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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 253 records · Page 14

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NASA NTRS1985

Prediction of destabilizing blade tip forces for shrouded and unshrouded turbines

The effect of a nonuniform flow field on the Alford force calculation is investigated. The ideas used here are based on those developed by Horlock and Greitzer. It is shown that the nonuniformity of the flow field does contribute to the Alford force calculation. An attempt is also made to include the effect of whirl speed. The values predicted by the model are compared with those obtained experimentally by Urlicks and Wohlrab. The possibility of using existing turbine tip loss correlations to predict beta is also exploited. The nonuniform flow field induced by the tip clearnance variation tends to increase the resultant destabilizing force over and above what would be predicted on the basis of the local variation of efficiency. On the one hand, the pressure force due to the nonuniform inlet and exit pressure also plays a part even for unshrouded blades, and this counteracts the flow field effects, so that the simple Alford prediction remains a reasonable approximation. Once the efficiency variation with clearance is known, the presented model gives a slightly overpredicted, but reasonably accurate destabilizing force. In the absence of efficiency vs. clearance data, an empirical tip loss coefficient can be used to give a reasonable prediction of destabilizing force. To a first approximation, the whirl does have a damping effect, but only of small magnitude, and thus it can be ignored for some purposes.

Qiu, Y. J.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The effect of power-law body forces on a thermally driven flow between concentric rotating spheres

A numerical study is conducted to determine the effect of power-law body forces on a thermally-driven axisymmetric flow field confined between concentric co-rotating spheres. This study is motivated by Spacelab geophysical fluid-flow experiments, which use an electrostatic force on a dielectric fluid to simulate gravity; this force exhibits a (1/r)sup 5 distribution. Meridional velocity is found to increase when the electrostatic body force is imposed, relative to when the body force is uniform. Correlation among flow fields with uniform, inverse-square, and inverse-quintic force fields is obtained using a modified Grashof number.

Macaraeg, M. G.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Optimization of cascade blade mistuning under flutter and forced response constraints

In the development of modern turbomachinery, problems of flutter instabilities and excessive forced response of a cascade of blades that were encountered have often turned out to be extremely difficult to eliminate. The study of these instabilities and the forced response is complicated by the presence of mistuning; that is, small differences among the individual blades. The theory of mistuned cascade behavior shows that mistuning can have a beneficial effect on the stability of the rotor. This beneficial effect is produced by the coupling between the more stable and less stable flutter modes introduced by mistuning. The effect of mistuning on the forced response can be either beneficial or adverse. Kaza and Kielb have studied the effects of two types of mistuning on the flutter and forced response: alternate mistuning where alternte blades are identical and random mistuning. The objective is to investigate other patterns of mistuning which maximize the beneficial effects on the flutter and forced response of the cascade. Numerical optimization techniques are employed to obtain optimal mistuning patterns. The optimization program seeks to minimize the amount of mistuning required to satisfy constraints on flutter speed and forced response.

Murthy, D. V.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Origins of hydrodynamic forces on centrifugal pump impellers

Hydrodynamic interactions that occur between a centrifugal pump impeller and volute are experimentally and theoretically investigated. The theoretical analysis considers the inability of the blades to perfectly guide the flow through the impeller, and also includes a quasi-one dimensional treatment of the flow in the volute. The disturbance at the impeller discharge and the resulting forces are determined by the theoretical model. The model is then extended to obtain the hydrodynamic force perturbations that are caused by the impeller whirling eccentrically in the volute. Under many operating conditions, these force perturbations were found to be destablizing. Comparisons are made between the theoretical model and the experimental measurements of pressure distributions and radial forces on the impeller. The theoretical model yields fairly accurate predictions of the radial forces caused by the flow through the impeller. However, it was found that the pressure acting on the front shroud of the impeller has a substantial effect on the destablizing hydrodynamic forces.

