Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “derivative discontinuity”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 271 records · Page 15
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2010

Interlaminar Stresses by Refined Beam Theories and the Sinc Method Based on Interpolation of Highest Derivative

Computation of interlaminar stresses from the higher-order shear and normal deformable beam theory and the refined zigzag theory was performed using the Sinc method based on Interpolation of Highest Derivative. The Sinc method based on Interpolation of Highest Derivative was proposed as an efficient method for determining through-the-thickness variations of interlaminar stresses from one- and two-dimensional analysis by integration of the equilibrium equations of three-dimensional elasticity. However, the use of traditional equivalent single layer theories often results in inaccuracies near the boundaries and when the lamina have extremely large differences in material properties. Interlaminar stresses in symmetric cross-ply laminated beams were obtained by solving the higher-order shear and normal deformable beam theory and the refined zigzag theory with the Sinc method based on Interpolation of Highest Derivative. Interlaminar stresses and bending stresses from the present approach were compared with a detailed finite element solution obtained by ABAQUS/Standard. The results illustrate the ease with which the Sinc method based on Interpolation of Highest Derivative can be used to obtain the through-the-thickness distributions of interlaminar stresses from the beam theories. Moreover, the results indicate that the refined zigzag theory is a substantial improvement over the Timoshenko beam theory due to the piecewise continuous displacement field which more accurately represents interlaminar discontinuities in the strain field. The higher-order shear and normal deformable beam theory more accurately captures the interlaminar stresses at the ends of the beam because it allows transverse normal strain. However, the continuous nature of the displacement field requires a large number of monomial terms before the interlaminar stresses are computed as accurately as the refined zigzag theory.

Slemp, Wesley C. H.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Numerical and Analytical Solutions of Hypersonic Interactions Involving Surface Property Discontinuities

The local viscous-inviscid interaction field generated by a wall temperature jump on a flat plate in supersonic flow and on the windside of a Reusable Launch Vehicle in hypersonic flow is studied in detail by both a Navier-Stokes numerical code and an analytical triple-deck model. Treatment of the rapid heat transfer changes both upstream and downstream of the jump is included. Closed form relationships derived from the triple-deck theory are presented. The analytically predicted pressure and heating variations including upstream influence are found to be in generally good agreement with the Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) predictions. These analyses not only clarify the interactive physics involved but also are useful in preliminary design of thermal protection systems and as an insertable module to improve CFD code efficiency when applied to such small-scale interaction problems. The analyses only require conditions at the wall and boundary-layer edge which are easily extracted from a baseline, constant wall temperature, CFD solution.

Gnoffo, Peter A.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Thermal equation of state of ice-VII revisited by single-crystal X-ray diffraction

Abstract Ice-VII is a high-pressure polymorph of H2O ice and an important mineral widely present in many planetary environments, such as in the interiors of large icy planetary bodies, within some cold subducted slabs, and in diamonds of deep origin as mineral inclusions. However, its stability at high pressures and high temperatures and thermoelastic properties are still under debate. In this study, we synthesized ice-VII single crystals in externally heated diamond-anvil cells and conducted single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments up to 78 GPa and 1000 K to revisit the high-pressure and high-temperature phase stability and thermoelastic properties of ice-VII. No obvious unit-cell volume discontinuity or strain anomaly of the high-pressure ice was observed up to the highest achieved pressures and temperatures. The volume-pressure-temperature data were fitted to a high-temperature Birch-Murnaghan equation of state formalism, yielding bulk modulus KT0 = 21.0(4) GPa, its first pressure derivative KT0′ = 4.45(6), dK/dT = –0.009(4) GPa/K, and thermal expansion relation αT = 15(5) × 10–5 + 15(8) × 10–8 × (T – 300) K–1. The determined phase stability and thermoelastic properties of ice-VII can be used to model the inner structure of icy cosmic bodies. Combined with the thermoelastic properties of diamonds, we can reconstruct the isomeke P-T paths of ice-VII inclusions in diamond from depth, offering clues on the water-rich regions in Earth’s deep mantle and the formation environments of those diamonds.

