NASA Technical Memorandum 108860 Flow Visualization Studies of VTOL Aircraft Models During Hover In Ground Effect Nikos J. Mourtos, Stephane Couillaud, and Dale Carter, San Jose State University, San Jose, California Craig Hange, Doug Wardwell, and Richard J. Margason, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California Janua_ 1995 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames Research Center Moffett Field, California 94035-1000 Flow Visualization Studies of VTOL Aircraft Models During Hover In Ground Effect NIKOS J. MOURTOS,* STEPHANE COUILLAUD,* DALE CARTER,* CRAIG HANGE, DOUG WARDWELL, AND RICHARD J. MARGASON Ames Research Center Summary fountain fluid flows along the fuselage lower surface toward the jets where it is entrained by the jet and forms a A flow visualization study of several configurations of a vortex pair as sketched in figure 1(a). The jet efflux and jet-powered vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) model the fountain flow entrain ambient temperature air which during hover in ground effect was conducted. A surface produces a nonuniform temperature profile. This oil flow technique was used to observe the flow patterns recirculation is called near-field HGI and can cause a on the lower surfaces of the model. Wing height with rapid increase in the inlet temperature which in turn respect to fuselage and nozzle pressure ratio are seen to decreases the thrust. In addition, uneven temperature have a strong effect on the wing trailing edge flow angles. distribution can result in inlet flow distortion and cause This test was part of a program to improve the methods compressor stall. In addition, the fountain-induced vortex for predicting the hot gas ingestion (HGI) for jet-powered pair can cause a lift loss and a pitching-moment vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) aircraft. The increment. tests were performed at the Jet Calibration and Hover Test (JCAHT) Facility at Ames Research Center. Figures l(b) and l(c) show the flow field for a single-jet configuration. The effects of wind (fig. l(b)) and buoyancy (fig. l(c)) bring the hot gases back into the Introduction engine inlets. This recirculation is called far-field HGI. Jet-powered vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) Multiple-jet configurations may also experience far-field airplanes can experience significant performance losses HGI. As illustrated in figure l(b), far-field HGI can occur during hover and during transition between hover and rapidly when there is a crosswind blowing the hot exhaust wing-borne flight. These losses are caused by the back to the inlet or when the aircraft speed causes a propulsion efflux. Two propulsion-induced effects are similar relative motion between the hot gases and the especially critical during operation near the ground for engine inlet. Depending on the wind speed, aircraft speed, takeoff or landing: (1)jet-induced effects on aero- and aircraft geometry, there is a wind speed which dynamics and (2) hot gas ingestion (HGI) effects on produces a maximum temperature rise. At either greater engine performance. or lesser speeds the temperature rise is reduced because the hot gases from the far field are convected away from HGI is a term used to describe any flow mechanism the engine inlets. However, buoyancy effects (fig. 1(c)) where hot exhaust gas from a propulsion jet returns to the take time to become established. For the AV-8 Harrier, it inlet of the same propulsion system. Three flow patterns takes about 30 seconds in hover for the air around it to that cause HGI in jet-powered V/STOL aircraft are shown heat up by 5°C. This 5°C increase in air temperature in figure 1. Figure l(a) shows the flow field for a entering the inlet reduces the thrust by about 4 percent. multiple-jet configuration in ground effect. The hot jets impinge on the ground and form wall jets which may run Near-field HGI tends to bring hot exhaust gases quickly into each other underneath the airplane and form a into the engine inlets. For the AV-8 Harrier, in about one fountain. This fountain brings the hot exhaust gases very second during hover the fountain effect can increase the rapidly to the airplane's undersurface where they impinge inlet temperature by as much as 10°C. This temperature increase results in approximately 10 percent loss of thrust, forming a lateral stagnation line in the spanwise direction. which is significant considering the fact that the thrust-to- At the side of the fuselage or at the edge of the wing weight ratio for most V/STOL airplanes is only 10 to planform some of the flow continues upward where it 30 percent greater than one. The Harrier, however, does may find its way into the engine inlets. Between this stagnation line and both the front and rear jets, the not represent the worse case scenario for HGI. In some jet VTOL airplane models an inlet temperature rise (ITR) of *San Jose State University, San Jose, California. 