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At least 253 records · Page 14

Experimental and Computational Characterization of a Modified Sioutas Cascade Impactor for Respirable Radioactive Aerosols

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is collecting and characterizing aerosols released when spent nuclear fuel (SNF) rods are fractured in bending. An aerosol collection system was designed and tested to collect respirable sized (<10 μm aerodynamic diameter [AED]) particulates inside a hot cell facility. The setup is a modified version of the commercially available Sioutas cascade impactor, to which additional stages were added to expand the aerosol collection range from 2.5 to ~15 μm AED. To accommodate the additional stages and specific test conditions, the operating flow rate for aerosol collection was reduced, and testing was conducted by using pressure drop measurements, surrogate dust collection, and particle size characterization. The fluid flow distribution within the cascade and its stages was simulated in STAR-CCM+, and the stage-wise pressure drops obtained using the computational fluid dynamics model were then compared to experimental data. Lagrangian particle simulations were also performed, and stage-wise collection statistics were obtained from the simulation for comparison with the experimental data obtained using SNF-surrogate dust particles. The results provide valuable insights into the stage-wise particle collection characteristics of the modified cascade impactor and can also be used to improve the prediction accuracy of the manufacturer-determined analytical correlations.

aerosol modeling↗

Three-dimensional position and shape of the bow shock and their variation with Alfvenic, sonic and magnetosonic Mach numbers and interplanetary magnetic field orientation

A large set of bow shock crossings (i.e., 1392) observed by 17 spacecraft has been used to explore the three-dimensional shape and location of the Earth's bow shock and its dependence on solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. This study investigates deviations from gas dynamic flow models associated with the magnetic terms in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations. Empirical models predicting the statistical position and shape of the bow shock for arbitrary values of the solar wind pressure, IMF, and Alfvenic Mach number (M(sub A)) have been derived. The resulting data set has been used to fit three-dimensional bow shock surfaces and to explore the variations in these surfaces with sonic (M(sub S)), Alfvenic (M(sub A)) and magnetosonic (M(sub MS)) Mach numbers. Analysis reveals that among the three Mach numbers, M(sub A) provides the best ordering of the least square bow shock curves. The subsolar shock is observed to move Earthward while the flanks flare outward in response to decreasing M(sub A); the net change represents a 6-10% effect. Variations due to changes in the IMF orientation were investigated by rotating the crossings into geocentric interplanetary medium coordinates. Past studies have suggested that the north-south extent of the bow shock surface exceeds the east-west dimension due to asymmetries in the fast mode Mach cone. This study confirms such a north-south versus east-west asymmetry and quantifies its variation with M(sub S), M(sub A), M(sub MS), and IMF orientation. A 2-7% effect is measured, with the asymmetry being more pronounced at low Mach numbers. Combining the bow shock models with the magnetopause model of Roelof and Sibeck (1993), variations in the magnetosheath thickness at different local times are explored. The ratio of the bow shock size to the magnetopause size at the subpolar point is found to be 1.46; at dawn and dusk, the ratios are found to be 1.89 and 1.93, respectively. The subsolar magnetosheath thickness is used to derive the polytropic index gamma according to the empirical relation of Spreiter et al. (1966). The resulting gamma = 2.3 suggests the empirical formula is inadequate to describe the MHD interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere.

