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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 181 records · Page 10

Minimal Joule dissipation models of magnetospheric convection

This paper gives a topical review of theoretical models of magnetospheric convection based on the concept of minimal Joule dissipation. A two-dimensional slab model of the ionosphere featuring an enhanced conductivity auroral oval is used to compute high-latitude electric fields and currents. Mathematical methods used in the modeling include Fourier analysis, fast Fourier transforms, and variational calculus. Also, conformal transformations are introduced in the analysis, which enable the auroral oval to be represented as a nonconcentric, crescent-shaped figure. Convection patterns appropriate to geomagnetic quiet and disturbed conditions are computed, the differentiating variable being the relative amount of power dissipated in the magnetospheric ring current. When ring current dissipation is small, the convection electric field is restricted to high latitudes (shielding regime), and when it is large, a significant penetration of the field to low latitudes occurs, accompanied by an increase in the ratio of the region I current to the region 2 current.

Barbosa, D. D.↗

There aren't Non-Standard Solutions for the Braid Group Representations of the QYBE Associated with 10-D Representations of SU(4)

It is well known that the quantum Yang-Baxter equations (QYBE) play an important role in various theoretical and mathematical physics, such as completely integrable system in (1 + 1)-dimensions, exactly solvable models in statistical mechanics, the quantum inverse scattering method and the conformal field theories in 2-dimensions. Recently, much remarkable progress has been made in constructing the solutions of the QYBE associated with the representations of lie algebras. It is shown that for some cases except the standard solutions, there also exist new solutions, but the others have not non-standard solutions. In this paper by employing the weight conservation and the diagrammatic techniques we show that the solution associated with the 10-D representations of SU (4) are standard alone.

Yijun, Huang↗

Integration of the White Sands Complex into a Wide Area Network

The NASA White Sands Complex (WSC) satellite communications facility consists of two main ground stations, an auxiliary ground station, a technical support facility, and a power plant building located on White Sands Missile Range. When constructed, terrestrial communication access to these facilities was limited to copper telephone circuits. There was no local or wide area communications network capability. This project incorporated a baseband local area network (LAN) topology at WSC and connected it to NASA's wide area network using the Program Support Communications Network-Internet (PSCN-I). A campus-style LAN is configured in conformance with the International Standards Organization (ISO) Open Systems Interconnect (ISO) model. Ethernet provides the physical and data link layers. Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) are used for the network and transport layers. The session, presentation, and application layers employ commercial software packages. Copper-based Ethernet collision domains are constructed in each of the primary facilities and these are interconnected by routers over optical fiber links. The network and each of its collision domains are shown to meet IEEE technical configuration guidelines. The optical fiber links are analyzed for the optical power budget and bandwidth allocation and are found to provide sufficient margin for this application. Personal computers and work stations attached to the LAN communicate with and apply a wide variety of local and remote administrative software tools. The Internet connection provides wide area network (WAN) electronic access to other NASA centers and the world wide web (WWW). The WSC network reduces and simplifies the administrative workload while providing enhanced and advanced inter-communications capabilities among White Sands Complex departments and with other NASA centers.

Boucher, Phillip Larry↗

Composite Panel Postbuckling Behavior and General Model of Joints in Composite Structures

The present paper is a final technical report on the research programme NCCW-73 accomplished within co-operation between NASA of the USA and GOSKOMOBORONPROM of Russia in the field of aeronautics. The report contains basic results of studies in two areas, 'Analysis of postbuckling behavior of composite panels' and 'Development of general model of joints in composite structures'; these results were obtained in conformity with requirements of NCCW-73. In addition, consideration is given to some related issues, and proposals for further studies are formulated.

Zamula, G. N.↗

Geometrical analysis of Cys-Cys bridges in proteins and their prediction from incomplete structural information

Analysis of C-alpha atom positions from cysteines involved in disulphide bridges in protein crystals shows that their geometric characteristics are unique with respect to other Cys-Cys, non-bridging pairs. They may be used for predicting disulphide connections in incompletely determined protein structures, such as low resolution crystallography or theoretical folding experiments. The basic unit for analysis and prediction is the 3 x 3 distance matrix for Cx positions of residues (i - 1), Cys(i), (i +1) with (j - 1), Cys(j), (j + 1). In each of its columns, row and diagonal vector--outer distances are larger than the central distance. This analysis is compared with some analytical models.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗

Crystal structures of pinoresinol-lariciresinol and phenylcoumaran benzylic ether reductases and their relationship to isoflavone reductases