55°C has been measured (refs. 1 and 2) after only a very shorttimeinhoverwithingroundeffect.Suchvaluesof the agreement with experimental data which involved ITR can cause a major loss of thrust and consequently a three-dimensional (3-D) models was not very good. This crash. result demonstrated the need to study flow fields around 3-D models to obtain a better understanding of the The HGI problem was recognized (ref. 3) and considered mechanisms which cause HGI. during the research and development of the Harrier in the late 1950s. In the mid 1960s, NASA initiated several The purpose of the present flow visualization experimental projects (refs. 1, 2, 4-7) to obtain HGI data. investigation was to use a simple two-jet geometry to Additional research was done in Europe (refs. 8-10), evaluate the effect of model configuration (fiat-plate or especially for the VAK-191B VTOL aircraft. The recent 3-D model), NPR, and model height on the general flow U.S./U.K. advanced short takeoff and vertical landing patterns which cause HGI. The fiat-plate model was (ASTOVL) aircraft studies have generated a renewed designed to be tested either as a body alone or as a wing- interest in the topic as shown by current experimental body configuration. The 3-D model was designed so that investigations (ref. 11) of some of the basic mechanisms three different airplane configurations could be tested and configuration effects. with minimum hardware changes (body alone, body with high wing, and body with low wing). The flow patterns In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the first attempts were on the lower model surface were observed using a made to develop analytical methods for HGI. An early fluorescent oil flow technique. This report presents the empirical approach by Behnert (ref. 9) was developed in results of that flow visualization study. support of the VAK-191B VTOL aircraft program. This method was based on a correlation of the small-scale model data and the full-scale aircraft data. In 1971, Gray Symbols and Acronyms and Kisielowski (ref. 12) developed an engineering method for predicting the temperatures and velocities in ASME American Society of Mechanical the vicinity of vertical lift engines of jet V/STOL aircraft Engineers operating near the ground. This method described the De equivalent nozzle diameter based on the propulsion efflux flow field starting at the lift jet exit, total area of all exhaust nozzles, in. continuing to ground impingement through the wall jet to either a far-field flow or to a fountain flow back up to the H distance from nozzle exit to ground aircraft and the engine inlets. The effects of both near- impingement point, in. field and wind-generated far-field recirculation were HGI hot gas ingestion included. Barron and Frauenberger (ref. 13) applied this HTR hover test rig analysis in an early code that evaluated jet-induced ground footprint and hot gas upwash characteristics of ITR inlet temperature rise V/STOL aircraft. JCAHT Jet Calibration and Hover Test Facility In the early 1980s, Green and Zanine (refs. 14-16) extended and implemented the methods of reference 12 NPR nozzle pressure ratio in a computer program, REINGST, to attempt a rapid, PSCL Propulsion Simulator Calibration preliminary design estimation of inlet temperature rise Laboratory due to near- and far-field HGI for a jet VTOL aircraft. The method was compared by its authors with the limited SAE Society of Automotive Engineers experimental data which were available at the time and V/STOL vertical/short takeoff and landing found to achieve reasonable success for several aircraft. VTOL vertical takeoff and landing Currently, this is the only nonproprietary code that is available for estimating HGI. The REINGST code was reevaluated in 1990 (ref. 17) to establish its effectiveness Description of the Test Setup for several V/STOL aircraft configurations. Unfortu- nately, the method greatly underpredicted the ITR due to The description of the Jet Calibration and Hover Test near-field recirculation because of inaccurate empirical Facility (JCAHT) test setup includes relatively complete correlations for the temperature decay in the various discussions of the hover test rig (HTR), model nozzle and regions of the flow field. In addition, the method failed to plenum details, model hardware, flow visualization account properly for the geometry of the airplane. This technique, and data acquisition system. A few features of HGI prediction method (refs. 14--16) assumes that the the JCAHT which were not used in this phase of this aircraft has a flat undersurface; as shown in reference 17, investigation are identified in the following discussion. However, information on the entire JCAHT is included to Details of Nozzle and Plenum provide an understanding of the complete experimental The two ASME nozzles were bolted to the rectangular facility.