Geochemistry & Geophysics↗
NASA NTRS1973

The velocity structure of the lunar crust.

Seismic refraction data, obtained at the Apollo 14 and 16 sites, when combined with other lunar seismic data, allow a compressional wave velocity profile of the lunar near-surface and crust to be derived. The regolith, although variable in thickness over the lunar surface, possesses surprisingly similar seismic properties. Underlying the regolith at both the Apollo 14 Fra Mauro site and the Apollo 16 Descartes site is low-velocity brecciated material or impact derived debris. Key features of the lunar seismic velocity profile are: (1) velocity increases from 100 to 300 m/sec in the upper 100 m to about 4 km/sec at 5 km depth, (2) a more gradual increase from about 4 km/sec to about 6 km/sec at 25 km depth,(3) a discontinuity at a depth of 25 km, and (4) a constant value of about 7 km/sec at depths from 25 km to about 60 km.

Kovach, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1999

MOLA-derived Roughness Data Used to Predict Surface Scattering for Mars Subsurface Radar Sounding

The Mars Express orbiter, to be launched by the European Space Agency in 2003, will carry a low-frequency radar sounding instrument, MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding). The primary goal of MARSIS is to map the distribution of water, both solid and (if present) liquid, in the upper several km of the martian crust. Detecting discontinuities in the crust, such as an ice-water transition, presents many challenges for a Mars orbital radar sounder. One challenge that must be overcome is the presence of radar scattering (echoes) from the surface of Mars, expected to be detected by the sounder antennas at the same time as any echoes aris-ing from subsurface interfaces. As the transmitted spherical wavefront spreads within the crust of Mars,. it also interacts with surface topography at off-nadir positions, creating a "clutter" signal that can mask the subsurface echoes. The MARSIS instrument will utilize Doppler filtering to limit the off-nadir clutter in the along-track direction, and a nadir-null secondary antenna to identify strong off-nadir clutter from the cross-track direction. To evaluate the effects of off-nadir surface clutter and the capability of these schemes to reduce the clutter, it is necessary to predict the range of scattering behavior that may be expected from martian surface topography. In this paper, we utilize Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data from the current Mars Global Surveyor mission to characterize the topographic roughness of a variety of martian terrain types, at scales relevant to the MARSIS clutter problem. Segments of MOLA altimetry profiles are reduced to the topographic parameters rms slope and fractal dimension, which then are used as inputs to a near-nadir radar scattering model to predict the strength of the clutter signal. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Plaut, J. J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Airborne flux measurements of ammonia over the southern Great Plains using chemical ionization mass spectrometry

Abstract. Ammonia (NH3) is an abundant trace gas in the atmosphere and an important player in atmospheric chemistry, aerosol formation and the atmosphere–surface exchange of nitrogen. The accurate determination of NH3 emission rates remains a challenge, partly due to the propensity of NH3 to interact with instrument surfaces, leading to high detection limits and slow response times. In this paper, we present a new method for quantifying ambient NH3, using chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) with deuterated benzene cations as reagents. The setup aimed at limiting sample–surface interactions and achieved a 1σ precision of 10–20 pptv and an immediate 1/e response rate of < 0.4 s, which compares favorably to the existing state of the art. The sensitivity exhibited an inverse humidity dependence, in particular in relatively dry conditions. Background of up to 10 % of the total signal required consideration as well, as it responded on the order of a few minutes. To showcase the method's capabilities, we quantified NH3 mixing ratios from measurements obtained during deployment on a Gulfstream I aircraft during the HI-SCALE (Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems) field campaign in rural Oklahoma during May 2016. Typical mixing ratios were 1–10 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) for the boundary layer and 0.1–1 ppbv in the lower free troposphere. Sharp plumes of up to tens of ppbv of NH3 were encountered as well. We identified two of their sources as a large fertilizer plant and a cattle farm, and our mixing ratio measurements yielded upper bounds of 350 ± 50 and 0.6 kg NH3 h−1 for their respective momentary source rates. The fast response of the CIMS also allowed us to derive vertical NH3 fluxes within the turbulent boundary layer via eddy covariance, for which we chiefly used the continuous wavelet transform technique. As expected for a region dominated by agriculture, we observed predominantly upward fluxes, implying net NH3 emissions from the surface. The corresponding analysis focused on the most suitable flight, which contained two straight-and-level legs at ∼ 300 m above ground. We derived NH3 fluxes between 1 and 11 mol km−2 h−1 for these legs, at an effective spatial resolution of 1–2 km. The analysis demonstrated how flux measurements benefit from suitably arranged flight tracks with sufficiently long straight-and-level legs, and it explores the detrimental effect of measurement discontinuities. Following flux footprint estimations, comparison to the NH3 area emissions inventory provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency indicated overall agreement but also the absence of some sources, for instance the identified cattle farm. Our study concludes that high-precision CIMS measurements are a powerful tool for in situ measurements of ambient NH3 mixing ratios, and even allow for the airborne mapping of the air–surface exchange of NH3.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Airborne flux measurements of ammonia over the Southern Great Plains using chemical ionization mass spectrometry

