Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-170).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brown University, 2005. / Vita. Thesis advisor: George Em Karniadakis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-175). Also available online.

No description available.

Although complex, inconsistent and fickle, the time-averaged flow over a stationary slender forebody is generally well-understood. However, the nature of unsteady, time-varying flows over slender forebodies - whether due to the natural unsteadiness or forced maneuvering - is not well-understood. This body of work documents three experimental investigations into the unsteadiness of the flow over a 3.5 caliber tangent-ogive cylinder at high angles of incidence. The goal of the investigations is to characterize the natural and forced flow unsteadiness, using a variety of experimental tools. In the first investigation, flow data are collected over a stationary model in a water tunnel. Particle-Image Velocimetry (PIV) is employed to acquire time-dependent planes of velocity data with the model at several angles of attack. It is discovered that the asymmetric flow associated with the tangent-ogive forebody exhibits a large degree of unsteadiness, especially for data planes located far from the forebody tip. Vortex shedding of the type exhibited by a circular cylinder in crossflow is observed, but this shedding is skewed by the presence of the tip, the shedding process does not require equal periods of time from each side of the body, and this results in a time-averaged flowfield that is asymmetric, as expected. The rms values of the time-averaged velocity, as well as the turbulent kinetic energy and axial vorticity are calculated. In the second investigation, surface pressure data are acquired from several circumferential rings of pressure ports located on two models undergoing ramp coning motions in two different wind tunnel facilities. The surface pressure data are integrated to determine the sectional yaw forces. Coning motions were performed at several different reduced frequencies, and pneumatic control actuation from the nose was employed. The chosen control actuation method used a small mass flow rate ejected very close to the forebody tip, so as to leverage the inherent convective instability. The data resulting from these tests were analyzed in order to determine how the coning motions affect the distribution of surface pressure and yaw forces, how quickly the flow reacts to the motion, and the extent of control authority of the pneumatic actuation. It was discovered that the yaw forces increase in the direction of the motion for small reduced frequencies, but in the direction opposite to the motion for large reduced frequencies. The effects of the motion tend to dominate the control method, at least for the reduced frequencies and setup tested in the low-speed wind tunnel. The results from the high-speed testing with transitional separation give a preliminary indication that the control method could have sufficient control authority when the reduced frequencies are low. The third investigation involves tangent-ogive cylinder undergoing a pitching maneuver in a water tunnel. Laser-Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) is used in order to map out several planes of velocity data as the model is pitched. The LDV data is used to calculate vorticity and turbulent kinetic energy. Variables that are proportional to the flow asymmetry and proximity to the steady-state flow are defined. All of these variables are displayed as a function of time and space (where appropriate). The delay in the development of the asymmetry and the flow progression to the steady state are determined to be a function of pitch-axis location. The propagation velocity of the convective asymmetry is faster than expected, most likely because of the increased axial velocity in the vortex cores. Vortex breakdown of one of the vortices is observed, with loss of axial velocity and dilution of the vorticity over a large area. The cause of this phenomenon is not yet understood, but it is reminiscent of vortex breakdown over delta wings. / Ph. D.

