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At least 1,603 records · Page 89

Aerodynamic Loads on an External Store Adjacent to a 45 Degree Sweptback Wing at Mach Numbers from 0.70 to 1.96, Including an Evaluation of Techniques Used

Aerodynamic forces and moments have been obtained in the Langley 9- by 12-inch blowdown tunnel on an external store and on a 45 degree swept-back wing-body combination measured separately at Mach numbers from 0.70 to 1.96. The wing was cantilevered and had an aspect ratio of 4.0; the store was independently sting-mounted and had a Douglas Aircraft Co. (DAC) store shape. The angle of attack range was from -3 degrees to 12 degrees and the Reynolds number (based on wing mean aerodynamic chord) varied from 1.2 x10(6) to 1.7 x 10(6). Wing-body transonic forces and moments have been compared with data of a geometrically similar full-scale model tested in the Langley 16-foot and 8-foot transonic tunnels in order to aid in the evaluation of transonic-tunnel interference. The principal effect of the store, for the position tested, was that of delaying the wing-fuselage pitch-up tendency to higher angles of attack at Mach numbers from 0.70 to 0.90 in a manner similar to that of a wing chord extension. The most critical loading condition on the store was that due to side force, not only because the loads were of large magnitude but also because they were in the direction of least structural strength of the supporting pylon. These side loads were greatest at high angles of attack in the supersonic speed range. Removal of the supporting pylon (or increasing the gap between the store and wing) reduced the values of the variation of side-force coefficientwith angle of attack by about 50 percent at all test Mach numbers, indicating that important reductions in store side force may be realized by proper design or location of the necessary supporting pylon. A change of the store skew angle (nose inboard) was found to relieve the excessive store side loads throughout the Mach number range. It was also determined that the relative position of the fuselage nose to the store can appreciably affect the store side forces at supersonic speeds.

Guy, Lawrence D↗

The effects of lateral aerodynamic uncertainties on the handling qualities of the space shuttle orbiter at Mach numbers of 1.5 and .6

The effects of aerodynamic uncertainties on the handling qualities of the space shuttle orbiter were investigated with the use of six-degree-of-freedom, nonlinear equations of motion on the hybrid computer system. Flight condition characteristics for Mach numbers of 1.5 and .6 for the nominal and off nominal angle of attack conditions were selected for this investigation. Results revealed that at the low Mach number condition (.6), only a few problems existed for the angle of attack range considered and the many combinations of large aerodynamic variations considered. Moreover, none of these problems were considered to be related to poor handling qualities. For the angle of attack conditions considered at the high Mach number (1.5) problems existed with reduction of roll rate which can result in roll reversal conditions. In many cases, sideslip became proverse and increased rudder deflections and yaw jets were required.

Brown, L. W.↗

A Method of Determining Aerodynamic-Influence Coefficients from Wind-Tunnel Data for Wings at Supersonic Speeds

A method is described for determining aerodynamic-influence coefficients from wind-tunnel data for calculating the steady-state load distribution on a wing with arbitrary angle-of-attack distribution at supersonic speeds. The method combines linearized theory with empirical adjustments in order to give accurate results over a wide range of angles of attack. The experimented data required are pressure distributions measured on a flat wing of the desired planform at the desired Mach number and over the desired range of angles of attack. The method has been tested by applying it to wind-tunnel data measured at Mach numbers of 1.61 and 2.01 on wings of the same planform but of different surface shapes. Influence coefficients adjusted to fit the flat wing gave good predictions of the spanwise and chord-wise distributions of loadings measured on twisted and cambered wings.

