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Combat aircraft maneuvering at high angles of attack or in landing approach are likely to encounter conditions where the flow over the swept wings is yawed. This paper examines the effect of yaw on the spectra of turbulence above and aft of the wing, in the region where fins and control surfaces are located. Prior work has shown the occurrence of narrowband velocity fluctuations in this region for most combat aircraft models, including those with twin fins. Fin vibration and damage has been traced to excitation by such narrowband fluctuations. The narrowband fluctuations themselves have been traced to the wing surface. The issue in this paper is the effect of yaw on these fluctuations, as well as on the aerodynamic loads on a wing, without including the perturbations due to the airframe.

A new technique has been developed to allow engine performance engineers to visualize and communicate a wide range of thermodynamic issues and constraints in a single diagram. The technique, called Visual Thermodynamics, is the presentation of engine cycle data in logarithmic pressure and logarithmic temperature space, log(p)-log(T). Visual Thermodynamics is a thought organization and concept visualization tool. It is not intended to provide high-precision numerical results. The utility of the technique is in comparing engine concepts, assessing trends, identifying boundaries of operation and building a general understanding of engine system behavior. The technique provides a powerful mechanism for communicating engine thermodynamic issues to both technical and non-technical colleagues.

A key issue in complex systems design is measuring the ‘goodness’ of a design, i.e. finding a criterion through which a particular design is determined to be the ‘best’. Traditional choices in aerospace systems design, such as performance, cost, revenue, reliability, and safety, individually fail to fully capture the life cycle characteristics of the system. Furthermore, current multi-criteria optimization approaches, addressing this problem, rely on deterministic, thus, complete and known information about the system and the environment it is exposed to. In many cases, this information is not be available at the conceptual or preliminary design phases. Hence, critical decisions made in these phases have to draw from only incomplete or uncertain knowledge. One modeling option is to treat this incomplete information probabilistically, accounting for the fact that certain values may be prominent, while the actual value during operation is unknown.

Two turbocompound diesel engines were assembled and dynamometer tested in preparation for vehicle tests. Both engines met the 1980 California gaseous emission requirement and achieved a minimum BSFC of .313 lb/bhp-hr and a BSFC at rated conditions of .323 lb/bhp-hr. These engines were then installed in Class VIII heavy-duty vehicles to determine the fuel consumption and performance characteristics. Fuel consumption testing showed a 14.8% improvement for the turbocompound engine in comparison to a production NTC-400 used as a baseline. The turbocompound engine also achieved lower noise levels, improved drive-ability, improved gradeability, and moderately increased engine retardation. The second turbocompound engine was placed in commercial service and accumulated 50,000 miles on a cross-country route without malfunction. Tank mileage revealed a 15.92% improvement over a production NTCC-400 which was operating on the same route.

Two-scale command shaping is a recently proposed feedforward control method aimed at mitigating undesirable vibrations in nonlinear systems. The TSCS strategy uses a scale separation to cancel oscillations arising from nonlinear behavior of the system, and command shaping of the remaining linear problem. One promising application of TSCS is in reducing engine restart and shutdown vibrations found in conventional and in hybrid electric vehicle powertrains equipped with start-stop features. The efficacy of the TSCS during internal combustion engine restart has been demonstrated theoretically and experimentally in the authors’ prior works. The present article presents simulation results and describes the verified experimental apparatus used to study TSCS as applied to the ICE shutdown case. The apparatus represents a typical HEV powertrain and consists of a 1.03 L three-cylinder diesel ICE coupled to a permanent magnet alternating current electric machine through a spur gear coupling.

For better understanding of soot formation and oxidation processes in a biodiesel spray flame, the morphology, microstructure and sizes of soot particles directly sampled in a spray flame fuelled with soy-methyl ester were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The soot samples were taken at different axial locations in the spray flame, 40, 50 and 70 mm from injector nozzle, which correspond to soot formation, peak, and oxidation zones, respectively. The biodiesel spray flame was generated in a constant-volume combustion chamber under a diesel-like high pressure and temperature condition (6.7 MPa, 1000K). Density, diameter of primary particles and radius of gyration of soot aggregates reached a peak at 50 mm from the injector nozzle and was lower or smaller in the formation or oxidation zones of the spray.

