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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1973

Convection and magnetic fields in an atmosphere with constant temperature gradient. II - The supergranules and magnetic fields

The hydrodynamic properties of convective motions in a stratified atmosphere suggest that the supergranules in the solar photosphere extend to depths in excess of their horizontal diameters. The calculations presented here show that the weak fields which appear at the photosphere are as strong as, or stronger than, the horizontal fields anywhere in the supergranules below the surface. Hence the general 10 to 100 gauss azimuthal field of the sun, whose presence is indicated by the emerging bipolar magnetic regions, must lie below the base of the supergranules, i.e., below a depth probably of the order of 20,000 to 50,000 km. Presumably then the azimuthal field is generated by nonuniform rotation below the supergranule convection and does not appear in the supergranule layer because of the high rate of turbulent diffusion loss from that layer.

Parker, E. N.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Origin of interplanetary southward magnetic fields responsible for major magnetic storms near solar maximum (1978-1979)

Simultaneous ISEE-3 field and plasma data were used to examine interplanetary phenomena associated with 10 major magnetic storms detected from August 16, 1978, to December 28, 1979, in a study of Gonzalez and Tsurutani (1987), and, in particular to determine the origins of the southward magnetic fields which caused the storms. In nine of the 10 cases, the responsible interplanetary events were found, as expected, to be associated with the high magnetic fields in the stream-stream interaction regions (sheaths) or driver gases, with the events following the interplanetary shocks. The tenth event was found to be associated not with a high-speed stream, but with a noncompressional density-enhancement event. The results of this study indicate the equal importance of both the sheath fields or draped fields and the driver gas fields for the generation of major geomagnetic storms.

Tsurutani, Bruce T.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Preliminary Results of Performance Measurements on a Cylindrical Hall-Effect Thruster with Magnetic Field Generated by Permanent Magnets

The performance of a low-power cylindrical Hall thruster, which more readily lends itself to miniaturization and low-power operation than a conventional (annular) Hall thruster, was measured using a planar plasma probe and a thrust stand. The field in the cylindrical thruster was produced using permanent magnets, promising a power reduction over previous cylindrical thruster iterations that employed electromagnets to generate the required magnetic field topology. Two sets of ring-shaped permanent magnets are used, and two different field configurations can be produced by reorienting the poles of one magnet relative to the other. A plasma probe measuring ion flux in the plume is used to estimate the current utilization for the two magnetic configurations. The measurements indicate that electron transport is impeded much more effectively in one configuration, implying a higher thrust efficiency. Preliminary thruster performance measurements on this configuration were obtained over a power range of 100-250 W. The thrust levels over this power range were 3.5-6.5 mN, with anode efficiencies and specific impulses spanning 14-19% and 875- 1425 s, respectively. The magnetic field in the thruster was lower for the thrust measurements than the plasma probe measurements due to heating and weakening of the permanent magnets, reducing the maximum field strength from 2 kG to roughly 750-800 G. The discharge current levels observed during thrust stand testing were anomalously high compared to those levels measured in previous experiments with this thruster.

Polzin, K. A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

First Viking results - Magnetic field measurements

The magnetic field experiment on the Swedish Viking satellite consists of a triaxial fluxgate magnetometer system with the sensors mounted on a 2-m boom. Transverse magnetic field perturbations are readily observed which identify the large-scale auroral and cusp-region Birkeland current (BC) systems. A sharp gradient was observed in the dayside region near apogee and 08:40 MLT during a pass on March 25, 1986 which has been interpreted as an earthward-flowing BC of 8 micro-A/sq m. When projected to ionospheric altitudes it is estimated that the current density is 200 micro-A/sq m.

Potemra, T. A.↗
NASA NTRS1980

On the search for an intrinsic magnetic field at Venus

Magnetic field observations obtained by the Pioneer Venus orbiter at low altitude are now available for two sets of orbits in the Venus wake. Data from these 130 orbits are examined for possible surface correlated features or any intrinsic magnetic moment. No surface correlated magnetic fields are observed, but the threshold for the detectability of such fields at Venus is about an order of magnitude greater than at the moon. A surface feature of 10 deg extent would have to create an anomaly of at least 5 gammas at 200 km to be detected in the Pioneer Venus data. Using measurements averaged in 72 10 x 10 deg bins, a planetary magnetic dipole moment of 0.87 + or - 3.00 x 10 to the 21st gauss-cu cm is obtained. Thus the upper limit of the present day Venus moment is less than 4 x 10 to the -5th of the terrestrial moment.

Russell, C. T.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Transition from the Sector Zone to the Unipolar Zone in the Heliosheath: Voyager 2 Magnetic Field Observations

The magnetic polarity pattern observed by Voyager 2 (V2) evolved with time from a nearly equal mixture of positive and negative polarity sectors in the sector zone from 2007.00 to 2007.67 to nearly uniform positive polarity (magnetic fields directed away from the Sun) in the unipolar zone from 2009.6 to 2010.3. This change was caused by the decreasing latitudinal extent of the sector zone, when the minimum extent of the heliospheric current sheet moved northward toward the solar equator as the solar activity associated with solar cycle 23 decreased a minimum in 2010. In the heliosheath, the distribution of daily averages of the magnetic field strength B was lognormal in the sector zone from 2008.83 to 2009.57 and Gaussian in the unipolar zone from 2009.57 to 2010.27. The distribution of daily increments of B was a Tsallis distribution (q-Gaussian distribution) with q = 1.66 +/- 0.010 in the sector zone and . Gaussian (q = 1.01+/-0.29) in the unipolar zone. The unipolar region appears to be in a relatively undisturbed equilibrium state.

Burlaga, L. F.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Is there a seismic signature of the sun's magnetic field?

Both weak magnetic fields and latitudinally dependent acoustic perturbations remove the degeneracy of the azimuthal quantum number, m, of acoustic modes of otherwise spherically symmetrical solar model. In the case of acoustic perturbations, the degeneracy is removed because the range of latitude in which a mode propagates depends on m, and therefore modes of like principle order n and degree l sample the aspherical scalar sound speed distribution differently. In the magnetic case, the removal of the degeneracy is caused by the same geometrical effect, and is influenced by the anisotropy of the Lorentz forces. Asymptotic analysis is used to show that the frequency splittings cannot be unambiguously attributed to the direct effect of a magnetic field, and that the effect of such a field on frequency splittings can be reproduced by a perturbation to the sound speed.

Zweibel, Ellen G.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Dynamic Magnetic Field Applications for Materials Processing

Magnetic fields, variable in time and space, can be used to control convection in electrically conducting melts. Flow induced by these fields has been found to be beneficial for crystal growth applications. It allows increased crystal growth rates, and improves homogeneity and quality. Particularly beneficial is the natural convection damping capability of alternating magnetic fields. One well-known example is the rotating magnetic field (RMF) configuration. RMF induces liquid motion consisting of a swirling basic flow and a meridional secondary flow. In addition to crystal growth applications, RMF can also be used for mixing non-homogeneous melts in continuous metal castings. These applied aspects have stimulated increasing research on RMF-induced fluid dynamics. A novel type of magnetic field configuration consisting of an axisymmetric magnetostatic wave, designated the traveling magnetic field (TMF), has been recently proposed. It induces a basic flow in the form of a single vortex. TMF may find use in crystal growth techniques such as the vertical Bridgman (VB), float zone (FZ), and the traveling heater method. In this review, both methods, RMF and TMF are presented. Our recent theoretical and experimental results include such topics as localized TMF, natural convection dumping using TMF in a vertical Bridgman configuration, the traveling heater method, and the Lorentz force induced by TMF as a function of frequency. Experimentally, alloy mixing results, with and without applied TMF, will be presented. Finally, advantages of the traveling magnetic field, in comparison to the more mature rotating magnetic field method, will be discussed.

Mazuruk, K.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Convection in an Infinite Vertical Cylinder in the Presence of a Horizontal Magnetic Field

The use of a magnetic field to suppress convection in low gravity materials processing is an area of active research. This study aims to investigate some of the basic features of an verse magnetic field on convective motion in electrically conducting melts. The geometry considered is in infinite vertical column of liquid metal with an axial temperature gradient and an imposed transverse magnetic field. The incipience and azimuthal orientation of convective roM is investigated. The governing transport equations are nondimensionalized, linearized and the eigen value problem is solved to determine the most physically significant states. The analysis shows that the initial degeneracy (with no magnetic field) is removed by the presence of a magnetic field and the primary convection roll aligns itself so that its plane is perpendicular to the applied magnetic field. A cross over to another mode is also found when the strength of the magnetic field is increased. Velocity distributions are presented corresponding to the lowest modes and the system behavior within limit s of non-linearity is discussed.

Mazuruk, Konstantin↗
NASA NTRS1974

Studies of solar magnetic fields. II - The magnetic fluxes

Magnetic flux data from the Mount Wilson magnetograph are examined over the interval 1967-1973. The total flux in the north is greater than that in the south by about 7% over this interval, reflecting a higher level of activity in the northern hemisphere. Close to 95% of the total flux is confined to latitudes equatorward of 40 degrees, which means that close to 95% of the flux cancels with flux of opposite polarity before it can migrate poleward of 40 degrees. It is pointed out that a consequence of this flux distribution is that ephemeral regions must make a negligible contribution to the long-term large-scale magnetic flux distribution. A broad peak in the total flux may be seen centered about one year after activity maximum in the north below 40 degrees. In the south there is a very sharp increase in flux about the same time. In the north, several poleward migrations of flux may be seen.

Howard, R.↗
NASA NTRS1981

On the spectrum of turbulent magnetic fields

Theoretical power spectra of magnetic fields subject to turbulent fluid motions in the kinematic regime are presented, and previous theories are reviewed, with reference to magnetic fields on the sun. Magnetic field diffusion in turbulence with persistent eddies is predicted to be described by an effective negative magnetic diffusivity. It is found that observations cannot be explained on the basis of turbulent kinematic theories unless the turbulent motions are three-dimensional, and the effective diffusivities are larger than the molecular diffusivities. Lower bounds on the turbulent viscosity are derived, suggesting that dynamical processes controlling the magnetic field spectrum occur at least 15,000 km below the surface. The results, which remain consistent with the assumption that effective diffusivity is uniform, suggest that surface magnetic field observations can be used as a diagnostic for subsurface flows.

Knobloch, E.↗