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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.

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.

This presentation is an assessment of the turbulence-stress scale-similarity in an IC engine, which is used for modeling subgrid dissipation in LES. Residual stresses and Leonard stresses were computed after applying progressively smaller spatial filters to measured and simulated velocity distributions. The velocity was measured in the TCC-II engine using planar and stereo PIV taken in three different planes and with three different spatial resolutions, thus yielding two and three velocity components, respectively. Comparisons are made between the stresses computed from the measured velocity and stress computed from the LES resolved-scale velocity from an LES simulation. The results present the degree of similarity between the residual stresses and the Leonard stresses at adjacent scales. The specified filters are systematically reduced in size to the resolution limits of the measurements and simulation.

Neural network augmented model inversion control is used to provide a civilian tilt-rotor aircraft with consistent response characteristics throughout its operating envelope, including conversion flight. The implemented response types are Attitude Command Attitude Hold in the longitudinal channel, and Rate Command Attitude Hold about the roll and yaw axes. This article describes the augmentation in the roll channel and the augmentation for the yaw motion including Heading Hold at low airspeeds and automatic Turn Coordination at cruise flight. Conventional methods require extensive gain scheduling with tilt-rotor nacelle angle and airspeed. A control architecture is developed that can alleviate this requirement and thus has the potential to reduce development time. It also facilitates the implementation of desired handling qualities, and permits compensation for partial failures.

At high angles of attack, the flow over a swept wing generates counter-rotating vortical features. These features can amplify into a nearly sinusoidal fluctuation of velocity components. The result is excitation of twin-fin buffeting, driven at clearly predictable frequencies, or at nearby lock-in frequencies of the fin structure. This is distinct from the traditional model of fin buffeting as a structural resonant response to broadband, large-amplitude excitation from vortex core bursting. Hot-film anemometry was conducted ahead of the vertical fins of a 1:48 scale model of the F-35B aircraft, in the angle of attack range between 18 and 30 degrees. Auto spectral density functions from these data showed a sharp spectral peak in the flow ahead of the fins for angles of attack between 20 and 28 degrees. Small fences placed on the top surface of the wing eliminated the spectral peak, leaving only a broadband turbulent spectrum.

This paper describes a series of ongoing experiments to capture the details of perpendicular vortex-airfoil interaction. Three test cases explored are: 1) a 21% thick symmetric airfoil at 1.1° angle of attack, 2)a thin flat plate of 2.5% thickness with rounded leading edge, sharp trailing edge and zero angle of attack and 3) A 12% thick symmetric airfoil at zero angle of attack. The tip vortex was generated by a NACA0016 wing at 5° AOA. The strength of the vortex was computed from the velocity profile measured upstream for the first two cases. Pressure measurements on the 21% airfoil were used to quantify the effect of the vortex as a function of its stand-off distance from the airfoil. Vortex trajectories over the airfoils were obtained from laser sheet videography. The vortex motion conforms to potential flow expectations except in regions of pressure gradient and during head-on interaction.

Laser plasma ignition has been pursued by engine researchers as an alternative to electric spark-ignition systems, potentially offering benefits by avoiding quenching surfaces and extending breakdown limits at higher boost pressure and lower equivalence ratio. For this study, we demonstrate another potential benefit: the ability to control the timing of ignition with short, nanosecond pulses, thereby optimizing the type of mixture that burns in rapidly changing, stratified fuel-air mixtures. We study laser ignition at various timings during single and double injections at simulated gasoline engine conditions within a controlled, high-temperature, high-pressure vessel. Laser ignition is accomplished with a single low-energy (10 mJ), short duration (8 ns) Nd:YAG laser beam that is tightly focused (0.015 mm average measured 1/e₂ diameter) at a typical GDI spark plug location.

It is common practice to validate diesel spray models against experimental diesel-spray images based on elastic light scattering, but the metric used to define the liquid boundary in a modeled spray can be physically inconsistent with the liquid boundary detected by light scattering measurements. In particular, spray models typically define liquid penetration based on a liquid mass threshold, while light scattering signal intensities are based on droplet size and volume fraction. These metrics have different response characteristics to changes in ambient conditions and fuel properties. Thus, when spray models are “tuned” or calibrated to match these types of measurements, the predictive capabilities of these models can be compromised. In this work, we compare two different liquid length metrics of an evaporating, non-reacting n-dodecane spray under diesel-like conditions using KIVA-3V.

