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At least 1,495 records · Page 83

Impact of Airborne Radar Uncertainties on Detect-and-Avoid Systems’ Performance

Impact of sensor uncertainty on Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) systems’ performance is investigated. Key metrics analyzed are the loss of DAA well clear ratio, the near-mid-air-collision risk ratio, the alert ratio, and the number of maneuvers per loss of DAA well clear. Sensitivity of these metrics to the magnitude of sensor uncertainty, pilots’ selection of maneuver, and surveillance range is investigated. Benefits of a dynamic buffer around the DAA well clear separation boundary, computed based on track accuracies, are also analyzed. These metrics are computed from open- and closed-loop simulations of a large number of representative encounters between an unmanned aircraft system and a manned aircraft. Results show that sensor uncertainty degrades safety metrics considerably but has only a minor effect on the number of maneuvers per loss of DAA well clear. The number of maneuvers, nonetheless, can be reduced by a 5◦ buffer away from the edge of the range of conflict-resulting heading in pilots’ selection of maneuver.

UAS↗

Second-order subsonic airfoil theory including edge effects

Several recent advances in plane subsonic flow theory are combined into a unified second-order theory for airfoil sections of arbitrary shape. The solution is reached in three steps: the incompressible result is found by integration, it is converted into the corresponding subsonic compressible result by means of the second-order compressibility rule, and it is rendered uniformly valid near stagnation points by further rules. Solutions for a number of airfoils are given and are compared with the results of other theories and of experiment. A straight-forward computing scheme is outlined for calculating the surface velocities and pressures on any airfoil at any angle of attack

Van Dyke, Milton D↗

Rocket observations at the northern edge of the eastward electrojet

The paper discusses a Nike-Tomahawk rocket launched north over quiet, late evening auroral arcs in March 1975. A northward magnetic disturbance was observed on the ground under the rocket trajectory; south of the arcs the northward electric field was 60 mV/m, indicating strong westward plasma flow. An eastward electrojet current layer was penetrated in the upward flight, and precipitating electrons were observed over each arc. Using the observed electron flux and a model of the ionosphere, the Hall and Pedersen conductivities were calculated which were used to compute the eastward and northward components of the horizontal ionospheric currents. The joule power decreased abruptly in the auroral arcs, as the precipitating electron power increased; the total dissipated power was the same inside the arcs, between them and southward. North of the aurora the electric field and dissipated power remained low; field-aligned currents carried by the observed electrons were about a factor of 3 lower than those inferred from the magnetic field measurements.

Cahill, L. J., Jr.↗

Navier-Stokes computations of lee-side flows over delta wings

Solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations for the flow over delta wings are computed with emphasis on the separated vortical flows developing on the lee side at high angles of attack. A recently developed implicit algorithm is used which employs upwind differencing for the pressure and convection terms and central differencing for the shear stress and heat transfer terms. Solutions to both the three-dimensional equations and the approximate conical flow equations are compared parametrically with an extensive experimental data base at supersonic speeds. The computations indicate that the conical flow approximation provides results in close agreement with the three-dimensional equations, even to angles of attack as high as 20 degrees. Good agreement with experimentally measured pressures and vapor screen photographs is obtained for the conditions investigated. The method predicts the classical pattern of vortical flow over a delta wing and transition to other flow patterns as the leading edge sweep angle and leading edge normal Mach number are varied.

Thomas, J. L.↗

TranAir and Euler computations of a generic fighter including comparisons with experimental data

The TranAir full-potential code and the FLO57 Euler code were used to calculate transonic flow solutions over two configurations of a generic fighter model. The results were computed at Mach numbers of 0.60 and 0.80 for angles of attack between 0 and 12 deg for TranAir and between 4 and 20 deg for FLO57. Due to the fact that TranAir solves the full-potential equations for transonic flow, TranAir is only accurate to about alpha = 8 deg, at which point the experimental results show the formation of a vortex at the leading edge. Euler results show good agreement with experimental results until vortex breakdown occurs in the solutions.

Goodsell, Aga M.↗

Probabilistic Modeling of Space Shuttle Debris Impact

On Feb 1, 2003, the Shuttle Columbia was lost during its return to Earth. As a result of the conclusion that debris impact caused the damage to the left wing of the Columbia Space Shuttle Vehicle (SSV) during ascent, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board recommended that an assessment be performed of the debris environment experienced by the SSV during ascent. A flight rationale based on probabilistic assessment is used for the SSV return-to-flight. The assessment entails identifying all potential debris sources, their probable geometric and aerodynamic characteristics, and their potential for impacting and damaging critical Shuttle components. A probabilistic analysis tool, based on the SwRI-developed NESSUS probabilistic analysis software, predicts the probability of impact and damage to the space shuttle wing leading edge and thermal protection system components. Among other parameters, the likelihood of unacceptable damage depends on the time of release (Mach number of the orbiter) and the divot mass as well as the impact velocity and impact angle. A typical result is visualized in the figures below. Probability of impact and damage, as well as the sensitivities thereof with respect to the distribution assumptions, can be computed and visualized at each point on the orbiter or summarized per wing panel or tile zone.

