Laminar flow control research at TsAGI: Past and present

This paper presents a brief review of activities in laminar flow control being performed at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after Prof. N.E. Zhukovsky (TsAGI). These efforts are focused on the improvement of the existing laminar flow control methods and on the development of new ones. The investigations have demonstrated the effectiveness of aircraft surface laminarization applications with the aim of friction drag reduction. The opportunity of considerable delaying of laminar-turbulent transition due to special wing profile geometry and using boundary layer suction and surface cooling has been verified at sub- and supersonic speeds through various wind tunnel testing at TsAGI and during flying laboratory experiments at the Flight Research Institute (LII). The investigations on using hybrid laminar flow control systems for friction drag reduction were also carried out. New techniques of laminar flow control were proposed, in particular, the method of local heating of the wing leading edge, boundary layer laminarization by means of receptivity control, and electrohydrodynamic methods of boundary layer stability control.     

Analytical construction of interception trajectories in atmosphere

For an interception strategy of a removable target by a return space vehicle (RSV), we propose a structure of the control law by the aerodynamic efficiency that determines a chain of the three standard trajectories: nosing-up–free flight–nosing-down. A solution of the terminal problem is to determine numerical values of the control parameters that define moments to switch the RSV flight from one standard trajectory to another.     

Systems for the indication and display of secondary information in avionics and autobasing complexes

We consider the peculiarities of application for the cabin indicating systems of secondary information display, formulate and systematize the compositional and technical requirements for display systems and their elements. The tendencies and lines in the development of head-up displays for avionics and autobasing complexes were determined. The technique of calculating optics of such display systems with the use of electronic distortion compensation is presented.     

The Relativistic Proton Spectrometer (RPS) for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes Mission

The Relativistic Proton Spectrometer (RPS) on the Radiation Belt Storm Probes spacecraft is a particle spectrometer designed to measure the flux, angular distribution, and energy spectrum of protons from ～60 MeV to ～2000 MeV. RPS will investigate decades-old questions about the inner Van Allen belt proton environment: a nearby region of space that is relatively unexplored because of the hazards of spacecraft operation there and the difficulties in obtaining accurate proton measurements in an intense penetrating background. RPS is designed to provide the accuracy needed to answer questions about the sources and losses of the inner belt protons and to obtain the measurements required for the next-generation models of trapped protons in the magnetosphere. In addition to detailed information for individual protons, RPS features count rates at a 1-second timescale, internal radiation dosimetry, and information about electrostatic discharge events on the RBSP spacecraft that together will provide new information about space environmental hazards in the Earth’s magnetosphere.     

纳米复合镍粉雷达吸波涂层研究

采用机械化学法将纳米SiC包覆在镍粉表面制备复合吸波材料,将该材料喷涂在基体上制备吸波涂层,并研究了SiC在复合材料中的含量变化对涂层吸波性能的影响.研究表明,SiC含量为10%时,纳米复合涂层的吸波性能最佳.与镍粉吸波涂层相比,该纳米复合涂层中频段的吸波性能明显提高,发射率小于-5 dB的带宽由7 GHz增加到10.4 GHz,涂层最高吸收值达到-23.4 dB.     

干涉测量宽带相关处理算法与验证

阐述了一种用于航天器精确角位置测量的干涉测量宽带相关信号处理算法,通过仿真验证了算法的有效性,并搭建卫星干涉测量实验系统,采集某地球同步卫星信号进行宽带相关信号处理,获得清晰干涉条纹,准确估计出反映测站与卫星位置关系的时延观测量。结果表明宽带相关信号处理的估计时延与卫星信号链路标定时延、测距时延组成系统时延闭合回路,初步验证了干涉测量实验系统的有效性,为后续飞行任务中航天器高精度干涉测量积累了技术和经验。     

T型尾翼颤振模型光学测量实验与弯扭特性解算

在FL-26跨声速风洞半模试验段进行了某高速飞机T型尾翼颤振模型的光学测量实验,并依据测量结果解算了尾翼颤振模型的弯扭特性。颤振模型表面用白色圆点进行标记,用于记录模型表面的位移变化,两台固定在风洞试验段上壁板观察孔旁肋板上的400万像素工业相机用来采集图像,采集到的图像通过自主开发的图像解算软件进行图像的识别与求解,计算出尾翼颤振模型表面标记点的三维坐标。模型表面标记点的三维坐标通过坐标变化转换到风洞气流坐标系中,利用不同时刻模型表面坐标的变化计算模型剖面扭角和弹性轴位移的分布。T型尾翼右平尾图像采集实验与弯扭特性计算结果表明,非接触光学测量技术可以用于高速颤振试验的定量分析中。     

The Magnetic Field of Mercury

The magnetic field strength of Mercury at the planet’s surface is approximately 1% that of Earth’s surface field. This comparatively low field strength presents a number of challenges, both theoretically to understand how it is generated and observationally to distinguish the internal field from that due to the solar wind interaction. Conversely, the small field also means that Mercury offers an important opportunity to advance our understanding both of planetary magnetic field generation and magnetosphere-solar wind interactions. The observations from the Mariner 10 magnetometer in 1974 and 1975, and the MESSENGER Magnetometer and plasma instruments during the probe’s first two flybys of Mercury on 14 January and 6 October 2008, provide the basis for our current knowledge of the internal field. The external field arising from the interaction of the magnetosphere with the solar wind is more prominent near Mercury than for any other magnetized planet in the Solar System, and particular attention is therefore paid to indications in the observations of deficiencies in our understanding of the external field. The second MESSENGER flyby occurred over the opposite hemisphere from the other flybys, and these newest data constrain the tilt of the planetary moment from the planet’s spin axis to be less than 5°. Considered as a dipole field, the moment is in the range 240 to 270 nT-R _M ³ , where R _M is Mercury’s radius. Multipole solutions for the planetary field yield a smaller dipole term, 180 to 220 nT-R _M ³ , and higher-order terms that together yield an equatorial surface field from 250 to 290 nT. From the spatial distribution of the fit residuals, the equatorial data are seen to reflect a weaker northward field and a strongly radial field, neither of which can be explained by a centered-dipole matched to the field measured near the pole by Mariner 10. This disparity is a major factor controlling the higher-order terms in the multipole solutions. The residuals are not largest close to the planet, and when considered in magnetospheric coordinates the residuals indicate the presence of a cross-tail current extending to within 0.5R _M altitude on the nightside. A near-tail current with a density of 0.1 μA/m² could account for the low field intensities recorded near the equator. In addition, the MESSENGER flybys include the first plasma observations from Mercury and demonstrate that solar wind plasma is present at low altitudes, below 500 km. Although we can be confident in the dipole-only moment estimates, the data in hand remain subject to ambiguities for distinguishing internal from external contributions. The anticipated observations from orbit at Mercury, first from MESSENGER beginning in March 2011 and later from the dual-spacecraft BepiColombo mission, will be essential to elucidate the higher-order structure in the magnetic field of Mercury that will reveal the telltale signatures of the physics responsible for its generation.     

Elemental Abundances in Coronal Structures

A great deal of evidence for elemental abundance variations among different structures in the solar corona has accumulated over the years. Many of the observations show changes in the relative abundances of high- and low-First Ionization Potential elements, but relatively few show the absolute elemental abundances. Recent observations from the SOHO satellite give absolute abundances in coronal streamers. Along the streamer edges, and at low heights in the streamer, they show roughly photospheric abundances for the low-FIP elements, and a factor of 3 depletion of high-FIP elements. In the streamer core at 1.5 R·, both high- and low-FIP elements are depleted by an additional factor of 3, which appears to result from gravitational settling. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.