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An aeromechanical analysis of the generation of an inlet vortex in a turbojet engine is presented. Methods for the prevention of vortex generation and methods of vortex damping are described.
The flow field in supersonic mixed compression aircraft inlets at angle of attack is calculated. A zonal modeling technique is employed to obtain the solution which divides the flow field into different computational regions. The computational regions consist of a supersonic core flow, boundary layer flows adjacent to both the forebody/centerbody and cowl contours, and flow in the shock wave boundary layer interaction regions. The zonal modeling analysis is described and some computational results are presented. The governing equations for the supersonic core flow form a hyperbolic system of partial differential equations. The equations for the characteristic surfaces and the compatibility equations applicable along these surfaces are derived. The characteristic surfaces are the stream surfaces, which are surfaces composed of streamlines, and the wave surfaces, which are surfaces tangent to a Mach conoid. The compatibility equations are expressed as directional derivatives along streamlines and bicharacteristics, which are the lines of tangency between a wave surface and a Mach conoid.
As part of a program to evaluate an inlet suppressor design method based on mode cutoff ratio, three single degree of freedom liners with different open area ratio face sheets were designed for a single spinning mode. This mode was generated by placing 41 rods in front of the 28 blade fan of a JT15D turbofan engine. At the liner design this near cutoff mode has a theoretical maximum attenuation of nearly 200 dB per L/D. The data show even higher attenuations at the design condition than predicted by the theory for dissipation of a single mode within the liner. This additional attenuation is large for high open area ratios and should be accounted for in the theory. The data shows the additional attenuation to be inversely proportional to acoustic resistance. It was thought that the additional attenuation could be caused by reflection and modal scattering at the hard to soft wall interface. A reflection model was developed, and then modified to fit the data. This model was checked against independent (multiple pure tone) data with good agreement.
An investigation of the capability of two computer programs to simulate transonic and supersonic flows about representative fighter aircraft forebodies has been carried out for purpose of predicting flow fields in the vicinity of typical inlet locations. Each computer program is described as to its features and usage, and results are compared with comprehensive wind tunnel data. Although both computer codes were inviscid, results show that the gross aerodynamic effects of the forebody, with and without a wing, can be simulated fairly well. Further work is needed to include the effects of viscosity including vortex shedding.
Instability in rotating machinery reduced. Ring of ribs fastened to existing stator in turbopump pressure-seal inlet. Ribs suppress swirl in flow entering seal. Rib concept offers relatively inexpensive solution to some lateral-instability problems in many other systems with rotating pressure seals.
A computer program was developed which is capable of calculating the flow field in the supersonic portion of a mixed compression aircraft inlet operating at angle of attack. The supersonic core flow is computed using a second-order three dimensional method-of-characteristics algorithm. The bow shock and the internal shock train are treated discretely using a three dimensional shock fitting procedure. The boundary layer flows are computed using a second-order implicit finite difference method. The shock wave-boundary layer interaction is computed using an integral formulation. The general structure of the computer program is discussed, and a brief description of each subroutine is given. All program input parameters are defined, and a brief discussion on interpretation of the output is provided. A number of sample cases, complete with data listings, are provided.
The inlet radiated noise of a turbofan engine was studied. The principal research objectives were to characterize or suppress such noise with particular regard to its tonal characteristics. The major portion of this research was conducted by using ground-based static testing without simulation of aircraft forward speed or aircraft installation-related aeroacoustic effects.
Conditions were determined in a continuous-flow, premixing-prevaporizing duct at which autoignition occurred. Test conditions were representative of an advanced, regenerative-cycle, automotive gas turbine. The test conditions inlet air temperatures from 600 to 1250 K (a vitiated preheater was used), pressures from 170 to 600 kPa, air velocities of 10 to 30 m/sec, equivalence ratios from 0.3 to 1.0, mixing lengths from 10 to 60 cm, and residence times of 2 to 100 ms. The fuel was diesel number 2. The duct was insulated and had an inside diameter of 12 cm. Three different fuel injection systems were used: One was a single simplex pressure atomizer, and the other two were multiple-source injectors. The data obtained with the simplex and one of the multiple-source injectors agreed satisfactorily with the references and correlated with an Arrenhius expression. The data obtained with the other multiple source injector, which used multiple cones to improve the fuel-air distribution, did not correlate well with residence time.
Analytical results are obtained by numerical integration of a cylindrically symmetric integral representation of the external solutions of the Helmholtz equation. The accuracy of this method is checked by comparisons of computed results with 'exact' solutions generated by the point source method. In all cases, the average error for the amplitude and phase of the points calculated in the field is found to be less than ten percent. Theoretical studies which model experiments run for the NASA Langely Bellmouth inlet configuration are presented and comparisons are made with the experimental results. In all cases very good agreement is obtained between the experimental and theoretically calculated values.
Fluid dynamic computer codes for the mathematical simulation of problems in gas turbine engine combustion systems are required as design and diagnostic tools. To eventually achieve a performance standard with these codes of more than qualitative accuracy it is desirable to use benchmark experiments for validation studies. Typical of the fluid dynamic computer codes being developed for combustor simulations is the TEACH (Teaching Elliptic Axisymmetric Characteristics Heuristically) solution procedure. It is difficult to find suitable experiments which satisfy the present definition of benchmark quality. For the majority of the available experiments there is a lack of information concerning the boundary conditions. A standard TEACH-type numerical technique is applied to a number of test-case experiments. It is found that numerical simulations of gas turbine combustor-relevant flows can be sensitive to the plane at which the calculations start and the spatial distributions of inlet quantities for swirling flows.
A broad program to develop advanced, reliable, and user oriented three-dimensional viscous design techniques for supersonic inlet systems, and encourage their transfer into the general user community is discussed. Features of the program include: (1) develop effective methods of computing three-dimensional flows within a zonal modeling methodology; (2) ensure reasonable agreement between said analysis and selective sets of benchmark validation data; (3) develop user orientation into said analysis; and (4) explore and develop advanced numerical methodology.
A unique set of wind tunnel guide vanes are designed with an inverse design code and analyzed with a panel method and an integral boundary layer code developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The fixed guide vanes, 80 feet long with 6-foot chord length, were designed for the NASA Ames 40 x 80/80 x 120 ft Wind Tunnel. Low subsonic flow is accepted over a 60 deg range of inlet angle from either the 40 x 80 leg or the 80 x 120 leg of the wind tunnel, and directed axially into the main leg of the tunnel where drive fans are located. Experimental tests of 1/10-scale models were conducted to verify design calculations.
The capability of two numerical methods, one for transonic and one for supersonic flows, to predict the flow fields about representative fighter aircraft forebodies in the vicinity of the engine inlets was examined. The Mach number range covered was 0.9 to 2.5 and the angle-of-attack range was 0 deg to 25 deg. The computer progams that implement each of the numerical methods are described as to their features and usage, and results are compared with comprehensive wind tunnel data. Although both prediction methods were inviscid, results show that the aerodynamic effects of the forebody, with and without a wing, can be simulated fairly well. Futher work is needed to include the effects of viscosity, including vortex shedding.
As part of the NASA Flight Effects on Fan Noise Program, a Grumman OV-1B Mohawk aircraft was modified to carry a modified and instrumented Pratt & Whitney JT15D-1 turbofan engine. Onboard flight data, together with simultaneously measured farfield acoustic data, comprise a flight data base to which JT15D-1 static and wind-tunnel data are compared. The overall objective is to improve the ability to use ground-based facilities for the prediction of flight inlet radiated noise. This report describes the hardware and presents performance results for the research engine.
Spectral analyses of static pressure fluctuations measured in turbine engine combustors at low engine speed show good agreement with theory. At idle speed the high pressure turbine is unchoked. Above idle speed the turbine chokes and a significant change in the shape of the measured combustor pressure spectrum is observed. A simplified theoretical model of the acoustic pressure generated in the combustor due to the turbulence-flame front interaction did not account for acoustic waves reflected from the turbine. By retaining this simplified combustion noise source model and adding a partial reflecting plane at the turbine and combustor inlet, a simple theoretical model was developed that reproduces the undulations in the combustor fluctuating pressure spectra. Plots of the theoretical combustor fluctuating pressure spectra are compared to the measured pressure spectra obtained from the CF6-50 turbofan engine over a range of engine operating speeds. The simplified combustion noise theory when modified by a simple turbine reflecting plane adequately accounts for the changes in measured combustor pressure spectra. It is further concluded that the shape of the pressure spectra downstream of the turbine, neglecting noise generated by the turbine itself, will be the combustion noise spectra unchanged except for the level reduction due to the energy blocked by the turbine.
The flow field within an unsteady, two-dimensional inlet is studied numerically, using a two dimensional Navier Stokes and a one-dimensional inviscid model. Unsteadiness is introduced by varying the outflow pressure boundary condition. The cases considered include outflow pressure variations which were a single pressure pulse, a rapid increase and a sine function. The amplitude of the imposed exit plane pressure disturbance varied between 1 percent and 20 percent of the mean exit pressure. At the higher levels of pressure fluctuation, the viscous flow field results bore little resemblance to the inviscid ones. The viscous solution included such phenomena as shock trains and bifurcating separation pockets. The induced velocity at the outflow plane predicted by the viscous model differs significantly from accoustical theory or small perturbation results.
Results of an experimental investigation of the contamination of air sampling inlets by aircraft emissions from the NASA CV-990 research aircraft are presented. This four-engine jet aircraft is a NASA facility used for many different atmospheric and meteorological experiments, as well as for developing spacecraft instrumentation for remote measurements. Our investigations were performed to provide information on which to base the selection of sampling locations for a series of multi-instrument missions for measuring tropospheric trace gases. The major source of contamination is the exhaust from the jet engines, which generate many of the same gases that are of interest in atmospheric chemistry, as well as other gases that may interfere with sampling measurements. The engine exhaust contains these gases in mixing ratios many orders of magnitude greater than those that occur in the clean atmosphere which the missions seek to quantify. Pressurized samples of air were collected simultaneously from a scoop located forward of the engines to represent clean air and from other multiport scoops at various aft positions on the aircraft. The air samples were analyzed in the laboratory by gas chromatography for carbon monoxide, an abundant combustion by-product. Data are presented for various scoop locations under various flight conditions.
A broad program to develop advanced, reliable, and user oriented three-dimensional viscous design techniques for supersonic inlet systems, and encourage their transfer into the general user community is discussed. Features of the program include: (1) develop effective methods of computing three-dimensional flows within a zonal modeling methodology; (2) ensure reasonable agreement between said analysis and selective sets of benchmark validation data; (3) develop user orientation into said analysis; and (4) explore and develop advanced numerical methodology. Previously announced in STAR as N84-13190