Man has always been fascinated by the flight of birds and insects. First attempts at flight involved flapping wings to mimic the birds and insects that had been observed in flight. Fixed wings proved to be a more practical approach and have been used for over 100 years for manned flight. Emphasis has been placed on flapping wing designs for micro air vehicles (MAVs) as research has shown that challenges arise in lift generation and stability in fixed wing flight as the scale decreases [1].This research explores the use of 3D, time-resolved, Synthetic Aperture PIV (SAPIV) in measuring flow velocities on the mechanical flapping wing of a MAV in tethered flight. The vortical structures on the MAV are measured using both SAPIV and 2DPIV to be able to analyze 2D and 3D velocity fields. The 3D vorticity plots and 2D slice vorticity plots show the three-dimensional nature of the Leading Edge Vortex (LEV) and Trailing Edge Vortex (TEV). 2DPIV plots and 2D slices from the 3D data show general agreement in the structure and behavior of the flow around the flapping wing. The lift and thrust generated by the MAV are measured using a force gauge. The wing tip is tracked in 2D and 3D for synchronization of the measured lift forces with the flow field measurements from the SAPIV. The positive and negative circulation are plotted against the measured lift and thrust forces. The measured lift and thrust forces from the force gauge are then compared to the calculated lift and thrust forces from the measured 3D circulation found through the SAPIV flow field measurements. A plane measured parallel to the LEV and TEV vortex cores allows the defining of a unit vector that is directed normal to the top of the wing and the LEV and TEV cores. The decomposition of the unit vector allows for the calculation of the lift and thrust generated by the circulation around the wing. The comparisons between the measured and calculated forces show good agreement in the case of the measured and calculated lift forces.

A new noise metric has been developed that may be used for optimization problems involving aerodynamic noise from a clean wing. The modeling approach uses a classical trailing edge noise theory as the starting point. The final form of the noise metric includes characteristic velocity and length scales that are obtained from three-dimensional, steady, RANS simulations with a two- equation k-omega turbulence model. The noise metric is not the absolute value of the noise intensity, but an accurate relative noise measure as shown in the validation studies. One of the unique features of the new noise metric is the modeling of the length scale, which is directly related to the turbulent structure of the flow at the trailing edge. The proposed noise metric model has been formulated so that it can capture the effect of different design variables on the clean wing airframe noise such as the aircraft speed, lift coefficient, and wing geometry. It can also capture three-dimensional effects which become important at high lift coefficients, since the characteristic velocity and the length scales are allowed to vary along the span of the wing. Noise metric validation was performed with seven test cases that were selected from a two-dimensional NACA 0012 experimental database. The agreement between the experiment and the predictions obtained with the new noise metric was very good at various speeds, angles of attack, and Reynolds Number, which showed that the noise metric is capable of capturing the variations in the trailing edge noise as a relative noise measure when different flow conditions and parameters are changed. Parametric studies were performed to investigate the effect of different design variables on the noise metric. Two-dimensional parametric studies were done using two symmetric NACA four-digit airfoils (NACA 0012 and NACA 0009) and two supercritical (SC(2)-0710 and SC(2)-0714) airfoils. The three-dimensional studies were performed with two versions of a conventional transport wing at realistic approach conditions. The twist distribution of the baseline wing was changed to obtain a modified wing which was used to investigate the effect of the twist on the trailing edge noise. An example study with NACA 0012 and NACA 0009 airfoils demonstrated a reduction in the trailing edge noise by decreasing the thickness ratio and the lift coefficient, while increasing the chord length to keep the same lift at a constant speed. Both two- and three-dimensional studies demonstrated that the trailing edge noise remains almost constant at low lift coefficients and gets larger at higher lift values. The increase in the noise metric can be dramatic when there is separation on the wing. Three-dimensional effects observed in the wing cases indicate the importance of calculating the noise metric with a characteristic velocity and length scale that vary along the span. The twist change does not have a significant effect on the noise at low lift coefficients, however it may give significant noise reduction at higher lift values. The results obtained in this study show the importance of the lift coefficient on the airframe noise of a clean wing and favors having a larger wing area to reduce the lift coefficient for minimizing the noise. The results also point to the fact that the noise reduction studies should be performed in a multidisciplinary design and optimization framework, since many of the parameters that change the trailing edge noise also affect the other aircraft design requirements. It's hoped that the noise metric developed here can aid in such multidisciplinary design and optimization studies. / Ph. D.

