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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 217 records · Page 12

The effect of topography on radar scattering from vegetated areas

This paper shows how the radar scattering from vegetated areas is affected by the topography of the surface underneath the vegetation. It is shown, using a discrete scatterer model, that the dominant scattering mechanism may change drastically when the ground surface is tilted relative to the horizontal. In the case of a horizontal ground surface, total scattering may be dominated by scattering off the tree trunks, followed by a reflection off the ground surface. For a relatively small tilt in the ground surface (about 2 deg from horizontal), the ground-trunk interaction term may be replaced by scattering from the branches alone as the dominant scattering mechanism. We also show that the effect of the topography is more pronounced for scattering by longer wavelengths, and discuss the implications on algorithms designed to infer forest woody biomass and soil and vegetation moisture using polarimetric SAR data. The effect of the topography on the scattering behavior from forested areas is illustrated with images acquired by the NASA/JPL three-frequency polarimetric SAR over the Black Forest in Germany.

Van Zyl, Jakob J.↗

Discrete Roughness Effects on Shuttle Orbiter at Mach 6

Discrete roughness boundary layer transition results on a Shuttle Orbiter model in the NASA Langley Research Center 20-Inch Mach 6 Air Tunnel have been reanalyzed with new boundary layer calculations to provide consistency for comparison to other published results. The experimental results were previously obtained utilizing the phosphor thermography system to monitor the status of the boundary layer via global heat transfer images of the Orbiter windward surface. The size and location of discrete roughness elements were systematically varied along the centerline of the 0.0075-scale model at an angle of attack of 40 deg and the boundary layer response recorded. Various correlative approaches were attempted, with the roughness transition correlations based on edge properties providing the most reliable results. When a consistent computational method is used to compute edge conditions, transition datasets for different configurations at several angles of attack have been shown to collapse to a well-behaved correlation.

Berry, Scott A.↗

Determining Trajectory of Triboelectrically Charged Particles, Using Discrete Element Modeling

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory is participating in an Innovative Partnership Program (IPP) project with an industry partner to modify a commercial off-the-shelf simulation software product to treat the electrodynamics of particulate systems. Discrete element modeling (DEM) is a numerical technique that can track the dynamics of particle systems. This technique, which was introduced in 1979 for analysis of rock mechanics, was recently refined to include the contact force interaction of particles with arbitrary surfaces and moving machinery. In our work, we endeavor to incorporate electrostatic forces into the DEM calculations to enhance the fidelity of the software and its applicability to (1) particle processes, such as electrophotography, that are greatly affected by electrostatic forces, (2) grain and dust transport, and (3) the study of lunar and Martian regoliths.

Source record↗

Implementation of Charged Particle Behavior in Discrete Element Method (DEM) Simulations

Lunar landers will agitate the surface of the Moon with an exhaust plume during descent which will, due to the particulate nature of the lunar regolith, loosen and eject grains from the surface. This ejection is not only coupled with the charged plume gas, but also results in significant particle-particle interactions. Settling of these grains after plume effects have subsided takes much longer than expected in a ballistic trajectory. The prevailing hypothesis attributes this behavior to the accumulated charge on the particles. We are thus developing a discrete element method (DEM) approach to explore these charged particle interactions on the lunar surface. The Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS) Improved for General Granular and Granular Heat Transfer Simulations (LIGGGHTS) software package provides a DEM modeling framework for granular interactions. It includes many complexities such as non-spherical particle shapes, cohesion and frictional forces, and heat transfer, but has no provision for inter-particle electrostatic forces and charge transfer that are important to examine in the lunar environment. In this work, a standard Coulomb potential and a Yukawa potential are integrated into the LIGGGHTS framework to provide a basis for particle-particle electrostatic interactions, as well as a gravitational potential to enable inter-grain gravitational interactions. A preliminary approach to charge transfer between grains incorporating properties such as work function and electrical conductivity to the library of available material characteristics will be presented. Several scenarios have been simulated that include charged particle interactions within a diffuse granular gas, settling of charged grains into a regolith bed, sliding of granular material along an incline, and vibration of settled grains to produce a behavior similar to fluidization. There are numerous challenges to incorporate realistic interactions between complex lunar particles. Currently, grains are modeled to behave as if the entirety of the charge acts at the center of mass, such as conductors with spherical symmetry and insulators with homogeneously distributed charge. We are developing improvements that will include the use of non-spherical particle geometries, as well as reasonable approximations of insulating/dielectric materials that have non-uniform charge distributions. The cases simulated thus far will be examined in a relevant environment within a vacuum chamber to validate the simulations. These simulations will be bounded by experiments utilizing high-speed camera observations of the motion for validation. The grains in the experiment will exchange charge during their motion and this can be quantified by collection within a charge measurement device such as a Faraday cup. Such a device may be modeled within the software by defining an integration region and computing the contained charge as a function of simulation time, allowing for side-by-side comparison of simulated and measured bulk charging results. Any differences will be reconciled by updating the mathematical mechanisms described within the simulation suite. Successfully combining results from experiments within a relevant environment into the LIGGGHTS framework will improve modeling of the charged grain dynamics experienced on the Moon to provide insights into dust behavior for future lunar exploration missions.