Adkins, Douglas R.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Multiple-mode nonlinear free and forced vibrations of beams using finite element method

Multiple-mode nonlinear free and forced vibration of a beam is analyzed by the finite element method. The geometric nonlinearity is investigated. Inplane displacement and inertia (IDI) are also considered in the formulation. Harmonic force matrix is derived and explained. Nonlinear free vibration can be simply treated as a special case of the general forced vibration by setting the harmonic force matrix equal to zero. The effect of the higher modes is more pronouced for the clamped supported beam than the simply supported one. Beams without IDI yield more effect of the higher modes than the one with IDI. The effects of IDI are to reduce nonlinearity. For beams with end supports restrained from axial movement (immovable cases), only the hardening type nonlinearity is observed. However, beams of small slenderness ratio (L/R = 20) with movable end supports, the softening type nonlinearity is found. The concentrated force case yields a more severe response than the uniformly distributed force case. Finite element results are in good agreement with the solution of simple elliptic response, harmonic balance method, and Runge-Kutte method and experiment.

Mei, Chuh↗

NASA NTRS1987

Nonlinear force-free magnetic fields: Calculation and applicatin to astrophysics

The problem concerned in this work is that of calculating magnetic field configurations in which the Lorentz force (vector)j x (vector)B is everywhere zero, subject to specified boundary conditions. The magnetic field is represented in terms of Clebsch variables in the form (vector)B = del alpha x del beta. These variables are constant on any field line. The most appropriate choice of boundary conditions is to specify the values of alpha and beta on the bounding surface. It is proposed that the field lines move in the direction of local Lorentz force and relax towards a force-free field configuration. This concept leads to an iteration procedure for modifying the variables alpha and beta that tends asymptotically towards the force-free state. This method is first applied to a simple problem in two rectangular dimensions; the calculation shows that the convergence of magnetic field energy to a minimum state (force-free) is close to exponential. This method is then applied to study some astrophysical force-free magnetic fields, such as the structures and evolution of magnetic fields of rotating sunspots and accretion disks. The implication of the results, as related to the mechanisms of solar flares, extragalactic radio sources and radio jets, are discussed.

Yang, Wei-Hong↗

NASA NTRS1987

Radial force balance within Jupiter's dayside magnetosphere

A local field stress technique, developed previously in a study of the Saturnian magnetosphere, is introduced to the problem of determining the radial force balance characteristics of Jupiter's magnetosphere. The near-equatorial, radial magnetic force densities are estimated using the data obtained by Voyager 1 principally on the dayside (inbound) portion of its trajectory. Using the low-energy charged particle data (greater than about 30 keV) and other published data, ways in which the field forces might be balanced are explored. Inside 22 Jupiter radii, the magnetic radial forces match, in both magnitude and radial variation, the hot particle pressure gradient forces, assuming a mix of H(+) and O(n+) ions. Outside 22 Jupiter radii, a previously reported force balance problem is confirmed qualitatively, and two possible solutions are suggested.

Mauk, B. H.↗

NASA NTRS1989

A theoretical study of fluid forces on a centrifugal impeller rotating and whirling in a vaned diffuser

The fluid forces on a centrifugal impeller rotating and whirling in a vaned diffuser are analyzed on the assumption that the number of impeller and diffuser vanes is so large that the flows are perfectly guided by the vanes. The flow is taken to be two dimensional, inviscid, and incompressible, but the effects of impeller and diffuser losses are taken into account. It is shown that the interaction with the vaned diffuser may cause destabilizing fluid forces. From these discussions, it is found that the whirling forces are closely related to the steady head-capacity characteristics of the impeller. This physical understanding of the whirling forces can be applied also to the cases with volute casings. At partial capacities, it is shown that the impeller forces change greatly when the flow rate and whirl velocity are near to the impeller or vaned diffuser attributed rotating stall onset capacity, and the stall propagation velocity, respectively. In such cases the impeller forces may become destabilizing for impeller whirl.

