A coordinated experimental and computational study of global and convective gusts on swept wings

Abstract

Gusts are ubiquitous in the atmosphere and present a threat to the robust and efficient operation ofaircraft and especially unmanned air vehicles (UAV) with relatively low inertia. A closely coordinatedcomputational and experimental effort in a facility designed to allow the study of both global and convective gusts over a progression of swept aerodynamic wings is proposed. Force and moment data from both experiments and design-fidelity simulations will symbiotically guide the research to critical cases that will be studied in great detail with scale resolving simulations and detailed experimental measurements. Once mutually validated, these detailed results will collectively provide a clear view of the spatial and temporal response of wing boundary layers to the local pressure gradients and accelerations of convective gusts.The research objectives are designed to provide the insight required, namely: i) Survey the time-resolved force and moment response of swept and unswept wings to convective and global gusts; ii) Investigate the local boundary layer response to gust imposed accelerations in a detailed fashion for select, critical cases; and iii) Assess and improve design-fidelity CFD models to enhance simulation capabilities.The impact of this research will be: i) A fundamental understanding of which flow conditions lead to significant differences between convective and global gusts; ii) A quantification of the influence of sweep on the flow field development and aerodynamic response to both convective and global gusts; iii) A quantification of the influence of angle of attack; iv) A careful assessment of the predictive capacity of design-fidelity simulations; v) A fundamental understanding of the local boundary layer response to convective and global accelerations, including the spatial and temporal response; and vi) Openly shared data sets, which will be further mined to identify new/improved models for use in design-fidelity simulations.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Jun 11, 2018
Source ID
FA95501810311

Entities

People

  • John Farnsworth

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Regents of the University of Colorado
  • United States Air Force

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerodynamics/Aeronautics.
  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy