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At least 253 records · Page 14

Stiffness and mass matrices for shells of revolution (SAMMSOR II)

Utilizing element properties, structural stiffness and mass matrices are generated for as many as twenty harmonics and stored on magnetic tape. Matrices generated constitute input data to be used by other stiffness of revolution programs. Variety of boundary and loading conditions can be employed without having to create new mass and stiffness matrices for each case.

Tillerson, J. R.↗

Ultrasonic Nondestructive Characterization of Adhesive Bonds

Qualitative measurements of adhesion or binding forces can be accomplished, for example, by using the reflection coefficient of an ultrasound or by using thermal waves (Light and Kwun, 1989, Achenbach and Parikh, 1991, and Bostrom and wickham, 1991). However, a quantitative determination of binding forces is rather difficult. It has been observed that higher harmonics of the fundamental frequency are generated when an ultrasound passes through a nonlinear material. It seems that such non-linearity can be effectively used to characterize the bond strength. Several theories have been developed to model this nonlinear effect (Adler and Nagy, 1991; Achenbach and Parikh, 1991; Parikh and Achenbach, 1992; and Hirose and Kitahara, 1992; Anastasi and Roberts, 1992). Based on a microscopic description of the nonlinear interface binding force, a quantitative method was presented by Pangraz and Arnold (1994). Recently, Tang, Cheng and Achenbach (1997) made a comparison between the experimental and simulated results based on this theoretical model. A water immersion mode-converted shear wave through-transmission setup was used by Berndt and Green (1997) to analyze the nonlinear acoustic behavior of the adhesive bond. In this project, the nonlinear responses of an adhesive joint was investigated through transmission tests of ultrasonic wave and analyzed by the finite element simulations. The higher order harmonics were obtained in the tests. It is found that the amplitude of higher harmonics increases as the aging increases, especially the 3dorder harmonics. Results from the numerical simulation show that the material nonlinearity does indeed generate higher order harmonics. In particular, the elastic-perfect plastic behavior generates significant 3rd and 5th order harmonics.

Qu, Jianmin↗

Low-altitude ISIS 1 observations of auroral radio emissions and their significance to the cyclotron maser instability

Low-altitude ISIS 1 observations are presented which support the cyclotron maser instability as the generation mechanism of most, but not all, auroral radio emissions. The observations confirm the ability of the mechanism to generate different wave modes and harmonics as the ratio of the plasma frequency to gyrofrequency f(N)/f(H) increases depending on the form of the energetic electron distribution function. The present observations correspond to conditions where f(N)/F(H) is always larger than 0.2 and is typically about 1.0. The observations and instability growth rate calculations indicate that second harmonic radiation in the extraordinary and the Z modes is directly generated at low altitudes. By far the most common signals observed near ISIS 1 perigee, however, are in the fundamental Z and whistler modes. The observations and calculations in the case of the Z mode suggest that the pertinent process involves a maser that does not saturate, i.e., that group velocity effects are important. The whistler mode is the most intense signal observed at low altitudes. Since the cyclotron maser generated whistler mode waves have peak growth rates for downward field-aligned propagation, they should be able to penetrate the ionosphere. This process may provide the explanation of occasional reports, dating back to the International Geophysical Year time period, of ground level detection of radio noise associated with the aurora.

Benson, Robert F.↗

Dynamics and control of instrumented harmonic drives

Since torque in harmonic drives is transmitted by a pure couple, harmonic drives do not generate radial forces and therefore can be instrumented with torque sensors without interference from radial forces. The installation of torque sensors on the stationary component of harmonic drives (the Flexipline cup in this research work) produce backdrivability needed for robotic and telerobotic compliant maneuvers. Backdrivability of a harmonic drive, when used as torque increaser, means that the output shaft can be rotated via finite amount of torque. A high ratio harmonic drive is non-backdrivable because its output shaft cannot be turned by applying a torque on it. This article first develops the dynamic behavior of a harmonic drive, in particular the non-backdrivability, in terms of a sensitivity transfer function. The instrumentation of the harmonic drive with torque sensor is then described. This leads to a description of the control architecture which allows modulation of the sensitivity transfer function within the limits established by the closed-loop stability. A set of experiments on an active hand controller, powered by a DC motor coupled to an instrumented harmonic drive, is given to exhibit this method's limitations.

