TIEM No, 26 FUILF No, XXVIle47 HIGH SPEED TUNNETS AND OTHER RESEARCH IN GERMANY This report is issuzd with the x shanld be ng that, If the subject a proiccted by British Patents or Paient appticatios be ett to give any pensectinn agaist action for COMBINED INTELLIGENCE OBJECTEVES SUE-COMMIY TED SUAT LvHIGH SPEED TUNNELS AND OTHER RESEARCH IN GERMANY Reported by: A. THOM, R.ALE,, MALPL G.P, DOUGLAS, R.A.E., CIOS Target Nos, 25/71 & 25/8 Aircraft COMBINED INTELLIGENCE OBJECTIVES SUB-COMMITTEE G-2 Division, SHAEF (Rear) APO 415TABLE OF CONTENTS SUBJECT 1, Introduction 2, Wind Tunnels in Cermny 2.1 Use of second throat in supersonic tunnels 2.2 Som tunnel results 2.3 Tunnel - Flight Comparison 2.4 Transition 2.5 Sweepback 2,6 Entries at Supersonic Speeds 3. Bigh Speed Turne] Design 31 Contraction Cons ani Working Section 362 Velocity distribution 323 Blockage ‘ 4. Construction of Tunnels 5. Cooling 6, 4odel Supports 7, Propeller tests 8. Tune) Steadiness 9. Sensitive Pressure Gauge 10. Use of water tunnels at Gottingen LL, Stability of Laminar flow 11.1 Work in UySsAe 11.2 Work in Gottingen 12, Pesistance of Surface Imperfections in turbulent boundary layers 13. Study of the Icing Problem at Gottingen e 13.1 General 13,2 Small feing tunnel 13.2.1 Water injection 13.3 Large icing tunnel 13-341 Working section 13.3.2 Collector and expansion cons 13.3.3 Rotors 13.3.4 Fans 1363.5 Cooler 1346 Insulation and pressure seal 1343.7 Tee dust 13.3.8 Surays 14. Cone lusions 7 ~ BB BBooosee was o onuuee oo ff BOS 12 3 3 13 3 ERE EEE‘Stavary A resume is given of information collected during a visit to North Gerueny, 17th to 29th June 1945. The favorable power factor of German tunnels is attributed to their greater diffucar length. This and the lerge power available allow them to use a higher density and so @ higher Reynolds Number. This is considered to be essential. Mich fundamental work has been done on aerofoils, shock waves, boundary layer stability, etc. The large icing tunne) being built at Gottingen is also described and in an appendix a more detailed description of the Brunewick tunnels is given. 1. Intreduation. The following notes are the results of a visit to the LFA (Bruns- Wick) and to the AFA ani KWA at Gottingen. The primary object of the Visit was to examine the technique and mthoda of correction used in the large subsonic tunnels and to find what had been achieved. These matters were also discussed with leading workers from the DVL, Berlin, At Gottingen recent general researches were discussed and an ex- amination was made of the water tunnels and the icing tunnels, complete and incomlete. ‘ 2. Hind tunnels in Germany. : Table 1 gives @ list of som of the mre important German tunnels. The list is very incomplete and omite all firms tunnels, ‘The large 8 m.dia. Brunswick tunnel (No.5) was kept fully oc-ue Pied by firms teste, as was probably also the variable pressure tun:e] at Gottingen, Complete models of aeroplanes could also be put into ty high speed tunnels Nos. 1 and 2 and som work of this nature has been done. It seems however that this ad hoc type of research formed relatively a sml- ler part of the German effort than of ours. The same conclusion can be drawn from the many smiller tunnels in Germany, sach designed for a spe- cific study at subsonic, transonic or supersonic speeds. Thus there are the boundary layer tunnels and the cavitation tunnels at Gottingen and the smaller tunnels at LFA, A6/? (Nos. 10 and 11), Further examples are the two vertical tunnels LFA A9 (Nos. 12 and 13) which represent a seriois attempt to solve the problem of the effect at high speed of the finite boundaries of the working section. This was being done by testing the model firet in an open jet and than in a closéd section. It has been shown theoretically that the free air case lies between that of the open and closed throat but that at high subsonic speeds it fs consid- erably nearer tha formr. It my be that other considerations such as un- Steadiness (see 3 8) and recompression difficulties will tell in favor of the closed section. It mist be emphasized that while these tunnels A6/7 and AJ my be smil geometrically, the design and conetruction wark in- Yolved is very great ant the compressors and other plant represent sane- thing very mich larger than anything in this country. (cef. 16,000 HP in No. 2, 13). Obviously the work which had been started in these tunnels mist y Bebe continued. It should be rendered easier by the equipment, optical and mechanical, which we have acquired. The necessity for a thorough study of the interferometer mthods being developed in Germany is too ob- vious to need stressing hore, but it might be mentioned that the large interferometer reported by Smelt as being developed at Brunswick is no longer there, Smelt, who saw thie magnificent instrument in operation, reports that among other refinenents the prism adjustments were motorized so that the final adjustments could be mde in position. It took eimul- taneously an ordinary Schlieren picture of the field and a picture of the interference bands 4 (Fig. 7). The latter picture can be interpreted to give the density changes throughout the field ant from these (by using the front stagnation points as a scale) can be deduced the velocity dis- tribution, The two instruments left at LFA are by Zeiss. The field is smaller (from memory 7 in, x 5 in.) the adjustment fe clumsier and accar~ ding to Schmitt, the Schlieren and interference pictures are not simlta- DeOUs . Phe pictures reproduced in Fig.7 were picked up at Brunswick and were presumably taken in the large interferomter now gone. Better pic- tures of the interference bands than those shown can be obtained, but this group shows the set up of an serofoil and the simultaneous Schlieren photographs at a number of Mach Nuzbers. 