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Results for “CHARACTERISTIC METHOD”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1946

Application of the method of characteristics to supersonic rotational flow

A system for calculating the physical properties of supersonic rotational flow with axial symmetry and supersonic rotational flow in a two-dimensional field was determined by use of the characteristics method. The system was applied to the study of external and internal flow for supersonic inlets with axial symmetry. For a circular conical inlet the shock that occurred at the lip of the inlet became stronger as it approached the axis of the inlet and became a normal shock at the axis. The region in which strong shock occurred increased with increase of the angle of internal cone at the lip of the inlet. For an inlet with a central body the method of characteristics was applied to the design of an internal channel shape that, theoretically, results in very efficient recompression in the inlet. It was shown that if an effuser is connected with the diffuser a body of revolution with very small shock-wave drag can be determined. (author)

Ferri, Antonio↗
DOE OSTI2020

MOCMC: Method of Characteristics Moment Closure, a Numerical Method for Covariant Radiation Magnetohydrodynamics

In this work, we present a conservative numerical method for radiation magnetohydrodynamics with frequency-dependent full transport in stationary spacetimes. This method is stable and accurate for both large and small optical depths and radiation pressures. The radiation stress–energy tensor is evolved in flux-conservative form, and closed with a swarm of samples that each transport a multigroup representation of the invariant specific intensity along a null geodesic. In each zone, the enclosed samples are used to efficiently construct a Delaunay triangulation of the unit sphere in the comoving frame, which in turn is used to calculate the Eddington tensor, average source terms, and adaptively refine the sample swarm. Furthermore, radiation four-forces are evaluated in the moment sector in a semi-implicit fashion. The radiative transfer equation is solved in invariant form deterministically for each sample. Since each sample carries a discrete representation of the full spectrum, the cost of evaluating the transport operator is independent of the number of frequency groups, representing a significant reduction of algorithmic complexity for transport in frequency-dependent problems. The major approximation we make in this work is performing scattering in an angle-averaged way. Local adaptivity in samples also makes this scheme more amenable to nonuniform meshes than a traditional Monte Carlo method. We describe the method and present results on a suite of test problems. We find that Method of Characteristics Moment Closure converges at least as ~N -1 , rather than the canonical Monte Carlo N -1/2 , where N is the number of samples per zone.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2021

A Study into Validating a Coupled Method of Characteristics and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Method Against Empirical Data

The following will outline the methodology and results of validating a coupled Method of Characteristics (MOC) and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. This research focused specifically on modeling plume impingement, induced by Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters that flew on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) space shuttle Discovery. For each simulation, the continuum portion of the RCS thruster was simulated using MOC for solving hyperbolic Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) and computed with the NASA code, Reacting and Multi-phase Program (RAMP). The solution was then implemented as a starting condition into the NASA DSMC code, Direct Simulation and Monte Carlo Analysis Code (DAC). Typically, DSMC models rely on code-to-code validation for fidelity. The significance of this research is in its ability to validate its models against empirical data. Prior to computing solutions for these simulations, the mesh size and structure were optimized and many variants of DSMC input parameters were iterated on in order to acquire a reliable, mesh-independent, fully optimized numerical solution. This research will discuss the mathematical formulation of MOC for nozzle flow and DSMC for rarefied gases. Additionally, it will provide an explanation of how to implement these mathematical concepts into the two solvers: RAMP and DAC. Ultimately, this research will demonstrate that the overall process illustrated produces results in good agreement with empirical data. As a consequence, the methodology presented is granted an increased level of confidence and will greatly contribute to the aerospace industry and its effort in understanding and predicting rarefied flow fields.

Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Analysis Code↗
NASA NTRS2021

A Study into Validating A Coupled Method of Characteristics And Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Method Against Empirical Data

The following will outline the methodology and results of validating a coupled Method of Characteristics (MOC) and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. This research focused specifically on modeling plume impingement, induced by Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters that flew on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) space shuttle Discovery. For each simulation, the continuum portion of the RCS thruster was simulated using MOC for solving hyperbolic Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) and computed with the NASA code, Reacting and Multi-phase Program (RAMP). The solution was then implemented as a starting condition into the NASA DSMC code, Direct Simulation and Monte Carlo Analysis Code (DAC). Typically, DSMC models rely on code-to-code validation for fidelity. The significance of this research is in its ability to validate its models against empirical data. Prior to computing solutions for these simulations, the mesh size and structure were optimized and many variants of DSMC input parameters were iterated on in order to acquire a reliable, mesh-independent, fully optimized numerical solution. This research will discuss the mathematical formulation of MOC for nozzle flow and DSMC for rarefied gases. Additionally, it will provide an explanation of how to implement these mathematical concepts into the two solvers: RAMP and DAC. Ultimately, this research will demonstrate that the overall process illustrated produces results in good agreement with empirical data. As a consequence, the methodology presented is granted an increased level of confidence and will greatly contribute to the aerospace industry and its effort in understanding and predicting rarefied flow fields.

DAC↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Random Ray Method Versus Multigroup Monte Carlo: The Method of Characteristics in OpenMC and SCONE

The Random Ray Method (TRRM) is a recently developed approach to solving neutral particle transport problems based on the Method of Characteristics. While the method previously has been implemented only in closed-source or limited-functionality codes, this work describes its implementation in two open-source Monte Carlo codes: OpenMC and SCONE. The random ray implementations required small modifications to the existing Multigroup Monte Carlo (MGMC) solvers, offering a rare venue for redundant, fine-grained, "apples-to-apples" speed and accuracy comparisons between transport methods. To this end, TRRM and MGMC solvers are evaluated against each other using each code's native capabilities on reactor eigenvalue problems with different degrees of energy discretization. On the C5G7 benchmark (featuring only seven energy groups), TRRM achieves a maximum pin power error comparable to or lower than that of MGMC for a given run time. On a problem with 69 energy groups, MGMC is found to scale more efficiently, obtaining a lower pin power error for a given run time. However, the defining difference between the two transport methods is found to be their vastly different uncertainty distributions. Specifically, TRRM is found to maintain similar levels of accuracy and uncertainty throughout the simulation domain whereas MGMC can exhibit orders-of-magnitude greater errors in areas of the problem that feature low neutron flux. For instance, TRRM provided an up to 373 times speed advantage compared with MGMC for computing the flux in low-flux regions in the moderator surrounding the C5G7 core.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1956

Internal performance characteristics of short convergent-divergent exhaust nozzles designed by the method of characteristics

Internal performance data on a short exhaust nozzle designed by the method of characteristics were obtained over a range of pressure ratios from 1.5 to 22. The peak thrust coefficient was not affected by a shortened divergent section, but it occurred at lower pressure ratios due to reduction in expansion ratio. This nozzle contour based on characteristics solution gave higher thrust coefficients than a conical convergent-divergent nozzle of equivalent length. Abrupt-inlet sections permitted a reduction in nozzle length without a thrust-coefficient reduction.

Krull, H George↗
NASA NTRS1960

Performance of Several Method-of-Characteristics Exhaust Nozzles

Nozzle performance data were obtained with three "method-of-characteristics" nozzles and a 150 conical nozzle at pressure ratios up to 130. Each basic configuration was cut off and tested at expansion ratios of 25, 20, 15, and 10. Unheated dry air was used at nozzle inlet pressures up to 22,000 pounds per square foot absolute. Nozzle thrust data were extrapolated to infinite pressure ratio (zero discharge pressure). As much as 1-percent increase in thrust with no increase in nozzle surface area (weight), can be obtained by using a method-of-characteristics, nozzle instead of a 15 conical nozzle when operating with a nozzle expansion ratio of 25 and nozzle pressure ratios from 200 to infinity. Conversely, for the same thrust, reductions in nozzle divergent surface area in the order of 25 percent are possible. The thrust performance of the method-of-characteristics nozzle was not as good as that of the 150 conical nozzle when operating at pressure ratios considerably below design (below 100 for the expansion ratio 25 nozzles). Theoretical and measured nozzle momentum coefficients agreed within about 0.6 percent. This is the order of accuracy of both the measured and theoretical values.

Farley, John M.↗