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At least 181 records · Page 10

A Wind-Tunnel Investigation of the Application of the NASA Supercritical Airfoil to a Variable-Wing-Sweep Fighter Airplane

An investigation was conducted in the Langley 8 foot transonic pressure tunnel and the Langley Unitary Plan wind tunnel to evaluate the effectiveness of three variations of the NASA supercritical airfoil as applied to a model of a variable wing sweep fighter airplane. Wing panels incorporating conventional NACA 64A series airfoil with 0.20 and 0.40 camber were used as bases of reference for this evaluation. Static force and moment measurements were obtained for wing leading edge sweep angles of 26, 33, 39, and 72.5 degrees. Fluctuating wing root bending moment data were obtained at subsonic speeds to determine buffet characteristics. Subsonic data were also obtained for determining the effects of wing transition location and spoiler deflection. Limited lateral directional data are included for the conventional 0.20 cambered wing and the supercritical wing.

Ayers, T. G.↗

Three approaches to reliability analysis

It is noted that current reliability analysis tools differ not only in their solution techniques, but also in their approach to model abstraction. The analyst must be satisfied with the constraints that are intrinsic to any combination of solution technique and model abstraction. To get a better idea of the nature of these constraints, three reliability analysis tools (HARP, ASSIST/SURE, and CAME) were used to model portions of the Integrated Airframe/Propulsion Control System architecture. When presented with the example problem, all three tools failed to produce correct results. In all cases, either the tool or the model had to be modified. It is suggested that most of the difficulty is rooted in the large model size and long computational times which are characteristic of Markov model solutions.

Mesh networks↗

Experimental and calculated characteristics of three wings of NACA 64-210 and 65-210 airfoil sections with and without 2 degree washout

Report presents the results of an investigation conducted to determine some of the effects of airfoil section and washout on the experimental and calculated characteristics of 10-percent-thick wings. Three wings of aspect ratio 9 and ratio of root chord to tip chord 2.5 were tested. One wing had NACA 64-210 sections and 2 degree washout, the second had NACA 65-210 sections and 2 degree washout, and the third had NACA 65-210 sections and 0 degree washout. It was found that the experimental characteristics of the wings could be satisfactorily predicted from calculations based upon two-dimensional data when the airfoil contours of the wings conformed to the true airfoil sections with the same high degree of accuracy as the two-dimensional models.

AIRFOILS - NACA 65-210 - CHAR & MOMENTS LOW-DRAG↗

Atmospheric breakup of a small comet in the Earth's atmosphere

The aerodynamic stresses can lead to the deformation and even to destruction of the meteoroids during their flight through the atmosphere. The pressure at the blunt nose of the cosmic body moving at very high speed through the dense layers of the atmosphere may be much larger than the tensile or the compressive strength of the body. So the usage of the hydrodynamics theory is validated. The estimates show that the transverse velocity of the substance of the body U is of the order of (rho(sub a)/rho(sub o))(sup 1/2)V where V is the velocity of the body and rho(sub o) is its density, rho(sub a) is the density of the atmosphere. The separation of the fragments is larger than the diameter of the body D if D is less than D(sub c) = 2H(square root of rho(sub a)/rho(sub o)), where H is the characteristic scale of the atmosphere. For an icy body one obtains U = 1/30(V) and critical diameter D(sub C) = 500 m. The process of the disintegration of the body is still not fully understood and so one can use the numerical simulation to investigate it. Such simulations where conducted for the Venusian atmosphere and the gaseous equation of state of the body was used. For the Earth atmosphere for the velocity V = 50 km/s the pressure at the blunt nose of the body is 25 kbar, and is of the order of bulk modulus of compressibility of the water or ice. The realistic EOS of water in tabular form was used. It was assumed that the initial shape of the body was spherical and the initial diameter D(sub o) of the body is 200 m and so it is smaller than the critical diameter D(sub C). The initial kinetic energy of the icy body is equivalent to the energy of the explosion 1200 Mt of TNT. The results of the simulation of the deformation of the body during its vertical flight through the atmosphere and during its impact into the ocean are presented.