Steady and unsteady force and moment experiments were conducted in the Virginia Tech Stability wind tunnel using the Dynamic Plunge-Pitch-Roll (DyPPiR) model mount to perform rapid time-dependent,high-excursion maneuvers. The experiments were performed for a DARPA2 submarine model using three widely spaced 2-force-component loadcells and three tri-axial accelerometers to extract the aerodynamic loads. The DARPA2 model was tested with different body configurations in two different test sections. The body configurations for both the steady and unsteady experiments were the bare body hull, body with sail, body with stern appendages, and body with sail and stern appendages. Tests were done using trips on the bow and sail and with no trips. The bare hull configuration with no trips was the only body configuration tested in the six-foot-square test section with solid walls. All body configurations were tested in the six-foot-square test section with slotted walls that were used to reduce the blockage effects produced by the DyPPiR and model. The steady experiments were performed over a range of angles of attack and roll positions. Data were acquired through the series of angles the body encountered during the unsteady testing (-26° < ± <+26° ). The data for the tripped bare hull gave symmetric results while the data acquired for the bare hull with no trips did not. In the unsteady experiments the model was pitched in ramp maneuvers about the 1/4 chord location of the sail from 0° to -25° and from +25° to 0° in 0.3 seconds. Sine wave maneuvers at 3 Hz were also performed, plunging the model up and down with an amplitude of ±0.375 inches. The steady data agreed within uncertainties with previous data that were limited to the David Taylor Research Center (DTRC). There was a higher level of confidence in the steady data taken with trips due to the symmetry of the data. Effects of the sail and/or stern appendages were studied using the steady and unsteady data, but no quantitative value could be calculated due to the uncertainties. The unsteady data were modeled with a quasi-steady time-lag model, and all the unsteady data were found to lead the quasi-steady data. The unsteady data did have oscillations, but the overall aerodynamic trend was still present. The uncertainties were too large to discuss effects of any appendages, however. / Master of Science

The effects of shock wave impact on unsteady turbine heat transfer are investigated. A numerical approach is developed to simulate the flow physics present in a previously performed unsteady wind tunnel experiment. The windtunnel experiment included unheated and heated flows over a cascade of highly loaded turbine blades. After the flow over the blades was established, a single shock with a pressure ratio of 1.1 was introduced into the wind tunnel test section. A single blade was equipped with pressure transducers and heat flux microsensors. As the shock wave strikes the blade, time resolved pressure, temperature, and heat transfer data were recorded. / Ph. D.

Unsteady aerodynamic theories are essential in the analysis of bird and insect flight. The study of these types of locomotion is vital in the development of flapping wing aircraft. This paper uses potential flow aerodynamics to extend the unsteady aerodynamic theory of Theodorsen and Garrick (which is restricted to rigid airfoil motion) to deformable thin airfoils. Frequency-domain lift, pitching moment and thrust expressions are derived for an airfoil undergoing harmonic oscillations and deformation in the form of Chebychev polynomials. The results are validated against the time-domain unsteady aerodynamic theory of Peters. A case study is presented which analyzes several combinations of airfoil motion at different phases and identifies various possibilities for thrust generation using a deformable airfoil. / Master of Science

Detailed experimental investigation has been conducted to provide a detailed insight into the heat transfer and aerodynamic behavior of a separation zone that is generated as a result of boundary layer development along the suction surface of a highly loaded low pressure turbine (LPT) blade. The research experimentally investigates the individual and combined effects of periodic unsteady wake flows and freestream turbulence intensity (Tu) on heat transfer and aerodynamic behavior of the separation zone. Heat transfer experiments were carried out at Reynolds number of 110,000, 150,000, and 250,00 based on the suction surface length and the cascade exit velocity. Aerodynamic experiments were performed at Re = 110,000 and 150,000. For the above Re-numbers, the experimental matrix includes Tus of 1.9%, 3.0%, 8.0%,13.0% and three different unsteady wake frequencies with the steady inlet flow as the reference configuration. Detailed heat transfer and boundary layer measurements are performed with particular attention paid to the heat transfer and aerodynamic behavior of the separation zone at different Tus at steady and periodic unsteady flow conditions. The objectives of the research are (a) to quantify the effect of Tu on the aero-thermal behavior of the separation bubble at steady inlet flow condition, (b) to investigate the combined effects of Tu and the unsteady wake flow on the aero-thermal behavior of the separation bubble, and (c) to provide a complete set of heat transfer and aerodynamic data for numerical simulation that incorporates Navier-Stokes and energy equations. The analysis of the experimental data reveals details of boundary layer separation dynamics which is essential for understanding the physics of the separation phenomenon under periodic unsteady wake flow and different Reynolds number and Tu. To provide a complete picture of the transition process and separation dynamics, extensive intermittency analysis was conducted. Ensemble averaged maximum and minimum intermittency functions were determined leading to the relative intermittency function. In addition, the detailed intermittency analysis reveals that the relative intermittency factor follows a Gaussian distribution confirming the universal character of the relative intermittency function.

A Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) experiences imbalanced loads when it operates under yaw loads. For each blade element of the aerodynamically imbalanced rotor, not only is the angle of attack unsteady, but also the corresponding incident velocity, a fact usually unfairly ignored. For the unsteady angle of attack, a pitch oscillating airfoil has been studied experimentally and numerically when 3.5×10⁴<Re<10⁵. For small wind tunnel airfoils, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was utilized to determine the aerodynamic loads and the pressure field where other measurement techniques are either intrusive or very challenging. For dynamic airfoils in highly separated flow fields, i.e., deep dynamic stall phenomena, loads were calculated successfully based on the control-volume approach by exploring ways to reduce the level of uncertainties in particular for drag estimation. Consecutive high resolution PIV velocity fields revealed that increasing the reduced frequency was followed by an enriched vortex growth time and phase delay as well as a reduced number of vortices during upstroke motion. Moreover, the locations of the vortices after separation were influenced by each other. Laminar separation bubble height also showed a reducing trend as the reduced frequency increased. The nature of the vortex sheet vortices before stall were explored in two Reynolds numbers, with and without laminar separation bubbles, at low angles of attack. For all cases, a vortex sheet was the result of random vortex sheding while a longer vortex sheet was more favorable for lift augmentation. A wake study and averaged drag calculation at low angles of attack were also performed with Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) for Re=10⁵. For the unsteady incident velocity, longitudinal freestream oscillations have been studied numerically, since experimental study of an unsteady freestream is challenging. In this regard, the streamwise freestream velocity and pitch angle of incidence oscillated with the same frequency in a wide range of phase differences. Changing the phase difference caused variation of the results, including significantly augmented and dramatically damped dynamic stall loads, both increasing and decreasing trends for vortex growth time during phase increase and shifted location of the maximum loads. The results showed strong dependency on the velocity and acceleration of the freestream during dynamic stall and the dynamic stall characteristics differed significantly from those of the steady freestream states. The results also demonstrated consistent trends regardless of the airfoil shape and the Reynolds number while Re=10⁵ and 10⁶. The vortex study presented here not only provides information about the unsteady aerodynamic forces, but also knowledge regarding airfoil noise generation and distributed flow for downstream objects beyond wind turbine applications.

The present study focuses on the sediment deposition and consequent dredging issues in Lower Ohio River at the Olmsted Locks and Dam area-River mile (RM)-964.4 during the ongoing in-the-wet construction methodology. The study reach is between Locks and Dam 53 (RM 962.6) at upstream, and RM 970 at downstream. One dimensional (1-D) HEC-RAS numerical modeling in conjunction with Arc-GIS was employed. Stream flow measurements, velocity, incoming sediment concentration, bed gradation, and annual hydrographic survey data acquired from public archives of USGS and USACE Louisville District were used as inputs. The model was subjected to the 1-D quasi-unsteady and completely unsteady sediment transport module, available in the latest HEC-RAS 5.0 Beta release. Calibration and validation of the hydrodynamic and sediment models were performed using measured water surface elevation, velocity, and sediment loads at measured sections. Post-model calibration and validation, deposition to excavated cross-sections for future dam shells at Olmsted was predicted, which warrants dredging. The study attempted to analyze the sediment transport trend with the focus on depositionat Olmsted Locks and Dam area using the sensitivity analysis approach of transport capacity functions. Moreover, the capability of 1-D HEC-RAS quasi-unsteady and completely unsteady models were assessed in prediction of sediment deposition in the construction area (dam shells excavation area). A temporal deposition prediction model was developed that can potentially replace the current ad-hoc approach used to determine the dredging schedule. Likewise, a representative environmental risk associated with sedimentation in the study area was examined. The model can potentially be used as a decision support tool to analyze the long term impact of sedimentation in the vicinity of Olmsted Locks and Dam if further updates on the river bathymetry, and specific field data are supplemented to the model.