Peredo, M.↗

Turbulent Diffusivities for Momentum, Heat, Salt and Passive Scalars

A program began ten years ago to build a turbulence model to describe high Reynolds numbers flows. Specifically, the aim was to devise a model that would satisfy two basic conditions: reproduce available turbulence data (laboratory, numerical simulations, etc.) concerning shear driven flows, buoyancy driven flows, 2D turbulence, freely decaying turbulence etc., and yet be manageable so as to be used, for example, in General Circulation Models (GCM'S). The model was presented in a series of papers that have appeared in Physics of Fluids since 1996. A total of about 80 turbulence statistics were reproduced. The model has no adjustable parameters. The next step was to apply the model to construct the vertical diffusities K for moment K(sub m), temperature K(sub h), salt K(sub s). and passive scalars K(sub c). First, we took K(sub s) = K(sub h) and tested the model using the GFDL ocean model. The results for the profiles of T and S vs. depth are indistinguishable from those derived using the latest model, the KPP model by the NCAR group. Presently, we are running the same Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) code relaxing the assumptive K(sub s) = K(sub h). Indeed, the turbulence model yields a salt diffusivity that depends on Ri and R rho (= Beta delta S/delta z/alpha delta T/delta z) in such a way that K(sub s) may be quite different from K(sub h). Salt fingers and double diffusivity laboratory data are reproduced. Results from the ocean model will be available shortly. Finally, we are trying to derive the horizontal diffusivities with the goal of providing a physically acceptable representation of mesoscale eddies. The recently suggested GMW parameterization has improved several O-GCM results and the goal here is to try to derive/justify it from a turbulence model and/or propose improvements/modifications. Theoretical work is in progress.

Canuto, V. M.↗

Performance Data Gathering and Representation from Fixed-Size Statistical Data

The two commonly-used performance data types in the super-computing community, statistics and event traces, are discussed and compared. Statistical data are much more compact but lack the probative power event traces offer. Event traces, on the other hand, are unbounded and can easily fill up the entire file system during program execution. In this paper, we propose an innovative methodology for performance data gathering and representation that offers a middle ground. Two basic ideas are employed: the use of averages to replace recording data for each instance and 'formulae' to represent sequences associated with communication and control flow. The user can trade off tracing overhead, trace data size with data quality incrementally. In other words, the user will be able to limit the amount of trace data collected and, at the same time, carry out some of the analysis event traces offer using space-time views. With the help of a few simple examples, we illustrate the use of these techniques in performance tuning and compare the quality of the traces we collected with event traces. We found that the trace files thus obtained are, indeed, small, bounded and predictable before program execution, and that the quality of the space-time views generated from these statistical data are excellent. Furthermore, experimental results showed that the formulae proposed were able to capture all the sequences associated with 11 of the 15 applications tested. The performance of the formulae can be incrementally improved by allocating more memory at runtime to learn longer sequences.

Yan, Jerry C.↗

The Effects of Gravity on Wrinkled Laminar Flames

The effects of gravity are significant to the dynamics of idealized unconfined open premixed flames. Moderate to low turbulence Reynolds number flames, i.e., wrinkled laminar flames, of various unconfined geometries have been used extensively for investigating fundamental processes of turbulent flame propagation and to validate theoretical models. Without the wall constraints, the flames are free to expand and interact with surrounding ambient air. The flow field in which the flame exists is determined by a coupling of burner geometry, flame orientation and the gravity field. These complex interactions raise serious questions regarding the validity of comparing the experimental data of open flames with current theoretical and numerical models that do not include the effects of gravity nor effects of the larger aerodynamic flowfield. Therefore, studies of wrinkled laminar flame in microgravity are needed for a better understanding of the role of gravity on flame characteristics such as the orientation, mean aerodynamics stretch, flame wrinkle size and burning rate. Our approach to characterize and quantify turbulent flame structures under microgravity is to exploit qualitative and quantitative flow visualization techniques coupled with video recording and computer controlled image analysis technologies. The experiments will be carried out in the 2.2 second drop tower at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The longest time scales of typical wrinkled laminar flames in the geometries considered here are in the order of 10 msec. Hence, the duration of the drop is sufficient to obtain the amount of statistical data necessary for characterize turbulent flame structures.

