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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 379 records · Page 21

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NASA NTRS1992

A study of the rotor wake of a small-scale rotor model in forward flight using laser light sheet flow visualization with comparisons to analytical models

An experimental investigation was conducted in the 14 by 22 ft subsonic tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center to quantify the rotor wake behind a scale model helicopter rotor in forward flight (mu = 0.15 and 0.23) at one thrust level (C sub T = 0.0064). The rotor system used in the present test consisted of a four-bladed, fully articulated hub and utilized blades of rectangular planform with a NACA-0012 airfoil section. A laser light sheet, seeded with propylene glycol smoke, was used to visualize the flow in planes parallel and perpendicular to the freestream flow. Quantitative measurements of vortex location, vertical skew angle, and vortex particle void radius were obtained for vortices in the flow; convective velocities were obtained for blade tip vortices. Comparisons were made between the experimental results and the wake geometry generated by computational predictions. The results of these comparisons show that the interaction between wake vortex structures is an important consideration for correctly predicting the wake geometry.

Ghee, Terence A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Comparisons between DSMC and the Navier-Stokes equations for reentry flows

A detailed comparison is made between Navier-Stokes and DSMC calculations for flows near the continuum limit to assess the accuracy of the continuum equations in this regime. Meaningful comparisons require the use of similar physical models. This necessitates the inclusion of a separate rotational energy equation and use of slip boundary conditions. Inclusion of slip boundary conditions resulted in improved agreement between surface properties. Moreover, good agreement was obtained for the various temperatures in the nonequilibrium portion of the flow field that does not contain the shock region. Departures are noted in the shock region and in regions where thermal diffusion effects are important.

Olynick, David R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Stratospheric models and measurements - A critical comparison

Attention is given to a program to compare stratospheric models and measurements to calculate the atmospheric effects of emissions of a projected fleet of High Speed Civil Transports on the stratosphere is presented. The goals of the effort is to establish a standard set of atmospheric measurements that can be used to test the reliability of atmospheric chemistry models, develop a method for evaluating model/data comparisons, and direct the first major international stratospheric model/data comparison.

Remsberg, Ellis E.↗

NASA NTRS1936

A comparison of corrosion-resistant steel (18 percent chromium - 8 percent nickel) and aluminum alloy (24st)

In the selection of materials for aircraft application, it is not enough to make the selection on a strength-weight basis alone. A strength-weight comparison is significant but other factors must be considered, for while a material with a high ratio of strength to weight may be perfectly satisfactory for one use, it may be totally unfitted for another. It is essential, among other things, that the probable nature, magnitude, and direction of the principal stresses be given special consideration. The following analysis has therefore been made with this in mind. An attempt has been made to cover insofar as possible the major, but not all the points, that a designer would consider in the use of "18-8", as it is commonly referred to, and 24ST aluminum alloy, as applied to aircraft. 24ST was selected for this comparison as it has practically replaced 17ST for aircraft construction and it appears to have the best combination of properties of the alloys now available for this purpose. The cost of fabrication has not been considered.

Sullivan, J E↗

NASA NTRS1955

Comparison between theoretical and experimental stresses in circular semimonocoque cylinders with rectangular cutouts

Comparisons are made between a theory for calculating stresses about rectangular cutouts in circular cylinders of semimonocoque construction published in NACA-TN-3200 and previously published NACA experimental data. The comparisons include stresses in the stringers and shear stresses in the center of the shear panels in the neighborhood of the cutout. The theory takes into account the bending flexibility of the rings in the structure, and this factor is found to be important in the calculation of stresses about cutouts. In general, when the ring flexibility is considered, good agreement is exhibited between the calculated and experimental results. (author)

Mccomb, Harvey G , Jr↗

NASA NTRS1950

Comparison of outside-surface heat-transfer coefficients for cascades of turbine blades

A comparison of available results from heat-transfer investigations on cascades of turbine blades is presented using the Nusselt equation. The conventional correlation procedure is modified by defining the Reynolds number by the average of the velocities and the pressures around the blades. The correlation of the results from impulse blades was improved by using the Reynolds number defined by the average velocity and pressure. The final comparison indicated that several variables, which possibly influence heat transfer, should be investigated.