Ammonia (NH 3 ) is an abundant trace gas in the atmosphere and an important player in atmospheric chemistry, aerosol formation and the atmosphere-surface exchange of nitrogen. It is recognized as a major source of aerosol pollution, and it may limit the formation of cloud nuclei in remote or cold parts of the atmosphere. For soil and plants, NH 3 -mediated nitrogen can act as a harmful pollutant or as a desirable nutrient, mostly in natural and agricultural settings, respectively. Agriculture is also the main source of atmospheric NH 3 via volatilization from fertilizers and manure processing in livestock farming. The accurate determination of NH 3 emission rates remains a challenge, partly due to the propensity of NH 3 to interact with instrument surfaces leading to high detection limits and slow response times. In this paper, we present a new method for quantifying ambient NH 3 , using chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) with deuterated benzene cations as reagents. The setup aimed at limiting sample-surface interactions and achieved a 1-σ precision of 10–20 pptv and an immediate 1/e response rate < 0.4 s, which compares favorably to the existing state of the art. The sensitivity exhibited an inverse humidity dependence, in particular in relatively dry conditions. Background of up to 10 % of the total signal required consideration as well, as it responded on the order of a few minutes. To showcase the method’s capabilities, we quantified NH3 mixing ratios from measurements obtained during deployment on a Gulfstream I aircraft during the HI-SCALE (Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols and Land Ecosystems) field campaign in rural Oklahoma during May 2016. Typical mixing ratios were 1–10 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) for the boundary layer and 0.1–1 ppbv in the lower free troposphere. Sharp plumes of up to 10s of ppbv of NH3 were encountered as well. We identified two of their sources as a large fertilizer plant and a cattle farm, and our mixing ratio measurements yielded upper bounds of 350 ± 50 and 0.6 kg NH 3 h –1 for their respective momentary source rates. The fast response of the CIMS also allowed us to derive vertical NH 3 fluxes within the turbulent boundary layer via eddy covariance, for which we chiefly used the continuous wavelet transform technique. As expected for a region dominated by agriculture, we observed predominantly upward fluxes, implying net NH 3 emissions from surface. The corresponding analysis focused on the most suitable flight, which contained two straight-and-level legs at ~300 m above ground. We derived NH 3 fluxes between –4 and 18 mol km –2 h –1 for these legs, at an effective spatial resolution of 1–2 km. The analysis demonstrated how flux measurements benefit from suitably arranged flight tracks with sufficiently long straight-and-level legs, and explores the detrimental effect of measurement discontinuities. Following flux footprint estimations, comparison to the NH 3 area emissions inventory provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency indicated overall agreement, but also the absence of some sources, for instance the identified cattle farm. Our study concludes that high-precision CIMS measurements are a powerful tool for in-situ measurements of ambient NH 3 mixing ratios, and even allow for the airborne mapping of the air-surface exchange of NH 3 .

