Velocity Profiles and Skin Friction on a Ribletted Flat Plate in Adverse Pressure Gradient.

This project investigated the flow field characteristics over a flat, ribletted plate and the effects of an adverse pressure gradient on this flow field. Testing examined the development of the flow over the ribletted plate from laminar through fully turbulent flow fields. The flow field states (laminar, transitional, and turbulent) were determined using local turbulence intensity values and boundary layer profiles. Several parameters were examined to help better describe the flow characteristics, boundary layer profiles, and influence on skin friction drag. The skin friction drag coefficients were calculated using a numerical integration technique to determine an average value and scaled to the platform area of the plate to compare results with smooth plate values. Although the geometry and flow conditions produced a drag augmenting case, skin friction followed trends described by the other flow parameters; streamwise velocity, Reynolds stress, etc. At locations where the boundary layer developed in the riblet valley, the skin friction was higher. As the flow developed to transitional and fully turbulent, higher values were also experienced. For the zero pressure gradient and mild adverse pressure gradient, counter rotating vortices developed in the riblet valley. This more organized motion also had slightly reduced skin friction below the transitional flow field for the plate as well

Flow Measurements Using Particle Image Velocimetry in the Ultracompact Combustor

The potential for the ultracompact combustor (UCC) lie in future research to reduced fuel consumption and improved engine performance. Velocity measurements performed on the UCC test rig at the Air Force Institute of Technology revealed flow patterns and time-averaged turbulence statistics for data taken burning hydrogen fuel in a straight and a curved cavity vane configuration. Over an equivalence ratio from 0.7 to 1.5, the straight vane configuration showed spanwise velocity decreased linearly with distance from the cavity vane over the width of the main channel. Increasing the flow rates and holding the equivalence ratio and ratio of cavity to main airflow rates constant, flow velocities in the main channel showed an increase with the curved circumferential configuration but a decrease with the straight circumferential configuration. Turbulence intensity is expected to be a major contributing factor, specifically since measured at 15% and 21% in the main channel for the straight and curved configurations, respectively. The results also show how the radial vane cavity (RVC) created strong vorticity throughout the main flow supporting a recirculation zone for mixing. Peak vorticity occurred farthest from the cavity vane suggesting the angle of the radial vane cavity is effective in generating increasing flow rotation

Aerospike Rockets for Increased Space Launch Capability

The US Department of Defense DOD increasingly depends on space assets for everyday operations. Precision navigation communications and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance satellites are highly leveraged space assets. The launch vehicles that place these satellites in orbit are a major limitation of current space systems. If higher-performing launch vehicles were available, many satellites could accommodate additional capabilities, whether in terms of more sensor channels, types of payloads, electrical power, or propellant for orbital maneuvering and station keeping. Space assets are typically designed to conform to a particular launch vehicle s limitations e.g., engineers might design a satellite to be carried by a Delta IV-2 medium launch vehicle. Essentially, this choice of vehicle fixes the maximum mass of the satellite and, thus, its capabilities. If a launcher capable of placing more mass in the desired orbit were available at similar cost, the satellite s design could allow for additional capability. Furthermore, some payloads are too heavy for present-day launch vehicles to place into a particular orbit. A better-performing launcher would enable us to put those payloads into the desired orbits, permitting new missions and capabilities

Flow Measurements Using Particle Image Velocimetry in the Ultracompact Combustor

The potential for the ultracompact combustor (UCC) lie in future research to reduced fuel consumption and improved engine performance. Velocity measurements performed on the UCC test rig at the Air Force Institute of Technology revealed flow patterns and time-averaged turbulence statistics for data taken burning hydrogen fuel in a straight and a curved cavity vane configuration. Over an equivalence ratio from 0.7 to 1.5, the straight vane configuration showed spanwise velocity decreased linearly with distance from the cavity vane over the width of the main channel. Increasing the flow rates and holding the equivalence ratio and ratio of cavity to main airflow rates constant, flow velocities in the main channel showed an increase with the curved circumferential configuration but a decrease with the straight circumferential configuration. Turbulence intensity is expected to be a major contributing factor, specifically since measured at 15% and 21% in the main channel for the straight and curved configurations, respectively. The results also show how the radial vane cavity (RVC) created strong vorticity throughout the main flow supporting a recirculation zone for mixing. Peak vorticity occurred farthest from the cavity vane suggesting the angle of the radial vane cavity is effective in generating increasing flow rotation

