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At least 145 records · Page 8

CFD Sensitivity Analysis of a Modern Civil Transport Near Buffet-Onset Conditions

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) sensitivity analysis is conducted for a modern civil transport at several conditions ranging from mostly attached flow to flow with substantial separation. Two different Navier-Stokes computer codes and four different turbulence models are utilized, and results are compared both to wind tunnel data at flight Reynolds number and flight data. In-depth CFD sensitivities to grid, code, spatial differencing method, aeroelastic shape, and turbulence model are described for conditions near buffet onset (a condition at which significant separation exists). In summary, given a grid of sufficient density for a given aeroelastic wing shape, the combined approximate error band in CFD at conditions near buffet onset due to code, spatial differencing method, and turbulence model is: 6% in lift, 7% in drag, and 16% in moment. The biggest two contributers to this uncertainty are turbulence model and code. Computed results agree well with wind tunnel surface pressure measurements both for an overspeed 'cruise' case as well as a case with small trailing edge separation. At and beyond buffet onset, computed results agree well over the inner half of the wing, but shock location is predicted too far aft at some of the outboard stations. Lift, drag, and moment curves are predicted in good agreement with experimental results from the wind tunnel.

Rumsey, Christopher L.↗

Optimizing Air Transportation Service to Metroplex Airports: Analysis Using the Airline Schedule Optimization Model (ASOM) - Par 2

The air transportation system is a significant driver of the U.S. economy, providing safe, affordable, and rapid transportation. During the past three decades airspace and airport capacity has not grown in step with demand for air transportation; the failure to increase capacity at the same rate as the growth in demand results in unreliable service and systemic delay. This report describes the results of an analysis of airline strategic decision-making that affects geographic access, economic access, and airline finances, extending the analysis of these factors using historic data (from Part 1 of the report). The Airline Schedule Optimization Model (ASOM) was used to evaluate how exogenous factors (passenger demand, airline operating costs, and airport capacity limits) affect geographic access (markets-served, scheduled flights, aircraft size), economic access (airfares), airline finances (profit), and air transportation efficiency (aircraft size). This analysis captures the impact of the implementation of airport capacity limits, as well as the effect of increased hedged fuel prices, which serve as a proxy for increased costs per flight that might occur if auctions or congestion pricing are imposed; also incorporated are demand elasticity curves based on historical data that provide information about how passenger demand is affected by airfare changes.

Donoue, George↗

Integrating Efficiency of Industry Processes and Practices Alongside Technology Effectiveness in Space Transportation Cost Modeling and Analysis

This paper presents past and current work in dealing with indirect industry and NASA costs when providing cost estimation or analysis for NASA projects and programs. Indirect costs, when defined as those costs in a project removed from the actual hardware or software hands-on labor; makes up most of the costs of today's complex large scale NASA space/industry projects. This appears to be the case across phases from research into development into production and into the operation of the system. Space transportation is the case of interest here. Modeling and cost estimation as a process rather than a product will be emphasized. Analysis as a series of belief systems in play among decision makers and decision factors will also be emphasized to provide context.

Zapata, Edgar↗

Viscous-flow analysis of a subsonic transport aircraft high-lift system and correlation with flight data

High-lift system aerodynamics has been gaining attention in recent years. In an effort to improve aircraft performance, comprehensive studies of multi-element airfoil systems are being undertaken in wind-tunnel and flight experiments. Recent developments in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) offer a relatively inexpensive alternative for studying complex viscous flows by numerically solving the Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations. Current limitations in computer resources restrict practical high-lift N-S computations to two dimensions, but CFD predictions can yield tremendous insight into flow structure, interactions between airfoil elements, and effects of changes in airfoil geometry or free-stream conditions. These codes are very accurate when compared to strictly 2D data provided by wind-tunnel testing, as will be shown here. Yet, additional challenges must be faced in the analysis of a production aircraft wing section, such as that of the NASA Langley Transport Systems Research Vehicle (TSRV). A primary issue is the sweep theory used to correlate 2D predictions with 3D flight results, accounting for sweep, taper, and finite wing effects. Other computational issues addressed here include the effects of surface roughness of the geometry, cove shape modeling, grid topology, and transition specification. The sensitivity of the flow to changing free-stream conditions is investigated. In addition, the effects of Gurney flaps on the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil system are predicted.

Potter, R. C.↗

Further studies on the dimensionless parameters associated with the 'in vivo' transport of heat within biological tissue.