Despite the importance of plant lignans and isoflavonoids in human health protection (e.g. for both treatment and prevention of onset of various cancers) as well as in plant biology (e.g. in defense functions and in heartwood development), systematic studies on the enzymes involved in their biosynthesis have only recently begun. In this investigation, three NADPH-dependent aromatic alcohol reductases were comprehensively studied, namely pinoresinol-lariciresinol reductase (PLR), phenylcoumaran benzylic ether reductase (PCBER), and isoflavone reductase (IFR), which are involved in central steps to the various important bioactive lignans and isoflavonoids. Of particular interest was in determining how differing regio- and enantiospecificities are achieved with the different enzymes, despite each apparently going through similar enone intermediates. Initially, the three-dimensional x-ray crystal structures of both PLR_Tp1 and PCBER_Pt1 were solved and refined to 2.5 and 2.2 A resolutions, respectively. Not only do they share high gene sequence similarity, but their structures are similar, having a continuous alpha/beta NADPH-binding domain and a smaller substrate-binding domain. IFR (whose crystal structure is not yet obtained) was also compared (modeled) with PLR and PCBER and was deduced to have the same overall basic structure. The basis for the distinct enantio-specific and regio-specific reactions of PCBER, PLR, and IFR, as well as the reaction mechanism and participating residues involved (as identified by site-directed mutagenesis), are discussed.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗

Computed and observed ocean topography - A comparison

The Goddard Space Flight Center's latest Gravity Earth Model, GEM-8, was used to construct a static sea surface. Such a surface corresponds to the surface of an ocean without the time-varying effects of atmospheric pressure, surface wind friction, tides, and currents. It conforms to a surface dictated by the earth's gravitational and rotational forces. The sea surface model is the result of analyzing more than 500,000 satellite observations together with about 1600 5 deg x 5 deg and about 38,000 1 deg x 1 deg surface gravity anomalies. Preliminary comparisons between the computed and measured sea surface topography indicate that they agree quite well and differ by less than 1 m in many places including the Atlantic test area. Sea-surface features such as undulations caused by trenches and ridges are clearly and accurately detectable. The use of altimeter data for orbit computation reduces the uncertainty of the spacecraft height and thus the errors of the sea-surface topography.

Vonbun, F. O.↗

Combining Progressive Nodal Release with the Virtual Crack Closure Technique to Model Fatigue Delamination Growth Without Re-Meshing

The present work summarizes an approach to model mixed-mode 3D fatigue crack growth using the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) without requiring re-meshing. It is demonstrated that the proposed approach can be used to simulate crack shapes that do not conform to the underlying mesh. The proposed approach relies solely on Paris Law characterization data to model delamination growth. Growth is determined as a post-processing step at the end of each increment, and hence no convergence issues associated with the progressive nodal release are encountered. This approach can be readily applied using standard solid element formulations and is implemented via an interface user element in Abaqus/Standard.

Carvalho, N. V. De↗

Comparison of Oxygen Gauche Effects in Poly(Oxyethylene) and Poly(ethylene terephtylene) Based on Quantum Chemistry Calculations

The so-called oxygen gauche effect in poly(oxyethylene) (POE) and its model molecules such as 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) and diglyme (CH3OC2H4OC2H4OCH3) is manifested in the preference for gauche C-C bond conformations over trans. This has also been observed for poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). Our previous quantum chemistry calculations demonstrated that the large C-C gauche population in DME is due, in part, to a low-lying tg +/- g+ conformer that exhibits a substantial 1,5 CH ... O attraction. New calculations will be described that demonstrate the accuracy of the original quantum chemistry calculations. In addition, an extension of this work to model molecules for PET will be presented. It is seen that the C-C gauche preference is much stronger in 1,2 diacetoxyethane than in DME. In addition, there exist low-lying tg +/- g+/- and g+/-g+/-g+/- conformers that exhibit 1,5 CH ... O attractions involving the carbonyl oxygens. It is expected that the -O-C-C-O- torsional properties will be quite different in these two polymers. The quantum chemistry results are used to parameterize rotational isomeric states models (RIS) and force fields for molecular dynamics simulations of these polymers.

Jaffe, Richard↗

Computer Program Re-layers Engineering Drawings

RULCHK computer program aids in structuring layers of information pertaining to part or assembly designed with software described in article "Software for Drawing Design Details Concurrently" (MFS-28444). Checks and optionally updates structure of layers for part. Enables designer to construct model and annotate its documentation without burden of manually layering part to conform to standards at design time.