A direct solution to Global Warming would be to reflect a part of sunlight back into Space. A system tradeoff study is being developed with three of the concepts that are being evaluated as long-endurance high-altitude reflectors. The first concept is a high aspect ratio solar powered flying wing towing reflector sheets. This concept is named “Flying Carpet”. Second is a centrifugally stretched high altitude solar reflector (CSHASR). The CSHASR has 4 rotors made of reflector sheets with a hub stretching to 60 percent of the radius, held together by an ultralight quad-rotor structure. Each rotor is powered by a solar-electric motor. A variation on this concept, forced by nighttime descent rate concerns, is powered by tip-mounted solar panels and propellers with some battery storage augmenting rotational inertia as well as energy storage. The third concept is an Aerostatically Balanced Reflector (ABR) sheet, held up by hydrogen balloons.

The environmental impact of aircraft, specifically in the areas of noise and NOx emissions, has been a growing community concern. Coupled with the increasing cost and diminishing supply of traditional fossil fuels, these concerns have fueled substantial interest in the research and development of alternative power sources for aircraft. In 2003, NASA and the Department of Defense awarded a five year research cooperative agreement to a team of researchers from three different universities to address the design and analysis of revolutionary aeropropulsion technologies.

The blade crossing event of a coaxial counter-rotating rotor is a potential source of noise and impulsive blade loads. Blade crossings occur many times during each rotor revolution. In previous research by the authors, this phenomenon was analyzed by simulating two airfoils passing each other at specified speeds and vertical separation distances, using the compressible Navier-Stokes solver OVERFLOW. The simulations explored mutual aerodynamic interactions associated with thickness, circulation, and compressibility effects. Results revealed the complex nature of the aerodynamic impulses generated by upper/lower airfoil interactions. In this paper, the coaxial rotor system is simulated using two trains of airfoils, vertically offset, and traveling in opposite directions. The simulation represents multiple blade crossings in a rotor revolution by specifying horizontal distances between each airfoil in the train based on the circumferential distance between blade tips.

The paper presents the latest research results on the piston ring free shape. A new free shape measurement method with optical gauging was developed. Three numerical models to compute the contact force distribution of piston ring were developed using finite element analysis (FEA). These numerical methods have been compared each other, and validated with the experimental results of ring deformation in a ring gage. The contact force distribution of a piston ring at working condition was also studied. It consists of the ring thermal boundary conditions (RTBC) validation, 3-D FEA thermal analysis and thermal contact force computation based on validated wire-cable element model. The RTBC for heavy duty diesel engine has been validated for the first time using a CUMMINS L10 engine test. Three different free shapes have been tested. The wear band measurements of tested rings all show tremendous improvements over the standard top ring.

In recent years, the residential and transportation sectors have made significant strides in reducing energy consumption, mainly by focusing efforts on low-hanging fruit in each sector independently. This independent viewpoint has been successful in the past because the user needs met and resources consumed in each sector have been clearly distinct. However, the trend towards vehicle electrification has blurred the boundary between the sectors. With both the home and vehicle now relying upon the same energy source, interactions between the systems can no longer be neglected. For example, when tiered utility pricing schemes are considered, the energy consumption of each system affects the cost of the other. In this paper, the authors present an integrated Home-Vehicle Simulation Model (HVSM), allowing the designer to take a holistic view.

The influence of bowl offset on motored mean flow and turbulence in a direct injection diesel engine has been examined with the aid of a multi-dimensional flow code. Results are presented for three piston geometries. The bowl geometry of each piston was the same, while the offset between the bowl and the cylinder axis was varied from 0.0 to 9.6% of the bore. The swirl ratio at intake valve closing was also varied from 2.60 to 4.27. It was found that the angular momentum of the air at TDC was decreased by less than 8% when the bowl was offset. Nevertheless, the mean (squish and swirl) flows were strongly affected by the offset. In addition, the distribution of turbulent kinetic energy (predicted by the k-e model) was modified. Moderate increases (10% or less) in mass averaged turbulence intensity at TDC with offset were observed. However, the TDC turbulent diffusivity was changed less than 3% due to a slight decrease in turbulent length scale with increasing offset.

