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At least 181 records · Page 10

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NASA NTRS1987

Computer modeling and simulation of a 20kHz ac distribution system for Space Station

A computer model of a 20 kHz, ac distribution testbed for Space Station is presented. The system consists of six resonant inverters, a one-hundred-meter transmission line, and three load receivers: a dc receiver, a bidirectional receiver, and an ac receiver. A model library is generated characterizing all system components. The system's local and global behaviors are investigated using the EASY5 dynamic analysis program.

Tsai, Fu-Sheng↗

NASA NTRS1987

Star formation in molecular clouds - Observation and theory

Star-formation (SF) processes occurring on the scale of giant molecular clouds (10 to the 6th solar masses and 10 to the 20th cm) or smaller are discussed, reviewing the results of recent theoretical and observational investigations. Topics examined include the origin of stellar masses; bimodal SF; initial mass functions; binary stars, bound clusters, and hierarchical fragmentation; and the efficiency of SF. The properties of molecular clouds and the origin of substructures in molecular clumps are explored in detail, and consideration is given to gravitational collapse and protostars, bipolar outflows from young stellar objects, visible young stellar objects, and the implications for binary-star and planetary-system formation.

Shu, Frank H.↗

NASA NTRS1987

An earth outgoing longwave radiation climate model. I - Clear sky radiation

An earth outgoing longwave radiation (OLWR) climate model is presented. The model uses the upward radiative transfer parameterization of Thompson and Warren (1982) for radiation calculations, and a climatologic dataset from Crutcher and Meserve (1970) and Taljaard et al. (1969) to provide data on temperature, dewpoint, and geopotential height for various altitudes. Using the model for a monthly average radiation budget study, clear sky cases of OLWR were calculated for the global average, zonal averages, and global distributions. The regional results on North and South America were compared with GOES data and were found to agree well. The clear sky case shows that the OLWR field is highly modulated by water vapor, especially in the tropics, where the strongest longitudinal variations in OLWR occur. In the high latitudes, where cold air contains less water vapor, OLWR is basically modulated by the surface temperature.

Yang, Shi-Keng↗

NASA NTRS1987

Variability of ethane on Jupiter

Varying stratospheric temperature profiles and C2H6 altitude distributions furnish contexts for the evaluation of ethane abundances and distributions in the Jupiter stratosphere. Substantial ethane line emission and retrieved mole fraction variability is noted near the footprint of Io's flux tube, as well as within the auroral regions. It is suggested that this and other observed phenomena are due to the modification of local stratospheric chemistry by higher-order effects, which are in turn speculated to be due to the precipitation of charged particles along magnetic field lines.

Kostiuk, Theodor↗

NASA NTRS1988

A defect stream function, law of the wall/wake method for turbulent boundary layers

The application of the defect stream function to the solution of the two-dimensional, incompressible boundary layer problem is reexamined. A law-of-the-wall/law-of-the-wake formulation for the inner part of the boundary layer is presented which greatly simplifies the computational task near the wall and eliminates the need for an eddy viscosity model in this region. The eddy viscosity model in the outer part of the boundary layer is arbitrary. Formulations for both equilibrium and nonequilibrium boundary layers are presented, and results are compared with previous methods for equilibrium boundary layers. A formulation for primitive variables is presented. The present treatments eliminate the need for resolving the flow in the inner part of the boundary layer computationally, thereby improving computational efficiency.

Barnwell, Richard W.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Surface tension and bubble shapes in a partially filled rotating cylinder under low gravity

A computer algorithm is developed to simulate the profile of a free liquid surface for a cylindrical container partially filled with a Newtonian fluid of constant density, rotating about its axis of symmetry. The equilibrium shape of the free surface is governed by a balance of capillary, centrifugal, and gravity forces. The results can be used to determine the profile of a bubble at various rotating speeds under the gravity environments from low gravity, microgravity to zero-gravity. The present paper discusses the further extension of the study of the determination of bubble shape in a higher rotating speed container developed by Hung and Leslie.

