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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 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1987

Numerical and analytical study of fluid dynamic forces in seals and bearings

A numerical model based on a transformed, conservative form of the three dimensional Navier-Stokes equation and an analytical model based on lumped fluid parameters are presented and compared with studies of modeled rotor bearing seal systems. The rotor destabilizing factors are related to the rotative character of the flow field. It is shown that these destabilizing factors can be reduced through a decrease in the fluid average circumferential velocity. However, the rotative character of the flow field is a complex three dimensional system with bifurcated secondary flow patterns that significantly alter the fluid circumferential velocity. By transforming the Navier-Stokes equations to those for a rotating observer and using the numerical code PHOENICS-84 with a nonorthogonal body fitted grid, several numerical experiments were carried out to demonstrate the character of this complex flow field. In general, fluid injection and/or preswirl of the flow field opposing the shaft rotation significantly intensified these secondary recirculation zones and thus reduced the average circumferential velocity; injection or preswirl in the direction of rotation significantly weakened these zones.

Tam, L. T.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Large eddy simulation of atmospheric boundary layer flow over complex terrain in comparison with RANS simulation and on-site measurements under neutral stability condition

Large eddy simulation (LES) of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flow over complex terrain is presented with a validation using meteorological tower (met-tower) data through an improved neutral stability sampling approach. The proposed stability sampling procedure includes a condition based on the most-likely occurrence time-periods of the neutral ABL and reduces the variabilities of the conditional wind statistics calculated at the met-towers in comparison to our previous work. The ABL flow simulations are carried out over a potential wind site with a prominent hill based using the OpenFOAM-based simulator for on/off-shore wind farm applications by applying the Lagrangian-averaged scale-invariant dynamic sub-grid scale turbulence model. A low-dissipative scale-selective discretization scheme for the non-linear convection term in the LES governing equation is adopted implicitly to ensure both the second-order accuracy and bounded solution. The LES inflow is generated through a precursor method with a “tiling” approach based on the flow driving parameters obtained from a corresponding Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulation. Overall, the averaged wind velocity profiles predicted by the LES approach at all met-tower locations show a similar tendency as the RANS results, which are also in reasonable agreement with the met-tower data. An obvious difference in wind speed standard deviation profiles is seen between LES and RANS, especially at regions downstream of the hill edge, where the LES shows under-predicted results at the highest measurement levels in comparison to the tower data. The computational costs of the LES are found to be about 20 times higher than the RANS simulations.

Energy & Fuels↗
DOE OSTI2025

Openpronghorn

OpenPronghorn is a simulation tool specifically tailored for modeling thermal-hydraulic phenomena in advanced nuclear reactors. It is built on the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE), an open-source platform that facilitates the development of high-performance scientific computing applications. OpenPronghorn solves the Navier-Stokes equations, which describe the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy in fluid flows, using the finite volume numerical method. The code supports a wide range of fluid flow conditions that are applicable to nuclear reactors, including incompressible and weakly compressible flows, as well as single-phase and multiphase flows. It is capable of modeling diverse flow regimes, including laminar and turbulent flows, using various turbulence models such as the standard k-epsilon models, the v2f model, and the mixing length model. For multiphase flows, OpenPronghorn employs a mixture a Eulerian modeling approach with mixture, drift-flux, and full Eulerian models, and includes open-sourced interfacial transfer correlations for drag, exchange, and heat transfer coming from the scientific literature. OpenPronghorn's modular design allows it to handle multiscale simulations, ranging from detailed Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) simulations to coarse-mesh and lumped parameter models. This flexibility enables users to perform high-fidelity simulations of specific reactor components as well as system-level analyses of entire reactor circuits. The code can be coupled with other MOOSE-based tools using the MultiApp system, allowing for the transfer of coupling quantities such as mass flow rates, heat fluxes, and boundary conditions between different simulation scales. One of the main features of OpenPronghorn is the it includes built-in validation cases from the open-source scientific literature and supports the implementation of user-defined models and correlations through MOOSE's FunctorMaterial system. OpenPronghorn is designed to be computationally efficient, leveraging the SIMPLE projection method for large-scale problems, and can be run on high-performance computing systems to handle the extensive computational demands of detailed reactor simulations. Overall, OpenPronghorn is a versatile and robust tool that provides critical insights into the thermal-hydraulic behavior of advanced nuclear reactors, supporting the design, safety, and optimization of next-generation nuclear energy systems.