Kostiuk, Larry W.↗

Future ATM Concepts Evaluation Tool (FACET) Interface Control Document

This Interface Control Document (ICD) documents the airspace adaptation and air traffic inputs of NASA's Future ATM Concepts and Evaluation Tool (FACET). Its intended audience is the project manager, project team, development team, and stakeholders interested in interfacing with the system. FACET equips Air Traffic Management (ATM) researchers and service providers with a way to explore, develop and evaluate advanced air transportation concepts before they are field-tested and eventually deployed. FACET is a flexible software tool that is capable of quickly generating and analyzing thousands of aircraft trajectories. It provides researchers with a simulation environment for preliminary testing of advanced ATM concepts. Using aircraft performance profiles, airspace models, weather data, and flight schedules, the tool models trajectories for the climb, cruise, and descent phases of flight for each type of aircraft. An advanced graphical interface displays traffic patterns in two and three dimensions, under various current and projected conditions for specific airspace regions or over the entire continental United States. The system is able to simulate a full day's dynamic national airspace system (NAS) operations, model system uncertainty, measure the impact of different decision-makers in the NAS, and provide analysis of the results in graphical form, including sector, airport, fix, and airway usage statistics. NASA researchers test and analyze the system-wide impact of new traffic flow management algorithms under anticipated air traffic growth projections on the nation's air traffic system. In addition to modeling the airspace system for NASA research, FACET has also successfully transitioned into a valuable tool for operational use. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) traffic flow managers and commercial airline dispatchers have used FACET technology for real-time operations planning. FACET integrates live air traffic data from FAA radar systems and weather data from the National Weather Service to summarize NAS performance. This information allows system operators to reroute flights around congested airspace and severe weather to maintain safety and minimize delay. FACET also supports the planning and post-operational evaluation of reroute strategies at the national level to maximize system efficiency. For the commercial airline passenger, strategic planning with FACET can result in fewer flight delays and cancellations. The performance capabilities of FACET are largely due to its architecture, which strikes a balance between flexibility and fidelity. FACET is capable of modeling the airspace operations for the continental United States, processing thousands of aircraft on a single computer. FACET was written in Java and C, enabling the portability of its software to a variety of operating systems. In addition, FACET was designed with a modular software architecture to facilitate rapid prototyping of diverse ATM concepts. Several advanced ATM concepts have already been implemented in FACET, including aircraft self-separation, prediction of aircraft demand and sector congestion, system-wide impact assessment of traffic flow management constraints, and wind-optimal routing.

FACET↗

The turbulence structure in the plane two-stream mixing layer.

Experimental data on the turbulent structure of free shear layers is examined in incompressible air streams. Both single-point and two-point data are used to examine the large coherent structure of the mixing layer. The use of spatial scales to define this large structure is explored. Application of these scales to modeling of free shear layers to show the similarity of such flows is demonstrated. Comparison of the statistical structure with observations from shadowgraph displays of plane shear layer flows shows good qualitative and quantitative agreement.

Jones, B. G.↗

Definition of the unsteady vortex flow over a wing/body configuration

A problem of current interest in computational aerodynamics is the prediction of unsteady vortex flows over aircraft at high angles of attack. A six-month experimental effort was conducted at the John H. Harper Wind Tunnel to acquire qualitative and quantitative information on the unsteady vortex flow over a generic wing-body configuration at high angles of attack. A double-delta flat-plate wing with beveled edges was combined with a slender sharp-nosed body-of-revolution fuselage to form the generic configuration. This configuration produces a strong attached leading edge vortex on the wing, as well as sharply-peaked flow velocity spectra above the wing. While it thus produces flows with several well-defined features of current interest, the model was designed for efficiency of representation in computational codes. A moderate number of surface pressure ports and two unsteady pressure sensors were used to study the pressure distribution over the wing and body surface at high angles of attack; the unsteady pressure sensing did not succeed because of inadequate signal-to-noise ratio. A pulsed copper vapor laser sheet was used to visualize the vortex flow over the model, and vortex trajectories, burst locations, mutual induction of vortex systems from the forebody, strake, and wing, were quantified. Laser Doppler velocimetry was used to quantify all 3 components of the time-average velocity in 3 data planes perpendicular to the freestream direction. Statistics of the instantaneous velocity were used to study intermittency and fluctuation intensity. Hot-film anemometry was used to study the fluctuation energy content in the velocity field, and the spectra of these fluctuations. In addition, a successful attempt was made to measure velocity spectra, component by component, using laser velocimetry, and these were compared with spectra measured by hot-film anemometry at several locations.

