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At least 937 records · Page 52

Aeroelastic Trim Drag Optimization of Mach 0.8 TransonicTruss-Braced Wing Aircraft with Variable Camber ContinuousTrailing Edge Flap

This paper presents an aeroelastic trim drag optimization study of the Mach 0.8 Tran-sonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) aircraft with the Variable Camber Continuous TrailingEdge Flap (VCCTEF). An aero-structural analysis solver VSPAERO with transonic small dis-turbance, integral boundary-layer, and wing-strut interference corrections coupled to modeshapes computed by NASTRAN using the Galerkin method is developed to provide a rapidaircraft aeroelastic performance evaluation. Aeroelastic trim drag optimization studies areconducted for a VCCTEF configuration with 6-spanwise sections. Three different flight condi-tions corresponding to Mach 0.8 are selected for the aeroelastic trim drag optimization at thedesign and off-design cruise lift coefficients. The preliminary optimization results show thatthe TTBW aircraft with the optimized VCCTEF deflection achieves a drag reduction of about 9.2 counts, 9.6 counts, and 12.3 counts corresponding to the lift coefficients 0.661, 0.695, and0.729, respectively. When accounting for the actuator weight penalty, the corresponding dragreductions are 1.77%, 1.82%, 2.41%. A high-fidelity CFD solver FUN3D is used to validatethe aeroelastic trim drag optimization.

Aeroelastic trim drag↗

Design and Experimental Results for a Low-Speed, Flapped, Slotted, Natural-Laminar-Flow Airfoil

A 12.91-percent-thick, flapped, slotted, natural-laminar-flow (SNLF) airfoil, the S702, intended for a low-speed, fixed-wing aircraft has been designed and analyzed theoretically and verified experimentally in The Pennsylvania State University Low-Speed, Low- Turbulence Wind Tunnel. The two primary objectives of high maximum lift, insensitive to roughness, and low profile drag have been achieved. The airfoil exhibits a sharp stall that is less abrupt than the stalls of earlier SNLF airfoils, which meets the design objective. The constraint on the pitching moment has been satisfied. Comparisons of the theoretical and experimental results show reasonably good agreement overall, given the complexity of the configuration.

slotted airfoil↗

CFD Validation Study of a Hypersonic Cone-Slice-Flap Variable Geometry Configuration

Model validation is the process of determining the degree of accuracy between physical reality and the model. The result of model validation can either be used to improve the model through calibration or quantify the model-form uncertainty. This work focuses on providing the model-form uncertainty through an area metric for a hypersonic cone-slice-flap variable geometry configuration given uncertainty in both the simulation and experimental data. The research here compares two different turbulence models for the simulations. For a variable geometry, performing uncertainty quantification to capture the model-form uncertainty on every configuration is computationally challenging. This work lays out a procedure that can give an accurate representation of the model-form uncertainty using a small number of high-fidelity runs and many low-fidelity runs on multiple configurations. Running this comparison provides a quantifiable measurement for the accuracy of each turbulence model for this type of design. The high-fidelity CFD solver used was VULCAN-CFD and the low-fidelity results came from Cart3D. The experimental data came from the 20-Inch Mach 6 Tunnel located at NASA Langley Research Center. The present work showed that the using both the Spalart and Allamaras and Menter Shear-Stress Transport turbulence models overpredicted the drag and lift coefficient, while underpredicting the pitching moment coefficient. The model-form uncertainty estimate resulted in up to a 13.6% change in the total uncertainty for the drag coefficient, up to a 57.4% change in total uncertainty for the lift coefficient, and up to a 100% change in total uncertainty for the pitching moment coefficient.

Laura M. White↗

CFD Validation Study of a Hypersonic Cone-Slice-Flap Variable Geometry Configuration

Model validation is the process of determining the degree of accuracy between physical reality and the model. The result of model validation can either be used to improve the model through calibration or quantify the model-form uncertainty. This work focuses on providing the model-form uncertainty through an area metric for a hypersonic cone-slice-flap variable geometry configuration given uncertainty in both the simulation and experimental data. For a variable geometry, performing uncertainty quantification to capture the model-form uncertainty on every configuration is computationally challenging. This work lays out a procedure that can give an accurate representation of the model-form uncertainty using a small number of high-fidelity runs and many low-fidelity runs on multiple configurations. Running this comparison provides a quantifiable measurement for the accuracy of each turbulence model for this type of design. The high-fidelity CFD solver used was VULCAN-CFD and the low-fidelity results came from Cart3D. The experimental data came from the 20-Inch Mach 6 Tunnel located at NASA Langley Research Center. The present work showed that the turbulence simulation overpredicted the drag and lift coefficient, while underpredicting the pitching moment coefficient. The model-form uncertainty estimate resulted up to a 13.6% change in the total uncertainty for the drag coefficient, up to a 57.4% change in total uncertainty for the lift coefficient, and up to a 100% change in total uncertainty for the pitching moment coefficient.

Laura White↗

Control Algorithms for Flap-Based Mars Entry Systems

All guided entries of blunt-body entry vehicles have utilized bank-angle steering for hypersonic trajectory control. While bank-angle steering has been suc- cessful on Mars entry missions thus far, such as the Mars Science Laboratory and Mars 2020 missions, this control scheme involves a high degree of coupling over the longitudinal and lateral motion. To simultaneously control these two directions of flight, bank-angle steering vehicles typically select the bank angle magnitude to control the longitudinal motion and perform periodic bank reversals to limit the error in the lateral direction. These bank reversals are undesirable as they are performed open loop and can inject error into the trajectory. An alternative hypersonic control scheme modules the vehicle’s angle of attack (α) and sideslip angle (β) to steer the vehicle, i.e. α − β steering. Also called direct force control (DFC), α − β steering has been recently studied in the literature for both entry and aerocapture missions at several planetary bodies including Mars, Venus, Titan, and the ice giants. α − β steering provides more decoupled control over the trajectory than bank-angle steering by mostly using α to control the longitudinal motion and mostly using β to control the lateral motion. Using α − β steering avoids the bank reversals associated with bank-angle steering, and studies have shown that α − β steering may provide increased robustness to atmospheric dispersions, higher precision in landing accuracy, a lower propellant usage for powered descent, and a larger payload mass, relative to bank-angle steering. Several different actuation concepts have been studied for α − β steering, including moving mass systems, a morphing vehicle structure, and aerodynamic flaps.

Daniel L Engel↗