Freestream

About: Freestream is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3428 publications have been published within this topic receiving 56147 citations.

Experimental Studies on a Propelled Micro Air Vehicle

Abstract: An experimental study has been carried out on a typical Micro Air Vehicle of span 300mm having inverse Zimmerman planform. The objective is to get i) the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle in the range of incidence and sideslip angle the vehicle expected to encounter during its flight; ii) an understanding of the propeller effect on the aerodynamic data and iii) the control surface (elevon) effectiveness with incidence. Tests were carried out in a low speed wind tunnel at a freestream velocity of 8 m/s and 12 m/s corresponding to a test Reynolds number based on chord of about 120000 and 180000 respectively. Analysis of the aerodynamic data showed significant effect of propeller flow field on the lift, stall angle and drag of the vehicle. The propeller induced flow is seen to increase the lift coefficient at higher angle of attack and delay the stall. Nonlinear variation is observed in the rolling moment indicating the onset of asymmetric flow field at higher incidence. The effectiveness of the elevon is observed to increase linearly with incidence.

Prediction of supersonic inlet unstart caused by freestream disturbances

Abstract: The objective of this article is to report progress toward the development of an Euler analysis procedure for predicting the unstart tolerance of supersonic inlets. As an aid to understanding boundary condition issues, a one-dimensional, linear-analysis procedure was developed and used to analyze inlet unstart behavior. Using these results as a guide, an Euler analysis procedure was extended through the addition of a new bleed boundary condition, a new compressor face boundary condition, and an engine demand model for the simulation of unsteady inlet flows caused by freestream flow disturbances. Five unstart conditions were identified with the Euler analysis of the axisymmetric inlet for both 20- and 90-deg throat bleed configurations. Results show that both increases and decreases in temperature or velocity will unstart the inlet, whereas only pressure decreases will unstart the inlet. It was also found that 90-deg throat bleed improves the unstart tolerance relative to 20-deg throat bleed for freestream pressure decreases, temperature increases, and changes in velocity.

Entropy Generation in a Boundary Layer Transitioning Under the Influence of Freestream Turbulence

Abstract: The objective of the present research is to develop new fundamental knowledge of the entropy generation process in laminar flow with significant fluctuations (called pre-transition) and during transition prematurely induced by strong freestream turbulence (bypass transition). Results of direct numerical simulations are employed. In the pre-transitional boundary layer, the perturbations by the streaky structures modify the mean velocity profile and induce a "quasi-turbulent" contribution to indirect dissipation. Application of classical laminar theory leads to underprediction of the entropy generated. In the transition region the pointwise entropy generation rate (S"') + initially increases near the wall and then decreases to correspond to the distribution predicted for a fully-turbulent boundary layer as the flow progresses downstream. In contrast to a developed turbulent flow, the term for turbulent convection in the turbulence kinetic energy balance is significant and can play an important role in some regions of the transitioning boundary layer. More turbulent energy is produced than dissipated and the excess is convected downstream as the boundary layer grows. Since it is difficult to measure and predict true turbulent dissipation rates (and hence, entropy generation rates) exactly other than by expensive direct numerical simulations, a motivation for this research is to evaluate approximate methods for possible use in experiments and design. These new results demonstrate that an approximate technique, used by many investigators, overestimates the dissipation coefficient C d by up to seventeen per cent. For better predictions and measurements, an integral approach accounting for the important turbulent energy flux is proposed and validated for the case studied.

Heat Release in Turbine Cooling I: Experimental and Computational Comparison of Three Geometries

Abstract: Marc D. Polanka,∗ Joseph Zelina,∗ Wesly S. Anderson, and Balu Sekar∗ U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433 Dave S. Evans Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433 Cheng-Xian Lin University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 and Scott D. Stouffer University of Dayton Research Institute, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433