7.1 Use of the second Throat. Several of the supersonic tunnels mike use of the following de- vice for increasing their efficiency. Flexible walls are arranged at the exit from the working section. When sujersonic flow has deen established these walls are immediately brought nearer together to forma second throat. The partial recompression thys produced isentropically results in the final shock being very weak and thus the overall loss is very mich reduced. In the intermittent tunnels which operate by discharge from the atmosphere into an evacuated chamber, this chamber can, by the above ar- rangement, be used to a higher pressure before the speed is affected than would be otherwise possible. 2.2. Soma Tunnel Results (See also Ref. 26 &27) ‘The result of the above mentioned concentration on fundamsntals has been the collection of a certain amount of data of a highly useful general nature. For example, a systemtic series of aerofoile had been studied up to M= 0.88 with varying t/e and varying position of the maxi- mam thickress Also pressure plotting of various series of wings had been done and a number of experiments on sweepbad had been mde Im the DVL tunne] drag was normally studied one wing of aspect ratio 5 to, chord 235 cm, by pilot conb behind the centre section but som considerable distance downetream (in' the expansion cone in fact). ‘the low total head loss just outside of the core of the wake (noticed here also) is explained by the lower end of the schock breaking up into a multiple shock. Since the front waves of the subdivision are inclined, the total loss 4s less than would occur if the pressure rise took place ehea —¥ FSF through one narmal shock. The theory of the farked shook is discussed fully by Weise Sous experiments had apparently been made on & tadpole-like aerofoil in an attempt to break up the shock under coni- tions when it would otherwise have remined single. ‘The work done at DVL on acrofoils at high subsonic speeds has erabled Gothert to form som definite opinions. He considers that Rey- Rolds miumber has a wery marked effect on the position and type of the shock wave. This is explained by the effect of scale on the boundary layer thickness. The thicker the boundary layer the mre easily can the Gownstream effects be propagated along it past the inner edge of the eupersonic region, With no boundary layer the pressure rise at the shock would be very sudden. The thicker the layer the more gradual becomes the pressure rise . Thus any pressure plots over a wing, obteined ina tunnel, which do not show # fairly sharp pressure rise are considered as suspect. It should be borne in mind, however, that unsteadiness of the shock ware will produce a similar effect. Gothert also considered that for a high speed aeroplane the sym- metrical section is superior to the cambered. While the shock may occur earlier on the formr, bouniary layer differences mke it so mich less violent that the cambered weetion becomes definitely inferior at higher speeds. Trailing edge angle is considered to be an important paramter, and a rough DVL rule for the T.B, angle is thet the product of the pesi- tion of the maximum thickness, expressed as a percentage of the chor}, and the trailing edge angle, in degrees, should not exceed about 475. 2.3 Dunpal-Elight Comparison Gothert stated that good agreement had been obtained on tunnel flight comparieons up to M = 0.85 on the Me 262, Further checks bave also deen obtained by dropping model fuselages and bombe from great heights and observing (optically ?%) the rate of descent. 2oh . Observations of transition in the tunnel were made by. starting with a clean mtal surface on the wing. After 10 minutes running suffi- cient ofl is deposited from the air in the turbulent region to show up the traneition clearly = or alternatively to show the wedge shaped regions of turbulence produced by local imperfections. 2.5 Smaanback. Tt will be som tim before al) the German information 1s collec- ted. It seems that under favorable circumstances about half the thearet~ ical gain can be expected. Some early results published in 19h] are shown in Fig. 22, Gothert now considers it desirable to cut off the wing tips Parallel to the plane of symmtry and not at right angles to the wing ‘ -5-centre line as was done in these early experiments, Work has been done 1 on the effect of swespback on maximum lift. The increment in mxiumum lift dus to flaps is very mich reduced by sweepback. 