HEAT TRANSFER, CASCADES↗

NASA NTRS1954

Comparison of effectiveness of convection-, transpiration-, and film-cooling methods with air as coolant

Various parts of aircraft propulsion engines that are in contact with hot gases often require cooling. Transpiration and film cooling, new methods that supposedly utilize cooling air more effectively than conventional convection cooling, have already been proposed. This report presents material necessary for a comparison of the cooling requirements of these three methods. Correlations that are regarded by the authors as the most reliable today are employed in evaluating each of the cooling processes. Calculations for the special case in which the gas velocity is constant along the cooled wall (flat plate) are presented. The calculations reveal that a comparison of the three cooling processes can be made on quite a general basis. The superiority of transpiration cooling is clearly shown for both laminar and turbulent flow. This superiority is reduced when the effects of radiation are included; for gas-turbine blades, however, there is evidence indicating that radiation may be neglected.

Eckert, E R G↗

NASA NTRS1993

Morphometric comparison of Icelandic lava shield volcanoes versus selected Venusian edifices

Shield volcanoes are common landforms on the silicate planets of the inner Solar System, and a wide variety have recently been documented on Venus by means of Magellan observations. In this report, we emphasize our recently completed morphometric analysis of three representative Icelandic lava shields: the classic Skjaldbreidur edifice, the low-reflief Lambahraun feature, and the monogenetic Sandfellshaed shield, as the basis for comparison with representative venusian edifices (greater than 60 km in diameter). Our detailed morphometric measurements of a representative and well-studied set of Icelandic volcanoes permits us to make comparisons with our measurements of a reasonable subset of shield-like edifices on Venus on the basis of Magellan global radar altimetry. Our study has been restricted to venusian features larger than approximately 60 km in basal diameter, on the basis of the minimum intrinsic spatial resolution (8 km) of the Magellan radar altimetry data. Finally, in order to examine the implications of landform scaling from terrestrial simple and composite shields to larger venusian varieties, we have considered the morphometry of the subaerial component of Mauna Loa, a type-locality for a composite shield edifice on Earth.

Garvin, James B.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Time series comparisons of satellite and rocketsonde temperatures in 1978-1979

The Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) experiment on Nimbus 7 yielded temperature-versus-pressure (T(p)) profiles for each radiance scan. The present report describes time series comparisons between LIMS and rocketsonde T(p) values at rocketsonde station locations. Sample size has increased up to 665 by this new approach, leading to better statistics for a T(p) validation. The results indicate no clearly significant bias for LIMS versus Datasonde from 10 kPa at low and mid latitudes. There is a positive LIMS bias of 2 to 3 K in the upper stratosphere at high latitudes for the Northern Hemisphere in both winter and spring. LIMS is progressively colder than Datasonde from 0.4 kPa (about -3 K) to 0.1 kPa (about -9 K) at all latitudes. A similar comparison between LIMS and the more accurate falling sphere measurements reveals an equivalent mid-latitude LIMS bias at 0.4 kPa but a much smaller bias at 0.1 kPa (-4.6 K). Because the biases do not vary noticeably with season, it is concluded that they are not a function of atmospheric state. This result confirms the robustness of the LIMS temperature retrieval technique.

Remsberg, Ellis E.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Inter-comparison of Wildfire and High-resolution Interferometer Sounder (HIS) data from STORM-FEST: An investigation of wildfire spectral channel discrepancies

This simultaneous collection of HIS spectral measurements aboard the ER-2 during STORM-FEST provided a means to explore calibration problems in the infrared bands of the Wildfire instrument. Large discrepancies in brightness temperatures were noted in Wildfire bands designed to sample the 'wings' of the strong ozone absorption band centered at 9.6 microns, where the atmospheric transmittance changes rapidly with wavelength. Examination of interchannel relationships in Wildfire data and subsequent comparison to Wildfire data synthesized from the HIS measurements suggests that a wavelength shift in the channel spectral response from those determined in the laboratory may have occurred. Based on comparisons from several flights, this spectral shift has been empirically determined to be about 0.15 micron. It is speculated that this problem resulted from a slight misalignment of the spectrometer grating or other optical elements, or was a result of extreme range in temperatures experienced by the instrument throughout the course of an ER-2 flight. A consequence of this temperature fluctuation may be a change in a position of the grating in the optical path and could result in the variations in channel spectral response during flight. These findings for Wildfire may have significant bearing on future use of the MAS because of the similarities to the original Wildfire configuration.

