Simulated propeller slipstream effects on a supercritical wing

To quantify the installed performance of high speed (M = 0.8) turboprop propulsion systems, an experimental program designed to assess the magnitude of the aerodynamic interference of a propeller slipstream on a supercritical wing has been conducted. The test was conducted in the NASA Ames 14-foot wind tunnel. An ejector-nacelle propeller slipstream simulator was used to produce a slipstream with characteristics typical of advanced propellers presently being investigated. A supercritical wing-body configuration was used to evaluate the interference effects. A traversing total pressure rake was used to make flow field measurements behind the wing and to calibrate the slipstream simulator. The force results indicated that the interference drag amounted to an increase of ten counts or about 3% of the wing-body drag for a two engine configuration at the nominal propeller operating conditions. However, at the higher swirl angles (11 deg vs. 7 deg nominally) the interference drag was favorable by about the same magnitude

Analysis of Mach number 0.8 turboprop slipstream wing/nacelle interactions

Data from wind tunnel tests of a powered propeller and nacelle mounted on a supercritical wing are analyzed. Installation of the nacelle significantly affected the wing flow and the flow on the upper surface of the wing is separated near the leading edge under powered conditions. Comparisons of various theories with the data indicated that the Neumann surface panel solution and the Jameson transonic solution gave results adequate for design purposes. A modified wing design was developed (Mod 3) which reduces the wing upper surface pressure coefficients and section lift coefficients at powered conditions to levels below those of the original wing without nacelle or power. A contoured over the wing nacelle that can be installed on the original wing without any appreciable interference to the wing upper surface pressure is described

Propfan experimental data analysis

A data reduction method, which is consistent with the performance prediction methods used for analysis of new aircraft designs, is defined and compared to the method currently used by NASA using data obtained from an Ames Res. Center 11 foot transonic wind tunnel test. Pressure and flow visualization data from the Ames test for both the powered straight underwing nacelle, and an unpowered contoured overwing nacelle installation is used to determine the flow phenomena present for a wind mounted turboprop installation. The test data is compared to analytic methods, showing the analytic methods to be suitable for design and analysis of new configurations. The data analysis indicated that designs with zero interference drag levels are achieveable with proper wind and nacelle tailoring. A new overwing contoured nacelle design and a modification to the wing leading edge extension for the current wind tunnel model design are evaluated. Hardware constraints of the current model parts prevent obtaining any significant performance improvement due to a modified nacelle contouring. A new aspect ratio wing design for an up outboard rotation turboprop installation is defined, and an advanced contoured nacelle is provided

Douglas Aircraft HSCT status and future research needs

Current activities on the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) at Douglas are focussed on baseline vehicle development at Mach 1.6 and 2.4. Parallel design activities incorporating the latest technologies in structures/materials, propulsion/noise, and aerodynamics are also being conducted and incorporated into the baseline to establish performance, economic viability, and environmental compliance. Studies are also being conducted to establish the feasibility of incorporating laminar flow control and minimized sonic boom concepts into the baseline. A decision point on these last two technologies is targeted prior to the start of the NASA HSR Phase 2 Program in 1993

Low-speed aerodynamic test of an axisymmetric supersonic inlet with variable cowl slot

The experimental low-speed aerodynamic characteristics of an axisymmetric mixed-compression supersonic inlet with variable cowl slot are described. The model consisted of the NASA P-inlet centerbody and redesigned cowl with variable cowl slot powered by the JT8D single-stage fan simulator and driven by an air turbine. The model was tested in the NASA Lewis Research Center 9- by 15-foot low-speed tunnel at Mach numbers of 0, 0.1, and 0.2 over a range of flows, cowl slot openings, centerbody positions, and angles of attack. The variable cowl slot was effective in minimizing lip separation at high velocity ratios, showed good steady-state and dynamic distortion characteristics, and had good angle-of-attack tolerance

Status of an inlet configuration trade study for the Douglas HSCT

An inlet concept integration trade study for an HSCT is being conducted under contract to NASA LeRC. The HSCT mission has a supersonic cruise Mach number of 2.4 and a subsonic cruise Mach number of 0.95. The engine selected for this study is the GE VCE (variable cycle engine) with FLADE (fan on blade). Six inlet configurations will be defined. Inlet configurations will be axisymmetric and rectangular mixed-compression inlets in single-engine nacelles. Airplane performance for each inlet configuration will be estimated and then compared. The most appropriate inlet configuration for this airplane/engine combination will be determined by Sep. 1991

Wind tunnel and analytical investigation of over-the-wing propulsion/air frame interferences for a short-haul aircraft at Mach numbers from 0.6 to 0.78

Results of analytical calculations and wind tunnel tests at cruise speeds of a representative four engine short haul aircraft employing upper surface blowing (USB) with a supercritical wing are discussed. Wind tunnel tests covered a range of Mach number M from 0.6 to 0.78. Tests explored the use of three USB nozzle configurations. Results are shown for the isolated wing body and for each of the three nozzle types installed. Experimental results indicate that a low angle nacelle and streamline contoured nacelle yielded the same interference drag at the design Mach number. A high angle powered lift nacelle had higher interference drag primarily because of nacelle boattail low pressures and flow separation. Results of varying the spacing between the nacelles and the use of trailing edge flap deflections, wing upper surface contouring, and a convergent-divergent nozzle to reduce potential adverse jet effects were also discussed. Analytical comparisons with experimental data, made for selected cases, indicate favorable agreement