Gainer, Patrick A.↗

UAE6 - Wind Tunnel Tests Data - UAE6 - Sequence O - Raw Data

Sequence O: Sin AOA, Parked (P) This sequence was designed to quantify the blade 3-D unsteady aerodynamic response in the absence of rotational influences by varying blade pitch angle. This test sequence used an upwind, rigid turbine with a 0° cone angle. The wind speed ranged from 18.9 m/s to 39.3 m/s, and the yaw angle was 0° throughout the sequence. The rotor was parked with the instrumented blade fixed at 0° azimuth, and the rotor lock was installed (see Appendix A). Blade and probe pressure measurements were collected. The teeter dampers were replaced with rigid links, and these two channels were flagged as not applicable by setting the measured values in the data file to -99999.99 Nm. The teeter link load cell was pre-tensioned to 40,000 N. Sinusoidal angle-of-attack histories were designed to emulate 2-D S809 dynamic data obtained at the OSU wind tunnel (Reuss Ramsey et al. 1995) as well as 1P yawed flow angle-of-attack variations the turbine could be expected to encounter in routine operation. The reduced frequency (K), mean angle of attack (αm), and oscillation amplitude (αω) were computed for each of the five primary span locations. The file lengths varied according to the time required to complete 40 oscillations at the specified frequency. The file name convention used the sequence designation O, followed by two digits for the span location (30, 47, 80, or 95), followed by two digits representing the condition specified in the test matrix, followed by the repetition digit. Due to time constraints, the test conditions corresponding to the 63% span location were eliminated. Test points with a static pitch angle of 3° were collected throughout the sequence to ascertain instrumentation fidelity.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Analysis of an advanced ducted propeller subsonic inlet

A time marching Navier-Stokes code called PARC (PARC2D for 2-D/axisymmetric and PARC3D for 3-D flow simulations) was validated for an advanced ducted propeller (ADP) subsonic inlet. The code validation for an advanced ducted propeller (ADP) subsonic inlet. The code validation was implemented for a non-separated flow condition associated with the inlet operating at angles-of-attack of 0 and 25 degrees. The inlet test data were obtained in the 9 x 15 ft Low Speed Wind Tunnel at NASA Lewis Research Center as part of a cooperative study with Pratt and Whitney. The experimental study focused on the ADP inlet performance for take-off and approach conditions. The inlet was tested at a free stream Mach number of 0.2, at angles-of-attack between O and 35 degrees, and at a maximum propeller speed of 12,000 RPM which induced a corrected air flow rate of about 46 lb/sec based on standard day conditions. The computational grid and flow boundary conditions (BC) were based on the actual inlet geometry and the funnel flow conditions. At the propeller face, two types of BC's were applied: a mass flow BC and a fixed flow properties BC. The fixed flow properties BC was based on a combination of data obtained from the experiment and calculations using a potential flow code. Comparison of the computational results with the test data indicates that the PARC code with the propeller face fixed flow properties BC provided a better prediction of the inlet surface static pressures than the predictions when the mass flow BC was used. For an angle-of-attack of 0 degrees, the PARC2D code with the propeller face mass flow BC provided a good prediction of inlet static pressures except in the region of high pressure gradient. With the propeller face fixed flow properties BC, the PARC2D code provided a good prediction of the inlet static pressures. For an angle-of-attack of 25 degrees with the mass flow BC, the PARC3D code predicted statis pressures which deviated significantly from the test data; however, with the fixed flow properties BC, a good comparison with the test data was obtained.

Iek, Chanthy↗

Distortion in a full-scale bicone inlet with internal focused compression and 45 percent internal contraction

The distortion characteristics were investigated at the subsonic diffuser exit of a full-scale, Mach 2.5, axisymmetric, mixed compression inlet. Performance and steady-state distortion characteristics were obtained at zero and maximum angle of attack and during an inlet unstart-restart sequence. For the configuration with no cowl bleed, steady-state distortion P(max)P(min)P(bar) ranged from 0.10 for critical inlet operation at 0 deg angle-of-attack to 0.306 for supercritical inlet operation at 6.84 deg angle-of-attack. Vortex generators provided a 50 percent reduction in steady-state distortion for critical operation. Bleed has a smaller effect on steady-stated distortion.

