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At least 1,693 records · Page 94

Thermochemical nonequilibrium and radiative interactions in supersonic hydrogen-air combustion

The two-dimensional, elliptic Navier-Stokes equations are used to investigate supersonic flows with nonequilibrium chemistry and thermodynamics, coupled with radiation, for hydrogen-air systems. The chemistry source term in the species equation is treated implicitly to alleviate the stiffness associated with fast reactions. The explicit, unsplit MacCormack finite-difference scheme is used to advance the governing equations in time, until convergence is achieved. The specific problem considered is the premixed, expanding flow in a supersonic nozzle. The reacting flow consists of seven species, one of which is the inert N2 molecule. The thermal state of the gas is modeled with one translational-rotational temperature and five vibrational temperatures. The harmonic oscillator model is used in the formulation for vibrational relaxation. The tangent slab approximation is used in the radiative flux formulation. A pseudo-gray model is used to represent the absorption-emission characteristics of the participating species. Results obtained for specific conditions indicate the presence of nonequilibrium in the expansion region. This reduces the radiative interactions and can have a significant influence on the flowfield.

Chandrasekhar, R.↗

Computation of losses in a scramjet combustor

The losses in a conceptual scramjet combustor at flight Mach numbers of 8, 10, 12, 16 and 20 are computed. These losses are extracted from three-dimensional parabolized Navier-Stokes solutions of the turbulent, reacting combustor flow field. A combustor performance index was defined based on the rationale that an efficient scramjet combustor should add heat to the fluid in such a manner as to maximize the stream thrust at the combustor exit while minimizing the losses. This index showed a decrease of more than 40 percent as the flight Mach number increased from 8 to 20, indicative of a drop in the thrust-producing potential of the scramjet at the upper end of the speed regime studied. A breakdown of the losses showed that dissipation, nonequilibrium chemistry and heat diffusion contributed roughly 15 percent, 35 percent, and 50 percent to the irreversible increase in entropy at Mach 8 and 22 percent, 13 and 65 percent at Mach 20.

Kamath, Pradeep S.↗

Low thrust chemical rocket technology

A technology program aimed at improving the performance of low thrust chemical rockets for spacecraft onboard applications is reviewed. Navier-Stokes analyses of low Reynolds number rocket flows have been compared with local flow property measurements obtained using Rayleigh and Raman diagnostics in a 100 N gaseous hydrogen/gaseous oxygen rocket. It is indicated that computational domain should include the near injector flow and that the shear layer combustion model needs improvement. The system analyses and technical efforts intended to develop a technology base for higher performance propellants are presented. A LOX/hydrazine engine is demonstrated to have a 95 percent theoretical c-star which translates into a projected vacuum specific impulse of 345 seconds at an area ratio of 204:1.

Schneider, Steven J.↗

A sensitivity study for pneumatic vortex control on a chined forebody

A study was conducted to assess the sensitivity of yaw control on a chined forebody to the longitudinal location of a blowing slot at the chine edge. In addition, the effects of port blowing were also studied. NASA Langley's thin-layer Navier-Stokes code CFL3D was used to compare flow field characteristics and total yawing moment coefficients for the blowing configurations. Based upon equivalent blowing momentum coefficients, a significant increase in yaw control effectiveness was attained from the forward slot, relative to the aft slot, and port blowing was less effective than either slot blowing configuration.

Boalbey, R. E.↗

A parametric study of bleed in shock boundary layer interactions

A numerical investigation was conducted to study the effect of bleed configuration on oblique-shock wave/turbulent boundary-layer interactions. Bleed is applied through a normal slot across the shock impingement location. The numerical solution to the compressible Navier-Stokes equations is obtained for the turbulent flow throughout the interaction zone and inside the bleed slot for bleed mass flow rates up to 57 percent of the boundary layer mass flow upstream of the interaction. The results indicate that the bleed slot performance improves as the slot width decreases and the length to width ratio increases. This is reflected as an increase in the bleed discharge coefficient and total pressure, and a reduction in the boundary layer momentum and displacement thickness downstream.