Tsujimoto, Yoshinobu↗

NASA NTRS1987

Problems and research issues associated with the hybrid control of force and displacement

The hybrid control of force and position is basic to the science of robotics but is only poorly understood. Before much progress can be made in robotics, this problem needs to be solved in a robust manner. However, the use of hybrid control implies the existence of a model of the environment, not an exact model (as the function of hybrid control is to accommodate these errors), but a model appropriate for planning and reasoning. The monitored forces in position control are interpreted in terms of a model of the task as are the monitored displacements in force control. The reaction forces of the task of writing are far different from those of hammering. The programming of actions in such a modeled world becomes more complicated and systems of task level programming need to be developed. Sensor based robotics, of which force sensing is the most basic, implies an entirely new level of technology. Indeed, robot force sensors, no matter how compliant they may be, must be protected from accidental collisions. This implies other sensors to monitor task execution and again the use of a world model. This new level of technology is the task level, in which task actions are specified, not the actions of individual sensors and manipulators.

Paul, R. P.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Effects of bearing offset and flexibility on the mesh force distribution of spiral bevel gears

For straight or spiral bevel gears of nominal spherical involute design, the resultant total force vector transmitted by the gear mesh, in the absence of friction, lies in the plane of tooth contact. This force vector can be characterized by three scalar components, two orthogonal force components lying in the plane of contact and the resultant moment taken about the nominal center of the zone of contact. Equations for these three generalized force components are derived. The equations are expressed in terms of tooth pair/gear body stiffnesses, bearing/bearing support flexibility influence coefficients, the shaft input torque, deviations of the tooth running surfaces from perfect spherical involute surfaces, and bearing centerline offsets from the positions occupied by the base cone axes of the perfect involute bevel gear counterparts to the actual gears under consideration. Inertial forces arising from transverse and axial vibrations of the gear bodies are assumed to be negligible in comparison with the bearing support reaction forces.

Mark, W. D.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Flow-field characteristics and normal-force correlations for delta wings from Mach 2.4 to 4.6

An experimental investigation has been conducted to determine the upper-surface flowfield types and the normal-force characteristics of a series of delta wing models at supersonic speeds. Flow-visualization data were used to classify the flowfields into seven primary types: shockless attached flow, separation bubble, classical vortex, vortex with shock, shock with no separation, shock-induced separation, and separation bubble with shock. The pressure distributions were integrated to obtain upper and lower surface normal-force loadings. A minimal effect of sweep was observed on the upper-surface normal force at constant Mach number and a minimal effect of Mach number was noted for the 75 deg delta wing lower-surface normal force. The normal-force coefficients for all test conditions were correlated, and a single empirical equation was formulated from which the normal-force coefficient could be calculated as a function of Mach number, angle of attack, and wing aspect ratio.

Covell, Peter F.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Motion and force control for multiple cooperative manipulators

The motion and force control of multiple robot arms manipulating a commonly held object is addressed. A general control paradigm that decouples the motion and force control problems is introduced. For motion control, there are three natural choices: (1) joint torques, (2) arm-tip force vectors, and (3) the acceleration of a generalized coordinate. Choice (1) allows a class of relatively model-independent control laws by exploiting the Hamiltonian structure of the open-loop system; (2) and (3) require the full model information but produce simpler problems. To resolve the nonuniqueness of the joint torques, two methods are introduced. If the arm and object models are available, the allocation of the desired end-effector control force to the joint actuators can be optimized; otherwise the internal force can be controlled about some set point. It is shown that effective force regulation can be achieved even if little model information is available.

Wen, John T.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Force-reflective teleoperated system with shared and compliant control capabilities

The force-reflecting teleoperator breadboard is described. It is the first system among available Research and Development systems with the following combined capabilities: (1) The master input device is not a replica of the slave arm. It is a general purpose device which can be applied to the control of different robot arms through proper mathematical transformations. (2) Force reflection generated in the master hand controller is referenced to forces and moments measured by a six DOF force-moment sensor at the base of the robot hand. (3) The system permits a smooth spectrum of operations between full manual, shared manual and automatic, and full automatic (called traded) control. (4) The system can be operated with variable compliance or stiffness in force-reflecting control. Some of the key points of the system are the data handling and computing architecture, the communication method, and the handling of mathematical transformations. The architecture is a fully synchronized pipeline. The communication method achieves optimal use of a parallel communication channel between the local and remote computing nodes. A time delay box is also implemented in this communication channel permitting experiments with up to 8 sec time delay. The mathematical transformations are computed faster than 1 msec so that control at each node can be operated at 1 kHz servo rate without interpolation. This results in an overall force-reflecting loop rate of 200 Hz.