Hung, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Thermal contact conductance of pressurized surfaces

Thermal vacuum testing has demonstrated the feasibility of the concept of pressurizing contact surfaces for the transfer of waste heat on the Space Station. Data show a thin inflatable bladder design to provide a greater contact conductance than an expandable bellows approach, with substantially less interface volume to transfer the same amount of heat. Extended vacuum testing of the Radiator-to-Thermal Bus assembly indicated a continual increase of conductance as the interface was maintained at 150 psi for a 100-hour period.

Voss, Fred E.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Effects of surface perturbations on the asymmetric vortex flow over a slender body

An experimental investigation of the effects of surface perturbations on the asymmetric flow past a slender body has been conducted for laminar flow conditions. Beads with diameters ranging from 3/32 to 12/32 in. were attached near the apex of a cone/cylinder model having a base diameter of 3.5 in. and a cone semiapex angle of 9 deg at an angle of attack of 40 deg in an attempt to alter the sense of the asymmetric vortex flow pattern. Circumferential position as well as longitudinal location were varied to determine the most effective bead position. Whether or not the beads were effective in controlling the magnitude and direction of the vortex asymmetries was determined by 3 circumferential rows of pressure taps and by a helium-bubble flow visualization technique. The most effective circumferential position was found to be approximately 140 deg from the windward ray. While holding this circumferential position constant, the effect of bead size at three stations further along the body was also investigated. It was found that the size of the bead necessary to reverse the asymmetry increased more rapidly than the growth in cylinder radius. In general, these results indicate that discrete geometric imperfections on a body's surface can force asymmetry in a given direction if they are sufficiently large relative to the local radius.

Moskovitz, Cary A.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Numerical investigation of three-dimensional flow separation using the boundary layer equations

The steady, incompressible, three-dimensional laminar and turbulent boundary-layer equations are solved in a streamline coordinate system and in a self-adaptive grid system using Matsuno's finite difference method. Techniques are described for calculating laminar and turbulent separation using the boundary-layer equations. Any type (bubble type or free vortex-layer type) of major separation line can be calculated at an angle of attack on ellipsoids of revolution by this boundary layer code. Results are presented for ellipsoids of revolution at angles of attack up to 45 degrees. Agreements with other numerical and experimental results are very good for laminar flows. Turbulent flows are also investigated with algebraic turbulence models proposed by Rotta and Cebeci and Smith. Good agreement with experimental results was obtained at a small angle of attack (10 degrees) but only qualitative agreement was obtained at a high angle of attack (30 degrees) for turbulent flow on a 6:1 ellipsoid of revolution.

Wie, Yong-Sun↗

NASA NTRS1987

The characterization of an air pollution episode using satellite total ozone measurements

A case study is presented which demonstrates that measurements of total ozone from a space-based platform can be used to study a widespread air pollution episode over the southeastern U.S. In particular, the synoptic-scale distribution of surface-level ozone obtained from an independent analysis of ground-based monitoring stations appears to be captured by the synoptic-scale distribution of total ozone, even though about 90 percent of the total ozone is in the stratosphere. Additional analyses of upper air meteorological data, other satellite imagery, and in situ aircraft measurements of ozone likewise support the fact that synoptic-scale variability of tropospheric ozone is primarily responsible for the observed variability in total ozone under certain conditions. The use of the type of analysis discussed in this study may provide an important technique for understanding the global budget of tropospheric ozone.

Fishman, Jack↗

NASA NTRS1987

Low cost Get-Away-Special (GAS) furnace

A simple and inexpensive Space Shuttle experimental apparatus to conduct microgravity melting and solidification is presented. A GAS space furnace was initially developed as a student design project at the USAF Academy and further refined at NASA Lewis. The experiment package consists of a melting chamber, battery power system, temperature data recording systems, and electronic controller. The melting chamber is a thin-walled tube wrapped by heating resistance wire. Thermocouples are used to record the specimen thermal history. Power is supplied by 2-V batteries wired to produce 360 W. The mV output of the thermocouples is amplified, cold-junction compensated, and converted to a frequency which is then recorded on an off-the-shelf cassette tape recorder. A backup data recording system which digitizes the amplified signal and records the data on EEPROMs has also been included. This experimental device demonstrates that basic science research can be kept simple and inexpensive.

