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Angle of attack effect on laminar boundary layer transition on slender cone in contoured nozzle of helium tunnel, discussing Reynolds and Mach numbers effect
As part of a joint partnership between the NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) and the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI), research on advanced air data calibration methods has been in progress. This research was initiated to expand a novel pitot-static calibration method that was developed to allow rapid in-flight calibration for the NASA Airborne Subscale Transport Aircraft Research (AirSTAR) facility. This approach uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology coupled with modern system identification methods that rapidly computes optimal pressure error models over a range of airspeed with defined confidence bounds. Subscale flight tests demonstrated small 2-σ error bounds with significant reduction in test time compared to other methods. Recent UTSI full scale flight tests have shown airspeed calibrations with the same accuracy or better as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accepted GPS 'four-leg' method in a smaller test area and in less time. The current research was motivated by the desire to extend this method for inflight calibration of angle of attack (AOA) and angle of sideslip (AOS) flow vanes. An instrumented Piper Saratoga research aircraft from the UTSI was used to collect the flight test data and evaluate flight test maneuvers. Results showed that the output-error approach produces good results for flow vane calibration. In addition, maneuvers for pitot-static and flow vane calibration can be integrated to enable simultaneous and efficient testing of each system.
A preliminary wind tunnel investigation was undertaken to determine the flow correction for a vane angle of attack sensor over an angle of attack range from -10 deg to 110 deg. The sensor was mounted ahead of the wing on a 1/5 scale model of a general aviation airplane. It was shown that the flow correction was substantial, reaching about 15 deg at an angle of attack of 90 deg. The flow correction was found to increase as the sensor was moved closer to the wing or closer to the fuselage. The experimentally determined slope of the flow correction versus the measured angle of attack below the stall angle of attack agreed closely with the slope of flight data from a similar full scale airplane.
This paper presents the results of an induced angle-of-attack calculation using a method applicable to a propeller with arbitrary circulation distribution. Tables of induced angles of attack and section angles of attack and curves of wake-survey results are presented for the NACA 10-(3)(066)-03, 10-(3)(049)-03, 10-(3)(090)-03, 10-(5)(066)-03, and 10-(0)(066)-03 propellers. A brief description of the method of calculating propeller induced angles of attack is given.
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Wind-tunnel tests were conducted with three different fixed pressure-measuring hemispherical head sensor configurations which were strut-mounted on a nose boom. The tests were performed at free-stream Mach numbers from 0.2 to 3.6. The boom-angle-of-attack range was -6 to 15 deg, and the angle-of-sideslip range was -6 to 6 deg. The test Reynolds numbers were from 3.28 million to 65.6 million per meter. The results were used to obtain angle-of-attack and angle-of-sideslip calibration curves for the configurations. Signal outputs from the hemispherical head sensor had to be specially processed to obtain accurate real-time angle-of-attack and angle-of-sideslip measurements for pilot displays or aircraft systems. Use of the fixed sensors in flight showed them to be rugged and reliable and suitable for use in a high temperature environment.
In the present investigation of the vortical flowfield structure over delta wings at high angles of attack, three-dimensional Navier-Stokes numerical simulations were conducted to predict the complex leeward flowfield characteristics; these encompass leading-edge separation, secondary separation, and vortex breakdown. Attention is given to the effect on solution accuracy of circumferential grid-resolution variations in the vicinity of the wing leading edge, and well as to the effect of turbulence modeling on the solutions. When a critical angle-of-attack was reached, bubble-type vortex breakdown was found. With further angle-of-attack increase, a change from bubble-type to spiral-type vortex breakdown was predicted by the numerical solution.
Magnitudes of lags in the pneumatic angle-of-attack and angle-of-sideslip sensor systems of the YF-12A airplane were determined for a variety of flight conditions by analyzing stability and control data. The three analysis techniques used are described. An apparent trend with Mach number for measurements from both of the differential-pressure sensors showed that the lag ranged from approximately 0.15 second at subsonic speed to 0.4 second at Mach 3. Because Mach number was closely related to altitude for the available flight data, the individual effects of Mach number and altitude on the lag could not be separated clearly. However, the results indicated the influence of factors other than simple pneumatic lag.
