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Results for “Effective Field Theory”

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 361 records · Page 20
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1975

Optimum performance and potential flow field of hovering rotors

Rotor and propeller performance and induced potential flowfields were studied on the basis of a rotating actuator disk concept, with special emphasis on rotors hovering out of ground effect. A new theory for the optimum performance of rotors hovering OGE is developed and presented. An extended theory for the optimum performance of rotors and propellers in axial motion is also presented. Numerical results are presented for the optimum distributions of blade-bound circulation together with axial inflow and ultimate wake velocities for the hovering rotor over the range of thrust coefficient of interest in rotorcraft applications. Shapes of the stream tubes and of the velocities in the slipstream are obtained, using available methods, for optimum and off-optimum circulation distributions for rotors hovering in and out of ground effect. A number of explicit formulae useful in computing rotor and propeller induced flows are presented for stream functions and velocities due to distributions of circular vortices over axi-symmetric surfaces.

Wu, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Theoretical approach to oxygen atom degradation of silver

Based on available Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and ellipsometry data obtained on silver specimens subjected to atomic oxygen attack in low Earth orbit STS flight 41-G, a theory was developed to model the oxygen atom degradation of silver. The diffusion of atomic oxygen in a microscopically nonuniform medium is an essential constituent of the theory. The driving force for diffusion is the macroscopic electrochemical potential gradient developed between the specimen surface exposed to the ambient and the bulk of the silver specimen. The longitudinal electric effect developed parallel to the gradient is modified by space charge of the diffusing charged species. Lateral electric fields and concentration differences also exist due to the nonuniform nature of the medium. The lateral concentration differences are found to be more important than the lateral electric fields in modifying the diffusion rate. The model was evaluated numerically. Qualitative agreement exists between the kinetics predicted by the theory and kinetic data taken in ground-based experiments utilizing a plasma asher.

Fromhold, Albert T., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Loop Shaping Control Design for a Supersonic Propulsion System Model Using Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) Specifications and Bounds

This paper covers the propulsion system component modeling and controls development of an integrated mixed compression inlet and turbojet engine that will be used for an overall vehicle Aero-Propulso-Servo-Elastic (APSE) model. Using previously created nonlinear component-level propulsion system models, a linear integrated propulsion system model and loop shaping control design have been developed. The design includes both inlet normal shock position control and jet engine rotor speed control for a potential supersonic commercial transport. A preliminary investigation of the impacts of the aero-elastic effects on the incoming flow field to the propulsion system are discussed, however, the focus here is on developing a methodology for the propulsion controls design that prevents unstart in the inlet and minimizes the thrust oscillation experienced by the vehicle. Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) specifications and bounds, and aspects of classical loop shaping are used in the control design process. Model uncertainty is incorporated in the design to address possible error in the system identification mapping of the nonlinear component models into the integrated linear model.

Connolly, Joseph W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Three-dimensional equilibria for the extended magnetotail and the generation of field-aligned current sheets

Using the magnetotail equilibrium theory and a solution method outlined by Birn (1987), self-consistent three-dimensional models were constructed for the quiet average magnetotail beyond about 20 RE distance but earthward of a potential distant neutral line, which take into account the decrease of the tail flaring with distance. It is found that this effect is coupled with the presence of magnetic shear and thus with field-aligned electric currents. These currents have the signature of region 1 currents, toward the earth on the dawnside and away on the duskside, and contribute about 500,000 A to the total Birkeland current.

Birn, J.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Microwave emission from geological materials - Observations of interference effects.

Microwave radiometric field observations were conducted at wavelengths of 21, 2.8, and 0.95 cm to determine the microwave penetration depth of a number of sands and gravels as a function of particle size and moisture content. Observations of a reflecting plate covered with varying thicknesses of test material exhibit a pronounced oscillatory behavior that is consistent with established electromagnetic theory for plane-parallel layered mediums. Utilization of this interference effect is proposed as a microwave radiometric technique for determining the bulk electrical properties of geologic materials, snow, ice, and other materials readily adapted to layering experiments.