NASA Discipline Space Human Factors↗

What Supergranule Flow Models Tell Us About the Sun's Surface Shear Layer and Magnetic Flux Transport

Models of the photospheric flows due to supergranulation are generated using an evolving spectrum of vector spherical harmonics up to spherical harmonic wavenumber l~1500. Doppler velocity data generated from these models are compared to direct Doppler observations from SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI. The models are adjusted to match the observed spatial power spectrum as well as the wavenumber dependence of the cell lifetimes, differential rotation velocities, meridional flow velocities, and relative strength of radial vs. horizontal flows. The equatorial rotation rate as a function of wavelength matches the rotation rate as a function of depth as determined by global helioseismology. This leads to the conclusions that the cellular structures are anchored at depths equal to their widths, that the surface shear layer extends to at least 70 degrees latitude, and that the poleward meridional flow decreases in amplitude and reverses direction at the base of the surface shear layer (approx.35 Mm below the surface). Using the modeled flows to passively transport magnetic flux indicates that the observed differential rotation and meridional flow of the magnetic elements are directly related to the differential rotation and meridional flow of the convective pattern itself. The magnetic elements are transported by the evolving boundaries of the supergranule pattern (where the convective flows converge) and are unaffected by the weaker flows associated with the differential rotation or meridional flow of the photospheric plasma.

Hathaway, David↗

Characterization of Deficiencies in the Frequency Domain Forced Response Analysis Technique for Supersonic Turbine Bladed Disks

Turbine blades in rocket and jet engine turbomachinery experience enormous harmonic loading conditions. These loads result from the integer number of upstream and downstream stator vanes as well as the other turbine stages. Assessing the blade structural integrity is a complex task requiring an initial characterization of whether resonance is possible and then performing a forced response analysis if that condition is met. The standard technique for forced response analysis in rocket engines is to decompose a CFD-generated flow field into its harmonic components, and to then perform a frequency response analysis at the problematic natural frequencies. Recent CFD analysis and water-flow testing at NASA/MSFC, though, indicates that this technique may miss substantial harmonic and non-harmonic excitation sources that become present in complex flows. A substantial effort has been made to account for this denser spatial Fourier content in frequency response analysis (described in another paper by the author), but the question still remains whether the frequency response analysis itself is capable of capturing the excitation content sufficiently. Two studies comparing frequency response analysis with transient response analysis, therefore, of bladed-disks undergoing this complex flow environment have been performed. The first is of a bladed disk with each blade modeled by simple beam elements. Six loading cases were generated by varying a baseline harmonic excitation in different ways based upon cold-flow testing from Heritage Fuel Air Turbine Test. It was hypothesized that the randomness and other variation from the standard harmonic excitation would reduce the blade structural response, but the results showed little reduction. The second study was of a realistic model of a bladed-disk excited by the same CFD used in the J2X engine program. It was hypothesized that enforcing periodicity in the CFD (inherent in the frequency response technique) would overestimate the response. The results instead showed that the transient analysis results were up to 10% higher for "clean" nodal diameter excitations and six times larger for "messy" excitations, where substantial Fourier content around the main harmonic exists. Because the bulk of resonance problems are due to the "clean" excitations, a 10% underprediction is not necessarily a problem, especially since the average response in the transient is similar to the frequency response result, and so in a realistic finite life calculation, the life would be same. However, in the rare cases when the "messy" excitations harmonics are identified as the source of potential resonance concerns, this research does indicate that frequency response analysis is inadequate for accurate characterization of blade structural capability.

Brown, Andrew M.↗

Simultaneous Active Source Control of Blade Row Interaction Generated Discrete Tones

Unsteady blade row interactions in turbomachines generate discrete-frequency tones at blade pass frequency and its harmonics. Specific circumferential acoustic modes are generated. However, only certain of these modes propagate upstream and downstream to the far field, with these the discrete frequency noise received by an observer. This paper is directed at experimentally demonstrating the viability of active noise control utilizing active airfoils to generate propagating spatial modes that interact with and simultaneously cancel the upstream and downstream propagating acoustic modes. This is accomplished by means of fundamental experiments performed in the Purdue Annular Cascade Research Facility configured with 16 rotor blades and 18 stator vanes. At blade pass frequency, only the k(sub 0) = -2 spatial mode propagates. Significant simultaneous noise reductions are achieved for these upstream and downstream propagating spatial modes over a wide range of operating conditions.