III liii III IIIJjI 111 Civil Aircraft Challenges in Engine/Airframe Integration

ABSTRACT The demand for economic and efficient aircraft has focused more attention on the integrated design process. In addition, supersonic flight speeds pose unique design constraints on both propulsion and airframe technologies. This paper addresses some of the key features of engine/airframe integration in both the subsonic and supersonic flight regimes, and addresses both design and test implications

Symmetry breaking in crossed magnetic and electric fields

We present the first observations of cylindrical symmetry breaking in highly excited diamagnetic hydrogen with a small crossed electric field, and we give a semiclassical interpretation of this effect. As the small perpendicular electric field is added, the recurrence strengths of closed orbits decrease smoothly to a minimum, and revive again. This phenomenon, caused by interference among the electron waves that return to the nucleus, can be computed from the azimuthal dependence of the classical closed orbits.Comment: 4 page REVTeX file including 5 postscript files (using psfig) Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. Difference from earlier preprint: we have discovered the cause of the earlier apparent discrepancy between experiment and theory and now achieve excellent agreemen

Superboom Caustic Analysis and Measurement Program (SCAMP) Final Report

The objectives of the Superboom Caustic Analysis and Measurement (SCAMP) Program were to develop and validate, via flight-test measurements, analytical models for sonic boom signatures in and around focal zones as they are expected to occur during commercial aircraft transition from subsonic to supersonic flight, and to apply these models to focus boom prediction of low-boom aircraft designs. The SCAMP program has successfully investigated sonic boom focusing both analytically and experimentally, while gathering a comprehensive empirical flight test and acoustic dataset, and developing a suite of focused sonic boom prediction tools. An experimental flight and acoustic measurement test was designed during the initial year of the SCAMP program, with execution of the SCAMP flight test occurring in May 2011. The current SCAMP team, led by Wyle, includes partners from the Boeing Company, Pennsylvania State University, Gulfstream Aerospace, Eagle Aeronautics, and Central Washington University. Numerous collaborators have also participated by supporting the experiment with human and equipment resources at their own expense. The experiment involved precision flight of a McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-18B executing different maneuvers that created focused sonic booms. The maneuvers were designed to center on the flight regime expected for commercial supersonic aircraft transonic transition, and also span a range of caustic curvatures in order to provide a variety of conditions for code validations. The SCAMP experiment was designed to capture concurrent F-18B on-board flight instrumentation data, high-fidelity ground-based and airborne acoustic data, and surface and upper air meteorological data. Close coordination with NASA Dryden resulted in the development of new experimental instrumentation and techniques to facilitate the SCAMP flight-test execution, including the development of an F-18B Mach rate cockpit display, TG-14 powered glider in-flight sonic boom measurement instrumentation and "Where's the Focus?" (WTF) software for near-real time way-point computation accounting for local atmospherics. In May 2011, 13 F-18B flights were conducted during 5 flying days over a 2 week period. A densely populated 10,000 ft-long ground acoustic array with 125-ft microphone spacing was designed to capture pre-, focus, and post-focus regions. The ground-based acoustic array was placed in a nominally east-west orientation in the remote Cuddeback lakebed region, north of Edwards AFB. This area was carefully selected to avoid placing focused booms on populated areas or solar power facilities. For the SCAMP measurement campaign, approvals were obtained to temporarily extend the Black Mountain supersonic corridor northward by three miles. The SCAMP flight tests successfully captured 70 boom events, with 61 focus passes, and 9 calibration passes. Seventeen of the focus passes and three of the calibration passes were laterally offset; with the others being centerline flights. Airborne incoming sonic boom wave measurements were measured by the TG-14 for 10 of the F-18B flight passes including one maximum focus signature, several N-u combinations, several overlapped N-u signatures, and several evanescent waves. During the 27-month program, the SCAMP team developed a suite of integrated computer codes with sonic boom focusing predictive capabilities: PCBoom, Lossy Nonlinear Tricomi Equation Method (LNTE) and the Nonlinear Progressive wave Equation (NPE) method. PCBoom propagates the rays through the atmosphere and, in addition to legacy focus signature prediction based on the Gill-Seebass method, provides input source characteristics and propagation parameters to LNTE and NPE. LNTE, a Tricomi solver that incorporates atmospheric losses, computes the focus signature at the focus, and computes the focus signature in the vicinity of the focal zone, including the evanescent and post-focus zones. LNTE signature auralization from low-boom vehicle designs has been demonstrated in the NASA Langley Interior Effects Room (IER). The NPE has also been validated for use in prediction of focused ground boom signatures in sonic boom focal zones. The NPE formulation has the capability to incorporate atmospheric turbulence in the predictions. This has been applied to sonic boom propagation in the past. Prediction of turbulence effects on focal zone signatures was not, however, explored during the SCAMP program