Non-Invasive Hall Current Distribution Measurement in a Hall Effect Thruster

A means is presented to determine the Hall current density distribution in a closed drift thruster by remotely measuring the magnetic field and solving the inverse problem for the current density. The magnetic field was measured by employing an array of eight tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) sensors capable of milligauss sensitivity when placed in a high background field. The array was positioned just outside the thruster channel on a 1.5 kW Hall thruster equipped with a center-mounted hollow cathode. In the sensor array location, the static magnetic field is approximately 30 G, which is within the linear operating range of the TMR sensors. Furthermore, the induced field at this distance is approximately tens of milligauss, which is within the sensitivity range of the TMR sensors. Because of the nature of the inverse problem, the induced-field measurements do not provide the Hall current density by a simple inversion; however, a Tikhonov regularization of the induced field does provide the current density distributions. These distributions are shown as a function of time in contour plots. The measured ratios between the average Hall current and the average discharge current ranged from 6.1 to 7.3 over a range of operating conditions from 1.3 kW to 2.2 kW. The temporal inverse solution at 1.5 kW exhibited a breathing mode frequency of 24 kHz, which was in agreement with temporal measurements of the discharge current

Near-field Development of Gas-phase Horizontal Laminar Jets with Positive and Negative Buoyancy Measured with Filtered Rayleigh Scattering

Near-field mixing characteristics of horizontally issuing jets, alternatively positively and negatively buoyant, are explored. The cross-sectional mass fraction of a buoyant horizontal jet consisting of helium flowing into ambient air is measured using a non-intrusive technique, filtered Rayleigh scattering, for Reynolds numbers ranging from 50 to 1,200, Froude numbers ranging as low as 0.71, and Schmidt numbers on the order of unity for all tests. Several corresponding experiments were carried out using carbon dioxide in place of helium in order to determine whether the direction of the buoyancy changes the characteristic shape of the jet cross-section. Consistent with the literature, mixing rates were consistently higher on the side of the jet where instability, due to density stratification, was present. At jet Froude numbers ranging between 1.5 and approximately 3, the jet cross-section takes a shape consistent with a single plume of fluid being ejected from the core in a vertical direction-upward for a jet with positive buoyancy and downward for a jet with negative buoyancy. Remarkably, for Froude numbers less than unity, the distortion of the jet is quite different in that two separate plumes emanate from each side of the jet while ejection from the center is suppressed. Both the positively and negatively buoyant jet cross-sections exhibited this trait, suggesting that the mechanism that determines the cross-sectional shape of the jet core is only mildly influenced by centripetal effects brought about by streamline curvature. The location of the jet centroid at varied streamwise locations was computed from the mass fraction data, yielding jet trajectory. Abstract © Springer-Verlag (outside the USA

Karst geology and hydrogeology of the Mitchell Plateau of south-central Indiana

The Mitchell Plateau of south-central Indiana is one of the iconic karst landscapes of the United States. The sinkhole-dimpled forests, fields, and farms; the extensive cave systems; and the deep windows into the groundwater system have fostered curiosity, exploration, and publication since the mid-1800s. This paper is designed to complement a field excursion to the classic features of this landscape. Included are literature reviews focused on three karst basins of the Mitchell Plateau: Mill Creek–Mosquito Creek, Bluespring Caverns, and Lost River. Geomorphic, hydrologic, and geochemical data are synthesized in the modern context of our understanding of epigenetic karst. Revealed are three styles of karst basin: (1) small, shallow karst aquifers strongly controlled by meteoric recharge and epikarst percolation; (2) intermediate-size karst aquifers with significant base flow and surface-water–groundwater interaction; and (3) regional aquifer systems with outcrop belt recharge, downdip transport into confinement with long water-rock interaction times, and artesian flow or entrainment of mineralized waters through fractures into springs or surface waters. Quaternary glaciation has greatly influenced the vertical position of base level through river incision and sediment aggradation; conduit development is controlled by proximity to the major rivers and the stratigraphic position of conduits

Comparison of Line-peak and Line-scanning Excitation in Two-color Laser-induced-fluorescence Thermometry of OH