Wasserbauer, J. F.↗

Unsteady potential flow past a propeller blade section

An analytical study was conducted to predict the effect of an oscillating stream on the time dependent sectional pressure and lift coefficients of a model propeller blade. The assumption is that as the blade sections encounter a wake, the actual angles of attack vary in a sinusoidal manner through the wake, thus each blade is exposed to an unsteady stream oscillating about a mean value at a certain reduced frequency. On the other hand, an isolated propeller at some angle of attack can experience periodic changes in the value of the flow angle causing unsteady loads on the blades. Such a flow condition requires the inclusion of new expressions in the formulation of the unsteady potential flow around the blade sections. These expressions account for time variation of angle of attack and total shed vortices in the wake of each airfoil section. It was found that the final expressions for the unsteady pressure distribution on each blade section are periodic and that the unsteady circulation and lift coefficients exhibit a hysteresis loop.

Takallu, M. A.↗

Results of a low-speed wind tunnel test of the MDC 2.2M supersonic cruise aircraft configuration

Results of a low speed test conducted in the Full Scale Tunnel at NASA Langley using an advanced supersonic cruise vehicle configuration are presented. These tests used a 10 percent scale model of a configuration that had demonstrated high aerodynamic performance at Mach 2.2 during a previous test program. The low speed model has leading and trailing edge flaps designed to improve low speed lift to drag ratios at high lift and includes devices for longitudinal and lateral/directional control. The results obtained during the low speed test program have shown that full span leading edge flaps are required for maximum performance. The amount of deflection of the leading edge flap must increase with C sub L to obtain the maximum benefit. Over 80 percent of full leading edge suction was obtained up to lift off C sub L's of 0.65. A mild pitch up occurred at about 6 deg angle of attack with and without the leading edge flap deflected. The pitch up is controllable with the horizontal tail. Spoilers were found to be preferable to spoiler/deflectors at low speeds. The vertical tail maintained effectiveness up to the highest angle of attack tested but the tail on directional stability deteriorated at high angles of attack. Lateral control was adequate for landing at 72 m/sec in a 15.4 m/sec crosswind.

Yip, L. P.↗

Stall induced instability of a teetered rotor

Recent tests on the 38m Mod-0 horizontal experimental wind turbine yielded quantitative information on stall induced instability of a teetered rotor. Tests were conducted on rotor blades with NACA 230 series and NACA 643-618 airfoils at low rotor speeds to produce high angles of attack at relatively low wind speeds and power levels. The behavior of the rotor shows good agreement with predicted rotor response based on blade angle of attack calculations and airfoil section properties. The untwisted blades with the 64 series airfoil sections had a slower rate of onset of rotor instability when compared with the twisted 230 series blades, but high teeter angles and teeter stop impacts were experienced with both rotors as wind speeds increased to produce high angles of attack on the outboard portion of the blade. The relative importance of blade twist and airfoil section stall characteristics on the rate of onset of rotor unstability with increasing wind speed was not established however. Blade pitch was shown to be effective in eliminating rotor instability at the expense of some loss in rotor performance near rated wind speed.

Glasgow, J. C.↗

Water tunnel flow visualization study of a 4.4 percent scale X-31 forebody

A water-tunnel test of a 4.4 percent-scale, forebody-only model of the X-31 aircraft with different forebody strakes and nosebooms has been performed in the Flow Visualization Facility at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The focus of the study was to determine the relative effects of the different configurations on the stability and symmetry of the high-angle-of-attack forebody vortex flow field. The clean, noseboom-off configuration resisted the development of asymmetries in the primary vortices through 70 deg angle of attack. The wake of the X-31 flight test noseboom configuration significantly degraded the steadiness of the primary vortex cores and promoted asymmetries. An alternate L-shaped noseboom mounted underneath the forebody had results similar to those seen with the configuration, enabling stable, symmetrical vortices up to 70 deg angle of attack. The addition of strakes near the radome tip along the waterline increased the primary vortex strength while it simultaneously caused the vortex breakdown location co move forward. Forebody strakes did not appear to significantly reduce the asymmetries in the forebody vortex field in the presence of the flight test noseboom.

