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Very-large-scale coherent structures in the wall pressure field beneath a supersonic turbulent boundary layer

Beresh, Steven J.; Henfling, John F.; Spillers, Russell W.; Pruett, Brian O.

Previous wind tunnel experiments up to Mach 3 have provided fluctuating wall-pressure spectra beneath a supersonic turbulent boundary layer, which essentially are flat at low frequency and do not exhibit the theorized {psi}{sup 2} dependence. The flat portion of the spectrum extends over two orders of magnitude and represents structures reaching at least 100 {delta} in scale, raising questions about their physical origin. The spatial coherence required over these long lengths may arise from very-large-scale structures that have been detected in turbulent boundary layers due to groupings of hairpin vortices. To address this hypothesis, data have been acquired from a dense spanwise array of fluctuating wall pressure sensors, then invoking Taylor's Hypothesis and low-pass filtering the data allows the temporal signals to be converted into a spatial map of the wall pressure field. This reveals streaks of instantaneously correlated pressure fluctuations elongated in the streamwise direction and exhibiting spanwise alternation of positive and negative events that meander somewhat in tandem. As the low-pass filter cutoff is lowered, the fluctuating pressure magnitude of the coherent structures diminishes while their length increases.

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Pressure power spectra beneath a supersonic turbulent boundary layer

Beresh, Steven J.; Henfling, John F.; Spillers, Russell W.; Pruett, Brian O.

Wind tunnel experiments up to Mach 3 have provided fluctuating wall-pressure spectra beneath a supersonic turbulent boundary layer to frequencies reaching 400 kHz by combining signals from piezoresistive silicon pressure transducers effective at low- and mid-range frequencies and piezoelectric quartz sensors to detect high frequency events. Data were corrected for spatial attenuation at high frequencies and for wind-tunnel noise and vibration at low frequencies. The resulting power spectra revealed the {omega}{sup -1} dependence for fluctuations within the logarithmic region of the boundary layer, but are essentially flat at low frequency and do not exhibit the theorized {omega}{sup 2} dependence. Variations in the Reynolds number or streamwise measurement location collapse to a single curve for each Mach number when normalized by outer flow variables. Normalization by inner flow variables is successful for the {omega}{sup -1} region but less so for lower frequencies. A comparison of the pressure fluctuation intensities with fifty years of historical data shows their reported magnitude chiefly is a function of the frequency response of the sensors. The present corrected data yield results in excess of the bulk of the historical data, but uncorrected data are consistent with lower magnitudes. These trends suggest that much of the historical compressible database may be biased low, leading to the failure of several semi-empirical predictive models to accurately represent the power spectra acquired during the present experiments.

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Meander of a fin trailing vortex measured using particle image velocimetry

47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

Beresh, Steven J.; Henfling, John F.; Spillers, Russell W.

The low-frequency meander of a trailing vortex shed from a tapered fin installed on a wind tunnel wall has been studied using stereoscopic particle image velocimetry in the near-wake at Mach 0.8. Distributions of the instantaneous vortex position reveal that the meander amplitude increases with downstream distance and decreases with vortex strength, indicating meander is induced external to the vortex. Trends with downstream distance suggest meander begins on the fin surface, prior to vortex shedding. Mean vortex properties are unaltered when considered in the meandering reference frame, apparently because turbulent fluctuations in the vortex shape and strength dominate positional variations. Conversely, a large peak of artificial turbulent kinetic energy is found centered in the vortex core, which almost entirely disappears when corrected for meander, though some turbulence remains near the core radius. Turbulence originating at the wind tunnel wall was shown to contribute to vortex meander by energizing the incoming boundary layer using low-profile vortex generators and observing a substantial increase in the meander amplitude while greater turbulent kinetic energy penetrates the vortex core. An explanatory mechanism has been hypothesized, in which the vortex initially forms at the apex of the swept leading edge of the fin where it is exposed to turbulent fluctuations within the wind tunnel wall boundary layer, introducing an instability into the incipient vortex core.

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Interaction of a fin trailing vortex with a downstream control surface

46th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit

Beresh, Steven J.; Smith, Justin S.; Henfling, John F.; Grasser, Thomas W.; Spillers, Russell W.

A sub-scale experiment has been constructed using fins mounted on one wall of a transonic wind tunnel to investigate the influence of fin trailing vortices upon downstream control surfaces. Data are collected using a fin balance instrumenting the downstream fin to measure the aerodynamic forces of the interaction, combined with stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry to determine vortex properties. The fin balance data show that the response of the downstream fin essentially is shifted from the baseline single-fin data dependent upon the angle of attack of the upstream fin. Freestream Mach number and the spacing between fins have secondary effects. The velocimetry shows that the vortex strength increases markedly with upstream fin angle of attack, though even an uncanted fin generates a noticeable wake. No variation with Mach number can be discerned in the normalized velocity data. Correlations between the force data and the velocimetry suggest that the interaction is fundamentally a result of an angle of attack superposed upon the downstream fin by the vortex shed from the upstream fin tip. The Mach number influence arises from differing vortex lift on the leading edge of the downstream fin even when the impinging vortex is Mach invariant.

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Penetration of a transverse supersonic jet into a subsonic compressible crossflow

Beresh, Steven J.; Beresh, Steven J.; Henfling, John F.; Erven, Rocky E.; Spillers, Russell W.

Particle image velocimetry data have been acquired in the far field of the interaction generated by an overexpanded axisymmetric supersonic jet exhausting transversely from a flat plate into a subsonic compressible crossflow. Mean velocity fields were found in the streamwise plane along the flowfield centerline for different values of the crossflow Mach number M{sub {infinity}} and the jet-to-freestream dynamic pressure ratio J. The magnitude of the streamwise velocity deficit and the vertical velocity component both decay with downstream distance and were observed to be greater for larger J while M{sub {infinity}} remained constant. Jet trajectories derived independently using the maxima of each of these two velocity components are not identical, but show increasing jet penetration for larger J. Similarity in the normalized velocity field was found for constant J at two different transonic M{sub {infinity}}, but at two lower M{sub {infinity}} the jet appeared to interact with the wall boundary layer and data did not collapse. The magnitude and width of the peak in the vertical velocity component both increase with J, suggesting that the strength and size of the counter-rotating vortex pair increase and, thus, may have a stronger influence on aerodynamic surfaces despite further jet penetration from the wall.

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Results 101–125 of 125
Results 101–125 of 125