Short guideline to

N250 power-on testing

in the ILST

1. Introduction
-

In the development phase of the IPTN-designed N250 aircraft wind tunnel

tests on a powered model were deemed to be necessary. The propeller
thrust and slipstream may have such an influence on the stability
characteristics of the aircraft, that simple measurements on an
unpowered model would not give the correct answers.

Hence a model was designed and febricated, for testing in the ILST. This
model was equipped with powered propellers. The necessary drive power
was provided by compressed air driven turbine motors that were installed
in the nacelles. The turbine exhaust air was vented from the model
through the simulated full-scale exhausts.
9

I This note intends to serve as a sort of guideline when performing such

i.
wind tunnel tests on powered models. To that end following topics will
be touched upon:

h
-a general description of the test procedure.

t - what sorts of specific calibrations are required.

- what specific quantities have to be determined and how is this done.
- description and elucidation of thz flow diagram for the data

. processing/reduction.
.
?
E
ri
-
2. General description test procedure

When having powered propellers on a wind tunnel model it is essential,

a
5
f that the thrust of the propellers and in case of the N250-model also the
thrust of the exhaust flow can be established separately from the
overall aerodynamic loads on the powered model. This requirement
controls to some extent the start of the test programlne in that the very
first test runs aim at getting a calibration of the propeller thrust.
The t h r u s t of a p r o p e l l e r i s c o n t r o l l e d by t h e f o l l o w i n g v a r i a b l e s :
0 -> p i t c h s e t t i n g a n g l e o f t h e b l a d e s , u s u a l l y d e f i n e d a t
0.75 R .
J = -v -> advance r a t i o where
nD
V : f r e e - s t r e a m wind s p e e d (m/s >
n : r o t a t i o n o f p r o p e l l e r p e r s e c (Hz)
D: d i a m e t e r o f p r o p e l l e r (m)

For d o i n g a p r o p e l l e r t h r u s t c a l i b r a t i o n two p r o c e d u r e s a r e a v a i l a b l e :
1. t h e p r o p e l l e r i s mounted on a n i s o l a t e d rotasymmetric n a c e l l e . I n
t h i s way t h e i n t e r f e r e n c e e f f e c t s from t h e s u p p o r t a r e a s l i t t l e a s
p o s s i b l e . T h i s procedure houever r e q u i r e s a s e p a r a t e t e s t campaign.
2 . t h e p r o p e l l e r i s c a l i b r a t e d w h i l e b e i n g mounted a t i t s s t a n d a r d
p o s i t i o n on t h e model. T h i s mounting p o s i t i o n w i l l i n t r o d u c e some
i n t e r f e r e n c e e f f e c t s , b u t does n o t r e q u i r e a d i f f e r e n t t e s t s e t - u p .

I n t h e N250-case t h e second c a l i b r a t i o n p r o c e d u r e was s e l e c t e d . I n s h o r t

t h e f o l l o w i n g s t e p s had t o b e t a k e n t o o b t a i n t h e r e q u i r e d t h r u s t
calibration d a t a :

a . t h e model was s t r i p p e d down t o a "minimum d r a g " c o n f i g u r a t i o n .

b. t h e d r a g of t h i s model c o n f i g u r a t i o n , Do, was d e t e r m i n e d .
c . one p r o p e l l e r was mounted and powered measurements were made.
d . from t h e measured d a t a , Fbal, t h e known d r a g o f t h e model i t s e l f and
t h e j e t e x h a u s t t h r u s t , X,, was s u b t r a c t e d , t h u s g i v i n g t h e p r o p e l l e r
effective thrust:

Teff - Fbal - Do - Xj

During t h e a c t u a l t e s t s w i t h powered model a l l t h r u s t e f f e c t s o f c o u r s e

a r e i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t h e measured d a t a . A s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d p r o c e s s i n g of
t h e s e d a t a r e s u l t s i n aerodynamic c o e f f i c i e n t s , t h a t a l s o i n c l u d e t h e
power e f f e c t . S t a b i l i t y d e r i v a t i v e s o b t a i n e d from t h e s e d a t a hence a l s o
r e l a t e t o a n a i r c r a f t equipped w i t h powered p r o p e l l e r s . The a v a i l a b l e
d a t a p r o c e s s i n g s o f t w a r e package however a l s o p e r m i t s t o a s k f o r a s e t
o f d a t a i n which t h e d i r e c t power e f f e c t s a r e t a k e n o u t : i . e . t h e d i r e c t
e f f e c t s o f t h e p r o p e l l e r t h r u s t and of t h e j e t e x h a u s t t h r u s t . A l l
i n t e r f e r e n c e e f f e c t s due t o t h e p r e s e n c e o f t h e s e two pcwcr s c u r c e s
however remain w i t h i n t h e d a t a and by comparing t h i s s e t o f d a t a w i t h
s i m i l a r d a t a , b u t o b t a i n e d from a non-powered configuration, information
c a n be o b t a i n e d a b o u t t h e s e i n t e r f e r e n c e e f f e c t s .

Proveller calibration

I t may b e e v i d e n t , t h a t a p r o p e r c a l i b r a t i o n o f t h e p r o p e l l e r forms a n
e s s e n t i a l p a r t o f t h e t e s t campaign t o e s t a b l i s h t h e p r o p e l l e r b a s e l i n e
quantities.
As mentioned b e f o r e t h e second b e s t procedure h a s been a d o p t e d t o
perform t h e N250 model p r o p e l l e r t h r u s t c a l i b r a t i o n s i n t h e I L S T .

Hence t h e f o l l o w i n g s t e p s had t o b e t a k e n :

a . t h e model i s s t r i p p e d down t o a minimum d r a g c o n f i g u r a t i o n , e . g . t a i l

o f f , f l a p s u p , wheel bay f a i r i n g s o f f and p r o p e l l e r s o f f ;

b . on t h i s c o n f i g u r a t i o n a n a l p h a p o l a r i s performed t o d e t e r m i n e t h e
minimum d r a g s i t u a t i o n , i . e . t h e a l p h a a t which t h e minimum d r a g
o c c u r s . ' S i n c e t h e p r o p e l l e r t h r u s t i s assumed t o a c t a l o n g t h e
p r o p e l l e r s h a f t t h e o r i e n t a t i o n o f t h i s s h a f t s h o u l d be t a k e n i n t o
c o n s i d e r a t i o n when s e l e c t i n g t h e minimum d r a g a l p h a ;

c . w i t h t h e model s e t a t t h i s s e l e c t e d a l p h a a speed r u n i s made o v e r

t h e r a n g e o f s p e e d s t o b e e x p e c t e d f o r t h e powered r u n s ;

d . t h e CD-values o b t a i n e d i n t h i s manner and r e l a t e d t o t h e body a x e s

. s y s t e m a r e t r a n s f e r r e d i n t o a polynomial: CD - f(q);

e . n e x t t h e p r o p e l l e r s a r e s e t a t a c e r t a i n b l a d e p i t c h a n g l e ( 6 ) and
t h e n one p r o p e l l e r , e i t h e r s t a r b o a r d o r p o r t , i s mounted on t h e
model ;

f . a power-on r u n i s made w i t h t h e p r o p e l l e r s e t a t a s p e c i f i e d
r o t a t i o n a l s p e e d ( n ) , w h i l e changing t h e t u n n e l p e e d ( V ) , starting
a t t h e h i g h end o f t h e s p e e d r a n g e ;
g . i n t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g d a t a r e d u c t i o n t h e aerodynamic l o a d s , g e n e r a t e d
by t h e model i t s e l f (and a s d e t e r m i n e d i n t h e CDmi,-test; and t h e p e r
datapoint calculated j e t exhaust t h r u s t (see s e c t . 4 ) a r e subtracted
from t h e measured l o a d d a t a , r e s u l t i n g i n a s e t of d a t a t h a t r e l a t e s
t o the propeller thrust only;

h . a s i d e from t h e t h r u s t t h e d a t a p r o c e s s i n g package d e t e r m i n e s f u r t h e r
the following propeller-related q u a n t i t i e s ;

* c,=- =f(O,J) : thrust coefficient

pn2~'

: power c o e f f i c i e n t

* ,.- .J.5
c*
P
.
T *V f(0.J) : efficiency

P o s s i b l e Reynolds and Mach number e f f e c t s a r e n e g l e c t e d i n t h e s e

values. .

During a c t u a l power-on t e s t i n g t h e p r o p e l l e r t h r u s t c a n be d e t e r m i n e d as
follows :
1. t h e most s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d method i s t o u s e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p
C, - f ( 8 , J ) which h a s ' b e e n d e t e r m i n e d i n t h e thrust calibration part
o f t h e t e s t programme. By d o i n g t h i s however a l l e f f e c t s on t h e
p r o p e l l e r t h r u s t due t o model c o n f i g u r a t i o n changes ( l i k e a n g l e o f
i n c i d e n c e and/or s i d e s l i p , f l a p d e f l e c t i o n and s o on) a r e n e g l e c t e d .

a p r o c e d u r e t h a t t a k e s t h e s e e f f e c t s t o some e x t e n t i n t o a c c o u n t i s
C
by c a l c u l a t i n g t h e t h r u s t c o e f f i c i e n t a s : C, = q * 2
J , whereby
q - f(B,J) as determined d u r i n g t h e c a l i b r a t i o n campaign. The
improvement o f t h i s p r o c e d u r e l i e s i n t h e f a c t t h a t t h e e f f i c i e n c y o f
t h e p r o p e l l e r , q , may be assumed n o t t o be a f f e c t e d by c h a n g i n p t h e
a n g l e o f i n c i d e n c e / s i d e s l i p o r by f l a p d e f l e c t i o n and a s a

-consequence t o be o n l y a f u n c t i o n o f t h e advance r a t i o J f o r a
c e r t a i n b l a d e p i t c h s e t t i n g 8. ,
3
 Then, any change of the thrust of the propeller will be observed as a
change in the delivered power and since this quantity is determined
at every datapoint the thrust coefficient C, can be computed from the
per datapoint determined power coefficient, C,, and the efficiency,
q , that has been determined during the calibration tests.

For the N250 testing this second procedure has been adopted.

4. Svecific quantities to be determined in vower-on testing

Similarly as in other model testing in the ILST, also in powered model

tests the overall forces and moments acting on the powered model are
determined by using the six-component overhead external balance. This is
standard equ'ipment for the ILST and hence will not be discussed further,
except that in the case of power-on testing the corrections on the
balance readings, which are due to the presence and the use of the
so-called RALD-system, should be taken into account.

Propeller baseline quantities have already been discussed in sect. 3.

So, in this section further power-related quantities will be discussed,
viz. the exhaust jet thrust and the propeller consumed power.

First the exhaust jet thrust.

This quantity is calculated according to the momentum equation:

whereby
m + massflow of the supply air in k g / s .

Vj -, ideal speed of exhaust jet in m/s.

C, -r velocity coefficient.

The exhaust jet thrust is assumed to act along the centerline of the
exhaust .
The massflow &I is measured by the sonic venturis located near the
external balance and is determined by applying the continuity equation
for sonic compressible flow through a throat, leading to:

whereby the asterix denotes venturi-related quantities.

By definition the speed in the venturi throat (A') has to be sonic,
whicH means:

Assuming now that the flow conditions at the venturi throat (p' and T')
are related to the flow conditions upstream of the venturi (p, and T,)
through the compressible flow equations for ideal air ( 7 - constant),
one gets:
p* - (9)s
p, and

Hence :

which for 7 - 1.4 can be reduced to:

The factor Z' is the compressibility factor (dependent on p' and T') and
its value basically equals 1.

