaving guide vanes and invalidated design assumption of radial equilibrium. Rotor-blade performance correlated interpolated two-dimensional results within 2 degrees, although tip stall was indicated in experimental and not two-dimensional results. Boundary-displacement thickness was less than 1.0 and 1.5 percent of passage height after guide vanes and after rotor, respectively, but increased rapidly after rotor when tip stall occurred.
As the conditions of the ultimate wake are concerned both theoretically and practically, the magnitude of the slipstream contraction has been calculated. It will be noted that the contraction in a representative case is of the order of only 1 percent of the propeller diameter. In consequence, all calculations need involve only first-order effects. Curves and tables are given for the contraction coefficient of two-blade and four-blade propellers for various values of the advance ratio; the contraction coefficient is defined as the contraction in the diameter of the wake helix in terms of the wake diameter at infinity. The contour lines of the wake helix are also shown at four values of the advance ratio in comparison with the contour lines for an infinite number of blades.
Understanding the unsteady aspects of turbine rotor flowfields is critical to successful future turbine designs. A technology program was conducted at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to increase the understanding of unsteady environments for rocket engine turbines. The experimental program involved instrumenting turbine rotor blades with surface-mounted high frequency response pressure transducers. The turbine model was then tested to measure the unsteady pressures on the rotor blades. The data obtained from the experimental program is unique in three respects. First, much more unsteady data was obtained (several minutes per set point) than has been possible in the past. Also, two independent unsteady data acquisition systems and fundamental signal processing approaches were used. Finally, an extensive steady performance database existed for the turbine model. This allowed an evaluation of the effect of the on-blade instrumentation on the turbine's performance. This unique data set, the lessons learned for acquiring this type of data, and the improvements made to the data analysis and prediction tools will contribute to future turbine programs such as those for reusable launch vehicles.
An investigation of the performance of several propellers on the YP-47M airplane at high blade loadings has been conducted in the Cleveland altitude wind tunnel at the request of the Air Materiel Command, Army Air Forces. As part of the program, a study was made of a Curtiss 836-14C2-18R1 four-blade propeller. The investigation was made for a range of power coefficients from 0.10 to 1.00 at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.30, 0.40, and 0.50 for density altitudes from 10,000 to 45,000 feet, engine powers from 150 to 2500 brake horsepower, and for engine speeds from 1000 to 2900 rpm. The propeller efficiencies were obtained from force measurements and the blade thrust load distribution was obtained by two diametrically opposed slipstream survey rakes shown in this paper.
An investigation was made in the Cleveland Altitude wind tunnel to determine the performance of an Aeroproducts H20C-162-X11M2 four-blade propeller on a YP-47M airplane at high blade loadings and high engine powers. The propeller characteristics were obtained for a range of power coefficients from 0.30 to 1.00 at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.40 and 0.50. The results of the force measurements are indicative only of trends in propeller efficiency with changes in power coefficient and advance-diameter ratio because unknown interference effects existed during the investigation. At a free-stream Mach number of 0.40, the envelopes of the efficiency curves decreased about 11% between advance-diameter ratios of 2.40 and 4.40. An increase in power coefficient from 0.30 to 0.80 at an advance-diameter ratio of 2.40 had little effect on the propeller efficiency. A change in power coefficient from 0.40 to 1.00 at an advance-diameter ratio of 4.40 increased the propeller efficiency by about 40%. For conditions below the stall the thrust loading on the outboard blade sections increased more rapidly than on the inboard sections as the power coefficient was increased or as the advance-diameter ratio was decreased. For conditions beyond the stall, the thrust loading decreased on the outboard sections and increased on the inboard sections.
The stator-blade angles in the twelfth through fifteenth stages of a 16-stage axial-flow compressor were increased 3O. The over-all performance of this modified compressor is compared to the performance of the compressor with original blade angles. The matching characteristics of the modified compressor and a two-stage turbine were obtained and compared to those of the compressor with original blade angles and the same turbine.
The stator-blade angles in the twelfth to fifteenth stages of a 16-stage high-pressure-ratio axial-flow compressor were decreased 3 deg The over-all performance of this compressor is compared with the performance of the same compressor with standard blade angles. The matching characteristics of the modified compressor and a two-stage turbine were also obtained and compared with those of the compressor with the original blade angles and the same turbine.
Heat transfer measurements were obtained on the blade surface of a two-dimensional section of a variable speed power turbine (VSPT) rotor blade in a linear cascade. Infrared thermography was used to determine the blade heat transfer distribution. Changes in the local heat transfer rates with Reynolds number were used to identify the laminar, turbulent, and transitional flow regimes, as well as to determine regions of flow separation. Steady-state data were obtained for six incidence angles ranging from 15.8° to –51.0°, and at five flow conditions for each angle.
Quasi-three-dimensional compressible flow analysis for calculating blade surface velocities for axial flow turbine blade