A zonal computational procedure adapted to the optimization of two-dimensional thrust augmentor inlets

A viscous-inviscid interaction methodology based on a zonal description of the flowfield is developed as a mean of predicting the performance of two-dimensional thrust augmenting ejectors. An inviscid zone comprising the irrotational flow about the device is patched together with a viscous zone containing the turbulent mixing flow. The inviscid region is computed by a higher order panel method, while an integral method is used for the description of the viscous part. A non-linear, constrained optimization study is undertaken for the design of the inlet region. In this study, the viscous-inviscid analysis is complemented with a boundary layer calculation to account for flow separation from the walls of the inlet region. The thrust-based Reynolds number as well as the free stream velocity are shown to be important parameters in the design of a thrust augmentor inlet

Two blowing concepts for roll and lateral control of aircraft

Two schemes to modulate aerodynamic forces for roll and lateral control of aircraft have been investigated. The first scheme, called the lateral blowing concept, consists of thin jets of air exiting spanwise, or at small angle with the spanwise direction, from slots at the tips of straight wings. For this scheme, in addition to experimental measurements, a theory was developed showing the analytical relationship between aerodynamic forces and jet and wing parameters. Experimental results confirmed the theoretically derived scaling laws. The second scheme, which was studied experimentally, is called the jet spoiler concept and consists of thin jets exiting normally to the wing surface from slots aligned with the spanwise direction

A theory for lateral wing-tip blowing

The concept of lateral blowing consists in utilizing thin jets of air, which are ejected in the spanwise direction from slots at the tips of straight and swept wings, or along the leading edges of delta wings, to generate aerodynamic forces without the assistance of deflecting solid surfaces. For weak intensities of blowing the so-generated forces could be used for roll and lateral control of aircraft. In this work a theory for this concept as applied to straight wings is presented, revealing the analytical relationship between blowing and aerodynamic forces. The approach is based on perturbing the span of an elliptically loaded wing. Scaling laws involving blowing intensity, aspect ratio, and angle of attack are derived and compared with experiments. It is concluded that this concept has potential as a novel roll and lateral control device

Viscous-inviscid aerodynamic analysis of two-dimensional thrust augmentors

A theory for the computation of two-dimensional thrust augmentor performance is developed. The flow field is assumed to be incompressible, of uniform density and statistically steady. The flow in and around the augmentor is assumed to consist of an outer, inviscid part and an inner, viscous part. The outer field is calculated analytically and then matched with the inner, viscous field, which is computed by means of integral methods. This form of analysis leads to a simple and economical approach, particularly useful for conducting parametric studies. The theoretical results are compared with recently acquired experimental data

Determinants of ant species spatial distribution in habitats from central Argentina

A great challenge in ecology is to link patterns in nature with the factors that determine species coexistence and community structure. In general, these patterns have been associated with different environmental conditions and species traits. The coexistence of ant species could be affected by the availability of food and nesting resources, which depend on vegetation diversity and structural complexity. In this study, we attempt to reproduce, through null models, the properties of ant community structure in areas with different physiognomy of vegetation associated to different wildfire regimes. The null model construction considered ant traits such as occurrence frequency, body size, and nest type; and site characteristics such as vegetation height and extra-floral nectar availability, and their combinations. The null models were compared to observed species segregation and nestedness patterns. Ant species were more aggregated in space than expected by chance. Vegetation height and extra-floral nectar availability were included in the most successful models in predicting ant segregation and aggregation pattern. Furthermore, ants’ body size was enough to reproduce the nestedness of species distribution in sites. Our results suggest that under post-fire conditions, habitat complexity, resource availability and species traits such as body size may be the determinants of ant community structure

Noise reduction in 3D noncollinear parametric amplifier

We analytically find an approximate Bloch-Messiah reduction of a noncollinear parametric amplifier pumped with a focused monochromatic beam. We consider type I phase matching. The results are obtained using a perturbative expansion and scaled to a high gain regime. They allow a straightforward maximization of the signal gain and minimization of the parametric fluorescence noise. We find the fundamental mode of the amplifier, which is an elliptic Gaussian defining the optimal seed beam shape. We conclude that the output of the amplifier should be stripped of higher order modes, which are approximately Hermite-Gaussian beams. Alternatively, the pump waist can be adjusted such that the amount of noise produced in the higher order modes is minimized.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, accepted to Applied Physics