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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 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Discrete-Layer Piezoelectric Plate and Shell Models for Active Tip-Clearance Control

The objectives of this work were to develop computational tools for the analysis of active-sensory composite structures with added or embedded piezoelectric layers. The targeted application for this class of smart composite laminates and the analytical development is the accomplishment of active tip-clearance control in turbomachinery components. Two distinct theories and analytical models were developed and explored under this contract: (1) a discrete-layer plate theory and corresponding computational models, and (2) a three dimensional general discrete-layer element generated in curvilinear coordinates for modeling laminated composite piezoelectric shells. Both models were developed from the complete electromechanical constitutive relations of piezoelectric materials, and incorporate both displacements and potentials as state variables. This report describes the development and results of these models. The discrete-layer theories imply that the displacement field and electrostatic potential through-the-thickness of the laminate are described over an individual layer rather than as a smeared function over the thickness of the entire plate or shell thickness. This is especially crucial for composites with embedded piezoelectric layers, as the actuating and sensing elements within these layers are poorly represented by effective or smeared properties. Linear Lagrange interpolation polynomials were used to describe the through-thickness laminate behavior. Both analytic and finite element approximations were used in the plane or surface of the structure. In this context, theoretical developments are presented for the discrete-layer plate theory, the discrete-layer shell theory, and the formulation of an exact solution for simply-supported piezoelectric plates. Finally, evaluations and results from a number of separate examples are presented for the static and dynamic analysis of the plate geometry. Comparisons between the different approaches are provided when possible, and initial conclusions regarding the accuracy and limitations of these models are given.

Heyliger, P. R.↗
NASA NTRS1976

A transformation method for deriving from a photograph, position and heading of a vehicle in a plane

Equations have been derived that transform perspectively viewed planar surface coordinates, as seen in a photograph, into coordinates of the original plane surface. These transformation equations are developed in terms of nine geometric variables that define the photographic setup and are redefined in terms of eight parameters. The parameters are then treated as independent quantities that fully characterize the transformation and are expressed directly in terms of the four corner coordinates of a reference rectangle in the object plane and their coordinates as seen in a photograph. Vehicle position is determined by transforming the perspectively viewed coordinate position of a representative vehicle target into runway coordinates. Vehicle heading is determined from the runway coordinates of two vehicle target points. When the targets are elevated above the plane of the reference grid, the computation of the heading angle is unaffected; however, the computation of the target position may require adjustment of two parameters. Methods are given for adjusting the parameters for elevation and an example is included for both nonelevated and elevated target conditions.

Sleeper, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Reflectometer distance measurement between parallel conductive plates

This report presents an analytic and experimental investigation of the measurement problem in which a reflectometer is used to determine the distance to a target that is a highly conductive surface parallel to the reflectometer antenna ground plane. These parallel surfaces constitute a waveguide (WG) which can contribute parasitic perturbations that seriously degrade the accuracy of the measurements. Two distinct parallel-plate-waveguide (PPWG) phenomena are described, and their effects on both frequency and time-domain reflectometers are considered. The time-domain processing approach was found to be superior to a representative frequency-domain phase-measurement approach because of less susceptibility to perturbations produced by edge reflections and immunity to phase capture. Experimental results are presented which show that a simple radiating system modification can suppress parallel-plate (PP) propagation. The addition of a thin layer of lossy mu-metal 'magnetic absorber' to the antenna ground plane allowed a measurement accuracy of 0.025 cm (0.01 in.) when a vector network analyzer (VNA) is used as a time-domain reflectometer.

Hearn, Chase P.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Flush-mounted antennas radiating on aircraft type surfaces

The roll plane radiation patterns of on-aircraft antennas are analyzed using high frequency solutions. This is a basic study of aircraft-antenna pattern performance in which the aircraft is modelled in its most basic form. The fuselage is assumed to be a perfectly conducting elliptic cylinder with the antennas mounted near the top or bottom. The wings are simulated by arbitrarily many sided flat plates.

Burnside, W. D.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Influence of the Surface and Cloud Nonuniformities in the Solar Energy Fluxes in the Arctic

Solar energy fluxes reaching the surface and absorbed by it are basic components of the energy balance of the Arctic. They depend mainly on the solar zenith angle, a state of the atmosphere, especially the cloudiness, and the surface albedo. However, they can also be modified by variabilities in the surface albedo and cloud optical thickness. The surface of the Arctic can be highly nonuniform. The surface of the Arctic Ocean, which covers the huge part of the Arctic can be view as a mosaic of sea water, sea ice, snow and, in the melting period, melting ponds. In our paper, results are presented of Monte Carlo simulations of the expected influence of nonuniform cloud structure and nonuniform surface albedo on radiative fluxes at the Arctic surface. In particular, the plane parallel biases in the surface absorptance and atmospheric transmittance are studied. The bias is defined as the difference between the real absorptance or transmittance (i.e. nonuniform conditions) averaged over a given area, and the uniform or plane parallel case with the same mean cloud optical thickness and the same mean surface albedo. The dependence of the biases is analysed with respect to the following: domain averaged values of the cloud optical thickness and surface albedo, scales of their spatial variabilities, correlation between cloud optical thickness and cloud albedo variabilities, cloud height, and the solar zenith angle. Ranges of means and standard deviations of the input parameters typical of Arctic conditions are obtained from the SHEBA experiment.

Rozwadowska, A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A component decomposition model for evaluating atmospheric effects in remote sensing

A radiance value of a target pixel recorded by a remote sensor can be decomposed into three components: (1) attenuated target signature, (2) pure atmospheric radiation, and (3) the contribution made by the ground through the atmospheric scattering process. Given the meteorological and optical parameters of a layer-structured atmosphere, its transmittance and radiance distribution can be accurately calculated with a plane-parallel radiative transfer model. For a uniform surface, the ground contribution can be obtained by comparing radiances for an atmosphere over a black but nonemitting surface and the same atmosphere with an underlying ground of given albedo or temperature. For an inhomogeneous surface, the first two components remain the same as long as the surface is a plane. The third may be estimated using the locally averaged top-of-atmosphere radiance. An atmospheric point spread function is calculated by a Monte Carlo approach and is used for retrieving the ground signature through a deconvolution procedure.

Li, S.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Complex space monofilar approximation of diffraction currents on a conducting half plane

Simple approximation of diffraction surface currents on a conducting half plane, due to an incoming plane wave, is obtained with a line current (monofile) in complex space. When compared to an approximating current at the edge, the diffraction pattern is seen to improve by an order of magnitude for a minimal increase of computation effort. Thus, the inconvient Fresnel integral functions can be avoided for quick calculations of diffracted fields and the accuracy is good in other directions than along the half plane. The method can be applied to general problems involving planar metal edges.

Lindell, I. V.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Wrinkling phenomenon in structures. I - Model formulations

Those structural element models which can suffer the wrinkling phenomenon are analyzed. A laminated elastic material, defined as a one-parametrical family of surfaces whose in-plane strains are negligible in comparison to the strains in the transverse direction, is analyzed in terms of its geometry, geometrical compatibility equations, layer geometry, kinematics, kinematical compatibility equations, and governing dynamical equations. These aspects are also examined for the case of a soft shell, defined as a shell for which the in-plane strains of the middle surface are negligible compared to the strains in the transverse direction, and for the case of a soft rod, defined as a rod for which the strains along the axis are negligible compared to the strains in the transverse direction. The influence of internal fluid flow on the wrinkling phenomenon for layers of laminated material and for a flexible pipe containing an inviscid and incompressible fluid is also analyzed.

Zak, M.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Interactions of satellite-speed helium atoms with satellite-surfaces. 1: Spatial distributions of reflected helium atoms

Interactions of satellite-speed helium atoms with practical satellite surfaces were investigated experimentally, and spatial distributions of satellite-speed helium beams scattered from four different engineering surfaces were measured. The 7000 m/sec helium beams were produced using an arc-heated supersonic molecular beam source. The test surfaces included cleaned 6061-T6 aluminum plate, anodized aluminum foil, white paint, and quartz surfaces. Both in-plane (in the plane containing the incident beam and the surface normal) and out-of-plane spatial distributions of reflected helium atoms were measured for six different incidence angles (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 75 deg from the surface normal). It was found that a large fraction of the incident helium atoms were scattered back in the vicinity of the incoming beam, particularly in the case of glancing incidence angles. This unexpected scattering feature results perhaps from the gross roughness of these test surfaces. This prominent backscattering could yield drag coefficients which are higher than for surfaces with either forward-lobed or diffusive (cosine) scattering patterns.

Liu, S. M.↗
NASA NTRS1969

Calibration standard for dynamic evaluation of a profile-plotter

Template is used for evaluation of the dynamic characteristics and accuracy of the plotter. It has a profile composed of surfaces parallel to and at known distances from a reference plane, plane, the diverse surfaces being connected by slopes of known angles and blended by cylindrical developments of known radii.

Moulton, K. S.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Focusing Diffraction Grating Element with Aberration Control

Diffraction gratings are optical components with regular patterns of grooves, which angularly disperse incoming light by wavelength in a single plane, called dispersion plane. Traditional gratings on flat substrates do not perform wavefront transformation in the plane perpendicular to the dispersion plane. The device proposed here exhibits regular diffraction grating behavior, dispersing light. In addition, it performs wavelength transformation (focusing or defocusing) of diffracted light in a direction perpendicular to the dispersion plane (called sagittal plane). The device is composed of a diffraction grating with the grooves in the form of equidistant arcs. It may be formed by defining a single arc or an arc approximation, then translating it along a certain direction by a distance equal to a multiple of a fixed distance ("grating period") to obtain other groove positions. Such groove layout is nearly impossible to obtain using traditional ruling methods, such as mechanical ruling or holographic scribing, but is trivial for lithographically scribed gratings. Lithographic scribing is the newly developed method first commercially introduced by LightSmyth Technologies, which produces gratings with the highest performance and arbitrary groove shape/spacing for advanced aberration control. Unlike other types of focusing gratings, the grating is formed on a flat substrate. In a plane perpendicular to the substrate and parallel to the translation direction, the period of the grating and, therefore, the projection of its k-vector onto the plane is the same for any location on the grating surface. In that plane, no waveform transformation by the grating k-vector occurs, except of simple redirection.

Iazikov, Dmitri↗
NASA NTRS1975

The scatter of obliquely incident plane waves from a corrugated conducting surface

A physical optics solution is presented for the scattering of place waves from a perfectly conducting corrugated surface in the case of waves incident from an arbitrary direction and for an observer far from the surface. This solution is used to compute the radar cross section of the surface in the case of backscatter from irregular (i. e. , stochastic) corrugations and is used to point out a correction to the literature on this problem. An interesting feature of the solution is the occurrence of singularities in the scattered fields. These singularities appear to be a manifestation of focussing by the surface at its "stationary" points. Whether or not the singularities occur in the solution depends on the manner in which one restricts the analysis to the far field.

David M Le Vine↗
NASA NTRS1950

Approximate Turbulent Boundary-Layer Development in Plane Compressible Flow Along Thermally Insulated Surfaces with Application to Supersonic-Tunnel Contour Correction

Numerical solutions of the differential equation obtained from the momentum theorem for the development of a turbulent boundary layer along a thermally insulated surface in two-dimensional and in radial shock-free flow are presented in tabular form for a range of Mach numbers from 0.100 to 10. The solution can be used in a step-wise procedure with any given distribution of favorable pressure gradients and for zero pressure gradients. Solutions are also given for use with moderate adverse pressure gradients. The mean velocity in the boundary layer is approximated by a power-law profile. In view of the stepwise integration methods to be used, the exponent designated the profile shape can be varied along the surface between the integral fraction limits 1/5 and 1/11 through interpolation. Agreement obtained between theoretical and experimental boundary-layer development in a supersonic nozzle at a nominal Mach number of 2 indicates the general validity of the approximations used in the analysis - in particular, the method of extrapolating low-speed skin-friction relations to high Mach number flows. The extrapolation method used assumes that the skin-friction coefficient depend primarily on Reynolds number, provided that the density and the kinematic viscosity are evaluated at surface conditions.

BOUNDARY LAYER - WIND TUNNEL WALLS↗
NASA NTRS1984

Flow resistivity instrument in the earth

Method and apparatus for making in-situ measurements of flow resistivity on the Earth's ground surface. The novel feature of the invention is two concentric cylinders, 22 and 23, inserted into the ground surface 24 with a measured pressure 21 applied to the surface inside the inner cylinder 22. The outer cylinder 23 vents a plane B-B beneath the surface to the atmosphere through an air space 28. The flow to the inner cylinder is measured (16) thereby indicating the flow from the surface to the plane beneath the surface.

Zuckerwar, Allan J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Heliospheric current sheet inclinations predicted from source surface maps

The inclinations of the neutral line at the ecliptic plane derived from source surface model maps of coronal fields are measured for the interval from June 1976 to March 1992. The mean and median values of 53 deg and 57 deg are close to the average inclinations determined earlier from minimum variance analyses of solar wind measurements at sector boundaries, but the mode falls in the 80 deg - 90 deg bin. This result, which is based on the model assumptions implicit in deriving the source surface maps, predicts that the heliospheric current sheet typically intersects the ecliptic plane nearly at right angles, even without steepening by stream interaction regions. High inclinations dominate the solar cycle for about 7 years around solar maximum. Dips to lower inclination occur near solar minimum, but high variance admits a wide range of inclinations throughout the cycle. Compared to the smooth solar cycle variation of the maximum latitudinal excursion of the neutral line, often treated as the tilt angle of a flat heliospheric current sheet, the noisy variation of the inclinations reflects the degree to which the neutral line deviates from a sine wave, implying warps and corrugations in the current sheet. About a third of the time the neutral line so deviates that it doubles back in longitude.

Shodhan, S.↗