Liou, S. G.↗

Effect of Stagger on the Vibroacoustic Loads from Clustered Rockets

The effect of stagger startup on the vibro-acoustic loads that form during the end- effects-regime of clustered rockets is studied using both full-scale (hot-gas) and laboratory scale (cold gas) data. Both configurations comprise three nozzles with thrust optimized parabolic contours that undergo free shock separated flow and restricted shock separated flow as well as an end-effects regime prior to flowing full. Acoustic pressure waveforms recorded at the base of the nozzle clusters are analyzed using various statistical metrics as well as time-frequency analysis. The findings reveal a significant reduction in end- effects-regime loads when engine ignition is staggered. However, regardless of stagger, both the skewness and kurtosis of the acoustic pressure time derivative elevate to the same levels during the end-effects-regime event thereby demonstrating the intermittence and impulsiveness of the acoustic waveforms that form during engine startup.

Rojo, Raymundo↗

Statistical Study of Energy Dissipation in Magnetic Structures During Turbulent Reconnection in the Earth's Magnetotail

Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous plasma phenomenon that plays a critical role in particle heating and energization. During reconnection, the topology of magnetic field rearranges, depositing energy into the surrounding plasma through bulk flow, thermal heating, or non-thermal particle acceleration. While the pathways of this transformation from magnetic energy into kinetic have been studied extensively in recent years through theoretical or case-by-case observations, comprehensive statistical studies remain limited. In this paper, we present a statistical investigation using data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, and detail the particle energization mechanisms in magnetic structures found near reconnecting regions in turbulent Earth's magnetotail. We find that electrons with motion perpendicular to the magnetic field dominate $\vec{j}$ ⋅ $\vec{E}$ dissipation. In contrast to the conventional picture of unidirectional energy transfer to particles by laminar two-dimensional (2D) reconnection, we find that energy exchange within magnetic structures during turbulent reconnection tends to be bidirectional with only a small positive bias from electromagnetic fields to particles. Specific electron energization mechanisms are quantified, including those due to parallel electric field, Fermi energization from curvature drift, betatron heating from magnetic field inhomogeneity, and polarization drift.

Wang, Rachel [Princeton University, NJ (United Sta↗

Three Dimensional CFD Analysis of the GTX Combustor

The annular combustor geometry of a combined-cycle engine has been analyzed with three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics. Both subsonic combustion and supersonic combustion flowfields have been simulated. The subsonic combustion analysis was executed in conjunction with a direct-connect test rig. Two cold-flow and one hot-flow results are presented. The simulations compare favorably with the test data for the two cold flow calculations; the hot-flow data was not yet available. The hot-flow simulation indicates that the conventional ejector-ramjet cycle would not provide adequate mixing at the conditions tested. The supersonic combustion ramjet flowfield was simulated with frozen chemistry model. A five-parameter test matrix was specified, according to statistical design-of-experiments theory. Twenty-seven separate simulations were used to assemble surrogate models for combustor mixing efficiency and total pressure recovery. ScramJet injector design parameters (injector angle, location, and fuel split) as well as mission variables (total fuel massflow and freestream Mach number) were included in the analysis. A promising injector design has been identified that provides good mixing characteristics with low total pressure losses. The surrogate models can be used to develop performance maps of different injector designs. Several complex three-way variable interactions appear within the dataset that are not adequately resolved with the current statistical analysis.

