Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Aerospace Engineering
An Analytical Study Of T-38 Drag Reduction In Tight Formation Flight, Eugene H. Wagner Jr.
An Analytical Study Of T-38 Drag Reduction In Tight Formation Flight, Eugene H. Wagner Jr.
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis explores the benefits of flying in a tight formation, mimicking the natural behavior of migratory birds such as geese. The first phase of the research was to determine an optimal position for the wingman of a tight formation flight of T-38 Talon aircraft using the HASC95 vortex lattice code. A second wingman was then added to determine the benefit derived by increasing formation size. The second wingman was predicted to derive an even greater induced drag benefit than the first wingman for T-38s operating at Mach 0.54 at a 10,000-foot altitude. The predicted values were 17.5% savings for …
The Combined Effects Of Freestream Turbulence, Pressure Gradients, And Surface Roughness On Turbine Aerodynamics, Christine P. Ellering
The Combined Effects Of Freestream Turbulence, Pressure Gradients, And Surface Roughness On Turbine Aerodynamics, Christine P. Ellering
Theses and Dissertations
This work used scaled facsimiles of real turbine blade surfaces to characterize correlations between turbine blade roughness, freestream turbulence, pressure gradients and skin friction (Cf). Addition of roughness caused Cf to increase: up to 300% for the roughest surface. Addition of freestream turbulence resulted in 125% increase for the same surface. The combined effects showed increases up to 380%. Although decreasing roughness, freestream turbulence, and Reynolds number resulted in less dramatic results, it was concluded that the Cf increases due to combined effects were consistently higher than their corresponding sum of the parts. The combined effects of roughness and pressure …