ADTO # 81 - October 8, 1999

PART 1: Upcoming Chats
PART 2: NASA Connect Series Offers Programs
PART 3: Smoking Out the Vortex

UPCOMING CHATS

QuestChats require pre-registration. Unless otherwise noted, registration
is at:  http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/chats/#chatting

Join us for a special series of chats focusing on the HSCT!

The passenger jet of the future is taking shape! NASA and a team of U.S.
aerospace companies have developed a concept for a next-generation
supersonic passenger jet -- the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). The
HSCT would fly 300 passengers at more than 1,500 miles per hour - more
than twice the speed of sound!


Technology to make the HSCT possible is being developed as part of NASA's
High-Speed Research (HSR) program, which began in 1990. The HSCT is
expected to cross the Pacific or Atlantic in less than half the time of
modern subsonic jets. The HSCT is expected to make its debut in 2015. More
about the High Speed Civil Transport at
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/events/hsct.html


Tuesday, October 14, 1999, 10 AM - 11 AM Pacific
Aerospace Team Online QuestChat with Bruce Gilbaugh

Bruce Gilbaugh is responsible for bringing different computer systems
together, and testing hardware that brings real word conditions into the
computer environment.

Read Bruce Gilbaugh's profile prior to joining the chat.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/team/gilbaugh.html


Tuesday, October 26, 1999, 10:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time:
Charles Stangeland, intern machinist

Charles Stangeland is an intern in the machine shop. He is
currently working with his mentors to prepare for the
High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) wind tunnel test. They are
making parts that the tunnel mechanics, facility,
or model may need for the test.

Read Charles Stangeland's profile and prior to joining this chat.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/team/stangeland.html

NASA CONNECT SERIES OFFERS SOME EXCELLENT PROGRAMS

In the 99-00 series NASA Connect will continue to offer
broadcasts live on NASA TV and webcast by the NASA Quest Learning
Technology Channel. There are also activities and lesson guides available.
Programs that will be particularly interesting to Aerospace Team Online
subscribers are:

The Measurement of All Things: Tools of the Aeronautics Trade
Thursday, October 21, 1999, 11:00 - 11:30 AM (ET)

Proportionality: The X-Plane Generation
Thursday, February 17, 2000, 11:00 - 11:30 AM (ET)

Proportionality: Modeling the Future
Thursday, March 16, 2000, 11:00 - 11:30 AM (ET)

Visit their web site at http://edu.larc.nasa.gov/connect/
The webcasts are also listed in the LTC schedule at
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/schedule.html

SMOKING OUT THE VORTEX

By Bruce Gilbaugh

August 25, 1999

On this test we are trying to visualize turbulent air, called a vortex,
which creates both good and bad air for aircraft. Vortices can be good,
and engineers can use them to help create the lift that airplanes need to
stay in the air. But they can also be bad and cause parts of the
aircraft to fail. If the vortex that is created goes into the engine it
can cause the engine to stop operating, and if it beats on a part like the
vertical tail it can fall off.

To visualize the vortex for this test we will inject smoke into the wind
tunnel while it is running. Burning pharmaceutical grade mineral oil makes
smoke with very fine particles. As the fine particles go across the model
some of them will be drawn into the vortices that exist. We may not be
able to see these with the naked eye. We are going to take a very thin
sheet of light created by a laser and shine it across the model. The
reflection of light by the smoke particles will be captured with solid
state cameras that can see the laser light. Then we can see the size,
shape, and location of the vortex. The thin sheet of light gives a cross
section of the vortex, and then we will sweep the model to get lots of
cross section images.

The camera is a solid state charge coupled device. They are only black and
white and are used in low light situations, similar to surveillance
cameras. They are sensitive to infrared light. The laser will project
infrared light that uses optical components to create a thin sheet
of light. The video is a standard NTSC format. The resulting data is the
video record and can be viewed on video recorders.


This is experimental because we have not used the very small smoke
particles in this tunnel before. We have used water vapor before, but
water has much larger particles. My customer for this data is Mina
Cappuccio, and the Boeing Aircraft researchers will be interested in this
data too.


The canard on this model is a vortex generator. This data will show where
the generated vortex goes. We have also done a video with pink string. The
length and size of the string can impact the results with that technique.
Smoke has an advantage in that it has less impact on the off body flow
field.