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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1986

Interface stability in a slowly rotating, low gravity tank Experiments

Analytical models of liquid in partially-filled rotating tanks predict both the shape of the interface between the liquid and its vapor, and the stability of that interface. The models are of necessity incomplete and experimental data are needed to assess the approximations made. Presented are preliminary experimental studies both in the laboratory and in the low-gravity environment of a free-falling aircraft. Emphasis is placed on bubbles which intersect the container boundaries. Measurements of rotating equilibrium bubble shapes are in agreement with theoretical profiles derived from Laplace's formula. The interface shape depends on the contact angle, the radius of intersection with container, and the ratio of centrifugal force to surface tension.

Leslie, F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Measurements of rotating bubble shapes in low-gravity environment

Measurements of rotating equilibrium bubble shapes in the low-gravity environment of a free-falling aircraft are presented. Emphasis is placed on bubbles which intersect the container boundaries. These data are compared with theoretical profiles derived from Laplace's formula and are in good agreement with the measurements. The interface shape depends on the contact angle, the radius of intersection with the container, and the parameter F, which is a measure of the relative importance of centrifugal force to surface tension. For isolated bubbles F has a maximum value of 1/2. A further increase in F causes the bubble to break contact with the axis of rotation. For large values of F the bubble becomes more cylindrical and the capillary rise occurs over a thinner layer in order that the small radius of curvature can generate a sufficient pressure drop to account for the increased hydrostatic contribution.

Leslie, F.↗
NASA NTRS1986

The crack-inclusion interaction problem

The general plane elastostatic problem of interaction between a crack and an inclusion is considered. The Green's functions for a pair of dislocations and a pair of concentrated body forces are used to generate the crack and the inclusion. Integral equations are obtained for a line crack and an elastic line inclusion having an arbitrary relative orientation and size. The nature of stress singularity around the end points of rigid and elastic inclusions is described and three special cases of this intersection problem are studied. The problem is solved for an arbitrary uniform stress state away from the crack-inclusion region. The nonintersecting crack-inclusion problem is considered for various relative size, orientation, and stiffness parameters, and the stress intensity factors at the ends of the inclusion and the crack are calculated. For the crack-inclusion intersection case, special stress intensity factors are defined and are calculated for various values of the parameters defining the relative size and orientation of the crack and the inclusion and the stiffness of the inclusion.

Liu, X.-H.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Multiple incidence angle SIR-B experiment over Argentina Stereo-radargrammetric analysis

Four overlapping Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B) radar images were obtained across southern Argentina; these form a total of six stereo models with intersection angles ranging from 5 to 23 deg. This data set is uniquely suited for experimental evaluation of some basic assumptions on stereo-radargrammetry. Each stereo model was measured on a specially programmed photogrammetric analytical plotter; the resulting coordinates of ground points were compared with those from maps. It is concluded that accuracies are lower than expected at the larger stereo-intersection angles, amounting to about + or 60 m in each coordinate direction. This might be explained by limitations of the quality of stereofusion caused by look angle differences and specular point migration, backscatter differences due to different incidence angles, differences in azimuth directions, and image noise and speckle.

Leberl, F.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Equilibrium of magnetic fields with arbitrary interweaving of the lines of force. II - Discontinuities in the field

The surfaces of discontinuity (SDs) identified by Parker (1986) in the torsion of a force-free magnetic field in an infinitely conducting fluid contained betweeen two fixed boundary planes are characterized analytically. It is shown that field discontinuities (current sheets) occur whenever an SD terminates within the fluid or intersects with another SD, that intersections occur in most cases, and that the resulting current sheets are responsible for most field dissipation in highly conducting fluids. The astrophysical implications of these findings and a number of unresolved problems are discussed.

Parker, E. N.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Numerical studies of motion and decay of vortex filaments

A computational code is developed for the integro-differential equations governing the motion of the centerlines of vortex filaments submerged in a background potential flow. These equations, which are derived from the method of matched asymptotic analysis, include the effect of decaying large-magnitude circumferential and axial velocity components in the vortical cores. Numerical examples are presented to assess the effect of large axial velocity and of nonsimilar initial profiles in vortical cores. The initial configurations of the filaments are chosen so as to fulfill the basic assumption of asymptotic analysis, which is the effective vortical core size is much smaller than all other length scales in the flowfield, e.g., the radius of curvature and interfilament distance. The computations are continued until the basic assumption is no longer valid, that is, when the merging or intersection of filaments have begun. Various types of local or global merging or intersection of filaments are classified and demonstrated by numerical examples.

Liu, C. H.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Dual-Mode Laser Velocimeter

Reversible lens system provides two velocity ranges. Laser velocimeter modified to provide two velocity ranges by adding rotatable assembly containing two lenses. In one orientation, beam waists narrow, and two beams intersect at relatively large angle, providing low velocity range with high spatial resolution. In reversed orientation beam waists are wider, and beams intersect at smaller angle to produce more-widely-spaced fringes in larger region, providing high velocity range with lower spatial resolution.