Steffen, C. J., Jr.↗

Three Dimensional CFD Analysis of the GTX Combustor

The annular combustor geometry of a combined-cycle engine has been analyzed with three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics. Both subsonic combustion and supersonic combustion flowfields have been simulated. The subsonic combustion analysis was executed in conjunction with a direct-connect test rig. Two cold-flow and one hot-flow results are presented. The simulations compare favorably with the test data for the two cold flow calculations; the hot-flow data was not yet available. The hot-flow simulation Indicates that the conventional ejector-ramjet cycle would not provide adequate mixing at the conditions tested. The supersonic combustion ramjet flowfield was simulated with frozen chemistry model. A five-parameter test matrix was specified, according to statistical design-of-experiments theory. Twenty-seven separate simulations were used to assemble surrogate models for combustor mixing efficiency and total pressure recovery. Scramjet injector design parameters (injector angle, location, and fuel split) as well as mission variables (total fuel mass flow and freestream Mach number) were included in the analysis. A promising injector design has been identified that provides good mixing characteristics with low total pressure losses. The surrogate models can be used to develop performance maps of different injector designs. Several complex three-way variable interactions appear within the dataset that are not adequately resolved with the current statistical analysis.

Steffen, C. J., Jr.↗

Analyzing Tropical Waves Using the Parallel Ensemble Empirical Model Decomposition Method: Preliminary Results from Hurricane Sandy

In this study, we discuss the performance of the parallel ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EMD) in the analysis of tropical waves that are associated with tropical cyclone (TC) formation. To efficiently analyze high-resolution, global, multiple-dimensional data sets, we first implement multilevel parallelism into the ensemble EMD (EEMD) and obtain a parallel speedup of 720 using 200 eight-core processors. We then apply the parallel EEMD (PEEMD) to extract the intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) from preselected data sets that represent (1) idealized tropical waves and (2) large-scale environmental flows associated with Hurricane Sandy (2012). Results indicate that the PEEMD is efficient and effective in revealing the major wave characteristics of the data, such as wavelengths and periods, by sifting out the dominant (wave) components. This approach has a potential for hurricane climate study by examining the statistical relationship between tropical waves and TC formation.

PEEMD↗

DRDMannTurb: A Python package for scalable, data-driven synthetic turbulence

Synthetic turbulence models (STMs) are used in wind engineering to generate realistic flow fields and are employed as inputs to industrial wind simulations. Examples include prescribing inlet conditions in large eddy simulations that model loads on wind turbines and tall buildings. We are interested in STMs capable of generating fluctuations based on prescribed second-moment statistics since such models can simulate environmental conditions that closely resemble on-site observations. To this end, the widely used Mann model (see Mann, 1994, 1998) is the inspiration for DRDMannTurb. The Mann model is described by three physical parameters: a magnitude parameter influencing the global variance of the wind field and corresponding to the Kolmogorov constant multiplied by the rate of viscous dissipation of the turbulent kinetic energy to the two-thirds, αϵ 2/3 , a turbulence length scale parameter L, and a nondimensional parameter Γ related to the lifetime of the eddies. A number of studies, as well as international standards (e.g., those by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)), include recommended values for these three parameters with the goal of standardizing wind simulations according to observed energy spectra. Yet, having only three parameters, the Mann model faces limitations in accurately representing the diversity of observable spectra. This Python package enables users to extend the Mann model and more accurately fit field measurements through flexible neural network models of the eddy lifetime function. Following Keith et al. (2021), we refer to this class of models as Deep Rapid Distortion (DRD) models. DRDMannTurb also includes a general module implementing an efficient method for synthetic turbulence generation based on a domain decomposition technique. This technique is also described in Keith et al. (2021).

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Advanced Laboratory and Field Arrays (ALFA)/Lab Collaboration Project (LCP) for Marine Energy (Final Scientific/Technical Report)