Blinn, J. C., III↗
NASA NTRS1979

A fluid description of plasma double-layers

The space-charge double-layer that forms between two plasmas with different densities and thermal energies was investigated using three progressively realistic models which are treated by fluid theory, and take into account four species of particles: electrons and ions reflected by the double-layer, and electrons and ions transmitted through it. The two plasmas are assumed to be cold, and the self-consistent potential, electric field and space-charge distributions within the double-layer are determined. The effects of thermal velocities are taken into account for the reflected particles, and the modifications to the cold plasma solutions are established. Further modifications due to thermal velocities of the transmitted particles are examined. The applicability of a one dimensional fluid description, rather than plasma kinetic theory, is discussed. Theoretical predictions are compared with double layer potentials and lengths deduced from laboratory and space plasma experiments.

Levine, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1972

An experimental measurement of galactic cosmic radiation dose in conventional aircraft between San Francisco and London compared to theoretical values for conventional and supersonic aircraft

These direct measurements are in fair agreement with computations made using a program which considers both basic cosmic ray atmospheric physics and the focusing effect of the earth's magnetic field. These measurements also agree with those made at supersonic jet aircraft altitudes in Rb-57 aircraft. It is concluded that experiments and theory show that the doses received at conventional jet aircraft altitudes are slightly higher than those encountered in supersonic flights at much higher altitudes.

Wallace, R.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Experimental study of spectral index, mode coupling, and energy cascading in a turbulent, hot-ion plasma.

Experiments are described in which the spectrum of electrostatic potential fluctuations was measured with a capacitive probe in a steady state turbulent plasma confined in a magnetic mirror geometry. The plasma electron concentration ranged between 5 x 10 to the seventh power and 5 x 10 to the eighth power, the electron temperature ranged between 8 and 38 eV, the ion temperature between 350 and 960 eV, and the maximum-magnetic field was 1.0 T. When oscillation peaks were absent, the amplitude spectrum of electrostatic potential fluctuations was found to have a power law dependence on the frequency. The value of the spectral index was influenced by the probe position in the field, and at a certain position, by the plasma characteristics. The spectral index was generally below the value of 2.5 predicted by turbulence theories formulated in k space. The effects on the amplitude spectrum of a sinusoidal external modulation of the anode voltage were assessed over the range between 0 and 100 kHz. The spectra exhibited several mode coupling phenomena, including enhanced harmonics of the externally imposed frequency, and sideband modulation of plasma generated oscillation peaks.

Roth, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Second-order small disturbance theory for hypersonic flow over power-law bodies

A mathematical method for determining the flow field about power-law bodies in hypersonic flow conditions is developed. The second-order solutions, which reflect the effects of the second-order terms in the equations, are obtained by applying the method of small perturbations in terms of body slenderness parameter to the zeroth-order solutions. The method is applied by writing each flow variable as the sum of a zeroth-order and a perturbation function, each multiplied by the axial variable raised to a power. The similarity solutions are developed for infinite Mach number. All results obtained are for no flow through the body surface (as a boundary condition), but the derivation indicates that small amounts of blowing or suction through the wall can be accommodated.

Townsend, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Prediction of flyover jet noise spectra from static tests

A scaling law is derived for predicting the flyover noise spectra of a single-stream shock-free circular jet from static experiments. The theory is based on the Lighthill approach to jet noise. Density terms are retained to include the effects of jet heating. The influence of flight on the turbulent flow field is considered by an experimentally supported similarity assumption. The resulting scaling laws for the difference between one-third-octave spectra and the overall sound pressure level compare very well with flyover experiments with a jet engine and with wind tunnel experiments with a heated model jet.

Michel, U.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Geodetic Precession Vs. Frame Dragging

Report discusses precession of freely falling or orbiting gyroscope with respect to geodetic precession and frame-dragged precession, predicted by metric theories of gravitation. Geodetic precession caused by motion of gyroscope in gravitational field of massive body; frame-dragged precession caused by gravitomagnetic interaction, which is magnetic-like effect caused by motion of massive body. Both effects small. Relevant to investigations in orbital mechanics, navigation, and general relativity.