The test was a conventional stability and control test except for two aspects. One was the very high angles of attack at which the delta wing configurations were tested (up to 60 degrees) at Mach numbers of 3 and 4.96. The other was the installation of the orbiter and twin boosters in a manner that caused the support system to induce normal forces and side forces on the aft portion of the boosters at all Mach numbers; i.e., the support and the booster bodies were close together, side by side.
Three-dimensional, viscous, and separated flows over a blunt-nose-cylinder at 20, 32, and 44-deg attack angles were computed. The approaching freestream was at a Mach number of 1.6 and a unit Reynolds number of 2 x 10 to the 6th/ft with a total temperature of 585 R. The cylinder used for the computations had a length-to-diameter ratio of 6.67 with a base diameter of 3 in. The flowfield was dominated by large-scale and multiple vortices generated by crossflow separation. The effect of turbulence on the flow structure of one case was modeled algebraically with modifications to correct the length and velocity scales in the regions of separation. The mass averaged Navier-Stokes equations were solved by an approximately factored, upwind-biased, implicit, finite volume scheme. The initialization of the flows was enhanced by a mesh sequencing strategy applied to the diagonalized form of the discretized equations. The convergence to steady-state was accelerated by a multigrid algorithm and using the block inversions for the discretized equations. Calculations were compared with experimental results.
Ballistic range tests were conducted to determine the effect of an asymmetrically ablated heat shield on the trim angle of attack of an entry vehicle. The tests, which were in support of Project Galileo, were conducted in atmospheric air at Mach numbers from 0.7 to 2.0. For the results for the configuration that was tested, the deduced trim angle varied between 13 deg and 21 deg.
Static yawing moments and some instantaneous yawing moments are presented through a range of angle of attack at zero sideslip angle for a plain fuselage model having a sharp conical nose and for the fuselage with several nose modifications, one of which consisted of a ring located at different stations along the nose. Some circumferential pressure measurements at one station on the body at several angles of attack are also presented.
Pressure distributions on flat plate delta wing swept 65 deg at hypersonic speeds at angles of attack from 65 deg to 115 deg and angles of roll from 0 deg to 25 deg at 90 deg angle of attack
A comprehensive investigation into the flow correction for an angle of attack sensor mounted ahead of the wing tip of a general aviation research airplane has been conducted at the Langley Research Center. This correction has been determined in wind tunnels using a full-scale model up to angles of attack of 45 deg and a 1/5-scale model up to 80 deg angle of attack. The flow correction has also been obtained in flight by using a standard technique at low angles of attack and in spinning flight at larger angles of attack, by using both a simple approximate technique and a parameter estimation technique. The results show the correction is significant, reaching 10 deg at a measured angle of attack of about 90 deg. The flow correction was sensitive to the angle of sideslip at measured angles of attack greater than 60 deg and was not influenced by wing leading-edge modifications or aileron deflections.
Static and propulsive performance characteristics of ducted fan at zero angle of attack for several fan blade angles
At high angles of attack, vortical flows play a crucial role in the maintenance of lift for fighter aircraft. However, under certain conditions, the vortical flow can have an adverse effect on the aircraft. On the F/A-18 the LEX vortex can impinge on the tail; at high angles of attack the unsteady flow from vortex bursting can cause structural fatigue on the vertical tails. At high angles of attack, the flow field can be quite complex, and a computational analysis challenging. A full configuration analysis with viscous structured grids can be computationally expensive and the task of generating the requisite grids can be quite difficult. To mitigate these difficulties and provide a medium-fidelity analysis tool, a hybrid structured/unstructured approach was adopted for this work. In this analysis, the formation and roll-up of the LEX vortex is computed with a structured Navier-Stokes solver, and the resulting vortex propagated downstream with an unstructured Euler solver.
Aerodynamic characteristics of canopy paraglider for instrument recovery - mach number, angle of attack, sideslip angle
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