Cobleigh, Brent R.↗

A finite-step method for estimating the spanwise lift distribution of wings in symmetric, yawed, and rotary flight at low speeds

The finite-step method was programmed for computing the span loading and stability derivatives of trapezoidal shaped wings in symmetric, yawed, and rotary flight. Calculations were made for a series of different wing planforms and the results compared with several available methods for estimating these derivatives in the linear angle of attack range. The agreement shown was generally good except in a few cases. An attempt was made to estimate the nonlinear variation of lift with angle of attack in the high alpha range by introducing the measured airfoil section data into the finite-step method. The numerical procedure was found to be stable only at low angles of attack.

Krenkel, A. R.↗

UAE6 - Wind Tunnel Tests Data - UAE6 - Sequence N - Raw Data

Sequence N: Sin AOA, Rotating (P) This sequence was designed to quantify the blade 3-D unsteady aerodynamic response in the presence of rotational influences by varying blade pitch angle. Test sequence N used an upwind, rigid turbine with a 0° cone angle. The wind speed was 15 m/s, and the yaw angle was 0° throughout the sequence. The rotor rotated at 72 RPM. Blade and probe pressure measurements were collected. The teeter dampers were replaced with rigid links, and these two channels were flagged as not applicable by setting the measured values in the data file to –99999.99 Nm. The teeter link load cell was pre-tensioned to 40,000 N. Sinusoidal angle-of-attack histories were designed to emulate 2-D S809 dynamic data obtained at the Ohio State University (OSU) wind tunnel (Reuss Ramsey et al. 1995) and the 1P yawed flow angle-of-attack variations the turbine could be expected to encounter in routine operation. The reduced frequency (K), mean angle of attack (αm), and oscillation amplitude (αω) were computed for each of the five primary span locations. The file lengths varied according to the time required to complete 40 oscillations at the specified frequency. The file name convention used the sequence designation N, followed by two digits for the span location (30, 47, 63, 80, or 95), followed by two digits representing the condition specified in the test matrix, followed by the repetition digit. Due to time constraints, most of the test conditions corresponding to the 63% span location were eliminated. Test points with a static pitch angle of 3° were collected throughout the sequence to ascertain instrumentation fidelity.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Experimental and numerical studies of the incompressible viscous flow over a two-dimensional airfoil

Physical and numerical experiments for the low Reynolds number flow over a two-dimensional NACA 66(3)-018 airfoil have been performed. Pressure distributions and smoke flow photographs have been obtained for a Reynolds number based on airfoil chord and free-stream conditions of approximately 40,000 at angles of attack of 0 and 6 deg, and for a Reynolds number based on airfoil chord and free-stream conditions of approximately 400,000 at angles of attack of 0 and 12 deg in a low turbulence wind tunnel. Finite difference numerical experiments, using an approximate factorization method, have been obtained for a Reynolds number of 40,000 at angles of attack of 0 and 6 deg. Although the comparison of the wind tunnel and computer results is encouraging, further studies of this type are clearly necessary.

Mueller, T. J.↗

Icing characteristics of a natural-laminar-flow, a medium-speed, and a swept, medium-speed airfoil

Tests were conducted at the Icing Research Tunnel at the NASA Lewis Research Center to determine the icing characteristics of three modern airfoils, a natural laminar flow, a medium speed and a swept medium speed airfoil. Tests measured the impingement characteristics and drag degradation for angles of attack typifying cruise and climb for cloud conditions typifying the range that might be encountered in flight. The maximum degradation occurred for the cruise angle of attack for the long glaze ice condition for all three airfoils with increases over baseline drag being 486 percent, 510 percent, and 465 percent for the natural laminar flow, the medium speed and the swept medium speed airfoil respectively. For the climb angle of attack, the maximum drag degradation (and extent of impingement) observed were also for the long glaze ice condition, and were 261 percent, 181 percent and 331 percent respectively. The minimum drag degradation (and extent of impingement) occurred for the cruise condition and for the short, rime spray which increases over baseline drag values of 47 percent, 28 percent and 46 percent respectively.