Hamed, A.↗

Application of a Reynolds stress turbulence model to a supersonic radiating hydrogen-air diffusion flame

A second-order differential Reynolds Stress turbulence model has been applied to the Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for the study of supersonic flows with finite-rate chemistry and radiation. An assumed Beta Probability Density Function is applied to account for the chemical source terms and the radiative flux terms in the conservation equations. A seven-species, seven-reaction finite rate chemistry mechanism is used to simulate the combustion process. The tangent slab approximation is used in radiative flux formulation. A pseudo-gray gas model is used to represent the absorption-emission characteristics of the participating species. The turbulence/radiation interaction is achieved via a new formulation. The resulting formulation is validated by comparison with experimental data on reacting supersonic axisymmetric jets. Results obtained for specific conditions indicate that the effect of chemical reaction on the turbulence is significant. Also, the radiative heat transfer is enhanced by the turbulence.

Chandrasekhar, R.↗

Navier-Stokes computations and experimental comparisons for multielement airfoil configurations

A two-dimensional unstructured Navier-Stokes code is utilized for computing the flow around multielement configurations. Comparisons are shown for a landing configuration with an advanced-technology flap as well as for a takeoff configuration. For each, a grid convergence study is conducted to assess inaccuracies caused by inadequate grid resolution. Although adequate resolution is obtained for determining the pressure distributions, further refinement is needed to sufficiently resolve the velocity profiles at high angles of attack. For the advanced flap configuration, comparisons of pressure distributions and lift are made with experimental data. Here, two flap riggings and two Reynolds numbers are considered. In general, the trends caused by variations in these quantities are well predicted by the computations, although the angle of attack for maximum lift is overpredicted. For the takeoff configuration, comparisons between pressures, velocity profiles, and Reynolds stresses are made at a single angle of attack with generally good agreement.

Anderson, W. K.↗

Wall shear stress estimates in coronary artery constrictions

Wall shear stress estimates from laminar boundary layer theory were found to agree fairly well with the magnitude of shear stress levels along coronary artery constrictions obtained from solutions of the Navier Stokes equations for both steady and pulsatile flow. The relatively simple method can be used for in vivo estimates of wall shear stress in constrictions by using a vessel shape function determined from a coronary angiogram, along with a knowledge of the flow rate.

Back, L. H.↗

Navier-Stokes analysis of three-dimensional S-ducts

Full 3D Navier-Stokes computational results are presented for compressible flows within nondiffusing and diffusing S-ducts. The present study provides an understanding of the performance characteristics of typical S-ducts with attached and separated flows and provides a frame of reference for future computational fluid dynamic studies of internal flows with strong secondary flows. The predicted results, which were obtained using both H- and O-grids, are compared with the experimental wall pressures, static and total pressure fields, and velocity vectors. In addition, computed boundary-layer thickness, velocity profiles in wall coordinates and skin friction values are presented. The inviscid contributions to the secondary flows are quantified. The S-duct entrance Mach number was 0.6, and the Reynolds number was 1.76 x 10 exp 6 based on the upstream duct diameter.

Harloff, G. J.↗

A zonal CFD method for three-dimensional wing simulations

The primary objective of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility of a 3D potential/viscous flow coupling procedure for reducing computational effort while maintaining solution accuracy. The closed-loop, overlapped, velocity-coupling concept has been developed in a new code, ZAP3D, that couples a potential flow panel code with a Navier-Stokes method. The current ZAP3D calculation for an aspect ratio 5 wing with an outer domain radius of about 1.2 chords represents a speed-up in CPU time over the ARC3D large domain calculation by about a factor of 2.5. This improvement is achieved for less than a 0.5 percent deviation in C(L), 10 counts change in C(D), and 0.0015 variation in C(My). Additional reductions in the required computational domain for ZAP3D are expected as the method is further developed and refined.

Summa, J. M.↗

Navier-Stokes computations on full-span wing-body configuration with oscillating control surfaces

Unsteady Navier-Stokes simulations have been performed for vortical flows over an 'arrow-wing' configuration of a supersonic transport in the transonic regime. Computed steady pressures and integrated force coefficients with and without control surface deflection at a moderate angle of attack are compared with experiment. For unsteady cases, oscillating trailing-edge control surfaces are modeled by using moving grids. Response characteristics between symmetric and anti-symmetric oscillatory motions of the control surfaces on the left and right wings are studied. The anti-symmetric case produces higher lift than the steady case with no deflection, and the unsteady symmetric case produces higher lift than the anti-symmetric case. The detailed analysis of the wake structure revealed a strong interaction between the primary vortex and the wake vortex sheet from the flap region when the flap is deflected up.