Krisher, Timothy P.↗
NASA NTRS2018

The Discovery of the Antarctic Ozone Hole

The author Nassim Taleb has coined the term ‘‘Black Swan’’ event to describe a very low probability event that come as a surprise and has a major effect in the field in which it occurs. He suggests that such events have occurred in history, finance, science, and technology more frequently than one can expect from stochastic theory. The discovery of the Antarctic Ozone Hole fits this description well. In this paper, we describe the events surrounding this discovery and the role of NASA satellite data before and soon after the seminal paper by Farman et al., in May 1985 that first brought this phenomenon to the attention of the broader science community.

Bhartia, Pawan Kumar↗
NASA NTRS1980

Reducing the error of geoid undulation computations by modifying Stokes' function

The truncation theory as it pertains to the calculation of geoid undulations based on Stokes' integral, but from limited gravity data, is reexamined. Specifically, the improved procedures of Molodenskii et al. are shown through numerical investigations to yield substantially smaller errors than the conventional method that is often applied in practice. In this improved method, as well as in a simpler alternative to the conventional approach, the Stokes' kernel is suitably modified in order to accelerate the rate of convergence of the error series. These modified methods, however, effect a reduction in the error only if a set of low-degree potential harmonic coefficients is utilized in the computation. Consider, for example, the situation in which gravity anomalies are given in a cap of radius 10 deg and the GEM 9 (20,20) potential field is used. Then, typically, the error in the computed undulation (aside from the spherical approximation and errors in the gravity anomaly data) according to the conventional truncation theory is 1.09 m; with Meissl's modification it reduces to 0.41m, while Molodenskii's improved method gives 0.45 m. A further alteration of Molodenskii's method is developed and yields an RMS error of 0.33 m. These values reflect the effect of the truncation, as well as the errors in the GEM 9 harmonic coefficients. The considerable improvement, suggested by these results, of the modified methods over the conventional procedure is verified with actual gravity anomaly data in two oceanic regions, where the GEOS-3 altimeter geoid serves as the basis for comparison. The optimal method of truncation, investigated by Colombo, is extremely ill-conditioned. It is shown that with no corresponding regularization, this procedure is inapplicable.

Jekeli, C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Effect of magnetic field geometry on the wave signature of the pickup of interstellar neutrals

By using the technique of Johnstone et al. (1991), the asymptotic wave spectrum induced by the pickup of interstellar ions in the heliosphere is derived. This approach is independent of quasi-linear theory. The asymptotic wave spectrum is calculated from the standard resonance condition by assuming that the asymptotic ion distribution is bispherical and by using conservation of energy. The calculation places no restriction on either the ratio of Alfven speed to solar wind flow speed or the particle pitch angle. Spectra for various geometries (relative orientations of the magnetic field and solar wind velocity) are calculated. Absolute upper limits to the expected wave enhancements are calculated. These upper limits are compared to the background fluctuation spectrum extrapolated from 0.87 AU, assuming a spectral index of -5/3 and radial dependences of -2 and -3. The heliocentric radial distances at which the peaks in the various geometry-dependent wave spectra are expected to be observable above the background are identified. Peaks due to pickup hydrogen at the proton gyrofrequency are found to be always stronger relative to the background in parallel than in perpendicular geometries. The parallel-geometry excitations consist only of sunward propagating waves. In perpendicular geometries a peak also occurs, this time near 0.1 of the proton gyrofrequency (corresponding to the peak calculated by Lee and Ip (1987)). However, the steep spectral dependence of the ambient wave field makes it unlikely that this peak will be observed inside 20 AU. A similar result holds for the case of pickup-helium induced excitation at the helium gyrofrequency. Inside 10 AU, peaks at these lower frequencies tend to be obscured by the steep frequency dependence (proportional to -5/3) of the ambient spectrum and then are only observable in parallel geometries.