Huyse, Luc J.↗

Assessment of Geometry and In-Flow Effects on Contra-Rotating Open Rotor Broadband Noise Predictions

Application of previously formulated semi-analytical models for the prediction of broadband noise due to turbulent rotor wake interactions and rotor blade trailing edges is performed on the historical baseline F31/A31 contra-rotating open rotor configuration. Simplified two-dimensional blade element analysis is performed on cambered NACA 4-digit airfoil profiles, which are meant to serve as substitutes for the actual rotor blade sectional geometries. Rotor in-flow effects such as induced axial and tangential velocities are incorporated into the noise prediction models based on supporting computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results and simplified in-flow velocity models. Emphasis is placed on the development of simplified rotor in-flow models for the purpose of performing accurate noise predictions independent of CFD information. The broadband predictions are found to compare favorably with experimental acoustic results.

Zawodny, Nikolas S.↗

Forecasting Space Weather Events for a Neighboring World

Shortly after NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission (MAVEN) spacecraft entered Mars' orbit on 21 September 2014, scientists glimpsed the Martian atmosphere's response to a front of solar energetic particles (SEPs) and an associated coronal mass ejection (CME). In response to some solar flares and CMEs, streams of SEPs burst from the solar atmosphere and are further accelerated in the interplanetary medium between the Sun and the planets. These particles deposit their energy and momentum into anything in their path, including the Martian atmosphere and MAVEN particle detectors. MAVEN scientists had been alerted to the likely CME-Mars encounter by a space weather prediction system that had its origins in space weather forecasting for Earth but now forecasts space weather for Earth's neighboring planets. The two Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory spacecraft and Solar Heliospheric Observatory observed a CME on 26 September, with a trajectory that suggested a Mars intercept. A computer model developed for solar wind prediction, the Wang-Sheeley-Arge-Enlil cone model [e.g., Zheng et al., 2013; Parsons et al., 2011], running in real time at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) located at NASA Goddard since 2006, showed the CME propagating in the direction of Mars (Figure 1). According to MAVEN particle detectors, the disturbance and accompanying SEP enhancement at the leading edge of the CME reached Mars at approximately 17 hours Universal Time on 29 September 2014. Such SEPs may have a profound effect on atmospheric escape - they are believed to be a possible means for driving atmospheric loss. SEPs can cause loss of Mars' upper atmosphere through several loss mechanisms including sputtering of the atmosphere. Sputtering occurs when atoms are ejected from the atmosphere due to impacts with energetic particles.

space weather↗

Surface Pressure Results for the NATO AVT-298 SWiFT Configuration in the National Transonic Facility

A high Reynolds number wind tunnel test of the Swept Wing Flow Test (SWiFT) configuration was conducted in the National Transonic Facility at the NASA Langley Research Center during the summer of 2023. The test campaign was the culmination of an international collaboration under the NATO AVT-298 research task group. The main objective of the test was to investigate Reynolds number scaling effects on the low-speed stability & control characteristics of the SWiFT model. Surface pressure results corroborate the force & moment results and help to provide more insight into the observed flow behavior. The effect of angle of attack and Reynolds number on the low-speed surface pressure results are analyzed particularly around the leading edge of the model. The onset and progression of flow separation on the wings particularly near the wing crank is also investigated, as well as the cause of an observed double-stall behavior. Finally, the transonic results showed a slight forward movement of the shock location with decreased shock strength as Reynolds number was increased. The data acquired from the test will ultimately help improve computational aerodynamic analysis and design tools for application to future BWB-type vehicle configurations.

