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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 NTRS1990

Analysis of rotary engine combustion processes based on unsteady, three-dimensional computations

A new computer code was developed for predicting the turbulent and chemically reacting flows with sprays occurring inside of a stratified charge rotary engine. The solution procedure is based on an Eulerian Lagrangian approach where the unsteady, three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations for a perfect gas mixture with variable properties are solved in generalized, Eulerian coordinates on a moving grid by making use of an implicit finite volume, Steger-Warming flux vector splitting scheme, and the liquid phase equations are solved in Lagrangian coordinates. Both the details of the numerical algorithm and the finite difference predictions of the combustor flow field during the opening of exhaust and/or intake, and also during fuel vaporization and combustion, are presented.

Raju, M. S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Radiation effect on rocket engine performance

Critical problem areas involving the effect of radiation on the combustion of bipropellants are addressed by formulating a universal scaling law in combination with a radiation-enhanced vaporization combustion model. Numerical algorithms are developed and data pertaining to the Variable Thrust Engine (VTE) and the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) are used to conduct parametric sensitivity studies to predict the principal intercoupling effects of radiation. The analysis reveals that low-enthalpy engines, such as the VTE, are vulnerable to a substantial performance setback due to radiative loss, whereas the performance of high-enthalpy engines such as the SSME are hardly affected over a broad range of engine operation. Combustion enhancement by radiative heating of the propellant has a significant impact on propellants with high absorptivity.

Chiu, Huei-Huang↗
NASA NTRS1989

Vector performance analysis of three supercomputers - Cray-2, Cray Y-MP, and ETA10-Q

Results are presented of a series of experiments to study the single-processor performance of three supercomputers: Cray-2, Cray Y-MP, and ETA10-Q. The main object of this study is to determine the impact of certain architectural features on the performance of modern supercomputers. Features such as clock period, memory links, memory organization, multiple functional units, and chaining are considered. A simple performance model is used to examine the impact of these features on the performance of a set of basic operations. The results of implementing this set on these machines for three vector lengths and three memory strides are presented and compared. For unit stride operations, the Cray Y-MP outperformed the Cray-2 by as much as three times and the ETA10-Q by as much as four times for these operations. Moreover, unlike the Cray-2 and ETA10-Q, even-numbered strides do not cause a major performance degradation on the Cray Y-MP. Two numerical algorithms are also used for comparison. For three problem sizes of both algorithms, the Cray Y-MP outperformed the Cray-2 by 43 percent to 68 percent and the ETA10-Q by four to eight times.

Fatoohi, Rod A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Adaptive grid embedding for the two-dimensional Euler equations

A numerical algorithm is presented for solving the two-dimensional flux-split Euler equations using a multigrid method with adaptive grid embedding. The method uses an unstructured data set along with a system of pointers for communication on the irregularly shaped grid topologies. An explicit two-stage time advancement scheme is implemented. A multigrid algorithm is used to provide grid level communication and to accelerate the convergence of the solution to steady state. Results are presented for an NACA 0012 airfoil in a freestream with Mach numbers of 0.95 and 1.054. Excellent resolution of the shock structures is obtained with the adaptive grid embedding method with significantly fewer grid points than the comparable structured grid.

Warren, Gary P.↗
NASA NTRS1989

New computing systems and their impact on computational mechanics

Recent advances in computer technology that are likely to impact computational mechanics are reviewed. The technical needs for computational mechanics technology are outlined. The major features of new and projected computing systems, including supersystems, parallel processing machines, special-purpose computing hardware, and small systems are described. Advances in programming environments, numerical algorithms, and computational strategies for new computing systems are reviewed, and a novel partitioning strategy is outlined for maximizing the degree of parallelism on multiprocessor computers with a shared memory.

Noor, Ahmed K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Numerical analysis of secondary flow in a two-stage turbine

The three-dimensional viscous average passage flow in the Pratt and Whitney alternate design Space Shuttle Main Engine fuel turbine has been simulated. The effect of secondary flows generated by upstream blade rows on the performance of downstream blade rows is studied. The numerical results are compared to the design intent to validate improved models in the average passage equations. Analysis of the results centers on the primary spanwise mixing mechanism in this low aspect ratio turbine. A multigrid method has also been incorporated to improve the overall convergence rate of the numerical algorithm.