Electrostatics↗

A Vertically Lagrangian Finite-Volume Dynamical Core for Global Models

A finite-volume dynamical core with a terrain-following Lagrangian control-volume discretization is described. The vertically Lagrangian discretization reduces the dimensionality of the physical problem from three to two with the resulting dynamical system closely resembling that of the shallow water dynamical system. The 2D horizontal-to-Lagrangian-surface transport and dynamical processes are then discretized using the genuinely conservative flux-form semi-Lagrangian algorithm. Time marching is split- explicit, with large-time-step for scalar transport, and small fractional time step for the Lagrangian dynamics, which permits the accurate propagation of fast waves. A mass, momentum, and total energy conserving algorithm is developed for mapping the state variables periodically from the floating Lagrangian control-volume to an Eulerian terrain-following coordinate for dealing with physical parameterizations and to prevent severe distortion of the Lagrangian surfaces. Deterministic baroclinic wave growth tests and long-term integrations using the Held-Suarez forcing are presented. Impact of the monotonicity constraint is discussed.

Lin, Shian-Jiann↗

Boundary-layer receptivity due to distributed surface imperfections of a deterministic or random nature

Acoustic receptivity of a Blasius boundary layer in the presence of distributed surface irregularities is investigated analytically. It is shown that, out of the entire spatial spectrum of the surface irregularities, only a small band of Fourier components can lead to an efficient conversion of the acoustic input at any given frequency to an unstable eigenmode of the boundary layer flow. The location, and width, of this most receptive band of wavenumbers corresponds to a relative detuning of O(R sub l.b.(exp -3/8)) with respect to the lower-neutral instability wavenumber at the frequency under consideration, R sub l.b. being the Reynolds number based on a typical boundary-layer thickness at the lower branch of the neutral stability curve. Surface imperfections in the form of discrete mode waviness in this range of wavenumbers lead to initial instability amplitudes which are O(R sub l.b.(exp 3/8)) larger than those caused by a single, isolated roughness element. In contrast, irregularities with a continuous spatial spectrum produce much smaller instability amplitudes, even compared to the isolated case, since the increase due to the resonant nature of the response is more than that compensated for by the asymptotically small band-width of the receptivity process. Analytical expressions for the maximum possible instability amplitudes, as well as their expectation for an ensemble of statistically irregular surfaces with random phase distributions, are also presented.