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This thesis presents the implementation and validation of a new methodology developed by Glegg et al. (2004) for solving the trailing edge noise problem. This method is based on the premises that the noise produced by a surface can be computed by the integral of the cross product between the velocity and vorticity fields, of the boundary layer and shed vorticity (Howe (1978)). To extract the source terms, proper orthogonal decomposition is applied to the velocity cross spectrum to extract modes of the unsteady velocity and vorticity. The new formulation of the trailing edge noise problem by Glegg et al. (2004) is attractive because it applies to the high frequencies of interest but does not require an excessive computational effort. Also, the nature of the formulation permits the identification of the modes producing the noise and their associated velocity fluctuations as well as the regions of the boundary layer responsible for the noise production. The source terms were obtained using the direct numerical simulation of a turbulent channel flow by Moser et al. (1998). Two-point velocity and vorticity statistics of this data set were obtained by averaging 41 instantaneous fields. For comparisons purposes, experimental boundary layer data by Adrian et al. (2000) was chosen. Statistical reduction of 50 velocity fields obtained by particle image velocimetry was performed and analysis of the two-point correlation function showed features similar to the DNS data case. Also, proper orthogonal decomposition revealed identical dominant modes and eddy structures in the flow, therefore justifying considering the channel flow as an external boundary layer for noise calculations. Comparison of noise predictions with experimental data from Brooks et al. (1989) showed realistic results with the largest discrepancies, on the order of 5 dB, occurring at the lowest frequencies. The DNS results are least applicable at these frequencies, since these correspond to the longest streamwise lengthscales, which are the most affected by the periodicity conditions used in the DNS and also are the least representative of the turbulence in an external boundary layer flow. Most of the noise was shown to be produced by low-frequency streamwise velocity modes in the bottom 10% of the boundary layer and locations closest to the wall. Only 6 modes were required to obtain noise levels within 1 dB of the total noise. Finally, the method for predicting spatial velocity correlation from Reynolds stress data in wake flows, originally developed by Devenport et al. (1999, 2001) and Devenport and Glegg (2001), was adapted to boundary-layer type flows. This method, using Reynolds stresses and the prescription of a lengthscale to extrapolate the full two-point correlation, was shown to produce best results for a lengthscale prescribed as proportional to the turbulent macroscale. Noise predictions using modeled two-point statistics showed good agreement with the DNS inferred data in all but frequency magnitude, a probable consequence of the modeling of the correlation function in the streamwise direction. Other quantities associated to noise were seen to be similar to the ones obtained using the DNS. / Master of Science

A high-turning compressor stator with a unique flow control design was developed and tested. Both boundary layer suction and trailing edge blowing developed from a single supplied motive pressure source are employed on the stator. Massflow removed through boundary layer suction is added to the motive massflow, and the resulting combined flow is used for trailing edge blowing to reduce the total pressure deficit generated by the stator wake. The effectiveness of the flow control design was investigated experimentally by measuring the reduction in the total pressure loss coefficient. The experiment was conducted in a linear transonic blowdown cascade wind tunnel. The inlet Mach number for all tests was 0.79, with a Reynolds number based on stator chordlength of 2,000,000. A range of inlet cascade angles was tested to identify the useful range of the flow control design. The effect of different supply massflows represented as a percentage of the passage throughflow was also documented. Significant reductions in the total pressure loss coefficient were accomplished with flow control at low cascade angles. A maximum reduction of 65% in the baseline (no flow control) loss coefficient was achieved by using a motive massflow of 1.6% of the passage throughflow, at cascade angle of 0°. The corresponding suction and blowing massflow ratio was approximately 1:3.6. Cascade angle results near 0° showed significant reductions in the loss coefficient, while increases in the cascade angle diminished the effects of flow control. Considerable suction side separation and the presence of a leading edge shock are noticeable as the cascade angle is increased, and contribute to the losses across the stator surface. Also identified was the estimated increase in wake turning due to flow control of up to 4.5°. / Master of Science

The main contributor to the high-cycle fatigue of compressor blades is the response to aerodynamic forcing functions generated by an upstream row of stators or inlet guide vanes. Resonant response to engine order excitation at certain rotor speeds is especially damaging. Studies have shown that flow control by trailing edge blowing (TEB) can reduce stator wake strength and the amplitude of the downstream rotor blade vibrations generated by the unsteady stator-rotor interaction. In the present study, the effectiveness of TEB to reduce forced blade vibrations was evaluated in a modern single-stage transonic compressor rig. A row of wake generator (WG) vanes with TEB capability was installed upstream of the fan blisk, the blades of which were instrumented with strain gages. Data was collected for varied TEB conditions over a range of rotor speed which included one fundamental and multiple harmonic resonance crossings. Sensitivity of resonant response amplitude to full-span TEB flowrate, as well as optimal TEB flowrates, are documented for multiple modes. Resonant response sensitivity was generally characterized by a robust region of substantial attenuation, such that less-than-optimal TEB flowrates could prove to be an appropriate design tradeoff. The fundamental crossing amplitude of the first torsion mode was reduced by as much as 85% with full-span TEB at 1.1% of the total rig inlet flow. Similar reductions were achieved for the various harmonic crossings, including as much as 94% reduction of the second leading edge bending mode resonant response using 0.74% of the rig flow for full-span TEB. At least 32% reduction was achieved for all modal crossings over the broad flow range of 0.5 to 0.9% of the rig flow. Thus the results demonstrate the modal- and flowrate-robustness of full-span TEB for reducing forced response in a modern, closely-spaced transonic compressor. Reduced spanwise TEB coverage was generally found to provide less peak reduction. Widely varying sensitivities of the vibration modes to the spanwise TEB distribution were also noted. While the second chordwise mode experienced roughly the same maximum response reduction of 80% for all of the spanwise TEB configurations, some other modes were amplified from the baseline case under part-span TEB conditions. Part-span TEB was thus found to be less modally-robust than full-span TEB. / Ph. D.