NATO AVT-298↗

Surface Pressure Results for the NATO AVT-298 SWiFT Configuration in the National Transonic Facility

A high Reynolds number wind tunnel test of the Swept Wing Flow Test (SWiFT) configuration was conducted in the National Transonic Facility at the NASA Langley Research Center during the summer of 2023. The test campaign was the culmination of an international collaboration under the NATO AVT-298 research task group. The main objective of the test was to investigate Reynolds number scaling effects on the low-speed stability & control characteristics of the SWiFT model. Surface pressure results corroborate the force & moment results and help to provide more insight into the observed flow behavior. The effect of angle of attack and Reynolds number on the low-speed surface pressure results are analyzed particularly around the leading edge of the model. The onset and progression of flow separation on the wings particularly near the wing crank is also investigated, as well as the cause of an observed double-stall behavior. Finally, the transonic results showed a slight forward movement of the shock location with decreased shock strength as Reynolds number was increased. The data acquired from the test will ultimately help improve computational aerodynamic analysis and design tools for application to future BWB-type vehicle configurations.

NATO AVT-298↗

Analysis of airfoil leading edge separation bubbles

A local inviscid-viscous interaction technique was developed for the analysis of low speed airfoil leading edge transitional separation bubbles. In this analysis an inverse boundary layer finite difference analysis is solved iteratively with a Cauchy integral representation of the inviscid flow which is assumed to be a linear perturbation to a known global viscous airfoil analysis. Favorable comparisons with data indicate the overall validity of the present localized interaction approach. In addition numerical tests were performed to test the sensitivity of the computed results to the mesh size, limits on the Cauchy integral, and the location of the transition region.

Carter, J. E.↗

Analysis of airfoil leading-edge separation bubbles

A local inviscid-viscous interaction technique was developed for the analysis of low speed airfoil leading edge transitional separation bubbles. In this analysis an inverse boundary layer finite difference analysis is solved iteratively with a Cauchy integral representation of the inviscid flow which is assumed to be a linear perturbation to a known global viscous airfoil analysis. Favorable comparisons with data indicate the overall validity of the present localized interaction approach. In addition numerical tests were performed to test the sensitivity of the computed results to the mesh size, limits on the Cauchy integral, and the location of the transition region.

Vatsa, V. N.↗

Computational design of low aspect ratio wing-winglet configurations for transonic wind-tunnel tests

A computational design has been performed for three different low aspect ratio wing planforms fitted with nonplanar winglets; one of the three planforms has been selected to be constructed as a wind tunnel model for testing in the NASA LaRC 7 x 10 High Speed Wind Tunnel. A design point of M = 0.8, CL approx = 0.3 was selected, for wings of aspect ratio equal to 2.2, and leading edge sweep angles of 45 and 50 deg. Winglet length is 15 percent of the wing semispan, with a cant angle of 15 deg, and a leading edge sweep of 50 deg. Winglet total area equals 2.25 percent of the wing reference area. This report summarizes the design process and the predicted transonic performance for each configuration.

Kuhlman, John M.↗

Computational design of low aspect ratio wing-winglets for transonic wind-tunnel testing

A computational design has been performed for three different low aspect ratio wing planforms fitted with nonplanar winglets; one of the three planforms has been selected to be constructed as a wind tunnel model for testing in the NASA LaRC 7 x 10 High Speed Wind Tunnel. A design point of M = 0.8, CL approx = 0.3 was selected, for wings of aspect ratio equal to 2.2, and leading edge sweep angles of 45 and 50 deg. Winglet length is 15 percent of the wing semispan, with a cant angle of 15 deg, and a leading edge sweep of 50 deg. Winglet total area equals 2.25 percent of the wing reference area. This report summarizes the design process and the predicted transonic performance for each configuration.

Kuhlman, John M.↗

Diffusive modification of primary zoning in olivine cores in Angrite LEW 87051

Angrite LEW 87051 consists of large olivine crystals set in a fine-grained groundmass that clearly represents a crystallized melt. A few olivines contain Ca-poor, Cr-rich cores that crystallized from a very different melt than the outer part of the crystals constituting the majority of olivine in LEW 87051. We evaluate a model in which the cores formed through fractional crystallization of one melt, then were incorporated into a different melt as xenocrysts, whereupon the original zoning patterns were modified by diffusion. Using a similar approach, we calculate zoning patterns for the cores that would result from perfect fractional crystallization, compare them with the observed zoning, and determine whether the differences could result from diffusive modification consistent with known diffusion rates for Ca, Mn, and Cr. Using distribution coefficients from the 1400 C, IW + 1 experiments, we computed CaO, Cr2O3, and MnO abundances in the hypothetical parent melt by inverting the olivine at the centers of the cores. We further assumed that the primary zoning profile for CaO is essentially unmodified, because the diffusion rate of Ca in olivine is slow. We carried out the fractional crystallization calculation until the calculated Ca content was that observed at break in zoning profiles at the outer edge of the core. We then normalized the distance of this calculated profile to the length of the observed profile in the olivine core and calculated profiles for MnO and Cr2O3. The CaO zoning profile agrees well with the observed profile. The observed MnO profile is slightly higher than the calculated profile near the edge. Diffusion calculations indicate that reversal of the general trend of primary zoning through diffusion would require that diffusion of Cr is 5-10x faster than that of Mn.