Crosby, Dewey C., III↗

Origin of density fluctuations in extended inflation

The density fluctuations (both curvature and isocurvature) that arise due to quantum fluctuations in a simple model of extended inflation based upon the Jordan-Brans-Dicke theory are calculated. Curvature fluctuations arise due to quantum fluctuations in the Brans-Dicke field, in general have a nonscale-invariant spectrum, and can have an amplitude that is cosmologically acceptable and interesting without having to tune any coupling constant to a very small value. The density perturbations that arise due to the inflation field are subdominant. If there are other massless fields in the theory, e.g., an axion or an ilion, then isocurvature fluctuations arise in these fields too. Production of gravitational waves and the massless particles associated with excitations of the Brans-Dicke field are also discussed. Several attempts at more realistic models of extended inflation are also analyzed. The importance of the Einstein conformal frame in calculating curvature fluctuations is emphasized. When viewed in this frame, extended inflation closely resembles slow-rollover inflation with an exponential potential and the usual formula for the amplitude of curvature perturbations applies.

Kolb, Edward W.↗

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 Gravitational Lensing Map and Cosmological Parameters

We present cosmological constraints from a gravitational lensing mass map covering 9400 deg2 reconstructed from measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) from 2017 to 2021. In combination with measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations and big bang nucleosynthesis, we obtain the clustering amplitude σ8 = 0.819 ± 0.015 at 1.8% precision, S 8 ≡σ 8 (Ω m>/sub>/0.3) 0.5 = 0.840 ± 0.028, and the Hubble constant H 0 = (68.3 ± 1.1) km s −1 Mpc −1 at 1.6% precision. A joint constraint with Planck CMB lensing yields σ 8 = 0.812 ± 0.013, S 8 ≡σ 8 (Ω m>/sub>/0.3) 0.5 = 0.831 ± 0.023, and H0 = (68.1 ± 1.0) km s −1 Mpc −1 . These measurements agree with ΛCDM extrapolations from the CMB anisotropies measured by Planck. We revisit constraints from the KiDS, DES, and HSC galaxy surveys with a uniform set of assumptions and find that S 8 from all three are lower than that from ACT+Planck lensing by levels ranging from 1.7σ to 2.1σ. This motivates further measurements and comparison, not just between the CMB anisotropies and galaxy lensing but also between CMB lensing probing z ∼ 0.5–5 on mostly linear scales and galaxy lensing at z ∼ 0.5 on smaller scales. We combine with CMB anisotropies to constrain extensions of ΛCDM, limiting neutrino masses to ∑m ν < 0.13 eV (95% c.l.), for example. We describe the mass map and related data products that will enable a wide array of cross-correlation science. Our results provide independent confirmation that the universe is spatially flat, conforms with general relativity, and is described remarkably well by the ΛCDM model, while paving a promising path for neutrino physics with lensing from upcoming ground-based CMB surveys.

Cosmology↗

Random Predictor Models for Rigorous Uncertainty Quantification: Part 2

This and a companion paper propose techniques for constructing parametric mathematical models describing key features of the distribution of an output variable given input-output data. By contrast to standard models, which yield a single output value at each value of the input, Random Predictors Models (RPMs) yield a random variable at each value of the input. Optimization-based strategies for calculating RPMs having a polynomial dependency on the input and a linear dependency on the parameters are proposed. These formulations yield RPMs having various levels of fidelity in which the mean, the variance, and the range of the model's parameter, thus of the output, are prescribed. As such they encompass all RPMs conforming to these prescriptions. The RPMs are optimal in the sense that they yield the tightest predictions for which all (or, depending on the formulation, most) of the observations are less than a fixed number of standard deviations from the mean prediction. When the data satisfies mild stochastic assumptions, and the optimization problem(s) used to calculate the RPM is convex (or, when its solution coincides with the solution to an auxiliary convex problem), the model's reliability, which is the probability that a future observation would be within the predicted ranges, is bounded rigorously.

Crespo, Luis G.↗

A direct method for the solution of unsteady two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

The unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are formulated in terms of vorticity and stream function in generalized curvilinear orthogonal coordinates to facilitiate analysis of flow configurations with general geometries. The numerical method developed solves the conservative form of the transport equation using the alternating-direction implicit method, whereas the stream-function equation is solved by direct block Gaussian elimination. The method is applied to a model problem of flow over a back-step in a doubly infinite channel, using clustered conformal coordinates. One-dimensional stretching functions, dependent on the Reynolds number and the asymptotic behavior of the flow, are used to provide suitable grid distribution in the separation and reattachment regions, as well as in the inflow and outflow regions. The optimum grid distribution selected attempts to honor the multiple length scales of the separated-flow model problem. The asymptotic behavior of the finite-differenced transport equation near infinity is examined and the numerical method is carefully developed so as to lead to spatially second-order accurate wiggle-free solutions, i.e., with minimum dispersive error. Results have been obtained in the entire laminar range for the backstep channel and are in good agreement with the available experimental data for this flow problem.

