<p>Theoretical and experimental studies are conducted in the field of aeroelasticity. Specifically, two rectangular and one cropped delta wings with a hole are analyzed in this dissertation for their aeroelastic behavior.</p><p>The plate-like wings are modeled using the finite element method for the structural theory. Each wing is assumed to behave as a linearly elastic and isotropic, thin plate. These assumptions are those of small-deflection theory of bending which states that the plane sections initially normal to the midsurface remain plane and normal to that surface after bending. The wings are modeled in low speed flows according to potential flow theory. The potential flow is governed by the aerodynamic potential equation, a linear partial differential equation. The aerodynamic potential equation is solved using a distribution of doublets that relates pressure to downwash in the doublet lattice method. A hole in a wing-like structure is independently investigated theoretically and experimentally for its structural and aerodynamic behavior.</p><p>The aeroelastic model couples the structural and aerodynamic models using Lagrange's equations. The flutter boundary is predicted using the V-g method. Linear theoretical models are capable of predicting the critical flutter velocity and frequency as verified by wind tunnel tests. Along with flutter prediction, a brief survey on gust response and the addition of stores(missile or fuel tanks) are examined.</p> / Dissertation

Currently, a lack of accurate emission data exits for particulate matter (PM) in agricultural air quality studies (USDA-AAQTF, 2000). PM samplers, however, tend to over estimate the concentration of most agricultural dusts because of the interaction of the particle size distribution (PSD) and performance characteristics of the sampler (Buser, 2004). This research attempts to find a practical method to characterize and correct this error for the Federal Reference Method (FRM) PM10 sampler. First, a new dust wind tunnel testing facility that satisfies the USEPA’s requirement of testing PM10 samplers was designed, built, and evaluated. Second, the wind tunnel testing protocol using poly-dispersed aerosol as the test dust was proved to be able to provide results consistent with mono-dispersed dusts. Third, this study quantified the variation of over sampling ratios for the various cut point and slopes of FRM PM10 samplers and proposed an averaged over sampling ratio as a correction factor for various ranges of PSD. Finally, a method of using total suspended particle (TSP) samplers as a field reference for determining PM10 concentrations and aerosol PSD was explored computationally. Overall, this dissertation developed successfully the methodology to correct the sampling error associated with the FRM PM10 sampler: (1) wind tunnel testing facilities and protocol for experimental evaluation of samplers; (2) the variation of the oversampling ratios of FRM PM10 samplers for computational evaluation of samplers; (3) the evaluation of TSP sampler effectiveness as a potential field reference for field evaluation of samplers.

Active flow control has been extensively explored in wind tunnel studies but successful in-flight implementation of an active flow control technology still remains a challenge. This thesis presents implementation of active flow control technology onboard a 33% scale Extra 330S ARF aircraft, wind tunnel studies and flight testing of fluidic actuators. The design and construction of the pulsed blowing system for stall suppression (LE actuator) and continuous blowing system for roll control (TE actuator) and pitch control have been presented. Full scale wind tunnel testing in 7̕ X 10 Oran W. Nicks low speed wind tunnel shows that the TE actuators are about 50% effective as the conventional ailerons. The LE actuator is found to be capable of suppressing stall from 12° to about 22°. Comparison of characteristics of Active elevator and conventional elevator in 3' X 4' low speed wind tunnel show that, the active elevator is as effective as of conventional elevator deflected at 5°. Flight tests show that TE actuators are able to control the aircraft in flight in banked turns. The measured roll rates in-flight support the wind tunnel test findings.

