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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
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NASA NTRS1985

Thermal stability of static coronal loops: Part 1: Effects of boundary conditions

The linear stability of static coronal-loop models undergoing thermal perturbations was investigated. The effect of conditions at the loop base on the stability properties of the models was considered in detail. The question of appropriate boundary conditions at the loop base was considered and it was concluded that the most physical assumptions are that the temperature and density (or pressure) perturbations vanish there. However, if the base is taken to be sufficiently deep in the chromosphere, either several chromospheric scale heights or several coronal loop lengths in depth, then the effect of the boundary conditions on loop stability becomes negligible so that all physically acceptable conditions are equally appropriate. For example, one could as well assume that the velocity vanishes at the base. The growth rates and eigenmodes of static models in which gravity is neglected and in which the coronal heating is a relatively simple function, either constant per-unit mass or per-unit volume were calculated. It was found that all such models are unstable with a growth rate of the order of the coronal cooling time. The physical implications of these results for the solar corona and transition region are discussed.

Antiochos, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Analysis of 16 plasma vortex events in the geomagnetic tail

The analysis of 16 plasma vortex occurrences in the magnetotail plasma sheet of Hones et al. (1983) is extended. Two- and three-dimensional plasma measurements and three-dimensional magnetic field measurements were used to study phase relations, energy propagation, and polarization properties. The results point toward an interpretation as a slow strongly damped MHD eigenmode which is generated by tailward traveling perturbations at the low-latitude interface between plasma sheet and magnetosheath.

Birn, J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Subseasonal and interannual variations of tropical convection and the El Nino/Southern Oscillation

It was found that during the northern winter, fluctuation in tropical convection is dominated by eastware propagating cloud clusters from the Indian Ocean. Most of these clusters reach as far as the central Pacific. Longitude time sections of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) anomaly along the equator show that there are about 3 to 4 such episodes each winter. Also, simultaneous OLR anomalies over the equatorial central Pacific (ECP) and the maritime continent (MC) are negatively correlated and their variations are dominated by a 40 to 60 day period, suggesting the presence of a standing wave phenomenon. Such combination of propagating and standing phenomena can be captured by the extended empirical orthogonal function (EEOF) analysis. The EEOF method combines the temporal as well as the spatial correlation information to produce eigenmodes which have space time dependence. A 5 day and a 10 day lag in addition to the simultaneous spatial correlation is used.

Lau, K. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Thermal stability of static coronal loops. I - Effects of boundary conditions

The linear stability of static coronal-loop models undergoing thermal perturbations was investigated. The effect of conditions at the loop base on the stability properties of the models was considered in detail. The question of appropriate boundary conditions at the loop base was considered and it was concluded that the most physical assumptions are that the temperature and density (or pressure) perturbations vanish there. However, if the base is taken to be sufficiently deep in the chromosphere, either several chromospheric scale heights or several coronal loop lengths in depth, then the effect of the boundary conditions on loop stability becomes negligible so that all physically acceptable conditions are equally appropriate. For example, one could as well assume that the velocity vanishes at the base. The growth rates and eigenmodes of static models in which gravity is neglected and in which the coronal heating is a relatively simple function, either constant per-unit mass or per-unit volume were calculated. It was found that all such models are unstable with a growth rate of the order of the coronal cooling time. The physical implications of these results for the solar corona and transition region are discussed.

Antiochos, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1986

A study of over-reflection in viscous Poiseuille flow

It is shown that viscous Poiseuille flow sustains wave propagation in its center region for waves whose phase speed is less than the maximum flow speed. When, moreover, there are critical levels, there exists a range of phase speeds for which over-reflection occurs, and this range corresponds exactly to the range for which unstable eigenmodes exist. Consistent with the conjecture of Lindzen and Barker (1985), it is found that viscous boundary layers around the critical level and at the wall replace the exponential regions and wave sinks required for inviscid over-reflection. It is found that over-relection is confined to phase speeds for which these two boundary layers are in close proximity, rather than widely separated or substantially overlapping. Over-reflection is inevitably associated with a wave phase tilt opposite in direction to the shear at the critical level. All other cases yield a phase tilt in the direction of the shear. The former is consistent with the condition for the Orr (1977) mechanism to produce amplification (Boyd 1983).

