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At least 37 records · Page 2

TOA Lightning Location Retrieval on Spherical and Oblate Spheroidal Earth Geometries

A simple linear algebraic solution is introduced for retrieving the location and time-of-occurrence of lightning ground strikes on a spherical Earth from a network of four or more time-of-arrival (TOA) sensors. Since the solution accounts for Earth curvature, it represents an extension to earlier planar model results described by Koshak et al. A test of the retrieval method is provided using computer-simulated data sets. The method is easy to comprehend and completely avoids reference to the mathematics of spherical hyperbolas such as discussed by Lewis. A quasi-analytic extension to the spherical Earth solution is provided for an oblate spheroidal Earth geometry, and the importance/relevance of oblate effects are discussed. Future application of these methods in support of the North American National Lightning Detection Network (NALDN) described by Cummins et al. is desirable, but additional theoretical investigations are required to incorporate magnetic bearing information into the present solution process.

Koshak, W. J.↗

Indicated mean-effective pressure instrument

An apparatus for measuring indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) of an internal combustion piston or rotary engine or of an external combustion engine such as a stirling engine is disclosed. An optical shaft encoder measures crankshaft angle of the engine. Changes in volume with respect to changes in crank angle of one or more cylinders (dV/d theta) is determined either empirically or algebraically from engine geometry and stored in a memory. As the crank angle changes, dV/d theta) is read from the memory and multiplied by chamber or cylinder pressure. The product (P dv/d theta) is then added to the total previously accumulated in the cycle. Each time theta changes by an amount equal to delta theta, the process is repeated. At the end of each engine cycle, the total is equal to the IMEP value for that cycle.

Rice, W. J.↗

Grid flexibility and patching techniques

The numerical determination of combustor flowfields is of great value to the combustor designer. An a priori knowledge of the flow behavior can speed the combustor design process and reduce the number of experimental test rigs required to arrive at an optimal design. Even 2-D steady incompressible isothermal flow predictions are of use; many codes of this kind are available, each employing different techniques to surmount the difficulties arising from the nonlinearity of the governing equations and from typically irregular combustor geometries. Mapping techniques (algebraic and elliptic PDE), and adaptive grid methods (both multi-grid and grid embedding) as applied to axisymmetric combustors are discussed.

Keith, T. G.↗

Numerical solution of the Euler equations for high-speed, blended wing-body configurations

Simulation of high-speed three-dimensional flow about blended wing-body combinations is investigated. A finite-volume explicit scheme with Runge-Kutta time integration is used to solve the compressible Euler equations in order to simulate the flow. The method, augmented by carefully chosen dissipative terms and convergence accelerators such as enthalpy damping and maximum local time-stepping, has been found to be very efficient in solving high-speed flows involving strong shocks. An analytic method for generating the body geometry and an algebraic method for quasi-three-dimensional grid generation are described. Results are presented for various blended wing-body configurations at different Mach numbers and angles of attack.

Moitra, A.↗

Grid and design variables sensitivity analyses for NACA four-digit wing-sections

Two distinct parameterization procedures are developed for investigating the grid sensitivity with respect to design parameters of a wing-section example. The first procedure is based on traditional (physical) relations defining NACA four-digit wing-sections. The second is advocating a novel (geometrical) parameterization using spline functions such as NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines) for defining the wing-section geometry. An interactive algebraic grid generation technique, known as Hermite Cubic Interpolation, is employed to generate C-type grids around wing-sections. The grid sensitivity of the domain with respect to design and grid parameters has been obtained by direct differentiation of the grid equations. A hybrid approach is proposed for more geometrically complex configurations. A comparison of the sensitivity coefficients with those obtained using a finite-difference approach has been made to verify the feasibility of the approach. The aerodynamic sensitivity coefficients are obtained using the compressible two-dimensional thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations.

Sadrehaghighi, Ideen↗

Grid and aerodynamic sensitivity analyses of airplane components

An algorithm is developed to obtain the grid sensitivity with respect to design parameters for aerodynamic optimization. The procedure is advocating a novel (geometrical) parameterization using spline functions such as NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines) for defining the wing-section geometry. An interactive algebraic grid generation technique, known as Two-Boundary Grid Generation (TBGG) is employed to generate C-type grids around wing-sections. The grid sensitivity of the domain with respect to geometric design parameters has been obtained by direct differentiation of the grid equations. A hybrid approach is proposed for more geometrically complex configurations such as a wing or fuselage. The aerodynamic sensitivity coefficients are obtained by direct differentiation of the compressible two-dimensional thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations. An optimization package has been introduced into the algorithm in order to optimize the wing-section surface. Results demonstrate a substantially improved design due to maximized lift/drag ratio of the wing-section.