Two-line laser-induced-fluorescence (LIF) thermometry is commonly employed to generate instantaneous planar maps of temperature in unsteady flames. The use of line scanning to extract the ratio of integrated intensities is less common because it precludes instantaneous measurements. Recent advances in the energy output of high-speed, ultraviolet, optical parameter oscillators have made possible the rapid scanning of molecular rovibrational transitions and, hence, the potential to extract information on gas-phase temperatures. In the current study, two-line OH LIF thermometry is performed in a well-calibrated reacting flow for the purpose of comparing the relative accuracy of various line-pair selections from the literature and quantifying the differences between peak-intensity and spectrally integrated line ratios. Investigated are the effects of collisional quenching, laser absorption, and the integration width for partial scanning of closely spaced lines on the measured temperatures. Data from excitation scans are compared with theoretical line shapes, and experimentally derived temperatures are compared with numerical predictions that were previously validated using coherent anti-Stokes–Raman scattering. Ratios of four pairs of transitions in A2Σ+←X2Π (1,0) band of OH are collected in an atmospheric-pressure, near-adiabatic hydrogen-air flame over a wide range of equivalence ratios—from 0.4 to 1.4. It is observed that measured temperatures based on the ratio of Q1(14)/Q1(5) transition lines result in the best accuracy and that line scanning improves the measurement accuracy by as much as threefold at low-equivalence-ratio, low-temperature conditions. These results provide a comprehensive analysis of the procedures required to ensure accurate two-line LIF measurements in reacting flows over a wide range of conditions. Abstract © 2009 Optical Society of Americ

Design of a dual-expander aerospike nozzle rocket engine

The University of Alabama’s Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics Department is developing a computational dual-expander aerospike nozzle (DEAN) upper stage rocket engine to demonstrate the engine’s performance capabilities and to establish a model by which the DEAN can be built. This research expands the base model developed by the Air Force Institute of Technology to more accurately represent the physics involved in both the fluid flow and geometrical properties of the engine. The DEAN engine was modeled using NASA’s Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) and Chemical Equilibrium with Applications (CEA) software. The methodology implemented in this research was validated by modeling the RL-10A-3-3A upper stage engine in NPSS and comparing resulting outputs with NASA’s ROCket Engine Transient Simulator (ROCETS) analysis. The DEAN uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as its propellant and is being designed to produce a thrust of 30,000 [lbf] and a specific impulse of at least 465.5 [s], at an oxidizer-to-fuel ratio of 5.88, while also remaining within the size envelope of the RL-10B-2 upper stage engine. The performance and size objectives were established to meet the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Advanced Upper Stage Engine Program (AUSEP) need for an upper stage rocket engine to replace the aging RL-10 series engines that have been in production since the 1960s. Results indicate that optimal performance for the feasible solution space examined in this research occurs at an expansion ratio of 30, a throat area of 23 [in2], and a characteristic length, L*, of 90 [in]. The optimal DEAN design point was shown to achieve a thrust of more than 5,000 [lbf] greater than the RL-10B-2, a Isp of 1.8 [s] greater, and a significantly reduced size envelope. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

An investigation of the performance potential of a liquid oxygen expander cycle rocket engine

This research effort sought to examine the performance potential of a dual-expander cycle liquid oxygen-hydrogen engine with a conventional bell nozzle geometry. The analysis was performed using the NASA Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) software to develop a full steady-state model of the engine concept. Validation for the theoretical engine model was completed using the same methodology to build a steady-state model of an RL10A-3-3A single expander cycle rocket engine with corroborating data from a similar modeling project performed at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Previous research performed at NASA and the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has identified the potential of dual-expander cycle technology to specifically improve the efficiency and capability of upper-stage liquid rocket engines. Dual-expander cycles also eliminate critical failure modes and design limitations present for single-expander cycle engines. This research seeks to identify potential LOX Expander Cycle (LEC) engine designs that exceed the performance of the current state of the art RL10B-2 engine flown on Centaur upper-stages. Results of this research found that the LEC engine concept achieved a 21.2% increase in engine thrust with a decrease in engine length and diameter of 52.0% and 15.8% respectively compared to the RL10B-2 engine. A 5.89% increase in vacuum specific impulse was also observed. The implications of these results could lead to significant launch cost savings and replacement of aging expander cycle technology in the rocket propulsion industry. In order to fully validate the results of this research, more knowledge is required regarding the heat transfer characteristics of supercritical oxygen for rocket thrust chamber cooling. Future work in this topic will focus on experimental LOX heat transfer research and model optimization to improve heat transfer estimations in the baseline model developed in this research and further explore the optimal performance potential and limitations of the LEC engine. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries