An Experimental and Computational Investigation of Oscillating Airfoil Unsteady Aerodynamics at Large Mean Incidence


Book Description

A major challenge in the design and development of turbomachine airfoils for gas turbine engines is high cycle fatigue failures due to flutter and aerodynamically induced forced vibrations. In order to predict the aeroelastic response of gas turbine airfoils early in the design phase, accurate unsteady aerodynamic models are required. However, accurate predictions of flutter and forced vibration stress at all operating conditions have remained elusive. The overall objectives of this research program are to develop a transition model suitable for unsteady separated flow and quantify the effects of transition on airfoil steady and unsteady aerodynamics for attached and separated flow using this model. Furthermore, the capability of current state-of-the-art unsteady aerodynamic models to predict the oscillating airfoil response of compressor airfoils over a range of realistic reduced frequencies, Mach numbers, and loading levels will be evaluated through correlation with benchmark data. This comprehensive evaluation will assess the assumptions used in unsteady aerodynamic models. The results of this evaluation can be used to direct improvement of current models and the development of future models. The transition modeling effort will also make strides in improving predictions of steady flow performance of fan and compressor blades at off-design conditions. This report summarizes the progress and results obtained in the first year of this program. These include: installation and verification of the operation of the parallel version of TURBO; the grid generation and initiation of steady flow simulations of the NASA/Pratt&Whitney airfoil at a Mach number of 0.5 and chordal incidence angles of 0 and 10 deg.; and the investigation of the prediction of laminar separation bubbles on a NACA 0012 airfoil.Capece, Vincent R. and Platzer, Max F.Glenn Research CenterUNSTEADY AERODYNAMICS; TURBOMACHINERY; AIRFOILS; AEROELASTICITY; GAS TURBINE ENGINES; INCIDENCE; FORCED VIBRATION




Experimental and Computational Investigation of Lift-Enhancing Tabs on a Multi-Element Airfoil


Book Description

An experimental and computational investigation of the effect of lift-enhancing tabs on a two-element airfoil has been conducted. The objective of the study was to develop an understanding of the flow physics associated with lift-enhancing tabs on a multi-element airfoil. An NACA 63(2)-215 ModB airfoil with a 30% chord fowler flap was tested in the NASA Ames 7- by 10-Foot Wind Tunnel. Lift-enhancing tabs of various heights were tested on both the main element and the flap for a variety of flap riggings. A combination of tabs located at the main element and flap trailing edges increased the airfoil lift coefficient by 11% relative to the highest lift coefficient achieved by any baseline configuration at an angle of attack of 0 deg, and C(sub 1max) was increased by 3%. Computations of the flow over the two-element airfoil were performed using the two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes code INS2D-UP. The computed results predicted all of the trends observed in the experimental data quite well. In addition, a simple analytic model based on potential flow was developed to provide a more detailed understanding of how lift-enhancing tabs work. The tabs were modeled by a point vortex at the air-foil or flap trailing edge. Sensitivity relationships were derived which provide a mathematical basis for explaining the effects of lift-enhancing tabs on a multi-element airfoil. Results of the modeling effort indicate that the dominant effects of the tabs on the pressure distribution of each element of the airfoil can be captured with a potential flow model for cases with no flow separation. Ashby, Dale L. Ames Research Center LIFT; AIRFOILS; TABS (CONTROL SURFACES); WIND TUNNEL TESTS; ANGLE OF ATTACK; NAVIER-STOKES EQUATION; COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS; GRID GENERATION (MATHEMATICS); AIRFOIL PROFILES; FLAPS (CONTROL SURFACES); TRAILING EDGES; INCOMPRESSIBLE FLOW; DATA CORRELATION; PREDICTION ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES; VORTICES; POTENTIAL FLOW; PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION; AERODYNAMIC C...




Comparison of Theoretical and Experimental Unsteady Aerodynamics of Linear Oscillating Cascade with Supersonic Leading-Edge Locus


Book Description

An experimental influence coefficient technique was used to obtain unsteady aerodynamic influence coefficients and, consequently, unsteady pressures for a cascade of symmetric airfoils oscillating in pitch about mid-chord. Stagger angles of 0 deg and 10 deg were investigated for a cascade with a gap-to-chord ratio of 0.417 operating at an axial Mach number of 1.9, resulting in a supersonic leading-edge locus. Reduced frequencies ranged from 0.056 to 0.2. The influence coefficients obtained determine the unsteady pressures for any interblade phase angle. The unsteady pressures were compared with those predicted by several algorithms for interblade phase angles of 0 deg and 180 deg.Ramsey, John K. and Erwin, DanGlenn Research CenterUNSTEADY AERODYNAMICS; INFLUENCE COEFFICIENT; PRESSURE MEASUREMENT; PRESSURE OSCILLATIONS; WIND TUNNEL TESTS; CASCADE FLOW; MACH NUMBER; SUPERSONIC FLUTTER; AIRFOIL OSCILLATIONS; PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION; SUPERSONIC WIND TUNNELS




An Experimental Investigation of Unsteady Surface Pressure on an Airfoil in Turbulence