Lindzen, R. S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

The effect of a small initial curvature on the free vibration of clamped, rectangular plates

An analytical method of obtaining the natural frequencies and mode shapes of clamped, rectangular plates having a small initial curvature is presented. Specifically, the singular perturbation technique is used to reduce the fourth-order plate vibration problem to the simpler membrane problem with modified boundary conditions that account for the bending effects. The eigenfrequencies for plates with inverse aspect ratios varying between 0.1 and 1.0 and for the dimensionless normal prestress between 0.1 and 1.0 have been presented for values of epsilon, the normalized bending rigidity, ranging between 0.0010 and 0.2500. It is established that a small initial curvature has no effect on the frequency of vibration of the plate. However, its effect is manifested in the eigenmodes.

Adeniji-Fashola, A. A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Amplification of electromagnetic waves by a ring-beam distribution of moderately relativistic electrons

The possibility of a new mechanism for the excitation of unstable modes in cold background plasmas is indicated in this paper. These beam-cyclotron modes are excited by the presence of the ring-beam distribution of suprathermal electrons. The usual eigenmode excitation of a cold plasma is reviewed, and the new type of instability is examined using a single-harmonic approximation and multiharmonic treatment.

Shi, B. R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Resonant Alfven waves on auroral field lines

It is shown that resonant Alfven waves on dipole magnetic field geometry and plasma distributions suitable for auroral field lines can be conventiently treated in the theory of Mathieu functions. Resurgent interest in invoking large-scale Alfven waves to structure some elements of auroral electrodynamics calls for interpretation of measured perpendicular electric and magnetic disturbance fields in terms of Alfven waves. The ability to express the resonant eigenmodes in closed form in terms of Mathieu functions allows for convenient tests of the Alfven wave structuring hypothesis. Implications for current vector electric and magnetic disturbance measurements are discussed.

Chiu, Y. T.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A model for the harmonic of compressional Pc 5 waves

Compressional Pc 5 magnetic waves in the magnetosphere are a unique phenomenon showing a nonsinusoidal waveform in spite of a well-defined period. Although the waveform can be Fourier-decomposed into the fundamental and the second harmonics, the phase between the two is kept constant from event to event, implying that the waveform is not the result of a chance superposition of two magnetospheric eigenmodes. A phenomenological explanation to this waveform is offered using a field-line configuration model that is a modified version of a previously proposed antisymmetric standing wave. In this model, the location of the equatorial node of field-line displacement is assumed to oscillate with the wave, with a peak-to-peak amplitude greater than 10 percent of the wavelength of the standing wave. The predicted waveform at various magnetic latitudes is found to be in excellent agreement with an observation taken near the magnetic equator by the Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers/Charge Composition Explorer spacecraft.

Takahashi, K.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Near-symmetric instability for general Prandtl number

An analysis of the stability of a simple baroclinic flow to perturbations whose horizontal wave vector lies in and near the vertical plane containing the density gradient has been performed. The Ekman number (E) and 'azimuthal' wavenumber (alpha) were both assumed much less than 1, and expansions about these quantities were performed for the eigenmodes and Richardson number (R). Agreement with the previous analysis of Busse and Chen (1981) that the correction to the critical R was O(alpha) for Prandtl number (P) away from unity was obtained. An expression for the correction to the critical R for arbitrary P, and an approximate expression for P = 1 were obtained as new results. The correction for P = 1 has the same sign as that for P less than 1, and is O(alpha E exp 2/3). This result compares well with the numerical results of Miller and Antar (1986) for small E.

Reynolds, Nathaniel D.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Free vibration of rectangular plates with a small initial curvature

The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to solve the transverse free vibration of a slightly curved, thin rectangular plate. Analytical results for natural frequencies and mode shapes are presented in the limit when the dimensionless bending rigidity, epsilon, is small compared with in-plane forces. Results for different boundary conditions are obtained when the initial deflection is: (1) a polynomial in both directions, and (2) the product of a polynomial and a trigonometric function, and arbitrary. For the arbitrary initial deflection case, the Fourier series technique is used to define the initial deflection. The results obtained show that the natural frequencies of vibration of slightly curved plates are coincident with those of perfectly flat, prestressed rectangular plates. However, the eigenmodes are very different from those of initially flat prestressed rectangular plates. The total deflection is found to be the sum of the initial deflection, the deflection resulting from the solution of the flat plate problem, and the deflection resulting from the static problem.

Adeniji-Fashola, A. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Resonant excitation of hemispheric barotropic instability in the winter mesosphere

In the present consideration of the subtropical mesospheric jet observed by the Nimbus 7 Limb IR Monitor of the Stratosphere in late 1978, where enhanced planetary wave activity propagating upward into the mesosphere in mid-December led to visible overreflection from the low-latitude reversed gradient region and rapid deceleration of the jet, the possible Rossby wave and mean meridional circulation causes for these observations are considered and rejected as unsuitable. The wave 1 mode is for practical purposes a radiating mode, excitable by sources in the far field. Since the phase speed of the eigenmodes can be made exactly zero when the mean flow vanishes within this region, as observed in mid-December 1978, resonant excitation is possible.