Kirtley, K. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Image based range determination

Flight vehicles operating at low altitudes such as rotorcraft require range determination schemes for locating the terrain and obstacles. The development of a ranging scheme combining image sequences from vehicle mounted passive imaging sensors and the vehicle motion variables obtained from an on-board inertial navigation system is described. This approach can handle sequences from more than one imaging device. Derivation of the numerical algorithm and the performance results using a laboratory image sequence are given. Other applications of the proposed approach include ranging schemes for autonomous planetary rovers and telerobots.

Menon, P. K. A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The computation of thermo-chemical nonequilibrium hypersonic flows

Several conceptual designs for vehicles that would fly in the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds have been developed recently. For the proposed flight conditions the air in the shock layer that envelops the body is at a sufficiently high temperature to cause chemical reaction, vibrational excitation, and ionization. However, these processes occur at finite rates which, when coupled with large convection speeds, cause the gas to be removed from thermo-chemical equilibrium. This non-ideal behavior affects the aerothermal loading on the vehicle and has ramifications in its design. A numerical method to solve the equations that describe these types of flows in 2-D was developed. The state of the gas is represented with seven chemical species, a separate vibrational temperature for each diatomic species, an electron translational temperature, and a mass-average translational-rotational temperature for the heavy particles. The equations for this gas model are solved numerically in a fully coupled fashion using an implicit finite volume time-marching technique. Gauss-Seidel line-relaxation is used to reduce the cost of the solution and flux-dependent differencing is employed to maintain stability. The numerical method was tested against several experiments. The calculated bow shock wave detachment on a sphere and two cones was compared to those measured in ground testing facilities. The computed peak electron number density on a sphere-cone was compared to that measured in a flight test. In each case the results from the numerical method were in excellent agreement with experiment. The technique was used to predict the aerothermal loads on an Aeroassisted Orbital Transfer Vehicle including radiative heating. These results indicate that the current physical model of high temperature air is appropriate and that the numerical algorithm is capable of treating this class of flows.

Candler, Graham↗
NASA NTRS1990

Verification of floating-point software

Floating point computation presents a number of problems for formal verification. Should one treat the actual details of floating point operations, or accept them as imprecisely defined, or should one ignore round-off error altogether and behave as if floating point operations are perfectly accurate. There is the further problem that a numerical algorithm usually only approximately computes some mathematical function, and we often do not know just how good the approximation is, even in the absence of round-off error. ORA has developed a theory of asymptotic correctness which allows one to verify floating point software with a minimum entanglement in these problems. This theory and its implementation in the Ariel C verification system are described. The theory is illustrated using a simple program which finds a zero of a given function by bisection. This paper is presented in viewgraph form.

Hoover, Doug N.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Choice of velocity variables for complex flow computation

The issue of adopting the velocity components as dependent velocity variables for the Navier-Stokes flow computations is investigated. The viewpoint advocated is that a numerical algorithm should preferably honor both the physical conservation law in differential form and the geometric conservation law in discrete form. With the use of Cartesian velocity vector, the momentum equations in curvilinear coordinates can retain the full conservation-law form and satisfy the physical conservation laws. With the curvilinear velocity components, source terms appear in differential equations and hence the full conservation law form can not be retained. In discrete expressions, algorithms based on the Cartesian components can satisfy the geometric conservation-law form for convection terms but not for viscous terms; those based on the curvilinear components, on the other hand, cannot satisfy the geometric conservation-law form for either convection or viscous terms. Several flow solutions for domain with 90 and 360 degree turnings are presented to illustrate the issues of using the Cartesian velocity components and the staggered grid arrangement.

Shyy, W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Turbulence modeling in aerodynamic shear flows - Status and problems

This paper briefly summarizes the status and problems of turbulence modeling for aerodynamical applications. For complex flows the 'approach of choice' is (increasingly) full second-order (Reynolds stress equation) closure. These closures have not yet developed to anywhere near their full potential, significant further research is required especially regarding length-scale equations, representation of pressure-strain correlations, and wall region treatments. Recent developments in computer capability, algorithms, numerical simulations, theory and quantitative flow visualization should assist in and hasten this research. Several problem areas such as shock interaction and discrete dynamic instabilities of turbulent flows may require mega-to-large eddy simulation or theoretical adjuncts.