Mikouchi, T.↗

Diffusion Flame Stabilization

Diffusion flames are commonly used for industrial burners in furnaces and flares. Oxygen/fuel burners are usually diffusion burners, primarily for safety reasons, to prevent flashback and explosion in a potentially dangerous system. Furthermore, in most fires, condensed materials pyrolyze, vaporize, and burn in air as diffusion flames. As a result of the interaction of a diffusion flame with burner or condensed-fuel surfaces, a quenched space is formed, thus leaving a diffusion flame edge, which plays an important role in flame holding in combustion systems and fire spread through condensed fuels. Despite a long history of jet diffusion flame studies, lifting/blowoff mechanisms have not yet been fully understood, compared to those of premixed flames. In this study, the structure and stability of diffusion flames of gaseous hydrocarbon fuels in coflowing air at normal earth gravity have been investigated experimentally and computationally. Measurements of the critical mean jet velocity (U(sub jc)) of methane, ethane, or propane at lifting or blowoff were made as a function of the coflowing air velocity (U(sub a)) using a tube burner (i.d.: 2.87 mm) (Fig. 1, left). By using a computational fluid dynamics code with 33 species and 112 elementary reaction steps, the internal chemical-kinetic structures of the stabilizing region of methane and propane flames were investigated (Fig. 1, right). A peak reactivity spot, i.e., reaction kernel, is formed in the flame stabilizing region due to back-diffusion of heat and radical species against an oxygen-rich incoming flow, thus holding the trailing diffusion flame. The simulated flame base moved downstream under flow conditions close to the measured stability limit.

Takahashi, Fumiaki↗

Orbiter Boundary Layer Transition Prediction Tool Enhancements

Updates to an analytic tool developed for Shuttle support to predict the onset of boundary layer transition resulting from thermal protection system damage or repair are presented. The boundary layer transition tool is part of a suite of tools that analyze the local aerothermodynamic environment to enable informed disposition of damage for making recommendations to fly as is or to repair. Using mission specific trajectory information and details of each d agmea site or repair, the expected time (and thus Mach number) of transition onset is predicted to help define proper environments for use in subsequent thermal and stress analysis of the thermal protection system and structure. The boundary layer transition criteria utilized within the tool were updated based on new local boundary layer properties obtained from high fidelity computational solutions. Also, new ground-based measurements were obtained to allow for a wider parametric variation with both protuberances and cavities and then the resulting correlations were calibrated against updated flight data. The end result is to provide correlations that allow increased confidence with the resulting transition predictions. Recently, a new approach was adopted to remove conservatism in terms of sustained turbulence along the wing leading edge. Finally, some of the newer flight data are also discussed in terms of how these results reflect back on the updated correlations.

Berry, Scott A.↗

Diffusion Flame Stabilization

Diffusion flames are commonly used for industrial burners in furnaces and flares. Oxygen/fuel burners are usually diffusion burners, primarily for safety reasons, to prevent flashback and explosion in a potentially dangerous system. Furthermore, in most fires, condensed materials pyrolyze, vaporize, and burn in air as diffusion flames. As a result of the interaction of a diffusion flame with burner or condensed-fuel surfaces, a quenched space is formed, thus leaving a diffusion flame edge, which plays an important role in flame holding in combustion systems and fire spread through condensed fuels. Despite a long history of jet diffusion flame studies, lifting/blowoff mechanisms have not yet been fully understood, compared to those of premixed flames. In this study, the structure and stability of diffusion flames of gaseous hydrocarbon fuels in coflowing air at normal earth gravity have been investigated experimentally and computationally. Measurements of the critical mean jet velocity (U(sub jc)) of methane, ethane, or propane at lifting or blowoff were made as a function of the coflowing air velocity (U(sub a)) using a tube burner (i.d.: 2.87 mm). By using a computational fluid dynamics code with 33 species and 112 elementary reaction steps, the internal chemical-kinetic structures of the stabilizing region of methane and propane flames were investigated. A peak reactivity spot, i.e., reaction kernel, is formed in the flame stabilizing region due to back-diffusion of heat and radical species against an oxygen-rich incoming flow, thus holding the trailing diffusion flame. The simulated flame base moved downstream under flow conditions close to the measured stability limit.

Takahashi, Fumiaki↗