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1972

Investigation of low-Z Coster-Kronig transitions by means of Auger and photoelectron spectroscopy

Experimental intensity ratios of Auger transitions for Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn as well as the relative L sub 2 and L sub 3 level widths of Cu and Zn, derived from their photoelectron spectra, are presented. Evidence is presented that a great deal of vacancy reorganization took place following photoionization and prior to Auger emission. These reorganizations are assumed to be due to Coster-Kronig transitions f sub 23. These results are compared with theoretical calculations and agree with predicted discontinuity at Z = 30 where f sub 23 transitions become energetically impossible.

Yin, L. I.↗
NASA NTRS1974

A general form of the co-moving tensorial derivative

A general expression for the co-moving derivative of a tensor is derived. A variable describing the coordinate velocity field is introduced. Time dependency of the metric elements is expressed in terms of this velocity field. The resulting description of motion is one of which the Eulerian and Lagrangian viewpoints are special cases. This general description is useful in problems involving moving boundaries or discontinuities.

Huckins, E. K., III↗
NASA NTRS1991

The L sub 1 finite element method for pure convection problems

The least squares (L sub 2) finite element method is introduced for 2-D steady state pure convection problems with smooth solutions. It is proven that the L sub 2 method has the same stability estimate as the original equation, i.e., the L sub 2 method has better control of the streamline derivative. Numerical convergence rates are given to show that the L sub 2 method is almost optimal. This L sub 2 method was then used as a framework to develop an iteratively reweighted L sub 2 finite element method to obtain a least absolute residual (L sub 1) solution for problems with discontinuous solutions. This L sub 1 finite element method produces a nonoscillatory, nondiffusive and highly accurate numerical solution that has a sharp discontinuity in one element on both coarse and fine meshes. A robust reweighting strategy was also devised to obtain the L sub 1 solution in a few iterations. A number of examples solved by using triangle and bilinear elements are presented.

Jiang, Bo-Nan↗
NASA NTRS1991

The L sub 1 finite element method for pure convection problems

The least squares (L sub 2) finite element method is introduced for 2-D steady state pure convection problems with smooth solutions. It is proven that the L sub 2 method has the same stability estimate as the original equation, i.e., the L sub 2 method has better control of the streamline derivative. Numerical convergence rates are given to show that the L sub 2 method is almost optimal. This L sub 2 method was then used as a framework to develop an iteratively reweighted L sub 2 finite element method to obtain a least absolute residual (L sub 1) solution for problems with discontinuous solutions. This L sub 1 finite element method produces a nonoscillatory, nondiffusive and highly accurate numerical solution that has a sharp discontinuity in one element on both coarse and fine meshes. A robust reweighting strategy was also devised to obtain the L sub 1 solution in a few iterations. A number of examples solved by using triangle and bilinear elements are presented.

Jiang, Bo-Nan↗
NASA NTRS2005

Sea Ice Kinematics and Thickness from RGPS: Observations and Theory

The RADARSAT Geophysical Processor System (RGPS) has produced a wealth of data on Arctic sea ice motion, deformation, and thickness with broad geographical coverage and good temporal resolution. These data provide unprecedented spatial detail of the structure and evolution of the sea ice cover. The broad purpose of this study was to take advantage of the strengths of the RGPS data set to investigate sea ice kinematics and thickness, which affect the climate through their influence on ice production, ridging, and transport (i.e. mass balance); heat flux to the atmosphere; and structure of the upper ocean mixed layer. The objectives of this study were to: (1) Explain the relationship between the discontinuous motion of the ice cover and the large-scale, smooth wind field that drives the ice; (2) Characterize the sea ice deformation in the Arctic at different temporal and spatial scales, and compare it with deformation predicted by a state-of-theart ice/ocean model; and (3) Compare RGPS-derived sea ice thickness with other data, and investigate the thinning of the Arctic sea ice cover as seen in ULS data obtained by U.S. Navy submarines. We briefly review the results of our work below, separated into the topics of sea ice deformation and sea ice thickness. This is followed by a list of publications, meetings and presentations, and other activities supported under this grant. We are attaching to this report copies of all the listed publications. Finally, we would like to point out our community service to NASA through our involvement with the ASF User Working Group and the RGPS Science Working Group, as evidenced in the list of meetings and presentations below.