Particulate matter (PM) concentrations in ambient air can be monitored by gravimetric sampling near a source using Federal Reference Method (FRM) samplers. PM is regulated by size, with PM10, which is comprised of particles with aerodynamic equivalent diameters less than or equal to 10 μm, being the main focus of this research. FRM PM10 samplers exhibit sampling errors when sampling dusts with mass median diameters (MMDs) that are larger than the 10 μm sampler cutpoint. For industries to be regulated equitably, these sampler errors must be quantified and understood. This research evaluates the performance of FRM PM10 and low volume total suspended particulate (TSP) samplers under the controlled conditions of a wind tunnel. The performance evaluation was conducted by observing the sampler cutpoints, slopes, and measured concentrations. These measured values were compared to values obtained using a collocated isokinetic reference sampler. The results of this research indicate that PM10 samplers do not operate as intended under all conditions. The cutpoint of the PM10 inlets was significantly higher than the maximum FRM limit of 10.5 μm when sampling dust with MMDs larger than the cutpoint of the sampler. The slope values for the PM10 inlets were significantly higher than the maximum FRM limit of 1.6. MMDs and geometric standard deviations of PM collected by TSP samplers were significantly different than those of PM collected using the collocated isokinetic sampler. The concentrations measured by the TSP samplers were significantly higher than the collocated isokinetic sampler. The results of this research provide a better understanding of the performance of TSP and PM10 samplers operating under different conditions and shows that these samplers are not operating as intended. Because of this, industries may be suffering the consequences of inequitable regulation.

All the operational and measurement systems of Ankara Wind Tunnel was modified to operate automatically under the control of a central computer system programmed using the Lab View programming language. A cruciform air-to-air missile with triangular canard control and a trapezoidal wing model was tested by a 35mm diameter internal balance at Mach 0.2 and data was compared with the test data of the same model&rsquo / s test that was performed at NASA Langley Research Center.

In this thesis, effects of sonic lateral jets on aerodynamics of missiles and missilelike geometries are investigated numerically by commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software FLUENT. The study consists of two parts. In the first part, two generic missile-like geometries with lateral jets, of which experimental data are available in literature, are analyzed by the software for validation studies. As the result of this study, experimental data and CFD results are in good agreement with each other in spite of some discrepancies. Also a turbulence model study is conducted by one of test models. It is also found out that k-&epsilon / turbulence model is the most suitable model for this kind of problems in terms of accuracy and ease of convergence. In the second part of the thesis, parametric studies are conducted on a generic supersonic missile, NASA TCM, to see the effect of jet parameters on missile and component force and moments in pitch plane. Variable parameters are jet location, jet mass flow rate and angle of attack. As a result, it was found out that downstream influence zone of jet exit is more than the upstream influence zone. Normal force occurring by the interaction of the free stream and jet plume are amplified whenever the jet exit is located between lifting surfaces. Greater pitching moments are obtained when the jet exit moment arm with respect to moment reference center or jet mass flow rate is increased.

The Texas A&M Flight Research Laboratory (FRL) recently received delivery of its newest aircraft, the Velocity XL-5 RG. The Velocity can fly faster than the other aircraft owned by the FRL and does not have a propeller in the front of the aircraft to disrupt the air flow. These are definite advantages that make the Velocity an attractive addition to the FRL inventory to be used in boundary-layer stability and transition control. Possible mounting locations built into the aircraft for future projects include hard points in the wings and roof of the fuselage. One of the drawbacks of the aircraft is that it has a canard ahead of the main wing that could disrupt the incoming flow for a wing glove or research requiring test pieces mounted to the hard point in the wing. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the influence the canard and the impact of its wake on the wing of the aircraft before any in-depth aerodynamic research could be completed on the aircraft. A combination of in-flight measurements of the canard wake and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) were used to provide a clear picture of the flowfield around the aircraft. The first step of the project consisted of making a 3-D CAD model of the aircraft. This model was then used for the CFD simulations in Fluent. 2-D, 3-D, inviscid, and viscous simulations were preformed on the aircraft. A pressure rake was designed to house a 5-hole probe and 18 Pitot probes that extended forward of the main wing to measure the location and strength of the canard wake at various flight conditions. There were five primary test points that were recorded at multiple times over the course of three flights. Once all of the data were collected from the flights, the freestream conditions became the inputs into the final, 3-D CFD simulations on the aircraft. The good agreement between the CFD results and the in-flight measurements provided the necessary verification of the CFD model of the aircraft. These results can be used in the future planning and execution of experiments involving the Velocity XL-5 RG.