The objective of the Advanced Laboratory and Field Arrays (ALFA) project was to reduce the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of Marine and Hydrokinetic (MHK) energy by leveraging research, development, and testing capabilities at Oregon State University, University of Washington, and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. ALFA is a project within the Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC; formerly NNMREC), a multi-institution entity with a diverse funding base that focuses on research and development for marine renewables. The ALFA project aimed to accelerate the development of next-generation arrays of wave energy conversion (WEC) and tidal energy conversion (TEC) devices through a suite of field-focused R&D activities spanning a broad range of strategic opportunity areas identified in the Funding Opportunity Announcement: • Device and/or array operation and maintenance (O&M) logistics development; • High-fidelity resource characterization and/or modeling technique development and validation; • Array-specific component technology development (e.g. moorings and foundations, transmission, and other offshore grid components); • Array performance testing and evaluation; and • Novel cost-effective environmental monitoring techniques and instrumentation testing and evaluation. The objective of the Lab Collaboration Project (LCP) was to accelerate the development of next-generation marine energy conversion systems. The LCP aimed to achieve these project objectives in collaboration with the national laboratories by: • Developing concept generation and assessment tools; • Improving access to existing testing resources; • Validating collision risk models between fish and turbines; and • Advancing analysis and simulation capabilities for wave-WEC interactions and PTO analysis in nonlinear ocean waves. The ALFA portion of the project was comprised of six overarching technical tasks: • Task 1: Debris Modeling, Detection and Mitigation; • Task 2: Autonomous Monitoring & Intervention; • Task 3: Resource Characterization for Extreme Conditions; • Task 4: Robust Models for Design of Offshore Anchoring and Mooring Systems; • Task 5: Performance Enhancement for Marine Energy Converter (MEC) Arrays; and • Task 6: Evaluating Sampling Techniques for MHK Biological Monitoring. The LCP was divided into four overarching technical tasks: • Task 7: Project Management and Reporting • Task 8: Novel Design and Assessment Methodologies for Wave Energy Converter Design (Wave- SPARC) • Task 9: Testing Access for Commercial Marine Renewable Energy Technology Developers • Task 10: Quantifying Collision Risk for Fish and Turbines • Task 11: Nonlinear Ocean Waves and PTO Control Strategy Each ALFA/LCP task listed above functioned as a separate and discreet project. A final Technical Report was written for each individual task and these reports were uploaded to OSTI, after receiving DOE approval. The following document is a compilation of each of these final, approved reports arranged as individual chapters.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Fluid Physics Under a Stochastic Acceleration Field

The research summarized in this report has involved a combined theoretical and computational study of fluid flow that results from the random acceleration environment present onboard space orbiters, also known as g-jitter. We have focused on a statistical description of the observed g-jitter, on the flows that such an acceleration field can induce in a number of experimental configurations of interest, and on extending previously developed methodology to boundary layer flows. Narrow band noise has been shown to describe many of the features of acceleration data collected during space missions. The scale of baroclinically induced flows when the driving acceleration is random is not given by the Rayleigh number. Spatially uniform g-jitter induces additional hydrodynamic forces among suspended particles in incompressible fluids. Stochastic modulation of the control parameter shifts the location of the onset of an oscillatory instability. Random vibration of solid boundaries leads to separation of boundary layers. Steady streaming ahead of a modulated solid-melt interface enhances solute transport, and modifies the stability boundaries of a planar front.

Vinals, Jorge↗

Laser Doppler, velocimeter system for turbine stator cascade studies and analysis of statistical biasing errors

A laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) built for use in the Lewis Research Center's turbine stator cascade facilities is described. The signal processing and self contained data processing are based on a computing counter. A procedure is given for mode matching the laser to the probe volume. An analysis is presented of biasing errors that were observed in turbulent flow when the mean flow was not normal to the fringes.

Seasholtz, R. G.↗

General purpose simulation system of the data management system for Space Shuttle mission 18

A simulation program for the flow of data through the Data Management System of Spacelab and Space Shuttle was presented. The science, engineering, command and guidance, navigation and control data were included. The programming language used was General Purpose Simulation System V (OS). The science and engineering data flow was modeled from its origin at the experiments and subsystems to transmission from Space Shuttle. Command data flow was modeled from the point of reception onboard and from the CDMS Control Panel to the experiments and subsystems. The GN&C data flow model handled data between the General Purpose Computer and the experiments and subsystems. Mission 18 was the particular flight chosen for simulation. The general structure of the program is presented, followed by a user's manual. Input data required to make runs are discussed followed by identification of the output statistics. The appendices contain a detailed model configuration, program listing and results.

Bengtson, N. M.↗