Stern, Harry↗
NASA NTRS1992

On the power spectra of the wind-fed X-ray binary pulsar GX 301 - 2

A phenomenological model of accretion which is applied to the wind-fed X-ray binary pulsar GX 301 - 2 is developed, assuming that the accretion onto the neutron star does not occur from a continuous flux of plasma, but from blobs of matter which are threaded by the magnetic field lines onto the magnetic polar caps of the neutron star. These 'lumps' are produced at the magnetospheric limit by magnetohydrodynamical instability, introducing a 'noise' in the accretion process, due to the discontinuity in the flux of matter onto the neutron star. This model is able to describe the change of slope observed in the continuum component of the power spectra of the X-ray binary pulsar GX 301 - 2, in the frequency range 0.01 - 0.1 Hz. The physical properties of the infalling blobs derived in the model are in agreement with the constraints imposed by observations.

Orlandini, Mauro↗
DOE OSTI2022

XMM-Newton and TESS observations of the highly variable polar V496 UMa

We studied the temporal and spectral behavior of V496 UMa from the optical to the X-ray regimes. Methods. We used archival XMM-Newton and TESS observations obtained in 2017 and 2019, respectively, to perform a spectral and timing analysis of the highly variable magnetic CV. Results. The light curves of the TESS and XMM-Newton satellites reveal a double-humped pattern modulated with the periodicity of 91.058467 ± 0.00001 min. V496 UMa displays a two-pole accretion geometry in the high accretion state. X-ray spectra from these regions are composed of thermal plasma radiation and soft blackbody components with almost identical temperatures and a total accretion rate of $\dot{M}$ = 1.4(8) × 10 -11 M ⊙ yr -1 . The X-ray centers of the humps show longitudinal shifts of -18° and 4°, and shifts around photometric phase zero of -172° and -186°, for the main hump and second hump, respectively. The long-term ZTF light curves reveal high and low accretions states. Low-state ZTF and SDSS photometric data are consistent with an 0.8 M ⊙ white dwarf at 10 000 K and a main-sequence donor star with a spectral type of M5.0 at a Gaia determined distance of 758 pc. Conclusions. V496 UMa is a very bright polar in X-rays when it is in the high state. Due to its unusual geometric structure, mass accretion onto the second accretion pole is interrupted occasionally. This discontinuous behavior does not follow a certain pattern in time and has been observed so far only in the high state. The X-ray light curves display clear evidence of an accretion stream at the photometric phase of φ = 0.81, which does not show up in optical light curves. An accurate period was derived using the combined TESS and XMM-Newton data, which differs by 3.8 σ from published results.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Primal interface debonding formulation for finite strain isotropic plasticity

In this work, a framework is developed for modeling ductile damage of nonlinear materials whose plastic deformation is characterized using rate independent classical plasticity. This method relies on the assumption that the free energy can be decomposed into elastic, plastic and damage parts. A thermodynamically consistent method is derived which satisfies the second law of thermodynamics in the Clausius–Duhem inequality form. The dissipation associated with plasticity takes place in the domain only, while damage dissipation is localized to the interface. The method is developed using Variational Multiscale ideas to obtain definitions of the interface fluxes within a primal formulation analogous to the Discontinuous Galerkin method, which ensures weakly vanishing interface gap prior to reaching a damage initiation criterion. The local nonlinear problem to calculate both plastic deformation gradient and damage variable follows an incremental approach similar to classical plasticity return mapping algorithm. This elastoplastic damage formulation is developed for material undergoing finite strain, and it naturally accommodates a trapezoidal traction separation law (TSL) whose shape can be varied to model either ductile interface behavior or brittle interface behavior. The formulation's performance is assessed through modeling a patch test and a compact tension specimen.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1994

Topographic form of the Coast Ranges of the Cascadia Margin in relation ot coastal uplift rates and plate subduction

