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At least 145 records · Page 8

Effect of Ice Shape Fidelity on Swept-Wing Aerodynamic Performance

Low-Reynolds number testing was conducted at the 7 ft. x 10 ft. Walter H. Beech Memorial Wind Tunnel at Wichita State University to study the aerodynamic effects of ice shapes on a swept wing. A total of 17 ice shape configurations of varying geometric detail were tested. Simplified versions of an ice shape may help improve current ice accretion simulation methods and therefore aircraft design, certification, and testing. For each configuration, surface pressure, force balance, and fluorescent mini-tuft data were collected and for a selected subset of configurations oil-flow visualization and wake survey data were collected. A comparison of two ice shape geometries and two configurations with simplified geometric detail for each ice shape geometry is presented in this paper.

Scale models↗

Aerodynamic performance and pressure distributions for a NASA SC(2)-0714 airfoil tested in the Langley 0.3-meter transonic cryogenic tunnel

This report presents in graphic and tabular forms the aerodynamic coefficient and surface pressure distribution data for a NASA SC(2)-0714 airfoil tested in the Langley 0.3-Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel. The test was another in a series of tests involved in the joint NASA/U.S. Industry Advanced Technology Airfoil Tests program. This 14% thick supercritical airfoil was tested at Mach numbers from 0.6 to 0.76 and angles of attack from -2.0 to 6.0 degrees. The test Reynolds numbers were 4 million, 6 million, 10 million, 15 million, 30 million, 40 million, and 45 million.

Jenkins, Renaldo V.↗

Aerodynamic Performance and Static Stability at Mach Number 3.3 of an Aircraft Configuration Employing Three Triangular Wing Panels and a Body Equal Length

An aircraft configuration, previously conceived as a means to achieve favorable aerodynamic stability characteristics., high lift-drag ratio, and low heating rates at high supersonic speeds., was modified in an attempt to increase further the lift-drag ratio without adversely affecting the other desirable characteristics. The original configuration consisted of three identical triangular wing panels symmetrically disposed about an ogive-cylinder body equal in length to the root chord of the panels. This configuration was modified by altering the angular disposition of the wing panels, by reducing the area of the panel forming the vertical fin, and by reshaping the body to produce interference lift. Six-component force and moment tests of the modified configuration at combined angles of attack and sideslip were made at a Mach number of 3.3 and a Reynolds number of 5.46 million. A maximum lift-drag ratio of 6.65 (excluding base drag) was measured at a lift coefficient of 0.100 and an angle of attack of 3.60. The lift-drag ratio remained greater than 3 up to lift coefficient of 0.35. Performance estimates, which predicted a maximum lift-drag ratio for the modified configuration 27 percent greater than that of the original configuration, agreed well with experiment. The modified configuration exhibited favorable static stability characteristics within the test range. Longitudinal and directional centers of pressure were slightly aft of the respective centroids of projected plan-form and side area.

James, Carlton S.↗

Effect of cooling-hole geometry on aerodynamic performance of a film-cooled turbine vane tested with cold air in a two-dimensional cascade

The effect of the orientation and cooling-hole size on turbine-vane aerodynamic losses was evaluated. The contribution of individual vane regions to the overall effect was also investigated. Test configurations were based upon a representative configuration having 45 spanwise rows of holes spaced about the entire vane profile. Nominal hole diameters of 0.0254 and 0.0356 cm and nominal hole orientations of 35 deg, 45 deg, and 55 deg from the local vane surface and 0 deg, 45 deg, and 90 deg from the main-stream flow direction were investigated. Flow conditions and aerodynamic losses were determined by vane-exit surveys of total pressure, static pressure, and flow angle.

Kline, J. F.↗

Aerodynamic Performance Measurements for a Forward Swept Low Noise Fan

One source of noise in high tip speed turbofan engines, caused by shocks, is called multiple pure tone noise (MPT's). A new fan, called the Quiet High Speed Fan (QHSF), showed reduced noise over the part speed operating range, which includes MPT's. The QHSF showed improved performance in most respects relative to a baseline fan; however, a partspeed instability discovered during testing reduced the operating range below acceptable limits. The measured QHSF adiabatic efficiency on the fixed nozzle acoustic operating line was 85.1 percent and the baseline fan 82.9 percent, a 2.2 percent improvement. The operating line pressure rise at design point rotational speed and mass flow was 1.764 and 1.755 for the QHSF and baseline fan, respectively. Weight flow at design point speed was 98.28 lbm/sec for the QHSF and 97.97 lbm/sec for the baseline fan. The operability margin for the QHSF approached 0 percent at the 75 percent speed operating condition. The baseline fan maintained sufficient margin throughout the operating range as expected. Based on the stage aerodynamic measurements, this concept shows promise for improved performance over current technology if the operability limitations can be solved.