2.6 . Busemenn showed an attempt toreduce the loss at entry to the diffuser of a supersonic tunnel, Two dimensionally the idea fe to push forward a nedge midway between the wides of the entry duct until the *bowwavet from the wadge just fall on the leading edges of the entry and so do not extend further, In this condi tion there is no main bowwave from the combination as a whole and 20 losses are reduced. It is known here (Ref.25) that there are tro possible values of the angle defining the shock wave from the wedge, Busomenn stated that be had succeeded in obtaining both of these, in fact by displacing the wedge to one side he had accidentally obtained both at once, ons on one side and one on the other. . 3+ High Speed Tunnel Design. Dealing with the larger type of tunnel, designed primarily to work at Mach numbers just under, but close to unity, there were two tun- nels in use (Nos. 1 and 2) and two (Nos, 3 and 4) under construstion, In general, cooling was by air exchange in the return sircuit,so that tue working section pressure wes about half atmospheric. ‘Tt ia Claimi that the Power Factors were very mich better than we achieve here, 80 it appears that a very generous margin was provided on horsepower. The very low power consumption is to be attributed primrily to the very long expansion cons used for all these tunnels resulting in very low power loss on the first bende. A treakway originally occurred in the DVL tun- nel, which caused static pressure fluctuations of the order +3f,bit this was ‘reduced to} 14% wy the insertion of a net or wie grid halfway dow the diffuser, The mesh of this grid was Mich more open at the edges than over the remaining area where the wires were about Jum, diameter x 20 mm, pitch, The grid was tied back at the edges by long wires or cables arranged so that the whole had sufficient resilience to stop a mdel, Several times in the past six years, models have broken away and have been successfully held in the grid, With the net in position, values of the power factor ¢laimed for the DVL tunnel ere The LFA tunnel had a similar safety device ina slichtly more deve!oped form, O41 shock absorbers were provided to anchor the ends of the sain cables holding the grid. be3.1 Contraction Cons ani torking Section. ‘An exexination of the longitudinal sections (Figs. 9-12) shows thet while the contraction cones are generally similar to ours, the tran- sition between the cong and the working section is very mich shorter and sharper than in the ReAeE. tunnel. A similar remark applies to the dif- fuser. 3.2 Velocity Distribution. The effect of this sharp transition between the contraction cone and the working section on the velocity along the wall in the empty tun- nel at high speeds 1m interesting, It appears that the low pressure re- gion produced resulted ina slightly higher velocity at the front end of the working section (on the wall at least) c.f. PigeS. At high speed, the wall velocity in the R.A.B, tunnel rises to a peak som way down the empty working section and then falls off. Exactly the opposite occurs in the DVL tunnel, where the thickening boundary layer does not produce @ throat until the end of the working section, .The DVL method of measuring velocity is, to use a very long statis tube placed parallel to the axis and projecting forward from the diffuser where it is carried on wires, The total head is assumed constant end equal to that in the settling chamber, The discrepancy in top speed is possibly partly to be accounted for by different methods of calibration, When @ model is put in the tunnel, the whole condition changes, especially at high subsonic speeds, and in the present state of our Knowledge it is not possible to argue the relative merits of tunnels from their characteristics when empty. In this connection, it has been Temerked that Germn results on model tests are often given up to Mz 0.92 or higher, whereas no R.AcE. results have been given hitherto above M = 0,83. While it is possible that our calibration is slightly in error (@ue perheps to insufficient allowance having been made far the Fresence of the suppart strut mentioned above) there are two other Possible causes of the difference. The firet is that smlier models were Probably used in Germany, the Reynold's number being raised by pressure Tather than size. The second possible cause Mes jn different blockage forrections, 1 3-3 Blockage. : | j In this country, far the sake of uniformity, we have continued to use the linear perturbation theory to evaluate block- ! Age corrections, although we have realized that it probably gave values “7.which were too low at the extrem upper end of the speed range. This has been demonstrated in several R.A.E. papers recently, but it is dife ficult to decide on the exact amount by which the linear perturbation theory requires correction in any particular case, except perbaps two- dimensional experiments, It appears that in certain simple cases, the Germans have been using the wall pressure mthod which was developed in this country also. This is known to give a greater correction than the linear perturbation theory at high Mach mumbers, but neither here nor in Germany has it yet been shown to be satisfactory for complete models, since considerable complications