The Coast Ranges of the Cascadia margin are overriding the subducted Juan de Fuca/Gorda plate. We investigate the extent to which the latitudinal change in attributes related to the subduction process. These attributes include the varibale age of the subducted slab that underlies the Coast Ranges and average vertical crustal velocities of the western margin of the Coast Rnages for two markedly different time periods, the last 45 years and the last 100 kyr. These vertical crustal velocities are computed from the resurveying of highway bech marks and from the present elevation of shore platforms that have been uplifted in the late Quaternary, respectively. Topogarphy of the Coast Ranges is in part a function of the age and bouyancy of the underlying subducted plate. This is evident in the fact that the two highest topographic elements of the Coast Rnages, the Klamath Mountains and the Olympic Mountains, are underlain by youngest subducted oceanic crust. The subducted Blanco Fracture Zone in southernmost Oregon is responsible for an age discontinuity of subducted crust under the Klamath Mountains. The norhtern terminus of hte topographically higher Klamaths is offset to the north relative to the position of the underlying Blanco Fracture Zone, teh offset being in the direction of migration of the farcture zone, as dictated by relative plate motions. Vertical crustal velocities at the coast, derived from becnh mark surveys, are as much as an order of magnitude greater than vertical crustal velocities derived from uplifted shore platforms. This uplift rate discrepancy indicates that strain is accumulating on the plate margin, to be released during the next interplate earthquake. In a latitudinal sense, average Coast Rnage topography is relatively high where bench mark-derived, short-term vertical crustal velocities are highest. Becuase the shore platform vertical crustal velocities reflect longer-term, premanent uplift, we infer that a small percentage of the interseismic strain that accumulates as rapid short-term uplift is not recovered by subduction earthquakes but rather contributes to rock uplift of the Coast Ranges. The conjecture that permanent rock uplift is related to interseismic uplift is consistent with the observation that those segments of the subduction zone subject to greater interseismic uplift rates are at approximately the same latitudes as those segments of the Coast Ranges that have higher magnitudes of rock uplift over the long term.

Kelsey, Harvey M.↗
NASA NTRS2003

The Big Glitcher - the Rotation History of PSR JO537-6910

We report the results of an extensive monitoring campaign of PSR 50537-6910, the 16 ms pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using data acquired with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. The spin evolution of this pulsar is found to experience extreme episodic discontinuities in its spin-down rate during the 2.6 year campaign. The rate of occurance of these timing glitches is 2.3 per year, comparable to the highest seen for any pulsar. The mean glitch amplitude produced a fraction change in the frequency of Delta(nu)/nu = 0.36 x l0(exp -6) and in the frequency derivative of Delta(dot nu)/dot nu = 3 x 10(exp -4). Despite this prodigous timing activity we are able to derive a phase connected timing solution between glitch events with an average spin-down rate of -1.9743 x 10(exp 10) Hz/s. The integrated effect of the glitches in dot nu was so large that the apparent characteristic age of the pulsar (-nu/2dot nu) decreased significantly during the campaign. We discuss the implications of a large glitch activity and high braking index on the spin evolution of young pulsars.

Marshall, F. E.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Discretely Conservative Finite-Difference Formulations for Nonlinear Conservation Laws in Split Form: Theory and Boundary Conditions

Simulations of nonlinear conservation laws that admit discontinuous solutions are typically restricted to discretizations of equations that are explicitly written in divergence form. This restriction is, however, unnecessary. Herein, linear combinations of divergence and product rule forms that have been discretized using diagonal-norm skew-symmetric summation-by-parts (SBP) operators, are shown to satisfy the sufficient conditions of the Lax-Wendroff theorem and thus are appropriate for simulations of discontinuous physical phenomena. Furthermore, special treatments are not required at the points that are near physical boundaries (i.e., discrete conservation is achieved throughout the entire computational domain, including the boundaries). Examples are presented of a fourth-order, SBP finite-difference operator with second-order boundary closures. Sixth- and eighth-order constructions are derived, and included in E. Narrow-stencil difference operators for linear viscous terms are also derived; these guarantee the conservative form of the combined operator.

Fisher, Travis C.↗