Fite, E. Brian↗

Wind-tunnel investigation of aerodynamic performance, steady amd vibratory loads, surface temperatures, and acoustic characteristics of a large-scale twin-engine upper-surface blown jet-flap configuration

Static and wind-on tests were conducted to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of and the effects of jet impingement on the wing of a large scale upper surface blown configuration powered with an actual turbine engine. The wing and flaps were instrumented with experimental dual-sensing transducer units consisting of a fluctuating pressure gage, a vibratory accelerometer, and a surface mounted alumel thermocouple. Noise directivity and spectral content measurements were obtained for various flap configurations and various engine thrust settings to provide baseline noise data for other upper surface blown configurations.

Source record↗

Aerodynamic Performance Studies for Supersonic Cruise Aircraft

Technical progress made in each of the disciplinary research areas affecting the design of supersonic cruise aircraft is discussed. The NASA Supersonic Cruise Aircraft Research program has supported an expanded research program in aerodynamics including an ever growing experimental data base, methodology development across the Mach number range, and sonic boom. Progress in the aerodynamics area could facilitate the choice of the highly swept subsonic leading edge, arrow wing, known for superior supersonic cruise efficiency.

Mascitti, V. R.↗

Aerodynamic performance of two fifteen-percent-scale wind-tunnel drive fan designs

An experimental and analytical investigation of two fan blade designs was conducted. The fan blades tested were 15 percent scale models of the blades used in the National Full Scale Aerodynamic Complex fan drive at NASA Ames Research Center. The fan blades were composed of NACA-65 and modified NACA-65-series airfoil design sections. The blades with modified 65-series sections incorporated increased thickness on the upper surface, between the leading edge and the one-half chord position. Twist and taper were the same for both blade designs. The fan blades with modified 65-series sections were found to have an increase in stall margin when they were compared with the unmodified blades. The experimental performance data agreed favorably with theoretical calculations.

Signor, D. B.↗

Aerodynamic performance of conventional and advanced design labyrinth seals with solid-smooth abradable, and honeycomb lands

Labyrinth air seal static and dynamic performance was evaluated using solid, abradable, and honeycomb lands with standard and advanced seal designs. The effects on leakage of land surface roughness, abradable land porosity, rub grooves in abradable lands, and honeycomb land cell size and depth were studied using a standard labyrinth seal. The effects of rotation on the optimum seal knife pitch were also investigated. Selected geometric and aerodynamic parameters for an advanced seal design were evaluated to derive an optimized performance configuration. The rotational energy requirements were also measured to determine the inherent friction and pumping energy absorbed by the various seal knife and land configurations tested in order to properly assess the net seal system performance level. Results indicate that: (1) seal leakage can be significantly affected with honeycomb or abradable lands; (2) rotational energy absorption does not vary significantly with the use of a solid-smooth, an abradable, or a honeycomb land; and (3) optimization of an advanced lab seal design produced a configuration that had leakage 25% below a conventional stepped seal.

Stocker, H. L.↗

Low-speed aerodynamic performance of a high-aspect-ratio supercritical-wing transport model equipped with full-span slat and part-span double-slotted flaps

An investigation was conducted in the Langley V/STOL tunnel to determine the static longitudinal and lateral-directional aerodynamic characteristics of an advanced high-aspect-ratio supercritical-wing transport model equipped with a full-span leading-edge slat and part-span double-slotted trailing-edge flaps. This wide-body transport model was also equipped with spoiler and aileron control surfaces, flow-through nacelles, landing gear, movable horizontal tails, and interchangeable wing tips with aspect ratios of 10 and 12. The model was tested with leading-edge slat and trailing-edge flap combinations representative of cruise, climb, takeoff, and landing wing configurations. The tests were conducted at free-stream conditions corresponding to Reynolds numbers (based on mean geometric chord) of 0.97 to 1.63 x 10 to the 6th power and corresponding Mach numbers of 0.12 to 0.20, through an angle-of-attack range of -2 deg to 24 deg and a sideslip-angle range of -10 deg to 5 deg.

