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Results for “U component of wind velocity”

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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26 records · Page 2

Synthesis of line profiles from models of structured winds

On the basis of a careful analysis of resonance line formation (both for singlets and doublets) in structured winds, present time dependent models of the line driven winds of hot stars are shown to be able to explain a number of observational features with respect to variability and structure: they are (in principle) able to reproduce the black and broad troughs (without any artificial 'turbulence velocity') and the 'blue edge variability' observed in saturate resonance lines: they might explain the 'long lived narrow absorption components' often observed in unsaturated lines at high velocities; they predict a relation between the 'edge velocity' of UV-lines and the radiation temperature of the observed X-ray emission. As a first example of the extent to which theoretical models can be constrained by comparisons between observations and profiles calculated by spectrum synthesis from structured winds, we show here that models with deep-seated onset of structure formation (approximately greater than 1.1 R(sub *)) produce resonance lines which agree qualitatively with observational findings; in contrast, the here presented models with structure formation only well out in the wind (approximately greater than 1.6 R(sub *) fail in this respect.

Puls, J.↗

The large-scale structure of the interplanetary magnetic field between 1 and 0.3 AU during the primary mission of Helios 1

The macroscale and mesoscale structure of the interplanetary magnetic field during the primary mission of Helios 1 is discussed. The radial field component behaves essentially in agreement with Parker's theory. The transverse component shows a larger variability than the radial component; its radial variation is in good agreement with Parker's theory for high speeds, but some deviation is found for low speeds. The radial variation of the field variance is also studied. Its dependence upon the heliocentric distance r is expressed by the law 1/r cubed, which is necessary but not sufficient for Alfven waves. The available data do not allow a unique interpretation of the 1/r cubed dependence. No big differences are observed between low (less than or equal to 500 km/s) and high (greater than or equal to 600 km/s) solar wind velocity regimes.

Mariani, F.↗

Enhanced Design of Turbo-jet LPT by Separation Control Using Phased Plasma Actuators

This work deals with the documentation and control of flow separation that occurs over turbine blades in the low-pressure turbine stage at low Reynolds numbers that exist at high altitude cruise. We utilize a specially constructed linear cascade that is designed to study the flow field over a generic LPT cascade consisting of Pratt & Whitney 'Pak B' shaped blades. This facility was constructed under a previous one-year NASA Glenn RC initiative. The center blade in the cascade is instrumented to measure the surface pressure coefficient distribution. Optical access allows two-component LDV measurement for boundary layer profiles. Experimental conditions have been chosen to give a range of chord Reynolds numbers from 10 to 100K, and a range of free-stream turbulence levels from u'/U(sub infinity)= 0.08 to 3 percent. The surface pressure measurements were used to define a region of separation and reattachment that depend on the free-stream conditions. The location of separation was found to be relatively insensitive to the experimental conditions. However, reattachment location was very sensitive to the turbulence level and Reynolds number. Excellent agreement was found between the measured pressure distributions and predictions from Euler and RANS simulations. Two-component LDV measurements are presently underway to document the mean and fluctuating velocity components in the boundary layer over the center blade for the range of experimental conditions. The fabrication of the plasma actuator is underway. These are designed to produce either streamwise vortices, or a downstream-directed wall jet. A precursor experiment for the former approach was performed with an array of vortex generators placed just upstream of the separation line. These led to reattachment except for the lowest Reynolds number. Progress has also been made on the proposed concept for a laterally moving wake. This involved constructing a smaller wind tunnel and molding an array of symmetric airfoils to form an array. Following its development, it will be scaled up and used to introduce lateral moving wakes upstream up the Pak-B cascade.

Ashpis, David↗

Atmospheric Disturbance Environment Definition

Traditionally, the application of atmospheric disturbance data to airplane design problems has been the domain of the structures engineer. The primary concern in this case is the design of structural components sufficient to handle transient loads induced by the most severe atmospheric "gusts" that might be encountered. The concern has resulted in a considerable body of high altitude gust acceleration data obtained with VGH recorders (airplane velocity, V, vertical acceleration, G, altitude, H) on high-flying airplanes like the U-2 (Ehernberger and Love, 1975). However, the propulsion system designer is less concerned with the accelerations of the airplane than he is with the airflow entering the system's inlet. When the airplane encounters atmospheric turbulence it responds with transient fluctuations in pitch, yaw, and roll angles. These transients, together with fluctuations in the free-stream temperature and pressure will disrupt the total pressure, temperature, Mach number and angularity of the inlet flow. For the mixed compression inlet, the result is a disturbed throat Mach number and/or shock position, and in extreme cases an inlet unstart can occur (cf. Section 2.1). Interest in the effects of inlet unstart on the vehicle dynamics of large, supersonic airplanes is not new. Results published by NASA in 1962 of wind tunnel studies of the problem were used in support of the United States Supersonic Transport program (SST) (White, at aI, 1963). Such studies continued into the late 1970's. However, in spite of such interest, there never was developed an atmospheric disturbance database for inlet unstart analysis to compare with that available for the structures load analysis. Missing were data for the free-stream temperature and pressure disturbances that also contribute to the unStart problem.

