ALBERT

Description: Wind tunnel experiments were conducted on Wortmann FX67-K170, NACA 0012, and NACA 64-210 airfoils at rain rates of 1000 mm/hr and Reynolds numbers of 310,000 to compare the aerodynamic performance degradation of the airfoils and to attempt to identify the various mechanisms which affect performance in heavy rain conditions. Lift and drag were measured in dry and wet conditions, a variety of flow visualization techniques were employed, and a computational code which predicted airfoil boundary layer behavior was used. At low angles of attack, the lift degradation in wet conditions varied significantly between the airfoils. The Wortmann section had the greatest overall lift degradation and the NACA 64-210 airfoil had the smallest. At high angles of attack, the NACA 64-210 and 0012 airfoils had improved aerodynamic performance in rain conditions due to an apparent reduction of the boundry layer separation. Performance degradation in heavy rain for all three airfoils at low angles of attack could be emulated by forced boundary layer transition near the leading edge. The secondary effect occurs at time scales consistent with top surface water runback times. The runback layer is thought to effectively alter the airfoil geometry. The severity of the performance degradation for the airfoils varied. The relative differences appeared to be related to the susceptibility of each airfoil to premature boundary layer transition.

Description: The effect of simulated rain at 1000 mm/h on the aerodynamic performance of NACA 64-210, NACA 0012, and Wortmann FX67-K170 airfoils is investigated experimentally at Reynolds number 310,000, freestream velocity 70 mph, and angle of attack -10 to +20 deg in the 1 x 1-ft section of the MIT low-turbulence wind tunnel. The results are presented graphically and characterized in detail. Rain is found to produce lift degradation of 5-25 percent, an effect attributed to development of a premature transition at the leading edge followed (after 1-10 s) by alteration of the profile by surface water runback.

Description: Autoflight systems in the current generation of aircraft have been implicated in several recent incidents and accidents. A contributory aspect to these incidents may be the manner in which aircraft transition between differing behaviours or 'modes.' The current state of aircraft automation was investigated and the incremental development of the autoflight system was tracked through a set of aircraft to gain insight into how these systems developed. This process appears to have resulted in a system without a consistent global representation. In order to evaluate and examine autoflight systems, a 'Hybrid Automation Representation' (HAR) was developed. This representation was used to examine several specific problems known to exist in aircraft systems. Cyclomatic complexity is an analysis tool from computer science which counts the number of linearly independent paths through a program graph. This approach was extended to examine autoflight mode transitions modelled with the HAR. A survey was conducted of pilots to identify those autoflight mode transitions which airline pilots find difficult. The transitions identified in this survey were analyzed using cyclomatic complexity to gain insight into the apparent complexity of the autoflight system from the perspective of the pilot. Mode transitions which had been identified as complex by pilots were found to have a high cyclomatic complexity. Further examination was made into a set of specific problems identified in aircraft: the lack of a consistent representation of automation, concern regarding appropriate feedback from the automation, and the implications of physical limitations on the autoflight systems. Mode transitions involved in changing to and leveling at a new altitude were identified across multiple aircraft by numerous pilots. Where possible, evaluation and verification of the behaviour of these autoflight mode transitions was investigated via aircraft-specific high fidelity simulators. Three solution approaches to concerns regarding autoflight systems, and mode transitions in particular, are presented in this thesis. The first is to use training to modify pilot behaviours, or procedures to work around known problems. The second approach is to mitigate problems by enhancing feedback. The third approach is to modify the process by which automation is designed. The Operator Directed Process forces the consideration and creation of an automation model early in the design process for use as the basis of the software specification and training.