Morgan, H. L., Jr.↗

Low-speed aerodynamic performance of an aspect-ratio-10 supercritical-wing transport model equipped with a full-span slat and part-span and full-span double-slotted flaps

An investigation was conducted in the Langley 4 by 7 Meter Tunnel to determine the static longitudinal and lateral directional aerodynamic characteristics of an advanced aspect ratio 10 supercritical wing transport model equipped with a full span leading edge slat as well as part span and full span trailing edge flaps. This wide body transport model was also equipped with spoiler and aileron roll control surfaces, flow through nacelles, landing gear, and movable horizontal tails. Six basic wing configurations were tested: (1) cruise (slats and flaps nested), (2) climb (slats deflected and flaps nested), (3) part span flap, (4) full span flap, (5) full span flap with low speed ailerons, and (6) full span flap with high speed ailerons. Each of the four flapped wing configurations was tested with leading edge slat and trailing edge flaps deflected to settings representative of both take off and landing conditions. Tests were conducted at free stream conditions corresponding to Reynolds number of 0.97 to 1.63 x 10 to the 6th power and corresponding Mach numbers of 0.12 to 0.20, through an angle of attack range of 4 to 24, and a sideslip angle range of -10 deg to 5 deg. The part and full span wing configurations were also tested in ground proximity.

Morgan, H. L., Jr.↗

Effects of icing on the aerodynamic performance of high lift airfoils

A 2D compressible Navier-Stokes solver capable of analyzing multi-element airfoils is described. The flow field is divided into multiple zones. In each zone, the governing equations are solved using an implicit finite difference scheme. The flow solver is validated through a study of the aerodynamic characteristics of a GA(W)-1 configuration, for which good quality measured surface pressure data and load data are available. The solver is next applied to a study of the effects of icing on an iced 5-element airfoil configuration, experimentally studied at NASA Lewis Research Center. It is demonstrated that the formation of ice over the leading edge slat and the main airfoil can lead to significant flow separation, and a significant loss in lift, compared to clean configurations.

Sankar, L. N.↗

Initial Low-Reynolds Number Iced Aerodynamic Performance for CRM Wing

NASA, FAA, ONERA, and other partner organizations have embarked on a significant, collaborative research effort to address the technical challenges associated with icing on large scale, three-dimensional swept wings. These are extremely complex phenomena important to the design, certification and safe operation of small and large transport aircraft. There is increasing demand to balance trade-offs in aircraft efficiency, cost and noise that tend to compete directly with allowable performance degradations over an increasing range of icing conditions. Computational fluid dynamics codes have reached a level of maturity that they are being proposed by manufacturers for use in certification of aircraft for flight in icing. However, sufficient high-quality data to evaluate their performance on iced swept wings are not currently available in the public domain and significant knowledge gaps remain.

Ice Formation↗

Aerodynamic Performance of an Active Flow Control Configuration Using Unstructured-Grid RANS

This research is focused on assessing the value of the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) methodology for active flow control applications. An experimental flow control database exists for a TAU0015 airfoil, which is a modification of a NACA0015 airfoil. The airfoil has discontinuities at the leading edge due to the implementation of a fluidic actuator and aft of mid chord on the upper surface. This paper documents two- and three-dimensional computational results for the baseline wing configuration (no control) with tile experimental results. The two-dimensional results suggest that the mid-chord discontinuity does not effect the aerodynamics of the wing and can be ignored for more efficient computations. The leading-edge discontinuity significantly affects tile lift and drag; hence, the integrity of the leading-edge notch discontinuity must be maintained in the computations to achieve a good match with the experimental data. The three-dimensional integrated performance results are in good agreement with the experiments inspite of some convergence and grid resolution issues.

Joslin, Ronald D.↗

Aerodynamic Performance of an Active Flow Control Configuration Using Unstructured-Grid RANS

This research is focused on assessing the value of the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) methodology for active flow control applications. An experimental flow control database exists for a TAU0015 airfoil, which is a modification of a NACA0015 airfoil. The airfoil has discontinuities at the leading edge due to the implementation of a fluidic actuator and aft of mid chord oil the upper surface. This paper documents two- and three-dimensional computational results for the baseline wing configuration (no control) with the experimental results. The two-dimensional results suggest that the mid-chord discontinuity does not effect the aerodynamics of the wing and can be ignored for more efficient computations. The leading-edge discontinuity significantly affects the lift and drag; hence the integrity of the leading-edge notch discontinuity must be maintained in the computations to achieve a good match with the experimental data. The three-dimensional integrated performance results are in good agreement with the experiments in spite of some convergence and grid resolution issues.