Book Description

Measurements of fluctuating surface pressure were made on a NACA 0015 airfoil immersed in grid generated turbulence. The airfoil model has a 2 ft chord and spans the 6 ft Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel test section. Two grids were used to investigate the effects of turbulence length scale on the surface pressure response. A large grid which produced turbulence with an integral scale 13% of the chord and a smaller grid which produced turbulence with an integral scale 1.3% of the chord. Measurements were performed at angles of attack, alpha from 0 to 20 . An array of microphones mounted subsurface was used to measure the unsteady surface pressure. The goal of this measurement was to characterize the effects of angle of attack on the inviscid response. Lift spectra calculated from pressure measurements at each angle of attack revealed two distinct interaction regions; for omega(sub r) = omega b / U(sub infinity) is less than 10 a reduction in unsteady lift of up to 7 decibels (dB) occurs while an increase occurs for omega(sub r) is greater than 10 as the angle of attack is increased. The reduction in unsteady lift at low omega(sub r) with increasing angle of attack is a result that has never before been shown either experimentally or theoretically. The source of the reduction in lift spectral level appears to be closely related to the distortion of inflow turbulence based on analysis of surface pressure spanwise correlation length scales. Furthermore, while the distortion of the inflow appears to be critical in this experiment, this effect does not seem to be significant in larger integral scale (relative to the chord) flows based on the previous experimental work of McKeough suggesting the airfoils size relative to the inflow integral scale is critical in defining how the airfoil will respond under variation of angle of attack. A prediction scheme is developed that correctly accounts for the effects of distortion when the inflow integral scale is small relative t




Comparison of Computational and Experimental Results for a Supercritical Airfoil


Book Description

A computational investigation was performed to study the flow over a supercritical airfoil model. Solutions were obtained for steady-state transonic flow conditions using a thin-layer Navier-Stokes flow solver. The results from this computational study were compared with time-averaged experimental data obtained over a wide Reynolds number range at transonic speeds in the Langley 0.3-Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel. Comparisons were made at a nominal Mach number of 0.72 and at Reynolds numbers ranging from 6 x 10(exp 6) to 35 x 10(exp 6). Rivers, Melissa B. and Wahls, Richard A. Langley Research Center RTOP 505-59-10-31...




Analysis of Low-Speed Unsteady Airfoil Flows


Book Description

The standard textbooks on aerodynamics usually omit any discussion of un steady aerodynamics or, at most, consider it only in a single chapter, based on two justifications. The first is that unsteady aerodynamics should be regarded as a specialized subject required "only" in connection with understanding and an alyzing aeroelastic phenomena such as flutter and gust response, and therefore should be dealt with in related specialist books. The second reason appears to be reluctance to discuss aerodynamics with the inclusion of the time-dependent terms in the conservation equations and the boundary conditions for fear that added complications may discourage the reader. We take the opposite view in this book and argue that a full understanding of the physics of lift generation is possible only by considering the unsteady aerody namics of the starting vortex generation process. Furthermore, certain "steady" flows are inherently unsteady in the presence of flow separation, as for example the unsteady flow caused by the Karman vortex shedding downstream of a cylin der and "static" airfoil stall which is an inherently unsteady flow phenomenon. Therefore, it stands to reason that a unified treatment of aerodynamics that yields steady-state aerodynamics as a special case offers advantages. This rea soning is strengthened by the developments in computational fluid dynamics over the past forty years, which showed that accurate steady-state solutions can be obtained efficiently by solving the unsteady flow equations.




Analysis of Low-speed Unsteady Airfoil Flows


Book Description

This book provides an introduction to unsteady aerodynamics with emphasis on the analysis and computation of inviscid and viscous two-dimensional flows over airfoils at low speeds. It begins with a discussion of the physics of unsteady flows and an explanation of lift and thrust generation, airfoil flutter, gust response and dynamic stall. This is followed by an exposition of the four major calculation methods in currents use, namely inviscid-panel, boundary-layer, viscous-inviscid interaction and Navier-Stokes methods. Examples are provided to demonstrate the use of each method and panel and interactive boundary layer codes are included on the CD-ROM. Undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, scientists and engineers concerned with aeronautical, hydronautical and mechanical engineering problems will gain understanding of the physics of unsteady low-speed flows and an ability to analyze these flows with modern computational methods.







Calculation of Boundary Layers of Oscillating Airfoils


Book Description

A two-point finite difference unsteady laminar and turbulent boundary layer computational method was used to investigate the properties of the flow around an airfoil (NACA 0012) oscillating through angles of attack up to 18 degrees, for reduced frequencies of 0.01 and 0.20. The unsteady potential flow was determined using the unsteady potential flow method of Geissler. The influence of transition location on stal behavior was investigated, using both experimentally determined transition information, and transition located at the pressure peak; the results show the need for viscous-inviscid interaction in future computation of such flows. Cebeci, T. and Carr, L. W. Ames Research Center NASA-TM-85943, A-9599, NAS 1.15:85943, USAAVSCOM-TR-84-A-1 RTOP 505-31-32