Retamales, Mauricio Eduardo Tano [Idaho National L↗
NASA NTRS1978

Approximate solutions to the Navier-Stokes initial value problem

A Galerkin-Ritz procedure for any arbitrary system of field equations is shown to follow generically from 'two-functional' variational conditions. The initial-value problem for boundary-free incompressible Navier-Stokes flow is solved analytically in the two-parameter-function approximation.

Rosen, G.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Separated flows near the nose of a body of revolution

The solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for the problem of cross-flow separataion about a deforming cylinder was achieved by iteration. It was shown that the separation starts at the rear stagnation point and the point of primary separation moves upstram along the cylinder surface. A general method of linear stability analysis for nonparallel external flows was constructed, which consists of representing the eigenfunctions with complete orthogonal sets and forms characteristic equations with the Galerkin method. The method was applied to the Kovasznay flow which is an exact solution of the Navier-Stokes equation. The results show that when the critical parameter is exceeded, there are only a few isolated unstable eigen-frequencies. Another exact solution is shown to be absolutely and monotonically stable with respect to infinitesimal disturbances of all frequencies. The flow is also globally, asymptotically, and monotonically stable in the mean with respect o three-dimensional disturbances. This result forms the sound foundation of rigorous stability analysis for nonparallel flows, and provides an invaluable test ground for future studies of nonparallel flows in which the basic states do not posses exact solutions. The application of this method to the study of the formation of spiral vorticies near the nose of a rotating body of revolution is underway. The same method will be applied to the stability analysis of reversed flow over a plate with suction.

Lin, S. P.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Aeroperformance and Acoustics of the Nozzle with Permeable Shell

Several simple experimental acoustic tests of a spraying system were conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center. These tests have shown appreciable jet noise reduction when an additional cylindrical permeable shell was employed at the nozzle exit. Based on these results, additional acoustic tests were conducted in the anechoic chamber AK-2 at the Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI, Moscow) in Russia. These tests examined the influence of permeable shells on the noise from a supersonic jet exhausting from a round nozzle designed for exit Mach number, M (sub e)=2.0, with conical and Screwdriver-shaped centerbodies. The results show significant acoustic benefits of permeable shell application especially for overexpanded jets by comparison with impermeable shell application. The noise reduction in the overall pressure level was obtained up to approximately 5-8%. Numerical simulations of a jet flow exhausting from a convergent-divergent nozzle designed for exit Mach number, M (sub e)=2.0, with permeable and impermeable shells were conducted at the NASA LaRC and Hampton University. Two numerical codes were used. The first is the NASA LaRC CFL3D code for accurate calculation of jet mean flow parameters on the basis of a full Navier-Stokes solver (NSE). The second is the numerical code based on Tam's method for turbulent mixing noise (TMN) calculation. Numerical and experimental results are in good qualitative agreement.

Gilinsky, M.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Validation of a High-Fidelity Supersonic Parachute Inflation Dynamics Model and Best Practice

The parachute inflation dynamics (PID) of a Disk-Gap-Band (DGB) parachute system travelling at supersonic velocities in the high-altitude Earth atmosphere is simulated using a high-fidelity, multiphysics, massively-parallel computational framework. The sensitivity of the simulation results with respect to critical modelling and simulation parameters, including the fluid mechanical governing equations (Euler vs Navier-Stokes with RANS turbulence closure vs Navier-Stokes with LES turbulence closer), the interaction between the flow and the suspension lines (accounted for vs not accounted for), the dynamics of the payload (restrained vs free), and the material model of the heterogeneous fabric canopy (Saint-Venant Kirchoff vs mechanics-informed multiscale neural network), is extensively investigated. The parameter investigation is enabled by advancements to the state-of-the-art in the modelling and simulation of the supersonic parachute inflation process, which are presented as part of the computational framework. The predictive quality of the computational framework in the context of supersonic PID is validated by comparison of the simulation results with the experimental results from NASA’s Advanced Supersonic Parachute Research (ASPIRE) project. Through the validation, best practices for the modelling and simulation of supersonic PID are developed and proposed.