Tank, William G.↗

Doppler Global Velocimeter Development for the Large Wind Tunnels at Ames Research Center

Development of an optical, laser-based flow-field measurement technique for large wind tunnels is described. The technique uses laser sheet illumination and charged coupled device detectors to rapidly measure flow-field velocity distributions over large planar regions of the flow. Sample measurements are presented that illustrate the capability of the technique. An analysis of measurement uncertainty, which focuses on the random component of uncertainty, shows that precision uncertainty is not dependent on the measured velocity magnitude. For a single-image measurement, the analysis predicts a precision uncertainty of +/-5 m/s. When multiple images are averaged, this uncertainty is shown to decrease. For an average of 100 images, for example, the analysis shows that a precision uncertainty of +/-0.5 m/s can be expected. Sample applications show that vectors aligned with an orthogonal coordinate system are difficult to measure directly. An algebraic transformation is presented which converts measured vectors to the desired orthogonal components. Uncertainty propagation is then used to show how the uncertainty propagates from the direct measurements to the orthogonal components. For a typical forward-scatter viewing geometry, the propagation analysis predicts precision uncertainties of +/-4, +/-7, and +/-6 m/s, respectively, for the U, V, and W components at 68% confidence.

Reinath, Michael S.↗

Electric field measurements in the solar wind, bow shock, magnetosheath, magnetopause, and magnetosphere

Electro-field measurements are reported at 11 magnetopause crossings that occurred during a single in-bound ISEE-1 satellite pass near a local time of 10:30. In combination with magnetic-field data, these measurements show the existence of electro-field components tangential to the actual magnetopause in the frame of rest of the magnetopause on every crossing of the current-carrying layers associated with the 11 magnetopause traversals. These tangential electric-field components were oriented with respect to the magnetopause sheet currents, such that there was an electrical power dissipation of between 30 and 110 W/sq km on 10 of the 11 crossings. These results are in agreement with requirements of reconnection theories. Histograms of the normal electric-field components and of the orientation, velocity, and thickness of the current-carrying layer are presented. The existence of a parallel electric field in the magnetosheath near the magnetopause and of propagation of large-amplitude waves along the magnetopause is suggested.

Mozer, F. S.↗

Quantifying energy and mass transfer in crop canopies: sensors for measurement of temperature and air velocity

Here we report on the in situ performance of inexpensive, miniature sensors that have increased our ability to measure mass and energy fluxes from plant canopies in controlled environments: 1. Surface temperature. Canopy temperature measurements indicate changes in stomatal aperture and thus latent and sensible heat fluxes. Infrared transducers from two manufacturers (Exergen Corporation, Newton, MA; and Everest Interscience, Tucson, AZ, USA) have recently become available. Transducer accuracy matched that of a more expensive hand-held infrared thermometer. 2. Air velocity varies above and within plant canopies and is an important component in mass and energy transfer models. We tested commercially-available needle, heat-transfer anemometers (1 x 50 mm cylinder) that consist of a fine-wire thermocouple and a heater inside a hypodermic needle. The needle is heated and wind speed determined from the temperature rise above ambient. These sensors are particularly useful in measuring the low wind speeds found within plant canopies. 3. Accurate measurements of air temperature adjacent to plant leaves facilitates transport phenomena modeling. We quantified the effect of radiation and air velocity on temperature rise in thermocouples from 10 to 500 micrometers. At high radiation loads and low wind speeds, temperature errors were as large as 7 degrees C above air temperature.

NASA Program CELSS↗

Properties of Magnetic Reconnection and FTEs on the Dayside Magnetopause With and Without Positive IMF Bx Component During Southward IMF

This paper describes properties and behavior of magnetic reconnection and flux transfer events (FTEs) on the dayside magnetopause using the global hybrid-Vlasov code Vlasiator. We investigate two simulation runs with and without a sunward (positive) B(sub x) component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) when the IMF is southward. The runs are two-dimensional in real space in the noon-midnight meridional (polar) plane and three-dimensional in velocity space. Solar wind input parameters are identical in the two simulations with the exception that the IMF is purely southward in one but tilted 45° toward the Sun in the other. In the purely southward case (i.e., without B(sub x) the magnitude of the magnetosheath magnetic field component tangential to the magnetopause is larger than in the run with a sunward tilt. This is because the shock normal is perpendicular to the IMF at the equatorial plane, whereas in the other run the shock configuration is oblique and a smaller fraction of the total IMF strength is compressed at the shock crossing. Hence, the measured average and maximum reconnection rate are larger in the purely southward run. The run with tilted IMF also exhibits a north-south asymmetry in the tangential magnetic field caused by the different angle between the IMF and the bow shock normal north and south of the equator. Greater north-south asymmetries are seen in the FTE occurrence rate, size, and velocity as well; FTEs moving toward the Southern Hemisphere are larger in size and observed less frequently than FTEs in the Northern Hemisphere.

Hoilijoki, S.↗