Bidwell, Colin S.↗

Bifurcation analysis of aircraft pitching motions near the stability boundary

Bifuraction theory is used to analyze the nonlinear dynamic stability characteristics of an aircraft subject to single degree of freedom pitching-motion perturbations about a large mean angle of attack. The requisite aerodynamic information in the equations of motion is represented in a form equivalent to the response to finite-amplitude pitching oscillations about the mean angle of attack. This information is deduced from the case of infinitesimal-amplitude oscillations. The bifurcation theory analysis reveals that when the mean angle of attack is increased beyond a critical value at which the aerodynamic damping vanishes, new solutions representing finite-amplitude periodic motions bifurcate from the previously stable steady motion. The sign of a simple criterion, cast in terms of aerodynamic properties, determines whether the bifurcating solutions are stable (supercritical) or unstable (subcritical). For flat-plate airfoils flying at supersonic/hypersonic speed, the bifurcation is subcritical, implying either that exchanges of stability between steady and periodic motion are accompanied by hysteresis phenomena, or that potentially large aperiodic departures from steady motion may develop.

Hui, W. H.↗

General theory of thin wing sections

This report contains a new, simple method of calculating the air forces to which thin wings are subjected at small angles of attack, if their curvature is not too great. Two simple integrals are the result. They contain only the coordinates of the wing section. The first integral gives the angle of attack at which the lift of the wing is zero, the second integral gives the moment experienced by the wing when its angle is zero. The two constants thus obtained are sufficient to determine the lift and moment for any other angle of attack. This with the theory of the aerodynamical induction, and with our empirical knowledge of the drag due to friction, the results are valuable for actual wings also. A particular result obtained is the calculation of the elevator effect. (author)

Munk, Max M↗

Navier-Stokes analysis of airfoils with leading edge ice accretions

A numerical analysis of the flowfield characteristics and the performance degradation of an airfoil with leading edge ice accretions was performed. The important fluid dynamic processes were identified and calculated. Among these were the leading edge separation bubble at low angles of attack, complete separation on the low pressure surface resulting in premature shell, drag rise due to the ice shape, and the effects of angle of attack on the separated flow field. Comparisons to experimental results were conducted to confirm these calculations. A computer code which solves the Navier-Stokes equations in two dimensions, ARC2D, was used to perform the calculations. A Modified Mixing Length turbulence model was developed to produce grids for several ice shape and airfoil combinations. Results indicate that the ability to predict overall performance characteristics, such as lift and drag, at low angles of attack is excellent. Transition location is important for accurately determining separation bubble shape. Details of the flowfield in and downstream of the separated regions requires some modifications. Calculations for the stalled airfoil indicate periodic shedding of vorticity that was generated aft of the ice accretion. Time averaged pressure values produce results which compare favorably with experimental information. A turbulence model which accounts for the history effects in the flow may be justified.

Potapczuk, Mark G.↗

Investigation in the Langley Free-Flight Tunnel of the Low-Speed Stability and Control Characteristics of a 1/10-Scale Model Simulating the Convair F-102A Airplane

An investigation of the low-speed, power-off stability and control characteristics of a 1/10-scale model simulating the Convair F-102A airplane has been made in the Langley free-flight tunnel. The model in its basic configuration and with two modifications involving leading- edge slats and an increase in vertical-tail size was flown through a lift-coefficient range from 0.7 to the stall. Only relatively low-altitude conditions were simulated. The longitudinal stability characteristics of the model were considered satisfactory for all conditions investigated. The lateral stability characteristics were considered satisfactory for the basic configuration over the lift-coefficient range investigated, except near the stall, where large values of static directional instability caused the model to be directionally divergent. An 80-percent increase in vertical-tail area increased the angle of attack at which the model became directionally divergent. The longitudinal and lateral control characteristics were generally satisfactory. Although the adverse sideslip characteristics for the model were considered acceptable over the angle-of-attack range, analysis indicates that the adverse sideslip characteristics of the airplane may be objectionable at high angles of attack.

Boisseau, Peter C.↗