Sadrehaghighi, Ideen↗

Grid Sensitivity and Aerodynamic Optimization of Generic Airfoils

An algorithm is developed to obtain the grid sensitivity with respect to design parameters for aerodynamic optimization. The procedure is advocating a novel (geometrical) parameterization using spline functions such as NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B- Splines) for defining the airfoil geometry. An interactive algebraic grid generation technique is employed to generate C-type grids around airfoils. The grid sensitivity of the domain with respect to geometric design parameters has been obtained by direct differentiation of the grid equations. A hybrid approach is proposed for more geometrically complex configurations such as a wing or fuselage. The aerodynamic sensitivity coefficients are obtained by direct differentiation of the compressible two-dimensional thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations. An optimization package has been introduced into the algorithm in order to optimize the airfoil surface. Results demonstrate a substantially improved design due to maximized lift/drag ratio of the airfoil.

Sadrehaghighi, Ideen↗

Trellises and Trellis-Based Decoding Algorithms for Linear Block Codes

A code trellis is a graphical representation of a code, block or convolutional, in which every path represents a codeword (or a code sequence for a convolutional code). This representation makes it possible to implement Maximum Likelihood Decoding (MLD) of a code with reduced decoding complexity. The most well known trellis-based MLD algorithm is the Viterbi algorithm. The trellis representation was first introduced and used for convolutional codes [23]. This representation, together with the Viterbi decoding algorithm, has resulted in a wide range of applications of convolutional codes for error control in digital communications over the last two decades. There are two major reasons for this inactive period of research in this area. First, most coding theorists at that time believed that block codes did not have simple trellis structure like convolutional codes and maximum likelihood decoding of linear block codes using the Viterbi algorithm was practically impossible, except for very short block codes. Second, since almost all of the linear block codes are constructed algebraically or based on finite geometries, it was the belief of many coding theorists that algebraic decoding was the only way to decode these codes. These two reasons seriously hindered the development of efficient soft-decision decoding methods for linear block codes and their applications to error control in digital communications. This led to a general belief that block codes are inferior to convolutional codes and hence, that they were not useful. Chapter 2 gives a brief review of linear block codes. The goal is to provide the essential background material for the development of trellis structure and trellis-based decoding algorithms for linear block codes in the later chapters. Chapters 3 through 6 present the fundamental concepts, finite-state machine model, state space formulation, basic structural properties, state labeling, construction procedures, complexity, minimality, and sectionalization of trellises. Chapter 7 discusses trellis decomposition and subtrellises for low-weight codewords. Chapter 8 first presents well known methods for constructing long powerful codes from short component codes or component codes of smaller dimensions, and then provides methods for constructing their trellises which include Shannon and Cartesian product techniques. Chapter 9 deals with convolutional codes, puncturing, zero-tail termination and tail-biting.Chapters 10 through 13 present various trellis-based decoding algorithms, old and new. Chapter 10 first discusses the application of the well known Viterbi decoding algorithm to linear block codes, optimum sectionalization of a code trellis to minimize computation complexity, and design issues for IC (integrated circuit) implementation of a Viterbi decoder. Then it presents a new decoding algorithm for convolutional codes, named Differential Trellis Decoding (DTD) algorithm. Chapter 12 presents a suboptimum reliability-based iterative decoding algorithm with a low-weight trellis search for the most likely codeword. This decoding algorithm provides a good trade-off between error performance and decoding complexity. All the decoding algorithms presented in Chapters 10 through 12 are devised to minimize word error probability. Chapter 13 presents decoding algorithms that minimize bit error probability and provide the corresponding soft (reliability) information at the output of the decoder. Decoding algorithms presented are the MAP (maximum a posteriori probability) decoding algorithm and the Soft-Output Viterbi Algorithm (SOVA) algorithm. Finally, the minimization of bit error probability in trellis-based MLD is discussed.

Lin, Shu↗

Finite difference grid generation by multivariate blending function interpolation

The General Interpolants Method (GIM) code which solves the multidimensional Navier-Stokes equations for arbitrary geometric domains is described. The geometry module in the GIM code generates two and three dimensional grids over specified flow regimes, establishes boundary condition information and computes finite difference analogs for use in the GIM code numerical solution module. The technique can be classified as an algebraic equation approach. The geometry package uses multivariate blending function interpolation of vector-values functions which define the shapes of the edges and surfaces bounding the flow domain. By employing blending functions which conform to the cardinality conditions the flow domain may be mapped onto a unit square (2-D) or unit cube (3-D), thus producing an intrinsic coordinate system for the region of interest. The intrinsic coordinate system facilitates grid spacing control to allow for optimum distribution of nodes in the flow domain.

Anderson, P. G.↗

Calculation of a simulated 3-D high speed inlet using the Navier-Stokes equations

A hybrid numerical algorithm, developed to solve the full three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, is applied to the computation of the flowfield in a simulated three-dimensional high speed aircraft inlet at a Mach number of 2.5 and Reynolds number of 1.4 x 10 to the 7th based on inlet length. The numerical algorithm incorporates a coordinate transformation in order to handle general flow geometries, and utilizes the algebraic turbulent eddy viscosity model of Baldwin and Lomax. The hybrid algorithm has been vectorized on the CDC CYBER 203 computer using the SL/1 vector programming language developed at NASA Langley. The computed results are compared with experimental measurements of the ramp and cowl static pressures, and boundary layer pitot profiles. The results are also compared with a previous two-dimensional Navier-Stokes computation of the same configuration. The agreement with the experimental data is generally good; however, additional improvements in turbulence modeling are needed.

Knight, D. D.↗

Computational study of the aerodynamics and control by blowing of asymmetric vortical flows over delta wings

Some of the work is described which was done in a study of the flow field produced by tangential leading edge blowing on a 60 deg. delta wing. The flow is studied computationally by solving the Thin Layer Navier-Stokes equations. Steady state flow fields are calculated for various angles of attack and yaw, with and without the presence of tangential leading edge blowing. The effectiveness of blowing as a rolling moment control mechanism to extend the envelope of controllability is illustrated at pre- and post-stall angles of attack. The numerical grid is generated using algebraic grid generation and various interpolation and blending techniques. The jet emanates from a slot with linearly varying thickness and is introduced into the flow field using the concept of an actuator plane, thereby not requiring resolution of the jet slot geometry. The Baldwin-Lomax algebraic turbulence model is used to provide turbulent closure. The computational results are compared with those of experiments.

Craig, Ken↗

Flow field analysis for a class of waverider configurations

A package of computer codes for analysis of flow fields for waverider configurations is described. The package consists of a surface/volume grid generator and a finite-volume flow solver. The grid generator defines body geometries and computational grids by an algebraic homotopy procedure. The algebraic procedure is versatile in its application and can readily generate configurations in the class of blended wing-body geometries. This code has the ability to produce a wide variety of geometries in the given class with varying geometrical attributes. The flow solver employs a finite-volume formation and solves the explicit, Runge-Kutta integration technique. The method or flow simulation incorporates several techniques for acceleration of the convergence of the interaction process and an entropy corrected enthalpy damping procedure for efficient computation of high Mach number flows.

Moitra, Anutosh↗

A brief survey of constrained mechanics and variational problems in terms of differential forms

There has been considerable interest recently in constrained mechanics and variational problems. This is in part due to applied interests (such as 'non-holonomic mechanics in robotics') and in other part due to the fact that several schools of 'pure' mathematics have found that this classical subject is of importance for what they are trying to do. I have made various attempts at developing these subjects since my Lincoln lab days of the late 1950's. In this Chapter, I will sketch a Unified point of view, using Cartan's approach with differential forms. This has the advantage from the C-O-R viewpoint being developed in this Volume that the extension from 'smooth' to 'generalized' data is very systematic and algebraic. (I will only deal with the 'smooth' point of view in this Chapter; I will develop the 'generalized function' material at a later point.) The material presented briefly here about Variational Calculus and Constrained Mechanics can be found in more detail in my books, 'Differential Geometry and the Calculus of Variations', 'Lie Algebras and Quantum Mechanics', and 'Geometry, Physics and Systems'.

