An Overview of the Semi-Span Super-Sonic Transport (S4T) Wind-Tunnel Model Program

Abstract

A summary of computational and experimental aeroelastic (AE) and aeroservoelastic (ASE) results for the Semi-Span Super-Sonic Transport (S 4 T) wind-tunnel model is presented. A broad range of analyses and multiple AE and ASE wind-tunnel tests of the S 4 T wind-tunnel model have been performed in support of the ASE element in the Supersonics Program, part of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program. This paper is intended to be an overview of multiple papers that comprise a special S 4 T technical session. Along those lines, a brief description of the design and hardware of the S 4 T wind-tunnel model will be presented. Computational results presented include linear and nonlinear aeroelastic analyses, and rapid aeroelastic analyses using CFD-based reduced-order models (ROMs). A brief survey of some of the experimental results from two open-loop and two closed-loop wind-tunnel tests performed at the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) will be presented as well.

Computational Aeroelastic Analysis of the Semi-Span Super-Sonic Transport (S4T) Wind-Tunnel Model

“…Tungsten rods could also be added to the periphery of each nacelle; the rods were available to increase the weight of the nacelles by a factor of 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 times the nominal (empty) nacelle weight. A full description of the wind-tunnel model can be found in another paper that has been submitted as part of the S 4 T special session 1 .…”

“…The S 4 T project was conducted by the Aeroelasticity Branch at the NASA Langley Research Center under the auspices of the Supersonics Project of the NASA Fundamental Aerodynamics Program (FAP). Further detail of the S 4 T project and the FAP can be found in other papers to be presented as part of this special session 1,2 . The purpose of the windtunnel tests, conducted at NASA Langley's Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT), was to supply data to design and test control laws designed to improve ride quality, alleviate gust loads and suppress flutter.…”

Semi-span wind tunnel testing without conventional peniche

“…Semi-span testing techniques have been widely adopted as a tool to provide state-of-the-art wind tunnel research capabilities (Lynch 1992;Viehweger and Ewald 1994;Silva et al 2012;Nguyen et al 2015). Semi-span models are typically employed to double the maximum usable Reynolds number and enhance the quality of measurement data owing to improved model strength, stiffness, and overall fidelity .…”

Flutter Uncertainty Quantification for the S4T Model

“…In the mid-to late-1990s, the NASA High Speed Research (HSR) program undertook research in the areas of computational and experimental aeroelasticity to investigate supersonic flight. Several aeroelastic wind-tunnel models were designed, manufactured and tested; in order to investigate experimentally the aeroelastic behavior of the Technology Concept Aircraft (TCA), an aeroelastically scaled semi-span wind-tunnel model was designed, called the Semi-Span Super-Sonic Transport (S4T) [1]. Following this work, the Supersonics Project was established in 2006 under the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program in which the Aeroservoelasticity (ASE) Element was tasked with the modeling, analysis, and prediction of aeroelastic and ASE phenomena associated with supersonic configurations.…”