Ghia, K. N.↗

Modeling study on the cleavage step of the self-splicing reaction in group I introns

A three-dimensional model of the Tetrahymena thermophila group I intron is used to further explore the catalytic mechanism of the transphosphorylation reaction of the cleavage step. Based on the coordinates of the catalytic core model proposed by Michel and Westhof (Michel, F., Westhof, E. J. Mol. Biol. 216, 585-610 (1990)), we first converted their ligation step model into a model of the cleavage step by the substitution of several bases and the removal of helix P9. Next, an attempt to place a trigonal bipyramidal transition state model in the active site revealed that this modified model for the cleavage step could not accommodate the transition state due to insufficient space. A lowering of P1 helix relative to surrounding helices provided the additional space required. Simultaneously, it provided a better starting geometry to model the molecular contacts proposed by Pyle et al. (Pyle, A. M., Murphy, F. L., Cech, T. R. Nature 358, 123-128. (1992)), based on mutational studies involving the J8/7 segment. Two hydrated Mg2+ complexes were placed in the active site of the ribozyme model, using the crystal structure of the functionally similar Klenow fragment (Beese, L.S., Steitz, T.A. EMBO J. 10, 25-33 (1991)) as a guide. The presence of two metal ions in the active site of the intron differs from previous models, which incorporate one metal ion in the catalytic site to fulfill the postulated roles of Mg2+ in catalysis. The reaction profile is simulated based on a trigonal bipyramidal transition state, and the role of the hydrated Mg2+ complexes in catalysis is further explored using molecular orbital calculations.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗

LAVA Voronoi Mesher for Wall-Modeled Large-Eddy Simulations

The unstructured Voronoi mesher currently being developed within the Launch, Ascent, and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA) software framework at NASA Ames Research Center is described in detail. The discussions include, but are not limited to, the strategies used in the seeding and smoothing phases to ensure a high-quality mesh for Wall-Modeled Large-Eddy Simulations (WMLES), the methods behind the cell clipping algorithm responsible for conforming the mesh to a complex geometry, and the approach to create a global mesh from the distinct Voronoi cells. Applications and benefits of the Voronoi meshing approach are also presented. The automated meshing paradigm introduced was able to significantly reduce the time necessary to create a high-quality mesh around a complex geometry when compared against the current LAVA curvilinear overset meshing standard. For example, the task of generating a single mesh around the high-lift common research model requires the full dedication of a mesh generation expert for a period between one and two months. A family of meshes with different refinement levels up to six hundred million cells can be generated by a single engineer in a day or two. This technology has the potential for decreasing the turnaround time for conducting WMLES around complex geometries, as well as facilitating comprehensive mesh refinement studies.

Victor C B Sousa↗

Effects of field interactions upon particle creation in Robertson-Walker universes

Particle creation due to field interactions in an expanding Robertson-Walker universe is investigated. A model in which pseudoscalar mesons and photons are created as a result of their mutual interaction is considered, and the energy density of created particles is calculated in model universes which undergo a bounce at some maximum curvature. The free-field creation of non-conformally coupled scalar particles and of gravitons is calculated in the same space-times. It is found that if the bounce occurs at a sufficiently early time the interacting particle creation will dominate. This result may be traced to the fact that the model interaction chosen introduces a length scale which is much larger than the Planck length.

Birrell, N. D.↗

Computer modeling of polymers

A Polymer Molecular Analysis Display System (p-MADS) was developed for computer modeling of polymers. This method of modeling allows for the theoretical calculation of molecular properties such as equilibrium geometries, conformational energies, heats of formations, crystal packing arrangements, and other properties. Furthermore, p-MADS has the following capabilities: constructing molecules from internal coordinates (bonds length, angles, and dihedral angles), Cartesian coordinates (such as X-ray structures), or from stick drawings; manipulating molecules using graphics and making hard copy representation of the molecules on a graphics printer; and performing geometry optimization calculations on molecules using the methods of molecular mechanics or molecular orbital theory.

Green, Terry J.↗