Gunter, William D., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A ray tracing model for leaf bidirectional scattering studies

A leaf is modeled as a deterministic two-dimensional structure consisting of a network of circular arcs designed to represent the internal morphology of major species. The path of an individual ray through the leaf is computed using geometric optics. At each intersection of the ray with an arc, the specular reflected and transmitted rays are calculated according to the Snell and Fresnel equations. Diffuse scattering is treated according to Lambert's law. Absorption is also permitted but requires a detailed knowledge of the spectral attenuation coefficients. An ensemble of initial rays are chosen for each incident direction with the initial intersection points on the leaf surface selected randomly. The final equilibrium state after all interactions then yields the leaf bidirectional reflectance and transmittance distributions. The model also yields the internal two dimensional light gradient profile of the leaf.

Brakke, T. W.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Octree based automatic meshing from CSG models

Finite element meshes derived automatically from solid models through recursive spatial subdivision schemes (octrees) can be made to inherit the hierarchical structure and the spatial addressability intrinsic to the underlying grid. These two properties, together with the geometric regularity that can also be built into the mesh, make octree based meshes ideally suited for efficient analysis and self-adaptive remeshing and reanalysis. The element decomposition of the octal cells that intersect the boundary of the domain is emphasized. The problem, central to octree based meshing, is solved by combining template mapping and element extraction into a procedure that utilizes both constructive solid geometry and boundary respresentation techniques. Boundary cells that are not intersected by the edge of the domain boundary are easily mapped to predefined element topology. Cells containing edges (and vertices) are first transformed into a planar polyhedron and then triangulated via element extractors. The modeling environments required for the derivation of planar polyhedra and for element extraction are analyzed.

Perucchio, Renato↗
NASA NTRS1987

Geometrical and topological issues in octree based automatic meshing

Finite element meshes derived automatically from solid models through recursive spatial subdivision schemes (octrees) can be made to inherit the hierarchical structure and the spatial addressability intrinsic to the underlying grid. These two properties, together with the geometric regularity that can also be built into the mesh, make octree based meshes ideally suited for efficient analysis and self-adaptive remeshing and reanalysis. The element decomposition of the octal cells that intersect the boundary of the domain is discussed. The problem, central to octree based meshing, is solved by combining template mapping and element extraction into a procedure that utilizes both constructive solid geometry and boundary representation techniques. Boundary cells that are not intersected by the edge of the domain boundary are easily mapped to predefined element topology. Cells containing edges (and vertices) are first transformed into a planar polyhedron and then triangulated via element extractor. The modeling environments required for the derivation of planar polyhedra and for element extraction are analyzed.

Saxena, Mukul↗
NASA NTRS1987

Investigation of helicopter rotor blade/wake interactive impulsive noise

An analysis of the Tip Aerodynamic/Aeroacoustic Test (TAAT) data was performed to identify possible aerodynamic sources of blade/vortex interaction (BVI) impulsive noise. The identification is based on correlation of measured blade pressure time histories with predicted blade/vortex intersections for the flight condition(s) where impulsive noise was detected. Due to the location of the recording microphones, only noise signatures associated with the advancing blade were available, and the analysis was accordingly restricted to the first and second azimuthal quadrants. The results show that the blade tip region is operating transonically in the azimuthal range where previous BVI experiments indicated the impulsive noise to be. No individual blade/vortex encounter is identifiable in the pressure data; however, there is indication of multiple intersections in the roll-up region which could be the origin of the noise. Discrete blade/vortex encounters are indicated in the second quadrant; however, if impulsive noise were produced here, the directivity pattern would be such that it was not recorded by the microphones. It is demonstrated that the TAAT data base is a valuable resource in the investigation of rotor aerodynamic/aeroacoustic behavior.

Miley, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

IRAS known asteroid prediction and association

Techniques and procedures employed to obtain data concerning the known asteroids from IRAS observations are discussed. The IRAS observations covered 95 percent of the sky with at least four scans of the telescope field of view. A search was first carried out for geometrical intersections of the trajectories of a given asteroid and the telescope boresight, following which a matched sighting was sought for each such intersection among the actual IRAS point source detections. By using ground based measurements of visual magnitudes, IRAS observations of IR brightness, and a thermal model, albedos and diameters have been computed for 1,822 known asteroids, increasing the amount of this kind of information by about an order of magnitude.

Kia, Tooraj↗
NASA NTRS1988

Two alternate proofs of Wang's lune formula for sparse distributed memory and an integral approximation

In Kanerva's Sparse Distributed Memory, writing to and reading from the memory are done in relation to spheres in an n-dimensional binary vector space. Thus it is important to know how many points are in the intersection of two spheres in this space. Two proofs are given of Wang's formula for spheres of unequal radii, and an integral approximation for the intersection in this case.

