The T-38 talon currently serves as the primary United States Air Force trainer for fighter aircraft. This supersonic trainer was developed in the 1960s but continues to be used today as the result of various modernization programs throughout its service life. The latest propulsion modernization program focused on improved takeoff performance of the T-38’s inlets, improved reliability of the twin J85 afterburning turbojet engines, and reduced drag with an improved exhaust nozzle design. The T-38’s inlet includes bleed holes upstream of the engine face to provide cooling airflow from the inlet to the engine bay. However, at various flight conditions, the bay air is pressurized relative to the inlet, resulting in reverse flow of hot engine bay air into the inlet. This reverse flow causes total temperature distortion that may reduce the engine stability margin. Partial inlet instrumentation of the left engine was used to estimate the total temperature distortion associated with reverse flow, however, flight testing of highly transient maneuvers revealed levels of total temperature distortion greater than that predicted for reverse flow alone. This discovery led to the hypothesis that thermal energy storage of the aluminum inlet during transient flight maneuvers resulted in increased temperature distortion at the engine face. Flight data analysis demonstrated the need for a near-real-time thermal inlet distortion analysis capability. A two-dimensional (2D) transient axisymmetric heat and mass transfer model was developed through the use of a lumped-parameter boundary-layer model to simulate the inlet flow and determine the time-dependent inlet duct heat transfer. This model was validated with transient 2D computational fluid dynamics and two flight maneuvers. The analysis of flight maneuvers revealed that in the absence of engine bay air re-ingestion, the time lag associated with the heating and cooling of the inlet walls generates radial temperature distortion, which has the effect of reducing engine stability margin up to 5.44% for the maneuvers analyzed.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
March 2011
Research Papers
An Investigation Into the Effects of Highly Transient Flight Maneuvers With Heat and Mass Transfer on the T-38 Air Force Trainer Inlet
Alan Hale,
Alan Hale
Aerospace Testing Alliance Arnold Engineering Development Center,
AEDC Arnold Air Force Base
, TN 37389-9013
Search for other works by this author on:
Andrew Hughes,
Andrew Hughes
Tennessee Technology University
, Cookeville, TN 38501-7310
Search for other works by this author on:
Jim Sirbaugh,
Jim Sirbaugh
Aerospace Testing Alliance Arnold Engineering Development Center,
AEDC Arnold Air Force Base
, TN 37389-9013
Search for other works by this author on:
David S. Kidman
David S. Kidman
Air Force Flight Test Center,
Edwards Air Force Base
, CA 93524
Search for other works by this author on:
Alan Hale
Aerospace Testing Alliance Arnold Engineering Development Center,
AEDC Arnold Air Force Base
, TN 37389-9013
Andrew Hughes
Tennessee Technology University
, Cookeville, TN 38501-7310
Jim Sirbaugh
Aerospace Testing Alliance Arnold Engineering Development Center,
AEDC Arnold Air Force Base
, TN 37389-9013
David S. Kidman
Air Force Flight Test Center,
Edwards Air Force Base
, CA 93524J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. Mar 2011, 133(3): 031201 (10 pages)
Published Online: November 12, 2010
Article history
Received:
April 12, 2010
Revised:
April 19, 2010
Online:
November 12, 2010
Published:
November 12, 2010
Citation
Hale, A., Hughes, A., Sirbaugh, J., and Kidman, D. S. (November 12, 2010). "An Investigation Into the Effects of Highly Transient Flight Maneuvers With Heat and Mass Transfer on the T-38 Air Force Trainer Inlet." ASME. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. March 2011; 133(3): 031201. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4001995
Download citation file:
115
Views
Get Email Alerts
Cited By
Heat Release Characteristics of a Volatile, Oxygenated, and Reactive Fuel in a Direct Injection Engine
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power
Comprehensive Life Cycle Analysis of Diverse Hydrogen Production Routes and Application on a Hydrogen Engine
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power
Related Articles
Effect of Radial Location of Nozzles on Heat Transfer in Preswirl Cooling Systems
J. Turbomach (April,2011)
Experimental and Numerical Study of Mass/Heat Transfer on an Airfoil Trailing-Edge Slots and Lands
J. Turbomach (April,2007)
Transient Wax Gel Formation Model for Shut-In Subsea Pipelines
J. Energy Resour. Technol (September,2011)
Experimental Study of Effusion Cooling With Pressure-Sensitive Paint
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power (May,2017)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Research on High Accuracy Interpolation Schemes
International Conference on Instrumentation, Measurement, Circuits and Systems (ICIMCS 2011)
Laminar Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer
Applications of Mathematical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Models in Engineering and Medicine
Cavitation CFD Prediction for NACA0015 Hydrofoil Flow Considering Boundary Layer Characteristics
Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Cavitation (CAV2018)