Optical probing of supersonic flows with statistical correlation

Remote sensing tool reliably measures statistical properties of supersonic turbulence. Tool neither affects nor is adversely affected by flow field. Device determines characteristics of supersonic flow with optical system and provides method and apparatus for separating translational and rotational motions of turbulent structures in supersonic flow

A supersonic through-flow fan engine airframe integration study

Engine airframe integration effects are investigated for supersonic through-flow fan engines installed on a Mach 3.20 supersonic cruise vehicle. Six different supersonic through-flow fan engine installations covering the effects of engine size, nacelle contour, nacelle placement, and approximate bypass plume effects are presented. The different supersonic through-flow fan installations are compared with a conventional turbine bypass engine configuration on the same basic airframe. The supersonic through-flow fan engine integrations are shown to be comparable to the turbine bypass engine configuration on the basis of installed nacelle wave drag. The supersonic through-flow fan engine airframe integrated vehicles have superior aerodynamic performance on the basis of maximum lift-to-drag ratio than the turbine bypass engine installation over the entire operating Mach number range from 1.10 to 3.20. When approximate bypass plume modeling is included, the supersonic through-flow fan engine configuration shows even larger improvements over the turbine bypass engine configuration

Supersonic through-flow fan design

The NASA Lewis Research Center has embarked on a program to experimentally prove the concept of a supersonic through-flow fan which is to maintain supersonic velocities throughout the compression system with only weak shock-wave flow losses. The detailed design of a supersonic through-flow fan and estimated off-design performance with the use of advanced computational codes are described. A multistage compressor facility is being modified for the newly designed supersonic through-flow fan and the major aspects of this modification are briefly described

Source and vortex distributions in the linearised theory of steady supersonic flow

The hyperbolic character of the differential equation satisfied by the velocity potential in linearised supersonic flow entails the presence of fractional infinities in the fundamental solutions of the equation. Difficulties arising from this fact can be overcome by the introduction of Hadmard’s ‘finite part of an infinite integral’. Together with the definition of certain counterparts of the familiar vector operators this leads to a natural development of the analogy between incompressible flow and linearised supersonic flow. In particular, formulae are derived for the field of flow due to an arbitrary distribution of supersonic sources and vortices. Applications to Aerofoil theory, including the calculation of the downwash in the wake of an aerofoil, are given in a separate report

A preliminary design study of supersonic through-flow fan inlets

From Mach 3.20 cruise propulsion systems, preliminary design studies for two supersonic through-flow fan primary inlets and a single core inlet were undertaken. Method of characteristics and one dimensional performance techniques were applied to assess the potential improvements supersonic through-flow fan technology has over more conventional systems. A fixed geometry supersonic through-flow fan primary inlet was found to have better performance than a conventional inlet design on the basis of total pressure recovery, air flow, aerodynamic drag and size and weight

Analysis of supersonic combustion flow fields with embedded subsonic regions

The viscous characteristic analysis for supersonic chemically reacting flows was extended to include provisions for analyzing embedded subsonic regions. The numerical method developed to analyze this mixed subsonic-supersonic flow fields is described. The boundary conditions are discussed related to the supersonic-subsonic and subsonic-supersonic transition, as well as a heuristic description of several other numerical schemes for analyzing this problem. An analysis of shock waves generated either by pressure mismatch between the injected fluid and surrounding flow or by chemical heat release is also described

Supersonic combustor modeling

The physical phenomena involved when a supersonic flow undergoes chemical reaction are discussed. Detailed physical models of convective and diffusive mixing, and finite rate chemical reaction in supersonic flow are presented. Numerical algorithms used to solve the equations governing these processes are introduced. Computer programs using these algorithms are used to analyze the structure of the reacting mixing layer. It is concluded that, as in subsonic flow, exothermic heat release in unconfined supersonic flows retards fuel/air mixing. Non mixing is shown to be a potential problem in reducing the efficiency of supersonic as well as subsonic combustion. Techniques for enhancing fuel/air mixing and combustion are described

A review of instability and noise propagation in supersonic flows

Originally analytical and numerical models were to be developed for noise production in supersonic jets, wakes and free shear layers. While the effort was concentrated initially on these aspects, other topics were also pursued, most were of interest to the Jet Noise Group of the Aeroacoustics Branch. An overview is given of subjects reviewed and the investigations that were carried out. A significant effort was devoted to numerically predicting the flow field of a turbulent supersonic wall jet. This information is necessary for computing the pressure in the far field. The wall jet was selected because it represents a generic flow that can be associated with plug nozzle in supersonic engines. It combines the characteristic of a boundary layer with that of a free shear flow. The spatially evolving flow obtained using Dash's code would form the input for the stability analysis program. This analysis would determine the large scale instability wave within the flow. The far field pressure can be computed from the shape of the evolving large scale structure by asymptotic methods. Flow characteristics obtained from a program that analyses the turbulent downstream supersonic flow in a nozzle are described and compared with experimental results

Supersonic through-flow fan assessment

A study was conducted to assess the performance potential of a supersonic through-flow fan engine for supersonic cruise aircraft. It included a mean-line analysis of fans designed to operate with in-flow velocities ranging from subsonic to high supersonic speeds. The fan performance generated was used to estimate the performance of supersonic fan engines designed for four applications: a Mach 2.3 supersonic transport, a Mach 2.5 fighter, a Mach 3.5 cruise missile, and a Mach 5.0 cruise vehicle. For each application an engine was conceptualized, fan performance and engine performance calculated, weight estimates made, engine installed in a hypothetical vehicle, and mission analysis was conducted