Rabinovitch, Jason↗
NASA NTRS1991

Least-squares/parabolized Navier-Stokes procedure for optimizing hypersonic wind tunnel nozzles

A new procedure is demonstrated for optimizing hypersonic wind-tunnel-nozzle contours. The procedure couples a CFD computer code to an optimization algorithm, and is applied to both conical and contoured hypersonic nozzles for the purpose of determining an optimal set of parameters to describe the surface geometry. A design-objective function is specified based on the deviation from the desired test-section flow-field conditions. The objective function is minimized by optimizing the parameters used to describe the nozzle contour based on the solution to a nonlinear least-squares problem. The effect of the changes in the nozzle wall parameters are evaluated by computing the nozzle flow using the parabolized Navier-Stokes equations. The advantage of the new procedure is that it directly takes into account the displacement effect of the boundary layer on the wall contour. The new procedure provides a method for optimizing hypersonic nozzles of high Mach numbers which have been designed by classical procedures, but are shown to produce poor flow quality due to the large boundary layers present in the test section. The procedure is demonstrated by finding the optimum design parameters for a Mach 10 conical nozzle and a Mach 6 and a Mach 15 contoured nozzle.

Korte, John J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

More-Precise Calibration Of Polarimetric SAR

Algorithm for calibration of polarimetric synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) data in Stokes-matrix representation more nearly exact. Present algorithm resembles prior algorithm closely, except requires extraction of one additional parameter from high-resolution raw SAR data in scattering-matrix format before compression and transformation to Stokes-matrix format and slight change in subalgorithm compressing those data.

Freeman, Anthony↗
NASA NTRS1981

The effects of focusing on the efficiency of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering

The efficiency of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) is calculated as a function of the input beam sizes of the Stokes and pump laser beams. A Green's function formalism is used to show that maximum efficiency occurs when the confocal parameters of the two input beams are unequal and when the phase mismatch between the anti-Stokes field and the nonlinear polarization is nonzero.

Guha, S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Navier-Stokes and Euler solutions for lee-side flows over supersonic delta wings. A correlation with experiment

An Euler flow solver and a thin layer Navier-Stokes flow solver were used to numerically simulate the supersonic leeside flow fields over delta wings which were observed experimentally. Three delta wings with 75, 67.5, and 60 deg leading edge sweeps were computed over an angle-of-attack range of 4 to 20 deg at a Mach number 2.8. The Euler code and Navier-Stokes code predict equally well the primary flow structure where the flow is expected to be separated or attached at the leading edge based on the Stanbrook-Squire boundary. The Navier-Stokes code is capable of predicting both the primary and the secondary flow features for the parameter range investigated. For those flow conditions where the Euler code did not predict the correct type of primary flow structure, the Navier-Stokes code illustrated that the flow structure is sensitive to boundary layer model. In general, the laminar Navier-Stokes solutions agreed better with the experimental data, especially for the lower sweep delta wings. The computational results and a detailed re-examination of the experimental data resulted in a refinement of the flow classifications. This refinement in the flow classification results in the separation bubble with the shock flow type as the intermediate flow pattern between separated and attached flows.

Mcmillin, S. Naomi↗
NASA NTRS1984

A note on the variational method of Stokes and DeMarcus for radiative transfer in planetary atmospheres

A generalization of the variational principle of Stokes and DeMarcus (1971) by the construction of two bifunctionals is proposed. The equation of radiative transfer is obtained by imposing the stationary condition on such functionals, and the reflectivity and transmissivity at arbitrary angle are given by their extremum values. Further simplification is possible when trail functions are used that are linear in the variational parameters, in which case the source function derived from the method of Stokes and DeMarcus can give the reflectivity at arbitrary emergent angle to second order. The usefulness and limitations of these variational priinciples are explored with extensive numerical results.

Chow, K. S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Effect of buoyancy on fuel containment in an open-cycle gas-core nuclear rocket engine.

Analysis aimed at determining the scaling laws for the buoyancy effect on fuel containment in an open-cycle gas-core nuclear rocket engine, so conducted that experimental conditions can be related to engine conditions. The fuel volume fraction in a short coaxial flow cavity is calculated with a programmed numerical solution of the steady Navier-Stokes equations for isothermal, variable density fluid mixing. A dimensionless parameter B, called the Buoyancy number, was found to correlate the fuel volume fraction for large accelerations and various density ratios. This parameter has the value B = 0 for zero acceleration, and B = 350 for typical engine conditions.