Teterev, A. V.↗

The longitudinal stability of elastic swept wings at supersonic speed

The longitudinal stability characteristics of elastic swept wings of high aspect ratio experiencing bending and torsional deformations are calculated for supersonic speed by the application of linearized lifting-surface theory. A parabolic wing deflection curve is assumed and the analysis is simplified by a number of structural approximations. The method is thereby limited in application to wings of high aspect ratio for which the root effects are small. Expressions for the lift, pitching-moment, and span load distribution characteristics are derived in terms of the elastic properties of the wing; namely, the design stress, the modulus of elasticity, the shearing modulus, and the maximum design load factor. The analysis applies to wings with leading edges swept behind the Mach lines. In all cases, however, the trailing edge is sonic or supersonic. Application of the method of analysis to wings with leading edges swept ahead of the Mach lines is discussed.

Frick, C W↗

How deep should we go to understand roots at the top of the world?

Harsh environmental conditions and the short summers of northern, high-latitude biomes impose unique constraints on the plants that live in the arctic tundra and the boreal forest. To escape the harsh aboveground environment, plants in these habitats often allocate a large portion of their biomass belowground to facilitate nutrient acquisition. In turn, the proximity of living plant roots to vast stores of sequestered soil carbon in these biomes means that shifts in rooting depth distribution and the size of the root–soil interface could significantly contribute to ongoing climate change. Indeed, plant ‘priming’ of rhizosphere decomposition via root exudation, particularly from shallowly distributed roots, can lead to losses of carbon from tundra soils. While we have a hard-won understanding of the distribution of plant communities across the arctic tundra and the boreal forest from direct field observations scaled to the landscape level using climate-informed mapping techniques (i.e. the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM); Walker et al. , 2005), these vegetation maps are only the tip of the iceberg (Iversen et al. , 2015). Root form and function remain hidden beneath the land surface. In an article recently published in New Phytologist , Blume-Werry et al. (2023, 10.1111/nph.18998) asked whether rooting depth distribution, and ensuing carbon emissions, could be inferred from commonly used vegetation mapping classifications across the pan-Arctic. An important question to guide our understanding, mapping, and prediction of belowground characteristics and ecosystem feedbacks at the top of the world. Unfortunately, they found that the answer was ‘not quite’. While rooting depth distribution varied demonstrably, in turn causing substantial changes in modeled carbon emissions via rhizosphere ‘priming’, variation across rooting depth profiles did not correspond with vegetation mapping classes. If we are unable to predict belowground rooting depth distributions across large spatial scales by leveraging aboveground vegetation community distributions, how then should belowground researchers proceed?

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Root carbon interation with soil minerals is dynamic, leaving a legacy of microbially derived residues

Minerals preserve the oldest most persistent soil carbon, and mineral characteristics appear to play a critical role in the formation of soil organic matter (SOM) associations. To test the hypothesis that carbon source and soil microorganisms also influence mineral-SOM associations, we incubated permeable minerals bags in soil microcosms with and without plants, in a 13CO2 labelling chamber. Mineral bags contained quartz, ferrihydrite, kaolinite, or native soil minerals isolated via density separation. Using 13C-NMR, FTICR-MS, and lipidomics, we traced plant-derived carbon onto minerals harvested from microcosms at three plant growth stages, characterizing total carbon, 13C enrichment, and SOM chemistry. While C accumulation was rapid and mineral-dependent, the accumulated amount was not significantly affected by the presence of plant roots. However, the rhizosphere did shape the chemistry of mineral-associated SOM. Minerals incubated in the rhizosphere were associated with a more diverse array of compounds with different C functional groups (carbonyl, aromatics, carbohydrates, lipids) than minerals incubated in a bulk soil control. These diverse rhizosphere-derived compounds may represent a “transient fraction” of mineral SOM, rapidly exchanging with mineral surfaces. Our results also suggest that many of the lipids which persist on minerals are microbially-derived with a large fraction of fungal lipids.

Rhizosphere, soil organic matter, grassland, 13C-N↗

Dynamics of Single Chains of Suspended Ferrofluid Particles

We present an experimental study of the dynamics of isolated chains made of super-paramagnetic particles under the influence of a magnetic field. The motivation of this work is to understand if the chain fluctuations exist and, if it does, how does the fluctuation affect chain aggregation. We find that single chains strongly fluctuate and that the characteristic frequency of their fluctuations is inversely proportional to the magnetic field strength. The higher the field the lower the characteristic frequency of the chain fluctuations. In the high magnetic field limit, chains behave like rigid rods without any internal motions. In this work, we used ferrofluid particles suspended in water. These particles do not have any intrinsic magnetization. Once a magnetic field is applied, a dipole moment is induced in each particle, proportional to the magnetic field. A dipolar magnetic interaction then occurs between particles. If dipole-dipole magnetic energy is higher than the thermal energy, the result is a structure change inside the dipolar fluid. The ratio of these two energies is expressed by a coupling constant lambda as: lambda = (pi(a(exp 3))(chi(exp 2))(mu(sub 0))(H(sub 0))(exp 2))/18kT Where a is the particle radius, mu(sub 0) is the vacuum magnetic permeability, H(sub 0) the applied magnetic field, k the Boltzmann constant and T the absolute temperature. If lambda > 1, magnetic particles form chains along the field direction. The lateral coalescence of several chains may form bigger aggregates especially if the particle volume fraction is high. While many studies and applications deal with the rheological properties and the structural changes of these dipolar fluids, this work focuses on the understanding of the chain dynamics. In order to probe the chain dynamics, we used dynamic light scattering (DLS) in self-beating mode as our experimental technique. The experimental geometry is such that the scattering plane is perpendicular to the magnetic field. Therefore, only motions in this plane are probed. A very dilute sample of a ferrofluid emulsion with a particle volume fraction of 10(exp -5) is used in this experiment. We chose such a low volume fraction to avoid multiple light scattering as well as lateral chain-chain aggregation. DLS measures the dynamic structure factor S(q,t) of the sample (q is the scattering wave vector, t is the time). In the absence of the magnetic field, identical particles of ferrofluid droplets are randomly distributed and S(q,t) reduces to exp(-q(exp 2)2D(sub 0)t). D(sub 0)=(kT/(6(pi)(eta)(a)) is the diffusion coefficient of Brownian particles (where Xi = (6(pi)(eta)(a)) is the Stokes frictional coefficient of a spherical particle in a fluid of viscosity eta). If interactions or polydispersity can not be ignored, an effective diffusion coefficient is introduced. Formally, D(sub eff) is defined as: D(sub eff) = - q(exp -2) partial derivative of (ln(S(q,t)) with respect to time, as t goes to 0. D(sub eff) reduces to D(sub 0) if no interactions and only a few particles size are present. Therefore, we can use DLS to measure particle size. The particle radius was found to be a=0.23 mu m with 7% of polydispersity. In this case, if we vary the scattering angle theta (and so q) we do not have any change in the measured diffusion coefficient: it is q-independent. When a magnetic field is applied, particles aggregate into chains if lambda > 1. We first studied the kinetics of the chain formation when lambda = 406. At a fixed scattering angle, we measured diffusion coefficient D(sub eff) as a function of time. Experimentally, we find that D(sub eff) decreases monotonously with time. Physically, this means that chains are becoming longer and longer. Since we are only sensitive to motions in the scattering plane and since chains have their main axis perpendicular to this plane, the measured diffusion coefficient is the trans-verse diffusion coefficient. We can relate D(sub eff) to the mean number of particles per chain N(t) at a given time and to the diffusion coefficient of an isolated particle D(sub 0) as D(sub eff)=f(N(t))D(sub 0). Since f(N) is known from other recent work, N can be expressed as a function of the time. We found a square root dependency: N(t) proportional to the square root of t. As expected for very low volume fraction, this behavior is characteristic of a diffusion-limited aggregation as suggested by several authors and by our previous work. In this study, we focus on the dependence of the effective diffusion coefficient on the scattering angle and the magnetic field strength. After the magnetic field is applied (lambda = 406) for a long time, typically 6 hours, kinetics of chain formation becomes very slow. Chain size does not vary much over the next hour period. Thus, we can perform different interesting experiments. First, at a fixed magnetic field, we measure the effective diffusion coefficient as a function of the scattering angle (from 5 to 130 deg). Our results show that the measured diffusion coefficient increases linearly with the scattering angle: D(sub eff) proportional to q. If we do the same experiment for different lambda values, D(sub eff) depends on lambda as D(sub eff) proportional to lambda(exp -1/2). We also find for different lambda values that the same asymptotic D(sub eff) value is obtained when q approaches zero. The angle dependency of D(sub eff) suggests that an additional motion exists besides chain drifting. Chain size is constant during experiment, which was verified by measuring the same diffusion coefficient at the beginning and at the end of the angle switching. If chains are rigid, D(sub eff) is independent of q. Therefore, we found that D(sub eff) not only measures the motion of the entire chain but also its internal fluctuations. These internal motions are the fluctuations of the particles in the chain. To understand the q dependency of D(sub eff), let us look at the probing length used. In our study, the characteristic length scale probed is l=2pi/q which is in the range of 0.9<l/a<20. When l is much larger than the particle radius (l/a going to infinity) we are mainly sensitive to the center of mass diffusion of the chain. D(sub eff) is then the diffusion of the entire chain and depends only on N but not on q and lambda. The value D(sub eff) allows us to obtain the number of particles per chain N. In the opposite limit (i.e. l/a < 1), we are sensitive to motions on the size of individual particles. The main contributions to the measured diffusion coefficient come from internal motions of the chains (i.e. particles' fluctuations inside the chain). We investigated also the effect of the chain size on D(sub eff). For the same value of the magnetic interaction lambda and different chain sizes, we found that the slope of D(sub eff) versus q decreases when N increases as a power law D(sub eff) proportional to N(exp -0.7). This is an important behavior because this means that the longer the chain the slower its internal fluctuations besides the whole chain motion.

Cutillas, S.↗

Rolling Root Mean Square Based Multimodal Anomaly Detection for Real Time Monitoring of Smart Grid

Reliable real-time monitoring is valuable for maintaining the operational integrity of modern electrical smart grids. Deployment of heterogeneous sensing technologies in substations has enabled high-resolution, multichannel waveform monitoring, but also introduces challenges for anomaly detection due to noise, baseline drift, and modality-dependent signal characteristics. In this work, we present a computationally efficient unsupervised method for multimodal event detection based on Rolling Root Mean Square based Event Detection (RRMSED). The method is developed using in-house, field deployed sensors collecting data at a utility substation. The sensing system comprises voltage and current sensors, triaxial accelerometers, and magnetometers, collectively capturing electrical, vibrational, and magnetic waveform measurements at high temporal resolution. RRMSED operates by extracting rolling RMS energy features and their first-order temporal differences from consecutive waveform segments for each channel and then applying channel-specific statistical thresholds learned from historical data. A persistence-based exceedance logic is employed to robustly identify transient events while suppressing impulsive noise, and to provide precise temporal localization with high resolution. The framework is designed for continuous server-side operation and can be deployed in real time without requiring complex models. Experiments on simulated waveform data with known ground truth demonstrate low false positive (FP) and false negative (FN) rates. Application to real substation data shows RRMSED to identify events that are not captured by conventional monitoring indicators including fast transient detection algorithm currently deployed in the system. These results indicate that rolling RMS based features provide an effective and practical basis for real-time multimodal event detection in smart-grid substations.

Mukherjee, Subrata [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000309930338)↗

Soil carbon accrual and biopore formation across a plant diversity gradient

Plant diversity promotes soil organic carbon (SOC) gains through intricate changes in root-soil interactions and their subsequent influence on soil physical and biological processes. We assessed SOC and pore characteristics of soils under a range of switchgrass-based plant systems 12 years after their establishment. The systems represented a gradient of plant diversity with species richness ranging from 1 to 30 species. We focused on soil biopores as indicators of the legacy of root activity and explored biopore relationships with SOC accumulation. Biopores were measured using X-ray computed micro-tomography. Plant functional richness explained 29 % of bioporosity and 36 % of SOC variation, while bioporosity itself explained 36 % of the variation in SOC. The most diverse plant system (30 species) had the highest SOC, while long-term bare soil fallow and monoculture switchgrass had the lowest. Of particular note was a 2-species mixture of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and ryegrass (Elymus canadensis), which exhibited the highest bioporosity and achieved SOC levels comparable to those of the systems with 6 and 10 plant species, and were inferior only to the system with 30 species. We conclude that plant diversity may enhance SOC through biopore-mediated mechanisms and suggest a potential for identifying specific plant combinations that may be particularly efficient for fostering biopore formation and, subsequently, SOC sequestration.

Kim, Kyungmin [Seoul National Univ. (Korea, Republ↗

Non-Parametric Statistical Analysis of Current Waveforms through Power System Sensors

The protection, control, and monitoring of the power grid is not possible without accurate measurement devices. As the percentage of renewable energy sources penetrating the existing grid infrastructure increases, so do uncertainties surrounding their effects on the everyday operation of the power system. Many of these devices are sources of high-frequency transients. These transients may be useful for identifying certain events or behaviors otherwise not seen in traditional analysis techniques. Therefore, the ability of sensors to accurately capture these phenomena is paramount. In this work, two commercial-grade power system distribution sensors are investigated in terms of their ability to replicate high-frequency phenomena by studying their responses to three events: a current inrush, a microgrid “close-in”, and a fault on the terminals of a wind turbine. Kernel density estimation is used to derive the non-parametric probability density functions of these error distributions and their adequateness is quantified utilizing the commonly used root mean square error (RMSE) metric. It is demonstrated that both sensors exhibit characteristics in the high harmonic range that go against the assumption that measurement error is normally distributed.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Computer programs for calculation of matrix stability and frequency response from a state-space system description

FORTRAN computer subroutines stemming from requirements to process state variable system equations for systems of high order are presented. They find the characteristic equation of a matrix using the method of Danilevsky, the number of roots with positive real parts using the Routh-Horwitz alternate formulation, convert a state variable system description to a Laplace transfer function using the method of Bollinger, and evaluate that transfer function and obtain its frequency response. A sample problem is presented to demonstrate use of the subroutines.

Seidel, R. C.↗

Theoretical symmetric span loading due to flap deflection for wings of arbitrary plan form at subsonic speeds

A simplified lifting-surface theory is applied to the problem of evaluating span loading due to flap deflection for arbitrary wing plan forms. With the resulting procedure, the effects of flap deflection on the span loading and associated aerodynamic characteristics can be easily computed for any wing which is symmetrical about the root chord and which has a straight quarter-chord line over the wing semispan. The effects of compressibility and spanwise variation of section lift-curve slope are taken into account by the procedure. The method presented can also be used to calculate the downwash in the vertical center of the wake of a wing which has arbitrary spanwise loading.

Deyoung, John↗

An Experimental Investigation of NACA Submerged Inlets at High Subsonic Speeds I: Inlets Forward of the Wing Leading Edge

This report covers the first part of an experimental investigation of NACA submerged inlets at four locations on the fuselage of a fighter airplane model for Mach numbers from 0.30 to 0.875. Data are presented showing the characteristics of the model without inlets and with inlets 16.7 percent of the root chord forward of the wing-root leading edge and equipped with small boundary-layer deflectors. The data show that variations in the mass of air entering the inlet had a large effect on the ram-recovery ratio. Representative values of ram-recovery ratio were 0.50 with zero flow, 0.90 with 0.6 mass-flow coefficient, and 0.95 with 1.00 mass-flow coefficient. Variations in Mach number and angle of attack, in general, caused less than a 0.03 variation in the ram-recovery ratio.

Hall, Charles F↗

Limiting Data Friction by Reducing Data Download Using Spatiotemporally Aligned Data Organization Through STARE

Current data processing practice limits the volume and variety of relevant geoscience data that can practically be applied to important problems. File archives in centralized data centers are the principal means by which Earth Science data are accessed. This approach, however, requires laborious search, retrieval, and eventual customization/adaptation for the data to be used. Such fractionation makes it even more difficult to share outcomes, i.e. research artifacts and data products, hampering reusability and repeatability, since end users generally have their own research agenda and preferences as well as scarce resources. Thus, while finding and downloading data files from central data centers are already costly for end users working in their own field, using data products from other disciplines rapidly becomes prohibitive. This curtails scientific productivity, limits avenues of study, and endangers quality and reproducibility. The Spatio-Temporal Adaptive Resolution Encoding (STARE) is a unifying scheme that facilitates the indexing, access, and fusion of diverse Earth Science data. STARE implements an innovative encoding of geo-spatiotemporal information, originally developed for aligning datasets with diverse spatiotemporal characteristics in an array database. The spatial component of STARE recursively quadfurcates a root polyhedron, producing a hierarchical scheme for addressing geographic locations and regions. The temporal component of STARE uses conventional date-time units as an indexing hierarchy. The additional encoding of spatial and temporal resolution information in STARE enables comparisons and conditional selections across diverse datasets. Moreover, spatiotemporal set-operations, e.g. union and intersection, are mapped to efficient integer operations with STARE. Applied to existing data models (point, grid, spacecraft swath) and corresponding granules, STARE indexes provide a streamlined description usable as geo-spatiotemporal metadata. When coupled with large scale, distributed hardware and software, STARE-based data access reduces pre-analysis data preparation costs by offering a convenient means to align different datasets spatiotemporally without specialized effort in parallel computing or distributed data management.

Kuo, Kwo-Sen↗

Moving-base visual simulation study of decoupled controls during approach and landing of a STOL transport aircraft

The simulation employed all six rigid-body degrees of freedom and incorporated aerodynamic characteristics based on wind-tunnel data. The flight instrumentation included a localizer and a flight director which was used to capture and to maintain a two-segment glide slope. A closed-circuit television display of a STOLport provided visual cues during simulations of the approach and landing. The decoupled longitudinal controls used constant prefilter and feedback gains to provide steady-state decoupling of flight-path angle, pitch angle, and forward velocity. The pilots were enthusiastic about the decoupled longitudinal controls and believed that the simulator motion was an aid in evaluating the decoupled controls, although a minimum turbulence level with root-mean-square gust intensity of 0.3 m/sec (1 ft/sec) was required to mask undesirable characteristics of the moving-base simulator.

Miller, G. K., Jr.↗

Noise and wake structure measurements in a subsonic tip speed fan

The results of an experimental program are reported which show the effect of blade angle, tip speed, fan pressure ratio, and thrust on noise of a model fan of 0.457m (18 inches) diameter operating at subsonic tip speeds at pressure ratios between 1.06 and 1.15. The fan used in this study had 12 blades, 7 stator vanes, and a spacing between the rotor and stator of 1.85 blade chords. This fan was originally designed for aerodynamic testing and was considered a good performer. It was used in the noise test program as it incorporated features found to reduce noise in an earlier analytical parametric study. For a given pressure ratio the fan was shown to exhibit minimum noise at the blade angle and tip speed near that of maximum aerodynamic efficiency. Also, the noise level and spectrum character of this fan showed excellent correlation with scaled data of a similar larger diameter fan. Results of the program confirm the trends shown in the earlier analytical parametric study which showed that fan noise could be reduced for a given thrust and pressure ratio by increasing fan solidity, improving fan aerodynamic design, and operating the fan at an optimum subsonic tip speed. In addition to noise, the blade wake characteristics at the leading edge of the stator were measured in this program. At root and tip sections some difference between predicted and measured wakes was found. However comparisons between predicted and measured wakes at mid span locations was found to be good.

Magliozzi, B.↗