Obayashi, Shigeru↗

Methods for direct simulation of transition in hypersonic boundary layers

An implicit numerical algorithm for the time accurate solution of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations is described. Results for steady flow past a finite flat plate are presented, together with preliminary results for the temporal simulation of second mode instability in a flat plate boundary layer at Mach 4.5.

Vandervegt, J. J. W.↗

Effects of sweepback on boundary layer and separation

Following the law of stress adopted in the Navier-Stokes equations, the configuration of the viscous flow in planes at right angles to the axis of an infinite cylinder is found to be independent of the axial motion of the cylinder. In the limiting case of a yawed or swept wing of very high aspect ratio, certain boundary-layer and separation phenomena are thus determined independently by the crosswise component of velocity.

Jones, Robert T↗

Effects of sweepback on boundary layer and separation

Following a law of stress adopted in the Navier-Stokes equations, the configuration of the viscous flow in planes at right angles to the axis of an infinite cylinder is found to be independent of the axial motion of the cylinder. In the limiting case of a yawed or swept wing of very high aspect ratio, certain boundary-layer and separation phenomena are thus determined independently by the crosswise component of velocity. It follows that the effect of sweepback is to increase the area of stable laminar flow and to decrease the lift coefficient at which flow separation occurs.

Jones, Robert T↗

Prediction and control of vortex-dominated and vortex-wake flows

This progress report documents the accomplishments achieved in the period from December 1, 1992 until November 30, 1993. These accomplishments include publications, national and international presentations, NASA presentations, and the research group supported under this grant. Topics covered by documents incorporated into this progress report include: active control of asymmetric conical flow using spinning and rotary oscillation; supersonic vortex breakdown over a delta wing in transonic flow; shock-vortex interaction over a 65-degree delta wing in transonic flow; three dimensional supersonic vortex breakdown; numerical simulation and physical aspects of supersonic vortex breakdown; and prediction of asymmetric vortical flows around slender bodies using Navier-Stokes equations.

Kandil, Osama↗

New constitutive equation for the volume viscosity in fluids

The traditional volume viscosity, Stokes' hypothesis, and acoustical relaxation are reviewed. The lossy Navier-Stokes Equation is applied to periodic (acoustic) flow, and it is shown that the traditional volume viscosity leads to a result which contradicts that describing acoustical relaxation. It is demonstrated that the addition of a second volume viscosity term to the constitutive equation, to account for pressure relaxation, resolves the conflict, and leads to a direct correspondence between the volume viscosity parameters and the acoustical relaxation parameters. The representation of volume viscosity is formulated for the case of multiple relaxations, as occur in air. Finally, an application of the new constitutive equation to a simple convective compressible flow, namely a linearly accelerating flow, demonstrates the impact of volume viscosity upon the flow and the physical conditions for which it is important.

Zuckerwar, Allan J.↗

An outflow boundary condition for aeroacoustic computations

A formulation of boundary condition for flows with small disturbances is presented. The authors test their methodology in an axisymmetric jet flow calculation, using both the Navier-Stokes and Euler equations. Solutions in the far field are assumed to be oscillatory. If the oscillatory disturbances are small, the growth of the solution variables can be predicted by linear theory. Eigenfunctions of the linear theory are used explicitly in the formulation of the boundary conditions. This guarantees correct solutions at the boundary in the limit where the predictions of linear theory are valid.

Hayder, M. Ehtesham↗

Design of ETO Propulsion Turbine Using CFD Analyses

As one of the activities of the NASA/MSFC Turbine Technology Team, the present effort focused on using CFD in the design and analysis of high performance rocket engine pumps. A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code was used for various turbine flow field calculations, with emphasis on the tip clearance flow and the associated losses. Both a baseline geometry and an advanced-concept geometry (with a mini-shroud at the blade tip) were studied at several tip clearances. The calculations performed under the present effort demonstrate that a state-of-the-art CFD code can be applied successfully to turbine design and the development of advanced hardware concepts.

Dejong, F. J.↗