Turner, Glon D.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The disks of T Tauri stars with flat infrared spectra

The energy distributions of T Tauri stars with flat infrared spectra is modeled by assuming that they have spatially thin disks with unorthodox radial gradients of temperature. Derived model parameters show that the disks associated with the flat-spectrum sources must contain intrinsic luminosity in addition to the energy intercepted and reprocessed from the central star, i.e., the disks must be active. Self-gravity may provide a possible source for this activity.

Adams, Fred C.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Shape sensitivity analysis of wing static aeroelastic characteristics

A method is presented to calculate analytically the sensitivity derivatives of wing static aeroelastic characteristics with respect to wing shape parameters. The wing aerodynamic response under fixed total load is predicted using Weissinger's L-method; its structural response is obtained with Giles' equivalent plate method. The characteristics of interest in this study include the spanwise distribution of lift, trim angle of attack, rolling and pitching moments, wing induced drag as well as the divergence dynamic pressure. The shape parameters considered are the wing area, aspect ratio, taper ratio, sweep angle and tip twist angle. Results of sensitivity studies indicate that (1) approximations based on analytical sensitivity derivatives can be used for wide ranges of variations of the shape parameters considered and (2) the analytical calculation of sensitivity derivatives is significantly less expensive than the conventional finite difference alternative.

Barthelemy, Jean-Francois M.↗

NASA NTRS1987

An inexpensive S-band angle pointing technique for steering a narrow beam Ku-band antenna

A recently tested antenna pointing control system for gimbaled antennas has been developed. A modified TDRSS user transponder produces pointing error signals from the S-band forward link which in turn drive the Steering Control Electronics (SCE) to precision steer a S-/Ku-band Data and S-band Tracking (KDST) planar array. A successful test of the pointing and data handling capabilities is described and plans for further tests, incorporating additional refinements, are presented.

Line, Larry↗

NASA NTRS1987

Implementation of optimal trajectory control of series resonant converter

Due to the presence of a high-frequency LC tank circuit, the dynamics of a resonant converter are unpredictable. There is often a large surge of tank energy during transients. Using state-plane analysis technique, an optimal trajectory control utilizing the desired solution trajectory as the control law was previously proposed for the series resonant converters. The method predicts the fastest response possible with minimum energy surge in the resonant tank. The principle of the control and its experimental implementation are described here. The dynamics of the converter are shown to be close to time-optimal.

Oruganti, Ramesh↗

NASA NTRS1987

Constant-frequency, clamped-mode resonant converters

Two novel clamped-mode resonant converters are proposed which operate at a constant frequency while retaining many desired features of conventional series- and parallel-resonant converters. State-plane analysis techniques are used to identify all possible operating modes and define their mode boundaries. Control-to-output characteristics are derived that specify the regions for natural and forced commutation. The predicted operating modes are verified using a prototype circuit.

Tsai, Fu-Sheng↗

NASA NTRS1988

A general-purpose computer program for studying ultrasonic beam patterns generated with acoustic lenses

A 3-D computer model of a piston radiator with lenses for focusing and defocusing is presented. To achieve high-resolution imaging, the frequency of the transmitted and received ultrasound must be as high as 10 MHz. Current ultrasonic transducers produce an extremely narrow beam at these high frequencies and thus are not appropriate for imaging schemes such as synthetic-aperture focus techniques (SAFT). Consequently, a numerical analysis program has been developed to determine field intensity patterns that are radiated from ultrasonic transducers with lenses. Lens shapes are described and the field intensities are numerically predicted and compared with experimental results.

Roberti, Dino↗

NASA NTRS1988

Effects of surface pressures and streamline metrics on the calculation of laminar heating rates

The effect of streamline geometry and pressure distributions on surface heating rates is examined for slender, spherically blunted cones. The modifications to the approximate aeroheating code include a curve fit of pressures computed by an Euler solution over a range of Mach numbers and cone angles. The streamline geometry is then found using the surface pressures and inviscid surface properties. Previously, streamlines were determined using the inviscid properties at the edge of the boundary layer when accounting for the effects of entropy-layer swallowing. Streamline calculations are now based on inviscid surface conditions rather than boundary-layer edge properties. However, the heating rates are calculated using inviscid properties at the edge of the boundary layer. Resulting heating rates compare favorably with solutions from the viscous-shock-layer equations.

Riley, Christopher J.↗