are introduced by the presence of the supports, In both countries, the theoretical values of the necessary factore have been evaluated for certain cases. Gothert divides the wall increment by 3 for two dimensional cases and by 2 for three dimensional cases, which seems to us to be an overeimplification 4. Construction of Tnnele. Circular sections seem to be favored in Germany for all parts of the duct of subsorfic tunnels, but in spite of this, the favorite mterial is concrete. The shell does not have a continuous foundation as in our tunnels but is shuttered externally to a circular form supported at in- tervals by external ribs, These ribs in turn are carried on concrete Pedes\als with a reinforced concrete hinge. ‘Thus the tunnel as a whole is freely supported and free to expand, In the LFA Tunnel a very great deal of trcuble was experienced from dust thought to be given off by the Concrete. A rubber coating, sprayed in several coats over the inside of the concrete, had been tried but we gathered that the dust problem had not been solved. This is not surprising in view of the troubles we have had even with steel] construction. 5+ Cooling. Cooling is mostly effected by air exchange in the return circuit, a method which does not readily lend itself to the control of humidity. Certainly som, and possibly al) of the German tunnels run hotter than ours, which in itself provides some alleviation of the misture difficul- ty. . This method was used in LPA Tunnel A7 (No.11) which at the commn- cement of an experiment, was run continuously until the temperature had risen enough to dry the air, In A6 no provision is mde and the incoming eir mist often be relatively moist, In the similar tunnel at Kochel a silica gel screen surrounds the mouth of the tannel and acte like a heat exchanger, that is, it is intermittently dried by dry air being passed Qumards through it. The incoming air thus first mets the leas dry si- lica gel on the outside, and as it passes through and becomes less moist, it passes the drier crystals on the inside, This permits working far considerable periods without complete desiccation of the silica gel. A silica gel drier can also be seen on the tunnels at Gottingen. Experi- ence at Kochel shows that the slight dust from the sf lica gel causes som abrasion of the nolels. -8ea 6 Mode) Supports. Swept back supports ere favored by Gothert as shown in Pig, 1, The point of attachment to the wing should be at 60£ chord, ox further back 1f possible. In addition to having @ lower drag, the swept back different tunnel sections and Gothert considers that this my reduce the general disturbance in the tunnel. For fuselages, Gothert supports the motel by a spindle from behind, but the spindle is offset from the center Je the model by an inclined strut. The central spindle 1e considered to have an undesirable stabilizing effect on the wake, 7. Propeller Tests, ] DVI was fitted with « propeller motor of 180 H.P. (dimensions of Potor excluding fairing are 25 om, diameter x 80 om. long). This ie teed for propellers about 1 metre diameter. The thrust is obtained by measur - ing, electrically, the shaft tencion, This obriouely includes ‘the forces on the spinner, thus Presenting a serious problem which apperently has pot been completely solved. At high values of M, the longitudinal force J] t= the spinner my be 5 times the propeller thrust. Experiments were {n hand to test a propeller running at supersonic speeds. The hub wae large bo shat the Mach number of the inner end of the blade wae 1.3 while thet I the t4p was 2.0. The thickness ratio varied from 8f at the root to 4f at the tip. The efficiency was expected to be high due to the lover drag soefficients which cecur after the velocity of sound hae been pasced. Jo« lence problem does not in general seem to have been treated 80 serioue iy, in Germany as {n America. The Germans seem to rely to a great exter: on Sphere measuremnts. (Prantt] was evidently developing a three elemnt hot wire unit to obtain, by shadow mathode, the velocity component corre- lations in turbulent flow). Busemann and Fagink showed work dealing with shock waves running Japetroan in open and closed Jet tunnels at high subsonic wind velooities, Theee were caused by disturbances on the edges of the jet, or , in the mice of closed jet tunnels, by breakavay in the diffuser. Aa the Mach Itamber is raised these disturbances travel more slowly but they become Stronger. It appears that they are able to cause the fluctuations of Shock waves often observed on a model wing. Photographs were shown dem- pane atize that when the travelling waves were absent, the shock above a Rg Decam stationary, Se Sanaitive Praseure Gauge. \ Prof. Prandtl demonstrated a pressure gauge which is sald to “W084 Pitot pressures down to air speeds of about 1 cm/sec, This consis- a (fig.2) of a glass rod bent accurately to an arc of a circlé. ‘the od fe suspended at the centre of the are ona fitre so that af it rotates {na horizontal plane) it paeses freely through a hole ina plate form- the dividing wall of the chamber, The pressure difference se applied ] SPposite sides of this Plate and so causes rotation of the rod about “9-6