The wind-driven dynamic manipulator is a device which uses the wind tunnel freestream energy to drive multi-axis maneuvers of test models. This paper summarizes work performed using the device in several applications and discusses current work on characterizing the aerodynamics of an X-38 vehicle model in pitch-yaw maneuvers. Previous applications in flow visualization, adaptive control and linear-domain parameter identification are now extended to multi-axis inverse force and moment measurement over large ranges of attitude. A pitch-yaw-roll version is operated with active roll to measure forces and moments during maneuvers. A 3-D look-up table generated from direct force calibration allows operation of the manipulator through nonlinear regimes where control wing stall and boom wake-wing interactions are allowed to occur. Hybrid designs combining conventional and wind-driven degrees of freedom are discussed.

This paper describes a machine to quarry construction material, sinter walls, and assemble future space station modules. In prior work, we explored the solar energy requirements to build a 50m diameter, 50m high, cylindrical module out of pulverized rock from a Near-Earth Object, using tailored radio wave fields. In this paper, we describe the issues in the conceptual design of the robotic construction machines. The 4-legged Rock breaker is designed to fit the payload bay of a modern heavy-lift booster to reach Low Earth Orbit, and primary solar-sail propulsion for most of its journey. It uses beamed microwave energy for its cutting operations. Rotating, telescoping arms use integrated laser/plasma jet cutter arrays to dig trenches in spiral patterns which will form blocks of material. Cut blocks are sent into a toroidal cloud of material for use in the force field tailoring for automatic module formation.

The enabling of advanced design methods in an internet-capable framework will be discussed in this paper. The resulting framework represents the next generation of design and analysis capability in which engineering decision- making can be done by geographically distributed team members. A new internet technology called the lean-server approach is introduced as a mechanism for granting Web browser access to frameworks and domain analyses. This approach has the underpinnings required to support these next generation frameworks - collaboratories. A historical perspective of design frameworks is discussed to provide an understanding of the design functionality that is expected from framework implementations to insure design technology advancement. Two research areas were identified as being important to the development of collaboratories: design portals and collaborative methods.

A design process is formulated and implemented for the taxonomy selection and system-level optimization of an Efficient Multi-Mach Aircraft Current Technology Concept and an Advanced Concept. Concept space exploration of taxonomy alternatives is performed with multi-objective genetic algorithms and a Powell’s method scheme for vehicle optimization in a multidisciplinary modeling and simulation environment. A dynamic sensitivity visualization analysis tool is generated for the Advanced Concept with response surface equations.

An affordable technique is proposed for fast quantitative analysis of aerobatics and other complex flight domains of highly maneuverable aircraft. A generalized autonomous situational model of the “pilot (automaton) – vehicle – operational environment” system is employed as a “virtual test article”. Using this technique, a systematic knowledge of the system behavior in aerobatic flight can be generated on a computer, much faster than real time. This information can be analyzed via a set of knowledge mapping formats using a 3-D graphics visualization tool. Piloting and programming skills are not required in this process. Possible applications include: aircraft design and education, applied aerodynamics, flight control systems design, planning and rehearsal of flight test and display programs, investigation of aerobatics-related flight accidents and incidents, physics-based pilot training, research into new maneuvers, autonomous flight, and onboard AI.

The quantification of aircraft survivability in modern battlefield environments is a complex mathematical problem. In general, consideration must be given to the quantification of aircraft vulnerability to individual weapon systems, single encounter aircraft survivability, and the mathematical mapping of single encounter aircraft survivability into mission attrition. A methodology for quantifying the impacts of electronic warfare (EW) upon aircraft survivability is realized by the General Effectiveness Methodology (GEM) which is based upon a hierarchy of computer models. This paper describes this hierarchy of computer simulation tools which extensively employs probability theory to estimate the various engagement events such as aircraft detection, acquisition, missile launch, missile intercept, and probability of aircraft kill.