Sawyer, Scott↗

Electromagnetic ion beam instabilities - Growth at cyclotron harmonic wave numbers

The linear theory of electromagnetic ion beam instabilities for arbitrary angles of propagation is studied, with an emphasis on the conditions necessary to generate unstable modes at low harmonics of the ion cyclotron resonance condition. The present results extend the analysis of Smith et al. (1985). That paper considered only the plasma parameters at a time during which harmonic wave modes were observed in the earth's foreshock. The parameters of that paper are used as the basis of parametric variations here to establish the range of beam properties which may give rise to observable harmonic spectra. It is shown that the growth rates of both left-hand and right-hand cyclotron harmonic instabilities are enhanced by an increase in the beam temperature anisotropy and/or the beam speed. Decreases in the beam density and/or the core-ion beta reduce the overall growth of the cyclotron harmonic instabilities but favor the growth of these modes over the growth of the nonresonant instability and thereby enhance the observability of the harmonics.

Smith, Charles W.↗

Measurements on wave propagation characteristics of spiraling electron beams

Dispersion characteristics of cyclotron-harmonic waves propagating on a neutralized spiraling electron beam immersed in a uniform axial magnetic field are studied experimentally. The experimental setup consisted of a vacuum system, an electron-gun corkscrew assembly which produces a 110-eV beam with the desired delta-function velocity distribution, a measurement region where a microwave signal is injected onto the beam to measure wavelengths, and a velocity analyzer for measuring the axial electron velocity. Results of wavelength measurements made at beam currents of 0.15, 1.0, and 2.0 mA are compared with calculated values, and undesirable effects produced by increasing the beam current are discussed. It is concluded that a suitable electron beam for studies of cyclotron-harmonic waves can be generated by the corkscrew device.

Singh, A.↗

Spread F bubbles - Nonlinear Rayleigh-Taylor mode in two dimensions

The paper discusses long-wavelength developed bottomside spread F which has been attributed to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The nonlinear saturation amplitude and the k spectrum of the inertia-dominated Rayleigh-Taylor instability is found in two directions: east-west and vertical. As in the collisional case (Chaturvedi and Ossakow, 1977), the dominant nonlinearity is found to be two-dimensional. It is found that the linearly most unstable modes, which are primarily horizontal, saturate by the nonlinear generation of vertical spatial harmonics. The harmonics are damped by diffusion or recombination. The resulting amplitude spectrum indicates that bubbles are vertically elongated in both inertial and collisional regimes.

Hudson, M. K.↗

Three-dimensional plasma measurements within the earth's magnetosphere

Magnetospheric measurements of three-dimensional velocity distributions for positive ions and electrons in the energy range from 1 eV to 45 keV are reported which were obtained with quadrispherical Lepedeas on ISEE 1 and 2. The instrumentation is briefly described, and an extension of energy-time spectrograms to three-dimensional summaries via the use of ancillary energy-spin phase spectrograms for multiple analyzers is outlined. Macroscopic plasma parameters for two crossings of the dayside magnetopause are presented, along with a preliminary evaluation of the kinematical motions of low-energy charged particles within the terrestrial ring current. Nonmonotonic electron velocity distributions presumably related to the generation of electron cyclotron harmonic instabilities are examined. The possible signature of diffusion driven by electrostatic waves is considered, and velocity distributions of positive ions in the dawn magnetotail are investigated.

Frank, L. A.↗

Standing hydromagnetic waves observed by ISEE 1 and 2 - Radial extent and harmonic

Direct measurements of the spatial extent of the resonant hydromagnetic waves associated with Pc 4 and 5 magnetic pulsations made by the closely spaced ISEE 1 and 2 satellites are presented together with ISEE 1 determinations of the harmonic of the resonant waves. The use of two satellites in similar orbits, which makes it possible to distinguish between spatial and temporal features, has shown the resonant region widths to extend over about 0.2 to 1.6 L shells for three events detected on the dayside between L = 4 and L = 7. The two events for which plasma density data was available occurred at plasma density gradients in the vicinity of the plasmapause. The standing wave harmonic was determined by the combination of two techniques: the comparison of the observed wave period with that predicted by standing wave theory, and the comparison of the phases of the observed wave electric and magnetic field. The two events analyzed are found to be second harmonic oscillations, suggesting internal generation in the magnetosphere by a bounce resonant mechanism.