<p>Methods for structural design, control, and testing offlexible aircraft structures are considered. Focus is onnonconventional aircraft con- figurations and control concepts.The interaction between analysis and testing is a central topicand all studies include validation testing and comparisonbetween computational and experimental results.</p><p>The first part of the thesis is concerned with the designand testing of an aeroelastic wind-tunnel model representing aBlended Wing Body (BWB) aircraft. The investigations show thata somewhat simplified wind-tunnel model design concept isuseful and efficient for the type of investigations considered.Also, the studies indicate that well established numericaltools are capable of predicting the aeroelastic behavior of theBWB aircraft with reasonable accuracy. Accurate prediction ofthe control surface aerodynamics is however found to bedifficult.</p><p>A new aerodynamic boundary element method for aeroelastictimedomain simulations and its experimental validation arepresented. The properties of the method are compared totraditional methods as well as to experimental results. Thestudy indicates that the method is capable of efficient andaccurate aeroelastic simulations.</p><p>Next, a method for tailoring a structure with respect to itsaeroelastic behavior is presented. The method is based onnumerical optimization techniques and developed for efficientdesign of aeroelastic wind-tunnel models with prescribed staticand dynamic aeroelastic properties. Experimental validationshows that the design method is useful in practice and that itprovides a more efficient handling of the dynamic aeroelasticproperties compared to previous methods.</p><p>Finally, the use of multiple control surfaces andaeroelastic effects for efficient roll maneuvering isconsidered. The idea is to design a controller that takesadvantage of the elasticity of the structure for performancebenefits. By use of optimization methods in combination with afairly simple control system, good maneuvering performance isobtained with minimal control effort. Validation testing usinga flexible wind-tunnel model and a real-time control systemshows that the control strategy is successful in practice.Keywords: aeroelasticity, active aeroelastic structures,aeroelastic tailoring, control, structural optimization,wind-tunnel testing.</p>

Thesis (M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 1990. / Thesis Advisor(s): Howard, Richard M. Second Reader: Healey, J. Val. "September 1990." Description based on title screen as viewed on December 15, 2009. DTIC Identifier(s): Strakes, Yaw, Aerodynamic Forces, Surface To Air Missiles, Angle Of Attack, High Angles, Sides, Side Forces, Wind Tunnel Models, Guided Missile Models, Vortex Shedding, High Angle Of Attack, Turbulence, Forebody Strakes, Ogives, Computer Programs, Theses, Vertical Launch. Author(s) subject terms: Vortex, Vertical Launch, Surface to Air Missile, High Angle of Attack, Turbulence, Strakes, Forebody, Ogive. Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-157). Also available in print.

The leading edge of a turbine vane is subject to some of the highest temperature loading within an engine, and an accurate understanding of leading edge film coolant behavior is essential to efficient engine design. Although there have been many investigations of the adiabatic effectiveness for showerhead film cooling within the leading edge region, there have been no previous studies in which individual rows of the showerhead were tested with the explicit intent of validating superposition models. For the current investigation, a series of adiabatic effectiveness experiments were performed with a five-row showerhead, wherein each row of holes was operated in isolation. This allowed evaluation of superposition on both the suction side of the vane, which was moderately convex, and the pressure side of the vane, which was mildly concave. Superposition was found to accurately predict performance on the suction side of the vane at lower momentum flux ratios, but not for higher momentum flux ratios. On the pressure side of the vane, the superposition predictions were consistently lower than measured values, with significant under-prediction of adiabatic effectiveness occurring at the higher mass flow rates. Possible reasons for the under-prediction of effectiveness by the superposition model are presented. / text