Flight test and analyses of the B-1 structural mode control system at supersonic flight conditions

A practical structural mode control system (SMCS) that could be turned on at takeoff and be left on for the entire flight was demonstrated. The SMCS appears to be more effective in damping the key fuselage bending modes at supersonic speeds than at the design point of Mach 0.85 (for fixed gains). The SMCS has an adverse effect on high frequency symmetric modes; however, this adverse effect did not make the system unstable and does not appear to affect ride quality performance. The vertical ride quality analyses indicate that the basic configuration without active systems is satisfactory for long term exposure. If clear air turbulence were to be encountered, indications are that the SMCS would be very effective in reducing the adverse accelerations. On the other hand, lateral ride quality analyses indicate that the aircraft with the SMCS on does not quite meet the long term exposure criteria, but would be satisfactory for shot term exposure at altitude. Again, the lateral SMCS was shown to be very effective in reducing peak lateral accelerations

Flight investigation of XB-70 structural response to oscillatory aerodynamic shaker excitation and correlation with analytical results

The low frequency symmetric structural response and damping characteristics of the XB-70 airplane were measured at four flight conditions: heavyweight at a Mach number of 0.87 at an altitude of 7620 meters (25,000 feet); lightweight at a Mach number of 0.86 at an altitude of 7620 meters (25,000 feet); a Mach number of 1.59 at an altitude of 11,918 meters (39.100 feet); and a Mach number of 2.38 and an altitude of 18,898 meters (62,000 feet). The flight data are compared with the response calculated by using early XB-70 design data and with the response calculated with mass, structural, and aerodynamic data updated to reflect as closely as possible the airplane characteristics at three of the flight conditions actually flown

Internal entrainment and the origin of jet-related broad-band emission in Centaurus A

Date of Acceptance: 14/11/2014The dimensions of Fanaroff-Riley class I jets and the stellar densities at galactic centres imply that there will be numerous interactions between the jet and stellar winds. These may give rise to the observed diffuse and 'knotty' structure of the jets in the X-ray, and can also mass load the jets. We performed modelling of internal entrainment from stars intercepted by Centaurus A's jet, using stellar evolution- and wind codes. From photometry and a codesynthesized population of 12 Gyr (Z = 0.004), 3 Gyr (Z = 0.008) and 0-60 Myr (Z = 0.02) stars, appropriate for the parent elliptical NGC 5128, the total number of stars in the jet is ∼8 × 108. Our model is energetically capable of producing the observed X-ray emission, even without young stars. We also reproduce the radio through X-ray spectrum of the jet, albeit in a downstream region with distinctly fewer young stars, and recover the mean X-ray spectral index.We derive an internal entrainment rate of ∼2.3 × 10-3M yr-1 which implies substantial jet deceleration. Our absolute nucleosynthetic yields for the Asymptotic Giant Branch stellar population in the jet show the highest amounts for 4He, 16O, 12C, 14N and 20Ne. If some of the events at ≥55 EeV detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory originate from internal entrainment in Centaurus A, we predict that their composition will be largely intermediate-mass nuclei with 16O, 12C and 14N the key isotopes.Peer reviewe

Development and demonstration of manufacturing processes for fabricating graphite/LARC 160 polyimide structural elements

The development and demonstration of manufacturing technologies for the structural application of Celion graphite/LARC-160 polyimide composite material is discussed. Process development and fabrication of demonstration components are discussed. Process development included establishing quality assurance of the basic composite material and processing, nondestructive inspection of fabricated components, developing processes for specific structural forms, and qualification of processes through mechanical testing. Demonstration components were fabricated. The demonstration components consisted of flat laminates, skin/stringer panels, honeycomb panels, chopped fiber compression moldings, and a technology demonstrator segment (TDS) representative of the space shuttle aft body flap

Analyses and tests of the B-1 aircraft structural mode control system

Analyses and flight tests of the B-1 structural mode control system (SMCS) are presented. Improvements in the total dynamic response of a flexible aircraft and the benefits to ride qualities, handling qualities, crew efficiency, and reduced dynamic loads on the primary structures, were investigated. The effectiveness and the performance of the SMCS, which uses small aerodynamic surfaces at the vehicle nose to provide damping to the structural modes, were evaluated

The entrainment and energetics of turbulent plumes in a confined space

We analyse the entrainment and energetics of equal and opposite axisymmetric tur-bulent air plumes in a vertically confined space at a Rayleigh number of1.24×107using theory and direct numerical simulation. On domains of sufficiently large aspectratio, the steady-state consists of turbulent plumes penetrating an interface betweentwo layers of approximately uniform buoyancy. As described by Baines & Turner (J.Fluid Mech.vol. 37, 1969, pp. 51-80), upon penetrating the interface the flow in eachplume becomes forced and behaves like a constant-momentum jet, due to a reduction inits mean buoyancy relative to the local environment. To observe the behaviour of theplumes we partition the domain into sub-domains corresponding to each plume. Domainsof relatively small aspect ratio produce a single primary mean-flow circulation betweenthe sub-domains that is maintained by entrainment into the plumes. At larger aspectratios the mean flow between the sub-domains bifurcates, indicating the existence of asecondary circulation within each layer associated with entrainment into the jets. Thelargest aspect ratios studied here exhibit an additional, tertiary, circulation in the vicinityof the interface. Consistency between independent calculations of an effective entrainmentcoefficient allows us to identify aspect ratios for which the flow can be modelled usingplume theory, under the assumption of a two-layer stratification.To study the flow’s energetics we use a local definition of available potential energy(APE). For plumes with Gaussian velocity and buoyancy profiles, the theory we developsuggests that the kinetic energy dissipation is split equally between the jets and theplumes and, collectively, accounts for almost half of the input of APE at the boundaries.In contrast,1/4of the APE dissipation and background potential energy (BPE) pro-duction occurs in the jets, with the remaining3/4occurring in the plumes. These bulktheoretical predictions agree with observations of BPE production from simulations towithin1%and form the basis of a similarity solution that models the vertical dependenceof APE dissipation and BPE production. Unlike results concerning the dissipation ofbuoyancy variance and the strength of the circulations described above, the model forthe flow’s energetics does not involve an entrainment coefficient

The development of a measure of social care outcome for older people. Funded/commissioned by: Department of Health

An essential element of identifying Best Value and monitoring cost-effective care is to be able to identify the outcomes of care. In the field of health services, use of utility-based health related quality of life measures has become widespread, indeed even required. If, in the new era of partnerships, social care outcomes are to be valued and included we need to develop measures that reflect utility or welfare gain from social care interventions. This paper reports on a study, commissioned as part of the Department of Health’s Outcomes of Social Care for Adults Initiative, that developed an instrument and associated utility indexes that provide a tool for evaluating social care interventions in both a research and service setting. Discrete choice conjoint analysis used to derive utility weights provided us with new insights into the relative importance of the core domains of social care to older people. Whilst discrete choice conjoint analysis is being increasingly used in health economics, this is the first study that has attempted to use it to derive a measure of outcome

Estimated Performance and Stability and Control Data for Correlation with XB-70-1 Flight Test Data

Correlation studies based on wind tunnel test data and flight tests to determine performance, stability and control of XB-70-1 aircraf