The effects of trailing edge flow control on the wakes of a linear cascade of idealized fan blades was investigated experiments with a view to the likely effects on broadband aircraft engine interaction noise. Single and three-component hotwire velocity measurements were made downstream of the cascade for a chord Reynolds number of 390,000 and a Mach number of 0.07. Measurements of the two-point velocity correlation were used extensively to evaluate the impact of various flow control strategies on the organization of the coherent structures of the wakes and their potential to generate noise. A baseline flow was established by measuring the wake downstream of unmodified GE-Rotor-B blades. Four sets of serrated trailing edge blades (with two different serration sizes and with two trailing edge cambers) and three sets of blades with trailing edge blowing (a simple rectangular slot, rectangular slot with Kuethe-vane vortex generators, and rectangular slot with serrated lips) were tested. The serrated trailing edges introduce corrugations into the wake, increase the wake decay and width as well as turbulence levels (possibly because of the blunt trailing edge created at the serration valley). The serrated trailing edges also increase the turbulence scales in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the wake because of the injection of streamwise vorticity. In almost all cases the serrations reduce the spanwise and streamwise turbulence scales. Serrations do not, however, affect the apparent time scale of quasi-periodic structures in the wake, and this appears to limit the potential of this trailing edge treatment to reduce broadband noise. The analysis of the characteristic eddies (obtained from proper orthogonal decomposition combined with linear estimation) revealed that the serrations do not change the qualitative form of the eddies. Trailing edge blowing was found to significantly decrease the wake deficit and width as well as the turbulence levels at all blowing rates. Blowing through the simple rectangular slot, at mass flow rates between 1.4 and 2.0% of the total passage through flow, was shown to significantly affect the size, the organization and the strength of the coherent structures. For small blowing rates the strong spanwise eddies near the trailing edge actually appear to be enhanced. For larger blowing rates, however, the turbulent scales are reduced in all directions. The addition of Kuethe vanes on the suction side of the blowing blade results in a low momentum region just downstream of the vanes that may result from flow separation there. This further enhances the shedding and increases the blowing rate needed to overcome it. The serrated blowing blades show the greatest potential to reduce broadband noise as they reduce the turbulence levels and scales without creating potentially detrimental structures. While no acoustic measurements were made, analysis of hypothetical perpendicular and parallel interactions of blades with these wakes has made possible to characterize for the first time the impact of the changes in the eddy structure of these wakes on their potential to generate broadband noise. The serrated trailing edges (especially the larger serrations) actually increase the potential of the wake to generate broadband noise (a direct consequence in the overall increase in turbulence scale and intensity). In contrast, every trailing edge blowing configuration was found to produce large reductions in the potential noise (a maximum of 6dB reduction was obtained at 2.0% blowing). The addition of Kuethe vanes on the suction side of the blowing blades significantly reduced the efficiency of the simple blowing configuration (a result of the increased coherency associated with the shedding of streamwise vorticity by the vanes). The serrated blowing configuration was found to yield reductions similar to the simple blowing configuration. / Ph. D.