In the ILST-data processing software package the massflow rh is

calculated by taking into account the real gas effects due to
compression, which makes Z' slightly different from 1. The throat area
(A') is further corrected for thermal expansion (T,,,) and boundary layer
thickness, thus leading to an overall accuracy for the calculation of
the massflow that is better than 0.2%.

The venturi must operate under sonic conditions which means, that the
pressure downstream of the venturi shall be 80% or less of the pressure
upstream of the venturi.

The ideal jet speed is calculated with the help of the

pressure/temperature rake located in the exhaust. By applying
Bernoulli's equation for compressible flows the following relationship
can be deduced:

R
v,. 1 &y *- - 1 MolW

The various inputs are defined like:

- y
C
= ~ ratio of specific heats;
C"
basically 7 - 1.4; temperature (i.e. real gas) effects
however influence C, and C,, thus leading to minor
changes in 7 .
-R - 8.31441 universal gas constant in
MO~*'K '
J

- MolW molar mass of the gas in kg/~ol. For air MolW 0.028996 -
and when taking the ratio - R -- 8'31441 one gets
MolW 0.028996
the well-known value 287.04: the gasconstant for air.
- Tt total temperature in the exhaust in OK.

-P pressure of the environment in Pa.

- Ptj total pressure in the exhaust in Pa.

The velocity coefficient C, is basically defined as:

and has for the N250 model been set at a constant value: C, = 0.99

The other item i-clated to power-on testing is the determination of the

power absorbed by the propeller. This quantity is deduced from the
energ:+ ~q~,.tion
r.i ? h e cirive air ever t h e turblne assuming t!,qt no
 l o s s e s ( e . g . by t h e b e a r i n g s o r because of h e a t exchange between t h e g a s
anti t h e environment) occLtr. T h i s l e a d s t o t h e n e x t r e l a t i o n s h i p :

P -m * (Hz - H,)

whereby
m + massflow o f t h e a i r i n k g / s .
Hz -+ t o t a l e n t h a l p y of t h e d r i v e a i r u p s t r e a n o f t h e d r i v e t u r b i n e .
HI + t o t a l e n t h a l p y of t h e a i r i n t h e e x h a u s t , downstream o f t h e d r i v e
turbine.

For a n i d e a l g a s (C, - c o n s t a n t ) t h e e n t h a l p y c a n be w r i t t e n a s :

which l e a d s t o :

o r i n words:
t h e absorbed power c a n b e c a l c u l a t e d a s t h e p r o d u c t o f massflow ( i n
k g / s ) , C, ( - 1 ) and t e m p e r a t u r e drop o v e r t h e t u r b i n e ( i n OK), giving
t h e power i n kW.
The t o t a l e n t h a l p y b a s i c a l l y i s a f u n c t i o n of t h e t o t a l t e m p e r a t u r e and
hence t h e t o t a l e n t h a l p y drop o v e r t h e t u r b i n e i s governed by t h e d r o p
i n t o t a l t e m p e r a t u r e o f t h e a i r a c r o s s t h e t u r b i n e . Minor changes may
o c c u r t o t h i s v a l u e b e c a u s e o f a p r e s s u r e dependency ( r e a l g a s e f f e c t s )