Bushnell, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Absolute magnitude calibration using trigonometric parallax - Incomplete, spectroscopic samples

A new numerical algorithm is used to calibrate the absolute magnitude of spectroscopically selected stars from their observed trigonometric parallax. This procedure, based on maximum-likelihood estimation, can retrieve unbiased estimates of the intrinsic absolute magnitude and its dispersion even from incomplete samples suffering from selection biases in apparent magnitude and color. It can also make full use of low accuracy and negative parallaxes and incorporate censorship on reported parallax values. Accurate error estimates are derived for each of the fitted parameters. The algorithm allows an a posteriori check of whether the fitted model gives a good representation of the observations. The procedure is described in general and applied to both real and simulated data.

Ratnatunga, Kavan U.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A natural partitioning scheme for parallel simulation of multibody systems

A parallel partitioning scheme based on physical-coordinate variables is presented to systematically eliminate system constraint forces and yield the equations of motion of multibody dynamics systems in terms of their independent coordinates. Key features of the present scheme include an explicit determination of the independent coordinates, a parallel construction of the null space matrix of the constraint Jacobian matrix, an easy incorporation of the previously developed two-stage staggered solution procedure, and Schur complement based parallel preconditioned conjugate gradient numerical algorithm.

Chiou, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1991

An evaluation of analog and numerical techniques for unsteady heat transfer measurement with thin-film gauges in transient facilities

The importance of frequency response considerations in the use of thin-film gages for unsteady heat transfer measurements in transient facilities is considered, and methods for evaluating it are proposed. A departure frequency response function is introduced and illustrated by an existing analog circuit. A Fresnel integral temperature which possesses the essential features of the film temperature in transient facilities is introduced and is used to evaluate two numerical algorithms. Finally, criteria are proposed for the use of finite-difference algorithms for the calculation of the unsteady heat flux from a sampled temperature signal.

George, William K.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Secondary frequencies in the wake of a circular cylinder with vortex shedding

A detailed numerical study of two-dimensional flow past a circular cylinder at moderately low Reynolds numbers was conducted using three different numerical algorithms for solving the time-dependent compressible Navier-Stokes equations. It was found that if the algorithm and associated boundary conditions were consistent and stable, then the major features of the unsteady wake were well-predicted. However, it was also found that even stable and consistent boundary conditions could introduce additional periodic phenomena reminiscent of the type seen in previous wind-tunnel experiments. However, these additional frequencies were eliminated by formulating the boundary conditions in terms of the characteristic variables. An analysis based on a simplified model provides an explanation for this behavior.

Abarbanel, Saul S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A study of hydrogen diffusion flames using PDF turbulence model

The application of probability density function (pdf) turbulence models is addressed in this work. For the purpose of accurate prediction of turbulent combustion, an algorithm that combines a conventional CFD flow solver with the Monte Carlo simulation of the pdf evolution equation has been developed. The algorithm has been validated using experimental data for a heated turbulent plane jet. The study of H2-F2 diffusion flames has been carried out using this algorithm. Numerical results compared favorably with experimental data. The computuations show that the flame center shifts as the equivalence ratio changes, and that for the same equivalence ratio, similarity solutions for flames exist.

Hsu, Andrew T.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Analysis and design of transonic airfoils using streamwise coordinates

A new approach is developed for analysis and design of transonic airfoils. A set of full potential equivalent equations in von Mises coordinates is formulated from the Euler equations under the irrotationality and isentropic assumptions. This set is composed of a main equation for the main variable, y, and a secondary equations for the secondary variable, R. The main equation is solved by type dependent differencing combined with a shock point operator. The secondary equation is solved by marching from a non-characteristic boundary. Sample computations on NACA 0012 and biconvex airfoils show that, for the analysis problem, the present approach achieves good agreement with experimental C sub p distributions. For the design problem, the approach leads to a simple numerical algorithm in which the airfoil contour is calculated as part of the flow field solution.

Barron, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Computational methods in the prediction of advanced subsonic and supersonic propeller induced noise: ASSPIN users' manual

This document describes the computational aspects of propeller noise prediction in the time domain and the use of high speed propeller noise prediction program ASSPIN (Advanced Subsonic and Supersonic Propeller Induced Noise). These formulations are valid in both the near and far fields. Two formulations are utilized by ASSPIN: (1) one is used for subsonic portions of the propeller blade; and (2) the second is used for transonic and supersonic regions on the blade. Switching between the two formulations is done automatically. ASSPIN incorporates advanced blade geometry and surface pressure modelling, adaptive observer time grid strategies, and contains enhanced numerical algorithms that result in reduced computational time. In addition, the ability to treat the nonaxial inflow case has been included.

Dunn, M. H.↗