Dimensionless parameters appearing in the analysis of transport of heat within living biological tissues are presented and discussed. Dimensional analysis as well as some analytical solutions have been employed to obtain the physically and physiologically most significant dimensionless parameters associated with these types of problems. Some analytical solutions are presented for both steady state and transient cases to illustrate the significance of the derived parameters.-

Shitzer, A.↗

Navier-Stokes Analysis of a High Wing Transport High-Lift Configuration with Externally Blown Flaps

Insights and lessons learned from the aerodynamic analysis of the High Wing Transport (HWT) high-lift configuration are presented. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes CFD simulations using the OVERFLOW flow solver are compared with high Reynolds test data obtained in the NASA Ames 12 Foot Pressure Wind Tunnel (PWT) facility. Computational analysis of the baseline HWT high-lift configuration with and without Externally Blown Flap (EBF) jet effects is highlighted. Several additional aerodynamic investigations, such as nacelle strake effectiveness and wake vortex studies, are presented. Technical capabilities and shortcomings of the computational method are discussed and summarized.

Slotnick, Jeffrey P.↗

Projecting Future Scheduled Airline Demand, Schedules and NGATS Benefits Using TSAM

The Transportation Systems Analysis Model (TSAM) developed by Virginia Tech s Air Transportation Systems Lab and NASA Langley can provide detailed analysis of the effects on the demand for air travel of a full range of NASA and FAA aviation projects. TSAM has been used to project the passenger demand for very light jet (VLJ) air taxi service, scheduled airline demand growth and future schedules, Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) benefits, and future passenger revenues for the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. TSAM can project the resulting demand when new vehicles and/or technology is inserted into the long distance (100 or more miles one-way) transportation system, as well as, changes in demand as a result of fare yield increases or decreases, airport transit times, scheduled flight times, ticket taxes, reductions or increases in flight delays, and so on. TSAM models all long distance travel in the contiguous U.S. and determines the mode choice of the traveler based on detailed trip costs, travel time, schedule frequency, purpose of the trip (business or non-business), and household income level of the traveler. Demand is modeled at the county level, with an airport choice module providing up to three airports as part of the mode choice. Future enplanements at airports can be projected for different scenarios. A Fratar algorithm and a schedule generator are applied to generate future flight schedules. This paper presents the application of TSAM to modeling future scheduled air passenger demand and resulting airline schedules, the impact of NGATS goals and objectives on passenger demand, along with projections for passenger fee receipts for several scenarios for the FAA Airport and Airway Trust Fund.

Dollyhigh, Samuel↗

Predicting Temperatures In Ball Bearings

Computer simulations speed design studies. Analyses performed in two or three dimensions. Sizes and shapes of components approximated by zones or nodes connected by gridlines. From geometric information about grids and boundary conditions, properties of bearing and lubricant materials, and information supplied by users, thermal-analysis programs generate mathematical models for thermal transport. Thermal analysis of high-speed rolling contact bearings matured so much that computerized numerical simulations replace expensive time consuming full scale experiments.

Wagner, William R.↗

Economic Analysis on the Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) NASA Team

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) performed the Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) to provide information to support end-of-the-decade decisions on possible near-term US Government (USG) investments in space transportation. To gain a clearer understanding of the costs and benefits of the broadest range of possible space transportation options, six teams, five from aerospace industry companies and one internal to NASA, were tasked to answer three primary questions: a) If the Space Shuttle system should be replaced; b) If so, when the replacement should take place and how the transition should be implemented; and c) If not, what is the upgrade strategy to continue safe and affordable flight of the Space Shuttle beyond 2010. The overall goal of the Study was "to develop investment options to be considered by the Administration for the President's FY2001 budget to meet NASA's future human space flight requirements with significant reductions in costs." This emphasis on government investment, coupled with the participation by commercial f'trms, required an unprecedented level of economic analysis of costs and benefits from both industry and government viewpoints. This paper will discuss the economic and market models developed by the in-house NASA Team to analyze space transportation architectures, the results of those analyses, and how those results were reflected in the conclusions and recommendations of the STAS NASA Team. Copyright 1999 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. No copyright is asserted in the United States under Title 17, U.$. Code. The U.S. Government has a royalty-free license to exercise all rights under the copyright claimed herein for Governmental purposes. All other rights are reserved by the copyright owner.