-
5 . Flow diagram o f d a t a r e d u c t i o n

With t h e powered N250 model t e s t i n g t h e d a t a p r o c e s s i n g i s b u i l t up

along the following l i n e s (see f i g . 1 ) .
- c o l l e c t i o n of raw d a t a f o r p r o p e l l e r / e x h a u s t r e l a t e d i n f o r ~ n a t i o n
- a l l measured d a t a a r e c o n v e r t e d ; n + o e n g i n e e r i n g q u a n t i t i e s and t h e
basic tunnel conditions a r e calculated.
- if only pressures are measured the programme continues along the line
of No Forces, otherwise a split is made between unpowered or powered .
testing .
- in case of an unpowered condition the standard routine is followed,
i.e. internal balance resp. external balance followed by a calculation
of the tunnel wall effects.
- in case of a powered condition a slightly different line of
subroutines is followed:
* correction for the interference effects of the so-called M L D on
the external balance.
* determination of the external balance loads.
* calculation of all power related quantities.
* calculation of the power related entities C, and C,.
* subtract all power related loads from the loads determined by the
external balance.
* calculate the standard tunnel wall corrections and add any
specific power related corrections like: Glauert-correcticn for
the propeller thrust and a correction for the jet exhaust thrust.
- powered and unpcwered conditions then meet to determine the definitive
tunnel conditions.
- next the external balance calibration has to be applied again in order
to correct the tare loads for the final tunnel conditions.
- powered and unpowered conditions depart from each other once more
after this station.
* in case of unpowered the balance data are converted to non-
dimensional coefficients.
* in case of a powered condition the power related loads are again
. subtracted from the overall aerodynamic loads.
* finally these data are converted into non-dimensional
coefficients. It should be noted that these subroutines contain
arrays with coefficients based on both the original overall
aerodynamic loads and the loads after subtraction of the power
related loads.

Copies to: LAGG, Messrs. Jaarsma

Buning, Ross,AV, AX-Asd
 Raw data

Un-Powered Powered Using DAVO or not.

I
basic DAVO Initialisation of the engine simulation
initialisations processing enviromnent.
I
other
initialisations Initialise settings: - Model level,
I - Engine level and
- Station level.

raw data to mV Conversion of measurements to milli-

volts.
- Accounting for zero measurements
- Application of fixed gain
- Averaging of intermittent channels
calibrations Conversion: mV to E.U.

calculate flow conditions Calculate tunnel flow parameters,

I
No Forces forces forces
such as q , V, etc..

I I I
un-powered powered

I Rald
corrections
Rald corrections, based on pressure
and temperature.

Calculate forces and moments in MRP

apply balance calibration, when required - INTEW: Internal balance,
NOT INTRN EXTRN EXTRN - EXTRN: External balance and
- NOT : No balance applied.

'calculate weight correction -> Exit when weight measurement

7 process
pressures
Pre-process <he DAVO related pressure
and temperature groups.

I
massflows Calculate massflows for every engine

I
initialize Initialize DAVO constants and variablas
constants (called before each datapoint)

(to be continued)
 (continue)

I engine Calculate engine related entities

entities when required, such as:
Vjet P ~ / P* ~Cpr etc -
I
I
engine Calculate polynomial results
initialisations when required, on:
- Model level,
- Engine level and
- Station level.
bookkeeping Bookkeeping, subtract prop/engine
I induced forces and moments
tunnel wall influence
corrections Con~putationof blockage effects due to
UNPOW POW tunnel wall effects:
- POW : based on net loads
- UNPOW: based on loads without
propulsor inluence.

prop. thrust Computation of blockage effects due to

I propeller thrust (Glauert correction).

exh. thrust Computation of blockage effects due to

I exhaust thrust.

calculaie final Compute final tunnel flow parameters

flow parameters
I
I
correct Correct,advance ratio (J) for
entity: J all engines.
I
a p p l e balance calibration Calculate forces and moments in wind
axes using the updated dynamic
pressure (q,) in the test section
(tare forces).
I
bookkeeping Bookkeeping, subtract prop/engine

calculate aerodynamic
I induced forces and moments.

Compute final aerodynamic coefficients

I coefficients in wind-, body- and stability axes.
UNPOW POW - POW : based on net loads
- UNPOW: based on loads without
propulsor inluelice .
Put results in RES. array.

stop engine Perform final DAVO actions

related calc.
I