The Conceptual Aerospace Systems Design and Analysis Toolkit (CASDAT) provides a baseline assessment capability for the Air Force Research Laboratory. The historical development of CASDAT is of benefit to the design research community because considerable effort was expended in the classification of the analysis tools. Its implementation proves to also be of importance because of the definition of assessment use cases. As a result, CASDAT is compatible with accepted analysis tools and can be used with state-of-the-art assessment methods, including technology forecasting and probabilistic design.

Our concept studies indicate that a set of reflectors floated in the upper atmosphere can efficiently reduce radiant forcing into the atmosphere. The cost of reducing the radiant forcing sufficiently to reverse the current rate of Global Warming, is well within reach of global financial resources. This paper summarizes the overall concept and focuses on one of the reflector concepts, the Flying Carpet. The basic element of this reflector array is a rigidized reflector sheet towed behind and above a solar-powered, distributed electric-propelled flying wing. The vehicle rises above 30,480 m (100,000 ft) in the daytime by solar power. At night, the very low wing loading of the sheets enables the system to stay well above the controlled airspace ceiling of 18,288 m (60,000 ft). The concept study results are summarized before going into technical issues in implementation. Flag instability is studied in initial wind tunnel experiments.

Water was inducted with the intake air and injected emulsified with the fuel, in a conventional single cylinder D.I. diesel engine. The major effects of inducted water were an increase in ignition delay, and reduction in the oxides of nitrogen and smoke at a constant fuel/air ratio. When the water was emulsified with the fuel, the ignition delay increased so much that no benefits were obtained except for a reduction in smoke. The results are compared to a similar study on an engine with the “M” combustion system. The major differences between the results obtained with the two combustion systems are attributed to the differences in the ignition delay caused by the water addition.

Design and development of the Cummins Signature 600, a new high horsepower dual overhead cam truck diesel engine, has been completed. The Signature 600 product system includes an all-new engine, controls, fuel system, and business information systems. During product definition, particular emphasis was placed on target markets, customer input to design, engineering and manufacturing processes, concurrent engineering and extensive mechanical and thermal analyses. Cummins Signature 600 fulfills the needs of Owner-Operator and Premium Fleet linehaul trucking businesses.

A fuel cell powered airplane has been designed and constructed at the Georgia Insitute of Technology to develop an understanding of the design and implementation challenges of fuel cell-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A custom 448W net output proton exchange membrane fuel cell powerplant has been constructed and tested. A demonstrator aircraft was designed and built to accommodate this powerplant and the fuel cell powered aircraft has performed seven test flights to date. Test data show that the aircraft performance validates the models used for design and optimization and that the fuel cell aircraft is capable of longer endurance, higher performance test flights.

Diesel engine manufacturers have traditionally done most engine noise development work under steady: state operating conditions. However, truck driveby noise tests are acceleration tests, and engines exhibit different noise behavior under accelerating conditions. Acceleration noise can be affected by engine performance parameters which may have no influence on steady state noise levels. In this study, a test cell simulation of the truck driveby procedure has been developed and evaluated. Test cell simulation and truck driveby results are compared for a naturally-aspirated and a turbocharged engine. This simulation procedure has been shown to predict reliably results measured in vehicles. As a result, the simulation can be used to evaluate engine modifications during the development process without requiring a vehicle installation.

This paper presents a quantitative process to track the progress of technology developments within NASA’s Vehicle Systems Program (VSP) as implemented on a Supersonic Business Jet (SBJ). The process, called the Technology Metric Assessment and Tracking (TMAT) process, accounts for the temporal aspects of technology development programs such that technology portfolio assessments, in the form of technological progress towards VSP sector goals, may be tracked and assessed. Progress tracking of internal research and development programs is an essential element to successful strategic endeavors and justification of the pursuit of capital projects [1].

This paper presents several techniques used to define quantitatively the problem of excessive noise through engine structural vibration. These techniques include both operating engine tests and bench tests. In addition, analytical techniques are shown which give a better understanding of how the critical components within the engine cause this vibration. Through the use of analytical and experimental techniques, examples illustrate practical solutions for diesel engine noise reduction.