Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ƒ/5
33 mm
1/10
2000

While walking in the NASA NFAC wind tunnel facility, this peculiar vehicle caught our eye… From the distance, it looked like a submarine… but sported some interesting details, below.

NASA: “The NFAC is uniquely qualified to perform research on full- or large-scale rotorcraft. Model studies of rotorcraft are limited because of conflicting aerodynamic and aeroelastic requirements (the way they interact with the air is far more complicated than fixed wing aircraft). Despite becoming increasingly useful, computational fluid dynamic testing (which use computers to simulate airflow over objects) has had limited success dealing with the highly complex interaction between air and the rotor blades.” A large number of rotorcraft tests continue to be conducted (e.g., the U.S. Marine’s V-22 Osprey tilt rotor and its precursor, the XV-15).

I believe this particular unit was for the a full-scale UH-60A Black Hawk rotor test (with individual blade control).

6 responses to “Rotorcraft Test Vehicle”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    IMG_7617
    IMG_7618
    Notice the kind reminder… and simple open/closed switch

    Reply
  2. Bruce La Fetra Avatar
    Bruce La Fetra

    In another facility at Ames, our guide described how they track airflow over and around rotor blades in action. In a chamber filled with smoke (not a wind tunnel), they spin the rotor while shining lasers. High-speed images allow the researchers to watch how individual particles move in response to the rotor. This other facility is a massive concrete tower with 5-foot-thick walls able to lower the pressure to 1/100th atmosphere, built to simulate rocket staging in space.

    Reply
  3. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Thanks so much for the flavor! And I remember he also said that the chamber was too small for any rocket stage to fit… hence the retrofit! And thanks for the sneak shot of me there:

    8417534977_a05f84b86a_o

    Reply
  4. yzzzguy Avatar
    yzzzguy

    Bruce – I was involved in LV (LASER Velocimetry) in my first co-op period at NASA Langley (MANY years ago…i.e. 1975). I would be willing to bet that the "smoke" you reference was actually something else. We settled on kerosene vapor as our vapor generator could create just the right size particles (approximately 5 microns) which followed the flow adequately AND (most importantly) had a high reflectivity important for the LV sensors (photomultiplier tubes). We installed an LV system in the 7X10 HSWT (High Speed Wind Tunnel…torn down several years ago) and the "sample volume" of the LV could be moved around anywhere inside the test section (the system shone the LASER beams through windows in the side of the test section). There was also an LV system installed in the "Tow Tank" on the East side of Langley (known as the Vortex
    Research Facility). crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Vortex_Research_Facility

    Reply
  5. Bruce La Fetra Avatar
    Bruce La Fetra

    I’m sure our guide called it "smoke" for simplicity in speaking to a mixed audience. Cool to know exactly what it is.

    Reply
  6. gina_durante Avatar
    gina_durante

    I like the "kind reminder" caption… 😉

    Reply

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