Shaw, Eric J.↗

Three-dimensional aerodynamic analysis of a subsonic transport high-lift configuration and comparisons with wind-tunnel test results

The sizing and efficiency of an aircraft is largely determined by the performance of its high-lift system. Subsonic civil transports most often use deployable multi-element airfoils to achieve the maximum-lift requirements for landing, as well as the high lift-to-drag ratios for take-off. However, these systems produce very complex flow fields which are not fully understood by the scientific community. In order to compete in today's market place, aircraft manufacturers will have to design better high-lift systems. Therefore, a more thorough understanding of the flows associated with these systems is desired. Flight and wind-tunnel experiments have been conducted on NASA Langley's B737-100 research aircraft to obtain detailed full-scale flow measurements on a multi-element high-lift system at various flight conditions. As part of this effort, computational aerodynamic tools are being used to provide preliminary flow-field information for instrumentation development, and to provide additional insight during the data analysis and interpretation process. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the ability and usefulness of a three-dimensional low-order potential flow solver, PMARC, by comparing computational results with data obtained from 1/8 scale wind-tunnel tests. Overall, correlation of experimental and computational data reveals that the panel method is able to predict reasonably well the pressures of the aircraft's multi-element wing at several spanwise stations. PMARC's versatility and usefulness is also demonstrated by accurately predicting inviscid three-dimensional flow features for several intricate geometrical regions.

Edge, D. Christian↗

Analysis and Preliminary Design of an Advanced Technology Transport Flight Control System

The analysis and preliminary design of an advanced technology transport aircraft flight control system using avionics and flight control concepts appropriate to the 1980-1985 time period are discussed. Specifically, the techniques and requirements of the flight control system were established, a number of candidate configurations were defined, and an evaluation of these configurations was performed to establish a recommended approach. Candidate configurations based on redundant integration of various sensor types, computational methods, servo actuator arrangements and data-transfer techniques were defined to the functional module and piece-part level. Life-cycle costs, for the flight control configurations, as determined in an operational environment model for 200 aircraft over a 15-year service life, were the basis of the optimum configuration selection tradeoff. The recommended system concept is a quad digital computer configuration utilizing a small microprocessor for input/output control, a hexad skewed set of conventional sensors for body rate and body acceleration, and triple integrated actuators.

Frazzini, R.↗

Application of transport techniques to the analysis of NERVA shadow shields

A radiation shield internal to the NERVA nuclear rocket reactor required to limit the neutron and photon radiation levels at critical components located external to the reactor was evaluated. Two significantly different shield mockups were analyzed: BATH, a composite mixture of boron carbide, aluminum and titanium hydride, and a borated steel-liquid hydrogen system. Based on the comparisons between experimental and calculated neutron and photon radiation levels, the following conclusions were noted: (1) The ability of two-dimensional discrete ordinates code to predict the radiation levels internal to and at the surface of the shield mockups was clearly demonstrated. (2) Internal to the BATH shield mockups, the one-dimensional technique predicted the axial variation of neutron fluxes and photon dose rates; however, the magnitude of the neutron fluxes was about a factor of 1.8 lower than the two-dimensional analysis and the photon dose rate was a factor of 1.3 lower.

Capo, M. A.↗

Space transportation system shuttle turnabout analysis report

The progress made and the problems encountered by the various program elements of the shuttle program in achieving the 160 hour ground turnaround goal are presented and evaluated. Task assessment time is measured against the program allocation time.

Reedy, R. E.↗

Analysis of erosion and transportation features from lunar orbiter and Apollo photography

Certain classes of surface features in Lunar Orbiter and Apollo Panoramic Photographs are identifed and possible correlations between the occurrence of these features and their geographical location on the Moon are studied. Whether evidence of erosion and transport processes not encountered on Earth exists is investigated using the lunar photographs. The variety and intensity of transport processes on the Moon resulting from exposure to plasmas is discussed.

Gold, T.↗

Advanced composite aileron for L-1011 transport aircraft: Design and analysis

Detail design of the composite aileron has been completed. The aileron design is a multi-rib configuration with single piece upper and lower covers mechanically fastened to the substructure. Covers, front, spar and ribs are fabricated with graphite/epoxy tape or fabric composite material. The design has a weight savings of 23 percent compared to the aluminum aileron. The composite aileron has 50 percent fewer fasteners and parts than the metal aileron and is predicted to be cost competitive. Structural integrity of the composite aileron was verified by structural analysis and an extensive test program. Static, failsafe, and vibration analyses have been conducted on the composite aileron using finite element models and specialized computer programs for composite material laminates. The fundamental behavior of the composite materials used in the aileron was determined by coupon tests for a variety of environmental conditions. Critical details of the design were interrogated by static and fatigue tests on full-scale subcomponents and subassemblies of the aileron.

Griffin, C. F.↗

A multiblock/multigrid Euler analysis of a propfan transport with wing-mounted nacelles, including slipstream effects

A multiblock/multigrid computation of the inviscid flow over a wing-mounted propfan transport with propwash is presented. An explicit multistage scheme drives the integral Euler equations to a steady state solution, while an actuator disk approximates the slipstream effects of the propfan blades. Practical applications of detailed surface gridding, multiple block field grids and multigrid convergence acceleration are demonstrated.

Nishida, Brian A.↗