A series of experiments were conducted in a F109 turbofan engine to investigate the unsteady wake profiles of an Inlet Guide Vane (IGV) at a typical spacing to the downstream fan at subsonic and transonic relative blade velocities. The sharp trailing-edge vanes were designed to produce a wake profile consistent with modern IGV. Time averaged baseline measurements were first performed with the IGV located upstream of the aerodynamic influence of the fan. Unsteady experiments were performed with an IGV-fan spacing of 0.43 fan chords. High-frequency on-vane pressure measurements showed strong peak-to-peak amplitudes at the blade passing frequency (BPF) of 4.7 psi at the transonic fan speeds. High-frequency total pressure measurements of the IGV wake were taken between the IGV and fan. Results showed that the total pressure loss coefficient of the time averaged IGV wake is reduced by 30% for the subsonic fan, and increased by a factor of 2 for the transonic fan compared to the baseline. Time resolved wake profiles for subsonic fan speeds show constructive and destructive interactions over each blade pass generated by the fan potential flow field. Time resolved wake profiles for the transonic fan speeds show that shock interactions with the IGV surface result in the wake shedding off of the vane at the BPF. Furthermore, the effectiveness of trailing edge blowing (TEB) flow control was investigated. TEB is the method of injecting air aft of the IGV to reduce the low pressure regions (deficits) in the viscous wakes shed by the vanes. Minimizing the IGV wakes reduces the forcing function on the downstream fan blades, thereby reducing high cycle fatigue. The TE span of the vane contains discrete holes at the axial centerline for TEB. Baseline results showed that TEB eliminates the IGV wake, while using only 0.03% of the total engine mass flow per IGV. TEB for the subsonic fan at the close spacing shows complete wake filling using the same mass flow as the baseline. TEB for the transonic fan shows a reduction of 68% in the total pressure loss coefficient, while requiring 2.5 times the mass flow as the baseline. / Ph. D.

In recent years, the aircraft industry has begun to focus its research capabilities on reducing emissions and noise produced by aircraft. Modern aircraft use two to four engines arranged on the wing or behind to produce thrust that is concentrated directly behind the engine. Kuchemann suggested a way to improve the propulsive efficiency by changing the normal configuration of engine and aircraft. This concept is the jet-wing distributed propulsion idea, which redistributes the thrust across the span of the wings. Distributed propulsion is accomplished by using many smaller engines spread across the wings or several large engines to duct the exhaust flow in a jet-wing. The jet-wing concept can be used to reduce noise and also as a replacement for flaps and slats by deflecting the jet. Since the distributed propulsion concept is also a method to reduce noise, it's important to have a simplified method of calculating the trailing edge noise of a wing. One of the purposes of this paper was to study the effect of adding jet-wing distributed propulsion to a thick "inboard" airfoil. The two-dimensional jet-wing model was analyzed by parametric computational fluid dynamic (CFD) studies using the Reynolds-averaged, finite-volume, Navier-Stokes code GASP. The model was set up to be self-propelled by applying velocity and density boundary conditions to the blunt edge of the airfoil. A thick "inboard" airfoil from a realistic transonic wing was needed for the study and so the span station of the EET Wing was chosen. This airfoil was thick with a thickness to chord ratio of 16%. In adding distributed propulsion to this thick airfoil, it was found that there was an increase in the propulsive efficiency as compared to typical modern high-bypass-ratio turbofan engines with no negative aerodynamic consequences. The other purpose of this study was to create and assess a simplified method to calculate the trailing edge noise metric value produced by an airfoil. Existing methods use RANS CFD, which is computationally expensive and so it seemed important to find a less expensive method. A method was formed using the Virginia Tech Boundary Layer Java Codes which calculated the characteristic turbulent velocity and characteristic turbulent length scale. A supercritical airfoil, SC(2)-0714, was used to assess the simplified method as compared to the more computationally expensive GASP runs. The results showed that this method has trends that follow those of the GASP results with the method compare well up to modest lift coefficients. / Master of Science

AC/DC adapters mostly employ two-stage topology: Power Factor Correction (PFC) pre-regulation stage followed by an isolated DC/DC converter stage. Low power AC/DC adapters require a small size to be competitive. Among their components, the bulk DC-link capacitor is one of the largest because it should keep the output voltage with low ripple. Also, the size of this capacitor is penalized due to the universal line voltage application. Synchronization through employing leading edge modulation for the first PFC stage and trailing edge modulation for the second DC/DC converter stage can significantly reduce the ripple current and ripple voltage of the DC-link capacitor. Thus, a smaller DC-link capacitance can be used, lowering the cost and size of the AC/DC adapter. Benefits of the synchronous switching scheme were already demonstrated experimentally. However, no mathematical analysis was presented. In this thesis, detailed mathematical analyses in per-unit quantity are given to facilitate the calculation of the DC-link capacitor ripple current reduction with Leading/Trailing Edge Modulation strategies. One of the limitations of leading/trailing edge modulation is that the switching frequencies of the two stages need to be equal to achieve the best reduction of the DC-link capacitor ripple current. The DC-link capacitor ripple current will become larger if the switching frequency of the DC/DC converter is larger than that of the PFC pre-regulator, which blocks us to employ higher frequency for isolated DC/DC converter to reduce its transformer size. This thesis proposed a new Leading/Trailing Edge Modulation strategy to further reduce the DC-link bulk capacitor ripple current when switching frequency of DC/DC converter stage is twice the switching frequency of PFC stage. This proposed pulse width modulation scheme was verified by simulation. Experimental results obtained through digital control based on FPGA are also presented in this thesis.