Jaeckel, Louis A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A re-evaluation of finite-element models and stress-intensity factors for surface cracks emanating from stress concentrations

A re-evaluation of the 3-D finite-element models and methods used to analyze surface crack at stress concentrations is presented. Previous finite-element models used by Raju and Newman for surface and corner cracks at holes were shown to have ill-shaped elements at the intersection of the hole and crack boundaries. These ill-shaped elements tended to make the model too stiff and, hence, gave lower stress-intensity factors near the hole-crack intersection than models without these elements. Improved models, without these ill-shaped elements, were developed for a surface crack at a circular hole and at a semi-circular edge notch. Stress-intensity factors were calculated by both the nodal-force and virtual-crack-closure methods. Both methods and different models gave essentially the same results. Comparisons made between the previously developed stress-intensity factor equations and the results from the improved models agreed well except for configurations with large notch-radii-to-plate-thickness ratios. Stress-intensity factors for a semi-elliptical surface crack located at the center of a semi-circular edge notch in a plate subjected to remote tensile loadings were calculated using the improved models. The ratio of crack depth to crack length ranged form 0.4 to 2; the ratio of crack depth to plate thickness ranged from 0.2 to 0.8; and the ratio of notch radius to the plate thickness ranged from 1 to 3. The models had about 15,000 degrees-of-freedom. Stress-intensity factors were calculated by using the nodal-force method.

Tan, P. W.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Approximate spatial reasoning

Much of human reasoning is approximate in nature. Formal models of reasoning traditionally try to be precise and reject the fuzziness of concepts in natural use and replace them with non-fuzzy scientific explicata by a process of precisiation. As an alternate to this approach, it has been suggested that rather than regard human reasoning processes as themselves approximating to some more refined and exact logical process that can be carried out with mathematical precision, the essence and power of human reasoning is in its capability to grasp and use inexact concepts directly. This view is supported by the widespread fuzziness of simple everyday terms (e.g., near tall) and the complexity of ordinary tasks (e.g., cleaning a room). Spatial reasoning is an area where humans consistently reason approximately with demonstrably good results. Consider the case of crossing a traffic intersection. We have only an approximate idea of the locations and speeds of various obstacles (e.g., persons and vehicles), but we nevertheless manage to cross such traffic intersections without any harm. The details of our mental processes which enable us to carry out such intricate tasks in such apparently simple manner are not well understood. However, it is that we try to incorporate such approximate reasoning techniques in our computer systems. Approximate spatial reasoning is very important for intelligent mobile agents (e.g., robots), specially for those operating in uncertain or unknown or dynamic domains.

Dutta, Soumitra↗
NASA NTRS1989

A chamber experiment for the feasibility study of an artificial plasma reflector for OTH radar applications

The feasibility of using two intersecting beams for plasma generation in the upper atmosphere as an over-the-horizon radar reflector was investigated. A cube was filled with dry air to a pressure corresponding to the simulated altitude, and two components of a split microwave beam were fed into the cube at right angles. Plasma layers were generated where the two beams intersected. Three critical issues were addressed: (1) reflectivity of the generated plasma layers; (2) propagation of high power microwave pulses; and (3) lifetime of the plasma.

Kuo, S. P.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Multifractal spectra in homogeneous shear flow

Employing numerical simulations of 3-D homogeneous shear flow, the associated multifractal spectra of the energy dissipation, scalar dissipation and vorticity fields were calculated. The results for (128) cubed simulations of this flow, and those obtained in recent experiments that analyzed 1- and 2-D intersections of atmospheric and laboratory flows, are in some agreement. A two-scale Cantor set model of the energy cascade process which describes the experimental results from 1-D intersections quite well, describes the 3-D results only marginally.

Deane, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Fuzzy set applications in engineering optimization: Multilevel fuzzy optimization

A formulation for multilevel optimization with fuzzy objective functions is presented. With few exceptions, formulations for fuzzy optimization have dealt with a one-level problem in which the objective is the membership function of a fuzzy set formed by the fuzzy intersection of other sets. In the problem examined here, the goal set G is defined in a more general way, using an aggregation operator H that allows arbitrary combinations of set operations (union, intersection, addition) on the individual sets Gi. This is a straightforward extension of the standard form, but one that makes possible the modeling of interesting evaluation strategies. A second, more important departure from the standard form will be the construction of a multilevel problem analogous to the design decomposition problem in optimization. This arrangement facilitates the simulation of a system design process in which different components of the system are designed by different teams, and different levels of design detail become relevant at different time stages in the process: global design features early, local features later in the process.

Diaz, Alejandro R.↗