Williams, L. L.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Thermal and Driven Stochastic Growth of Langmuir Waves in the Solar Wind and Earth's Foreshock

Statistical distributions of Langmuir wave fields in the solar wind and the edge of Earth's foreshock are analyzed and compared with predictions for stochastic growth theory (SGT). SGT quantitatively explains the solar wind, edge, and deep foreshock data as pure thermal waves, driven thermal waves subject to net linear growth and stochastic effects, and as waves in a pure SGT state, respectively, plus radiation near the plasma frequency f(sub p). These changes are interpreted in terms of spatial variations in the beam instability's growth rate and evolution toward a pure SGT state. SGT analyses of field distributions are shown to provide a viable alternative to thermal noise spectroscopy for wave instruments with coarse frequency resolution, and to separate f(sub p) radiation from Langmuir waves.

Cairns, Iver H.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Density drift instabilities and weak collisions

A model is developed which describes the effects of weak collisions on the linear kinetic theory of electrostatic density drift instabilities. A dispersion equation valid at all frequencies and wave numbers is derived using the assumptions of a weak, uniform density gradient; a uniform magnetic field; and the BGK collision operator with a modification of the local approximation. The properties of the universal and collisional density drift instabilities at maximum growth rates are examined in detail. The thresholds of the instabilities are examined for an ionospheric model which includes ion-neutral, electron-neutral, and electron-ion collisions, and are compared with the threshold of the lower hybrid density drift instability. It is concluded that the k to the -5th short wavelength density power spectra observed above 280 km in the PLUMEX experiment are due to the effects of the universal density drift instability.

Gary, S. P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Three-dimensional finite element progressive failure analysis of composite laminates under axial extension

A three-dimensional (3D) progressive failure algorithm is developed, where the layerwise laminate theory (LWLT) of Reddy is used for kinematic description. The finite element model based on the layerwise theory predicts both inplane and interlaminar stresses with the same accuracy as that of a conventional 3D finite element model and provides a convenient format for modeling the 3D stress fields in composite laminates. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effect of out-of-plane material properties, 3D stiffness reduction methods, and boundary conditions on the failure loads and strains of a composite laminate under axial extension. The results indicate that different parameters have a different degree of influence on the failure loads and strains. The predictive ability of various phenomenological failure criteria is evaluated in the light of experimental results available in the literature, and the predictions of the LWLT are compared with those of the first-order shear deformation theory. It is concluded that a 3D stress analysis is necessary to predict accurately the failure behavior of composite laminates.

Reddy, Yeruva S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Unified aeroacoustics analysis for high speed turboprop aerodynamics and noise. Volume 5: Propagation of propeller tone noise through a fuselage boundary layer

An analysis of tone noise propagation through a boundary layer and fuselage scattering effects was derived. This analysis is a three dimensional and the complete wave field is solved by matching analytical expressions for the incident and scattered waves in the outer flow to a numerical solution in the boundary layer flow. The outer wave field is constructed analytically from an incident wave appropriate to the source and a scattered wave in the standard Hankel function form. For the incident wave, an existing function - domain propeller noise radiation theory is used. In the boundary layer region, the wave equation is solved by numerical methods. The theoretical analysis is embodied in a computer program which allows the calculation of correction factors for the fuselage scattering and boundary layer refraction effects. The effects are dependent on boundary layer profile, flight speed, and frequency. Corrections can be derived for any point on the fuselage, including those on the opposite side from the source. The theory was verified using limited cases and by comparing calculations with available measurements from JetStar tests of model prop-fans. For the JetStar model scale, the boundary layer refraction effects produce moderate fuselage pressure reinforcements aft of and near the plane of rotation and significant attenuation forward of the plane of rotation at high flight speeds. At lower flight speeds, the calculated boundary layer effects result in moderate amplification over the fuselage area of interest. Apparent amplification forward of the plane of rotation is a result of effective changes in the source directivity due to boundary layer refraction effects. Full scale effects are calculated to be moderate, providing fuselage pressure amplification of about 5 dB at the peak noise location. Evaluation using available noise measurements was made under high-speed, high-altitude flight conditions. Comparisons of calculations made of free field noise, using a current frequency-domain propeller noise prediction method, and fuselage effects using this new procedure show good agreement with fuselage measurements over a wide range of flight speeds and frequencies. Correction factors for the JetStar measurements made on the fuselage are provided in an Appendix.

Magliozzi, B.↗