Szakaly, Z.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The rotordynamic forces on a centrifugal pump impeller in the presence of cavitation

Fluid-induced rotordynamic forces on a centrifugal pump impeller whirling along a trajectory eccentric to its undeflected position in the presence of cavitation were measured using the experimental facility described by Jery (1987). The force measured is a combination of a steady radial force due to the volute asymmetries and an unsteady force due to the eccentric motion of the rotor. It was found that, compared to the noncavitation condition, a cavitation corresponding to a head loss of 3 percent had little effect upon the unsteady force. However, a lesser degree of cavitation at the design point, was found to increase the destabilizing force for a particular set of whirl ratios.

Franz, R.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Critical speeds and forced response solutions for active magnetic bearing turbomachinery, part 1

The prediction of critical speeds and forced response of active magnetic bearing turbomachinery is of great interest due to the increased use of this new and promising technology. Calculating the system undamped critical speeds and forced response is important to all those who are involved in the design of the active magnetic bearing system. An extended Jeffcott model which was used as an approximate solution to a more accurate transfer matrix procedure is presented. Theory behind a two-degree-of freedom extended Jeffcoat model is presented. Results of the natural frequency calculation are shown followed by the results of the forced response calculation. The system response was predicted for two types of forcing. A constant magnitude excitation with a wide frequency variation was applied at the bearings as one forcing function. The normal unbalance force at the midspan was the second source of excitation. The results of this extended Jeffcott solution gives useful design guidance for the influence of the first and third modes of a symmetric rotor system.

Keesee, J.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Seasonal variation of cloud radiative forcing derived from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment

The impact of clouds on the earth's radiation balance is assessed in terms of longwave, shortwave, and net cloud forcing by using monthly averaged clear-sky and cloudy-sky flux data derived from the NASA Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). Emphasis is placed on regional measurements, regional cloud forcing, zonal cloud forcing, and snow and ice contributions. It is shown that the global mean cooling varied from 14 to 21 W/sq m between April 1985 and January 1986; hemispherically, the longwave and shortwave cloud forcing nearly cancel each other in the winter hemisphere, while in the summer the negative shortwave cloud forcing is significantly lower than the longwave cloud forcing, producing a strong cooling. The ERBE data reveal that globally, hemispherically, and zonally, clouds have a significant effect on the radiative heating gradients.

Harrison, E. F.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Motion and force controlled vibration testing

A technique for controlling both the input acceleration and force in vibration tests is proposed to alleviate the overtesting risks and the problems associated with response limiting in conventional vibration tests of aerospace hardware. Previous research on impedance and force controlled vibration tests is reviewed and a simple equation governing the dual control of acceleration and force is derived. A practical method for implementing the dual control technique in random vibration tests has been demonstrated in JPL's environmental test facility using a conventional digital controller operating in the extremal mode. The dual control technique provides appropriate real-time notching of the input acceleration and a corresponding reduction of the test item response at resonances. Issues concerning the need for force and acceleration phase information, the adequacy of specifying the blocked force, and the derivation of the total force for multipoint supports are discussed.

Scharton, Terry D.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Stability analysis of position and force control problems for robot arms

Stability issues involving the control of a robot arm under the influence of external forces are discussed. Several different scenarios are considered: position control with the external force as an unmodeled disturbance, compliant control for a bounded external force in some subspace, and compliant control for a force due to the interaction with an environment whose dynamical behavior can be modeled. In each of these cases, a stability analysis using the Lyapunov method is presented. An explanation of instability is put forth for the case in which the environment has flexibility and the gains are inappropriately chosen. When the environment is stiff in the force control subspace, robust stability can be achieved with the integral force feedback.

Wen, John T.↗