Choudhari, Meelan↗

PASS Spacecraft Antenna Technology Assessment

The purpose was to generate estimates of mechanical performance for the classes of spacecraft antenna under construction for application to the Personal Access Satellite System (PASS). These performance data are needed for the support of trade studies involving antenna system development. The classes of antenna considered included: (1) rigid non-deployable antenna structures; (2) mechanical deployable antenna concepts; (3) inflatable deployable antenna concepts; and (4) mesh deployable antenna concepts. The estimates of mechanical performance are presented in terms of structural weight and cost as a function of the reflector size. Estimates of aperture surface precision are presented for a few discrete antenna sizes. The range of reflector size is 1 to 4 meters for non-deployable structures and 2 to 8 meters for deployable structures. The range of reflector surface precision is lambda/30 to lambda/50 for 20 and 30 GHz, respectively.

Freeland, R. E.↗

Spatial correlations of interdecadal variation in global surface temperatures

We have analyzed spatial correlation patterns of interdecadal global surface temperature variability from an empirical perspective. Using multitaper coherence estimates from 140-yr records, we find that correlations between hemispheres are significant at about 95 percent confidence for nonrandomness for most of the frequency band in the 0.06-0.24 cyc/yr range. Coherence estimates of pairs of 100-yr grid-point temperature data series near 5-yr period reveal teleconnection patterns consistent with known patterns of ENSO variability. Significant correlated variability is observed near 15 year period, with the dominant teleconnection pattern largely confined to the Northern Hemisphere. Peak-to-peak Delta-T is at about 0.5 deg, with simultaneous warming and cooling of discrete patches on the earth's surface. A global average of this pattern would largely cancel.

Mann, Michael E.↗

Investigation of Inlet Concepts for Maneuver Improvement at Transonic Speeds

A 15 percent scale lightweight fighter type inlet forebody was tested in the Ames 14 foot transonic wind tunnel at Mach numbers of 0.7, 0.9, and 1.04. The inlet was a two dimensional horizontal ramp system designed for a Mach number of 2.2. Four inlet devices designed to prevent or delay cowl-lip boundary layer separation or to improve the inlet internal flow characteristics at high angles of attack were investigated. The devices used to control cowl-lip separation consisted of cowl leading edge flaps, slotted flaps, and tangential blowing. To improve the internal flow characteristics, discrete jet nozzle flows were directed downstream and parallel to the duct surface in the subsonic diffuser to energize the wall boundary layer. The discrete jets used in the subsonic diffuser were also tested in combination with each of the cowl leading edge devices. Test measurements included engine-face total pressure recovery, steady state distortion, dynamic distortion, duct boundary layer profiles, and duct-surface static pressures.

Latham, E.↗

Ablation article and method

An ablation article, such as a conical heat shield, having an ablating surface is provided with at least one discrete area of at least one seed material, such as aluminum. When subjected to ablation conditions, the seed material is ablated. Radiation emanating from the ablated seed material is detected to analyze ablation effects without disturbing the ablation surface. By providing different seed materials having different radiation characteristics, the ablating effects on various areas of the ablating surface can be analyzed under any prevailing ablation conditions. The ablating article can be provided with means for detecting the radiation characteristics of the ablated seed material to provide a self-contained analysis unit.

Erickson, W. D.↗

Surface irregularities detected by flare inspection instrument

Portable fiber optics sensing device which detects surface irregularities in a specific tube flare, permits discrete dimensional measurements to be taken, scanned and read out with only one setup. Capabilities of the instrument can be expanded to include surface inspection of various kinds of tube flares.

Zoike, H. M.↗

The effect of topography on radar scattering from vegetated areas

It is shown how radar scattering from vegetated areas is affected by the topography of the surface underneath the vegetation, and that by the use of a discrete scatterer model the dominant scattering mechanism may change drastically when the ground surface is tilted relative to the horizontal. In the case of a horizontal ground surface total scattering may be dominated by scattering off the tree trunks, followed by a reflection off the ground surface. It is shown that for a relatively small tilt in the ground surface the ground-trunk interaction term may be replaced by scattering from the branches alone as the dominant scattering mechanism. The effect of the topography is more pronounced for scattering by longer wavelengths. The implications for algorithms designed to infer forest woody biomass and soil and vegetation moisture using polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are discussed.

Van Zyl, Jakob J.↗

The general linear inverse problem - Implication of surface waves and free oscillations for earth structure.

The discrete general linear inverse problem reduces to a set of m equations in n unknowns. There is generally no unique solution, but we can find k linear combinations of parameters for which restraints are determined. The parameter combinations are given by the eigenvectors of the coefficient matrix. The number k is determined by the ratio of the standard deviations of the observations to the allowable standard deviations in the resulting solution. Various linear combinations of the eigenvectors can be used to determine parameter resolution and information distribution among the observations. Thus we can determine where information comes from among the observations and exactly how it constraints the set of possible models. The application of such analyses to surface-wave and free-oscillation observations indicates that (1) phase, group, and amplitude observations for any particular mode provide basically the same type of information about the model; (2) observations of overtones can enhance the resolution considerably; and (3) the degree of resolution has generally been overestimated for many model determinations made from surface waves.

Wiggins, R. A.↗

A parametric study of planform and aeroelastic effects on aerodynamic center, alpha- and q- stability derivatives. Appendix A: A computer program for calculating alpha- and q- stability derivatives and induced drag for thin elastic aeroplanes at subsonic and supersonic speeds

The computer program used to determine the rigid and elastic stability derivatives presented in the summary report is listed in this appendix along with instructions for its use, sample input data and answers. This program represents the airplane at subsonic and supersonic speeds as (a) thin surface(s) (without dihedral) composed of discrete panels of constant pressure according to the method of Woodward for the aerodynamic effects and slender beam(s) for the structural effects. Given a set of input data, the computer program calculates an aerodynamic influence coefficient matrix and a structural influence coefficient matrix.

Roskam, J.↗

2-SPEED, a single-gimbal control moment gyro attitude control system.

In 2-SPEED (Two Scissored Pair Ensemble, Explicit Distribution) four single-gimbal control moment gyros (SGCMGs) configured into two scissored pairs are combined with an explicit distribution of angular momentum between pairs to produce a system relatively insensitive to the singularity problems which have plagued other SGCMG concepts. In this system, the singularity surfaces in momentum space degenerate to discrete curves. Further, the system permits a smooth passage through these remaining singularities with, at worst, a temporary delay while momentum redistribution takes place. Finally, CMG-out operation is possible within the full volume of the reduced momentum envelope.

Crenshaw, J. W.↗

The construction and operation of a water tunnel in application to flow visualization studies of an oscillating airfoil

The water tunnel which was constructed at the NASA Ames Research Center is described along with the flow field adjacent to an oscillating airfoil. The design and operational procedures of the tunnel are described in detail. Hydrogen bubble and thymol blue techniques are used to visualize the flow field. Results of the flow visualizations are presented in a series of still pictures and a high speed movie. These results show that time stall is more complicated than simple shedding from the leading edge or the trailing edge, particularly at relatively low frequency oscillations comparable to those of a helicopter blade. Therefore, any successful theory for predicting the stall loads on the helicopter blades must treat an irregular separated region rather than a discrete vortex passing over each blade surface.

Olsen, J. H.↗

Integrated temperature sensor

Proposed temperature-sensor/failure-detection system utilizes liquid-filled sensors attached as matrix to monitored surface. Fluid passages are integral part of monitored surface or are small-diameter tubing in good thermal contact with monitored surface. System offers significant advantages over discrete sensors in terms of simplicity, reliability, cost, ease of installation, maintainability, and weight.

Herring, R. L.↗

Identification of flexible aircraft from flight data

This paper describes a frequency-domain method for the estimation of the aeroelastic equations of motion of an aircraft using discrete sinusoidal inputs to the control surface actuators. The theory of estimation of the signal inputs and outputs is described as well as the method of obtaining accurate transfer functions from the resulting Bode plots. Methods of quantifying the accuracy of the results from more than one control input are discussed along with ways to obtain state-space and reduced-order models from the transfer function estimates. Presented is a summary of the results obtained in using the technique to develop a model of the USAF Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS) aircraft which includes five symmetrical elastic modes of motion of the aircraft.

Eulrich, B. J.↗