Hermann, Robert↗

Advances in the computation of transonic separated flows over finite wings

The transonic flow around a low-aspect-ratio infinite wing in a wind tunnel is investigated by means of numerical simulations, with a focus on shock-induced separated flows. A coarse global grid with far-field boundaries matching those of the test section is subdivided into zones: the flow in the clustered zones near the wing is analyzed by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations, while that farther from the wing is modeled with the Euler equations. The results are presented graphically, and it is shown that a mushroomlike separated flow with two counterrotating vortices can be simulated when the correct shock strength is imposed (by careful selection of the artificial dissipation, the boundary conditions, the grid refinement, the algebraic turbulence model, and the geometry representation).

Kaynak, Unver↗

Structured adaptive grid generation using algebraic methods

The accuracy of the numerical algorithm depends not only on the formal order of approximation but also on the distribution of grid points in the computational domain. Grid adaptation is a procedure which allows optimal grid redistribution as the solution progresses. It offers the prospect of accurate flow field simulations without the use of an excessively timely, computationally expensive, grid. Grid adaptive schemes are divided into two basic categories: differential and algebraic. The differential method is based on a variational approach where a function which contains a measure of grid smoothness, orthogonality and volume variation is minimized by using a variational principle. This approach provided a solid mathematical basis for the adaptive method, but the Euler-Lagrange equations must be solved in addition to the original governing equations. On the other hand, the algebraic method requires much less computational effort, but the grid may not be smooth. The algebraic techniques are based on devising an algorithm where the grid movement is governed by estimates of the local error in the numerical solution. This is achieved by requiring the points in the large error regions to attract other points and points in the low error region to repel other points. The development of a fast, efficient, and robust algebraic adaptive algorithm for structured flow simulation applications is presented. This development is accomplished in a three step process. The first step is to define an adaptive weighting mesh (distribution mesh) on the basis of the equidistribution law applied to the flow field solution. The second, and probably the most crucial step, is to redistribute grid points in the computational domain according to the aforementioned weighting mesh. The third and the last step is to reevaluate the flow property by an appropriate search/interpolate scheme at the new grid locations. The adaptive weighting mesh provides the information on the desired concentration of points to the grid redistribution scheme. The evaluation of the weighting mesh is accomplished by utilizing the weight function representing the solution variation and the equidistribution law. The selection of the weight function plays a key role in grid adaptation. A new weight function utilizing a properly weighted boolean sum of various flowfield characteristics is defined. The redistribution scheme is developed utilizing Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) representation. The application of NURBS representation results in a well distributed smooth grid by maintaining the fidelity of the geometry associated with boundary curves. Several algebraic methods are applied to smooth and/or nearly orthogonalize the grid lines. An elliptic solver is utilized to smooth the grid lines if there are grid crossings. Various computational examples of practical interest are presented to demonstrate the success of these methods.

Yang, Jiann-Cherng↗

Thermal stress in high temperature cylindrical fasteners

Uninsulated structures fabricated from carbon or silicon-based materials, which are allowed to become hot during flight, are attractive for the design of some components of hypersonic vehicles. They have the potential to reduce weight and increase vehicle efficiency. Because of manufacturing contraints, these structures will consist of parts which must be fastened together. The thermal expansion mismatch between conventional metal fasteners and carbon or silicon-based structural materials may make it difficult to design a structural joint which is tight over the operational temperature range without exceeding allowable stress limits. In this study, algebraic, closed-form solutions for calculating the thermal stresses resulting from radial thermal expansion mismatch around a cylindrical fastener are developed. These solutions permit a designer to quickly evaluate many combinations of materials for the fastener and the structure. Using the algebraic equations developed, material properties and joint geometry were varied to determine their effect on thermal stresses. Finite element analyses were used to verify that the closed-form solutions derived give the correct thermal stress distribution around a cylindrical fastener and to investigate the effect of some of the simplifying assumptions made in developing the closed-form solutions for thermal stresses.

Blosser, Max L.↗

Algebraic grid generation

The numerical solution of partial differential equations about irregular geometries and with varying characteristic scales has created the need for coordinate systems and associated transformations which reflect both geometric and physical requirements. The process of finding coordinate transformations in discrete representations is called 'grid generation'. The present investigation is concerned with three algebraic grid generation methods. The methods include transfinite interpolation, the multisurface method, and the two-boundary technique. Interpolation formulas, in terms of homotopic mappings and constraints in terms of point positions and/or derivatives are the essential elements of the techniques. The methods are relatively simple to understand, they are explicit and do not require extensive computational effort, and they have a high degree of generality.

Smith, R. E.↗