Putre, H. A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Numerical investigation of two- and three-dimensional heat transfer in expander cycle engines

The concept of using tube canting for enhancing the hot-side convective heat transfer in a cross-stream tubular rocket combustion chamber is evaluated using a CFD technique in this study. The heat transfer at the combustor wall is determined from the flow field generated by a modified version of the PARC Navier-Stokes Code, using the actual dimensions, fluid properties, and design parameters of a split-expander demonstrator cycle engine. The effects of artificial dissipation on convergence and solution accuracy are investigated. Heat transfer results predicted by the code are presented. The use of CFD in heat transfer calculations is critically examined to demonstrate the care needed in the use of artificial dissipation for good convergence and accurate solutions.

Burch, Robert L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

An application of small-gap equations in sealing devices

The study of a thin, incompressible Newtonian fluid layer trapped between two almost parallel, sliding surfaces has been actively pursued in the last decades. This subject includes lubrication applications such as slider bearings or the sealing of non-pressurized fluids with rubber rotary shaft seals. In the present work we analyze numerically the flow of lubricant fluid through a micro-gap of sealing devices. The first stage of this study is carried out assuming that a 'small-gap' parameter delta attains an extreme value in the Navier-Stokes equations. The precise meaning of small-gap is achieved by the particular limit delta = 0 which, within the bounds of the hypotheses, predicts transport of lubricant through the sealed area by centrifugal instabilities. Numerical results obtained with the penalty function approximation in the finite element method are presented. In particular, the influence of inflow and outflow boundary conditions, and their impact in the simulated flow, are discussed.

Vionnet, Carlos A.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Transition Experiments on Blunt Bodies with Distributed Roughness in Hypersonic Free Flight in Carbon Dioxide

Blunt-body geometries were flown through carbon dioxide in the NASA Ames Hypervelocity Free Flight Aerodynamic Facility to investigate the influence of distributed surface roughness on transition to turbulence in CO2-dominated atmospheres, such as those of Mars and Venus. Tests were also performed in air for direct comparison with archival results. Models of hemispherical and spherically-blunted large-angle conical geometries were flown at speeds between 2.8 km/s and 5.1 km/s and freestream pressures between 50 Torr and 228 Torr. Transition fronts were determined from global surface heat flux distributions measured using thermal imaging techniques. Distributed surface roughness was produced by grit-blasting the model surfaces. Real-gas Navier-Stokes solutions were used to calculate non-dimensional correlating parameters at the measured transition onset locations. Transition-onset locations correlated well with a constant roughness Reynolds number based on the mean roughness element height. The critical roughness Reynolds number for transition onset determined for flight in CO2 was 223 +/- 25%. This mean value is lower than the critical value of 250 +/- 20% previously-established from tests conducted in air, but within the bounds of the expected measurement uncertainty.

ballistic ranges↗
NASA NTRS2004

Transitional Bubble in Periodic Flow Phase Shift

One particular characteristic observed in unsteady shear layers is the phase shift relative to the main flow. In attached boundary layers this will have an effect both on the instantaneous skin friction and heat transfer. In separation bubbles the contribution to the drag is dominated by the pressure distribution. However, the most significant effect appears to be the phase shift on the transition process. Unsteady transition behaviour may determine the bursting of the bubble resulting in an un-recoverable full separation. An early analysis of the phase shift was performed by Stokes for the incompressible boundary layer of an oscillating wall and an oscillating main flow. An amplitude overshoot within the shear layer as well as a phase shift were observed that can be attributed to the relatively slow diffusion of viscous stresses compared to the fast change of pressure. Experiments in a low speed facility with the boundary layer of a flat plate were evaluated in respect to phase shift. A pressure distribution similar to that on the suction surface of a turbomachinery aerofoil was superimposed generating a typical transitional separation bubble. A periodically unsteady main flow in the suction type wind tunnel was introduced via a rotating flap downstream of the test section. The experiments covered a range of the three similarity parameters of momentum-loss-thickness Reynolds-number of 92 to 226 and Strouhal-number (reduced frequency) of 0.0001 to 0.0004 at the separation point, and an amplitude range up to 19 %. The free stream turbulence level was less than 1% .Upstream of the separation point the phase shift in the laminar boundary layer does not appear to be affected significantly bay either of the three parameters. The trend perpendicular to the wall is similar to the Stokes analysis. The problem scales well with the wave velocity introduced by Stokes, however, the lag of the main flow near the wall is less than indicated analytically. The separation point comes closest to the Stokes analysis but the phase is still 20 degrees lower at the wall.

Talan, M.↗