Singer, H. J.↗

Interaction of finite-amplitude sound with air-filled porous materials

The propagation of high intensity sound waves through an air-filled porus material was studied. The material is assumed: (1) to be rigid, incompressible, and homogeneous, and (2) to be adequately described by two properties: resistivity r and porosity. The resulting wave equation is still nonlinear, however, because of the u sgn(u) term in the resistivity. The equation is solved in the frequency domain as an infinite set of coupled inhomogeneous Helmholtz equations, one for each harmonic. An approximate but analytical solution leads to predictions of excess attenuation, saturation, and phase speed reduction for the fundamental component. A more general numerical solution is used to calculate the propagation curves for the higher harmonics. The u sgn(u) nonlinearity produces a cubic distortion pattern; when the input signal is a pure tone, only odd harmonic distortion products are generated.

Nelson, D. A.↗

Transponder System for High-Frequency Ranging

Transponder system uses phase difference between transmitted and reflected high-frequency radio waves to measure distance to target. To suppress spurious measurements of reflections from objects near target at transmitted frequency and its harmonics, transponder at target generates return signal at half transmitted frequency. System useful in such applications as surveying, docking of ships, and short-range navigation.

Lichtenberg, C. L.↗

Propagation of quasiplane waves along an impedance boundary

The parabolic approximation for the acoustic equations of motion is applied to the study of the sound field generated by a time harmonic plane wave at grazing incidence to a finite impedance boundary. The resulting equations possess a solution which may be expressed in terms of the complementary error function. Asymptotic expansion of this solution for field points near the boundary provides results compatible with those for a point source on the boundary for both the soft boundary (finite impedance) and hard boundary (the limit in which the impedance becomes infinite) cases. The presence of a surface wave in the solution is also established.

Mcaninch, G. L.↗

Theoretical investigation of gas-surface interactions

A Dirac-Hartree-Fock code was developed for polyatomic molecules. The program uses integrals over symmetry-adapted real spherical harmonic Gaussian basis functions generated by a modification of the MOLECULE integrals program. A single Gaussian function is used for the nuclear charge distribution, to ensure proper boundary conditions at the nuclei. The Gaussian primitive functions are chosen to satisfy the kinetic balance condition. However, contracted functions which do not necessarily satisfy this condition may be used. The Fock matrix is constructed in the scalar basis and transformed to a jj-coupled 2-spinor basis before diagonalization. The program was tested against numerical results for atoms with a Gaussian nucleus and diatomic molecules with point nuclei. The energies converge on the numerical values as the basis set size is increased. Full use of molecular symmetry (restricted to D sub 2h and subgroups) is yet to be implemented.

Dyall, Kenneth G.↗

A gravity field comparison and analysis to support Magellan navigation

The orbit characteristics of Magellan are such that the spacecraft is extremely sensitive to gravity perturbations; therefore, the precision orbit determination required to construct the radar images is very dependent on accurate gravitational field modeling. As such, a comparison and analysis is presented of four global harmonic Venusian gravity fields generated by two-way S-band Doppler tracking data from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter in order to support the precise navigational requirements of the Magellan spacecraft. The four fields are: (1) one of degree and order 10 (a 10 x 10) from Mottinger et al. (1985), (2) an 18 x 18 from Bills et al. (1987), (3) a 21 x 21 from McNamee et al. (1990), and (4) a 36 x 36 from Smith et al. (1991). Least-square fits are done with each gravity field on 36 8-rev Magellan X-band data arcs, spaced at 10-deg longitude intervals, completely encircling Venus. Trajectory differences are also performed for two distinct cases, one where the gravity field modeling coincides, and the other where the gravity fields are very different. Although all of the above fields are found to model Venus gravity fairly well, the results show that there is still much room for improvement in Venus gravity modeling.

Kronschnabl, G. R.↗

Single-Barrier-Varactor 200-GHz Tripler

Single-barrier varactor in crossed waveguide serves as experimental frequency-tripling device with output at frequencies ranging from 186 to 207 GHz. Varactor has symmetrical capacitance-vs.-voltage characteristic and antisymmetrical dc current-vs.-voltage characteristic. As result, generates only odd-harmonic currents when radio-frequency voltage applied at zero dc bias.

Choudhury, Debabani↗