Joslin, Ronald D.↗

Acoustic and aerodynamic performance of a 1.5-pressure-ratio, 1.83-meter (6 ft) diameter fan stage for turbofan engines (QF-2)

The fan was externally driven by an electric motor. Design features for low-noise generation included the elimination of inlet guide vanes, long axial spacing between the rotor and stator blade rows, and the selection of blade-vane numbers to achieve duct-mode cutoff. The fan QF-2 results were compared with those of another full-scale fan having essentially identical aerodynamic design except for nozzle geometry and the direction of rotation. The fan QF-2 aerodynamic results were also compared with those obtained from a 50.8 cm rotor-tip-diameter model of the reverse rotation fan QF-2 design. Differences in nozzle geometry other than exit area significantly affected the comparison of the results of the full-scale fans.

Woodward, R. P.↗

Wind Tunnel Results of the Aerodynamic Performance of a 1/8-Scale Model of a Twin-Engine Transport with Multi-Element Wing

A wind tunnel investigation was performed in the 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel on a pressure instrumented 1/8-scale twin-engine subsonic transport to better understand the flow physics on a multi-element wing section. The wing consisted of a part-span, triple-slotted trailing edge flap, inboard leading-edge Krueger flap and an outboard leading-edge slat. The model was instrumented with flush pressure ports at the fuselage centerline and seven spanwise wing locations. The model was tested in cruise, take-off and landing configurations at dynamic pressures and Mach numbers from 10 lbf/ft(exp 2) to 50 lbf/ft(exp 2) and 0.08 to 0.17, respectively. This resulted in corresponding Reynolds numbers of 0.8 x 10(exp 5) to 1.8 x 10(exp 6). Pressure data were collected using electronically scanned pressure devices and force and moment data were collected with a six component strain gauge balance. Results are presented for various control surface deflections over an angle-of-attack range from -4 degrees to 16 degrees and sideslip angle range from -10 degrees to 10 degrees. Longitudinal and lateral directional aerodynamic data are presented as well as chordwise pressure distributions at the seven spanwise wing locations and the fuselage centerline.

Laflin, Brenda E. Gile↗

Dynamic Analysis of Reynolds Number Effects on Trailing Edge Transonic Vortex Shedding and Its Impact on Turbine Blade Aerodynamic Performance

In this work, we will discuss observations from images acquired from a time-resolved, high-speed self-aligned focusing Schlieren campaign that was performed at the CW-22 facility at NASA Glenn Research Center to understand the dynamic behavior of thick trailing-edge high-pressure turbine blades simulating a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) construction at high inlet turbulence conditions. For the CMC-9 blade, which has a trailing edge thickness of 9% of the axial chord, we identified a regime where an excessive total pressure loss (loss anomaly) is observed only for a narrow range of Reynolds numbers at a fixed exit Mach number of 0.74. The loss anomaly is qualitatively explained by our images, which were taken at 10 distinct blade Reynolds numbers spanning a factor of 6. The images show a significant increase in energy related to the oscillations due to transonic vortex shedding at the Reynolds numbers related to the high loss conditions. This increased energy leads to the formation of strong acoustic waves that turn into shock waves at the highest loss conditions. From our observations stemming from Spectral POD analysis of the high-speed images, we see the acoustic waves produced by the trailing edge vortex shedding exist in all conditions tested; but the shedding frequency has a very slight trend upwards as the Reynolds number is increased, varying about 6% in the range tested. Considering this variation of shedding frequency as a function of Reynolds number, which is well-established for other bluff-body flows, we stipulate there may be a potential feedback mechanism involving an acoustic information transfer path across neighboring blades that may explain why only a narrow range of Reynolds numbers displays strong, shock-forming vortex shedding. We consider a few feedback paths and examine the timing based on the mean flow field from a high-resolution LES simulation. It appears that all feedback mechanisms are viable, presenting an integer number of delay cycles with respect to disturbances generated at the trailing edge. Most noteworthy, however, is the acoustic/shock-boundary layer interaction mechanism at the blade geometric throat. Based on our analysis, this mechanism likely plays an important role in realistic, curved turbine blade passages.

Aerodynamics↗