Time-resolved stereo PIV investigation of the NASA Common Research Model in the NASA Ames Fluid Mechanics Laboratory 32- by 48-in indraft wind tunnel

The NASA Common Research Model (CRM) was developed as an open-source contemporary transonic supercritical wing for various studies in aerodynamics (Vassberg et al. (2008)). Extensive detailed aerodynamic performance data have been generated since 2008, and collection of such data is still under way. These data serve as a good basis for CFD studies generally and, in particular, for the research presented in this paper. Rivers & Dittberner (2011) presented results of the experimental aerodynamics investigations of the CRM conducted in the NASA Langley National Transonic Facility (NTF) and the 11by 11-ft Transonic Wind Tunnel (11x11 TWT). The same model was tested in both wind tunnels at chord Reynolds numbers of 5 · 10 for five different configurations. Force, moment, surface pressure, and surface flow visualization data were obtained. Nacelle/pylon and tail effects, as well as the influence of the sting mounting systems were investigated. Rivers & Hunter (2012) investigated wing-body-tail configurations at angle of attack 0◦ with and without the support system. They concluded that the support system must be added to the computational case for better simulation results. Acheson & Balakrishna (2011) and Rivers et al. (2012) also reported the effect of sting damping on CRM data quality. Zilliac et al. (2011) measured the skin friction distribution on the CRM at transonic conditions in the 11x11 TWT using the Fringe Imaging Skin Friction (FISF) technique. These measurements were compared with Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) solutions and the differences were analyzed. Bell (2011) presented pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) measurements on a 2.7% CRM in the 11x11 TWT. PSP data were obtained at three transonic Mach numbers (M=0.7, 0.85, and 0.87) and nine angles of attack. Experimental data from both the NTF and 11x11 TWT consist of force and moment, skin friction, surface pressures, and wideband wing-root dynamic strain wing Kulite pressure sensor data. Balakrishna & Acheson (2011) analyzed the dynamic data sets, acquired at a sampling rate of 12.8 kHz with the aim: "... to evaluate CRM wing buffet onset and potential CRM wing flow separation ...". CRM experiments are also planned in the European Transonic Wind Tunnel. Illi et al. (2013) used the DLR TAU code to compute the interaction between the separated flow of the wing with the horizontal tail plane at high Mach numbers (transonic tail buffet). A wing tip vortex, a circulatory three-dimensional motion that trails downstream from