Dunkerton, Timothy J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A new class of stratospheric vacillations in a highly truncated model due to wave interference

A new class of vacillations is obtained in the Holton and Mass model with a different bottom boundary condition. The model is a highly truncated spectral model describing wave-zonal flow interactions in a forced-dissipative system. The mean zonal wind and the wave change their vertical structures periodically with a period of the wave progression (5-10 days for the parameters used in this study). The vacillations are interpreted as an interference between a stationary wave and a topographically modified Rossby wave. The modified Rossby wave is an eigenmode of baroclinic flow in the presence of bottom topography within the framework of the highly truncated system. Time variations of the mean zonal wind are essential for the modification of the Rossby wave.

Yoden, Shigeo↗
NASA NTRS1988

An investigation of the relationship between sub-Saharan rainfall and global sea surface temperatures

The relationship between SST and rainfall index anomalies over sub-Saharan Africa for the 1970-1984 period is investigated. Results of an empirical orthogonal function analysis indicate that the most dominant eigenmode, EOF1, is characterized by warming over the central eastern Pacific, cooling over the eastern midlatitude Pacific, and warming over the entire Atlantic and Indian ocean basins. EOF1 is found to have statistically signifiant monthly correlations for the Sahel and Soudan regions, with the warm El Nino-like phases of SST EOF1 corresponding to drought conditions. These results suggest that the large-scale SST anomalies may be responsible for a large component of the observed vacillation of sub-Saharan rainfall.

Semazzi, F. H. M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Development of higher-order modal methods for transient thermal and structural analysis

A force-derivative method which produces higher-order modal solutions to transient problems is evaluated. These higher-order solutions converge to an accurate response using fewer degrees-of-freedom (eigenmodes) than lower-order methods such as the mode-displacement or mode-acceleration methods. Results are presented for non-proportionally damped structural problems as well as thermal problems modeled by finite elements.

Camarda, Charles J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Structural damage assessment as an identification problem

Damage assessment of structural assemblies is treated as an identification problem. A brief review of identification methods is first presented with particular focus on the output error approach. The use of numerical optimization methods in identifying the location and extent of damage in structures is studied. The influence of damage on eigenmode shapes and static displacements is explored as a means of formulating a measure of damage in the structure. Preliminary results obtained in this study are presented and special attention is directed at the shortcomings associated with the nonlinear programming approach to solving the optimization problem.

Hajela, Prabhat↗
NASA NTRS1989

Higher order dispersion in the propagation of a gravity wave packet

To the first order of approximation, the complex amplitude of a wave packet in an anisotropic and dispersive medium is convected with the group of velocity. However, a gravity wave is a vector wave. Its wave packet must be formed by superposition of various wave numbers with corresponding frequencies, as is the case for scalar waves, and additionally by superposing many eigenmodes which also depend on the wave number. To represent the vector wave packet self-consistently, it is found that a gradient term must be included in the expansion. For a Guassian wave packet, this gradient term is shown to have important implications on the velocity vector as represented by its hodograph. Numerical results show that the hodograph is influenced by the location of the relative position of interest from the center of a Gaussian pulse. Higher order expansion shows that an initial Gaussian wave packet will retain its Gaussian shape as it propagates, but the pulse will spread in all directions with its major axis undergoing a rotation. Numerical results indicate that these higher order dispersive effects may be marginally observable in the atmosphere.

Yeh, K. C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A new look at equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation models

Simplified quasi-biennial oscillation models are studied, taking bifurcation theory into account. It is found that the model has a trivial steady solution of no mean zonal flow when the two components of the wave forcing are symmetric. The steady solution becomes unstable with respect to an oscillatory eigenmode when the amplitude of the wave forcing exceeds a critical value. Periodic solutions branch off from the steady solution at this point because of Hopf bifurcation. If the two components are not symmetric, the model has a nontrivial steady solution with nonzero mean zonal flow. Hopf bifurcation takes place and periodic solutions which are not symmetric with respect to time appear. A two-level model is developed to analyze the quasi-biennial oscillation mechanism. It is shown that both vertical diffusion and the shielding effect are needed to obtain periodic solutions.

Yoden, Shigeo↗