Jedlovec, G. J.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Comparison of LASSO and GPS time transfers

The LASSO is a technique which should allow the comparison of remote atomic clocks with sub-nanosecond precision and accuracy. The first successful time transfer using LASSO has been carried out between the Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur in France and the McDonald Observatory in Texas, United States. This paper presents a preliminary comparison of LASSO time transfer with GPS common-view time transfer.

Lewandowski, W.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Comparison of radar-altimetry data over Greenland with surface topography derived from airborne laser altimetry

During the Summers of 1991, 1992, and 1993, NASA flew a scanning laser altimeter over transects of the Greenland ice sheet. Airplane location was measured precisely using differential Global Positioning System (GPS) surveying techniques. This allowed all altimetry data to be reduced to an estimate of ice surface elevations relative to the Earth ellipsoid. Repeat flights over the same areas indicate data consistency to 10 to 20 cm. Many of the aircraft flights were made along the ERS-1 'radar-altimeter footprint track' for a commissioning phase orbit. Rigorous comparison between the ERS-1 altimeter measurements and those from the laser altimeter will require analysis of individual ERS-1 altimeter waveforms, and since the information needed to do this is not yet available, results from comparison of TOPEX (Topology Ocean Experiment) Poseidon (T/P) radar altimetry data with laser data obtained at the northernmost limit of the T/P orbits are presented.

Thomas, R. H.↗

NASA NTRS1994

A Comparison of Atomic Oxygen Erosion Yields of Carbon and Selected Polymers Exposed in Ground Based Facilities and in Low Earth Orbit

A comparison of the relative erosion yields (volume of material removed per oxygen atom arriving) for FEP Teflon, polyethylene, and pyrolytic graphite with respect to Kapton HN was performed in an atomic oxygen directed beam system, in a plasma asher, and in space on the EOIM-III (Evaluation of Oxygen Interaction with Materials-III) flight experiment. This comparison was performed to determine the sensitivity of material reaction to atomic oxygen flux, atomic oxygen fluence, and vacuum ultraviolet radiation for enabling accurate estimates of durability in ground based facilities. The relative erosion yield of pyrolytic graphite was found not to be sensitive to these factors, that for FEP was sensitive slightly to fluence and possibly ions, and that for polyethylene was found to be partially VUV and flux sensitive but more sensitive to an unknown factor. Results indicate that the ability to use these facilities for material relative durability prediction is great as long as the sensitivity of particular materials to conditions such as VUV, and atomic oxygen flux and fluence are taken into account. When testing materials of a particular group such as teflon, it may be best to use a witness sample made of a similar material that has some available space data on it. This would enable one to predict an equivalent exposure in the ground based facility.

Rutledge, Sharon K.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Comparison of PDF and Moment Closure Methods in the Modeling of Turbulent Reacting Flows

In modeling turbulent reactive flows, Probability Density Function (PDF) methods have an advantage over the more traditional moment closure schemes in that the PDF formulation treats the chemical reaction source terms exactly, while moment closure methods are required to model the mean reaction rate. The common model used is the laminar chemistry approximation, where the effects of turbulence on the reaction are assumed negligible. For flows with low turbulence levels and fast chemistry, the difference between the two methods can be expected to be small. However for flows with finite rate chemistry and high turbulence levels, significant errors can be expected in the moment closure method. In this paper, the ability of the PDF method and the moment closure scheme to accurately model a turbulent reacting flow is tested. To accomplish this, both schemes were used to model a CO/H2/N2- air piloted diffusion flame near extinction. Identical thermochemistry, turbulence models, initial conditions and boundary conditions are employed to ensure a consistent comparison can be made. The results of the two methods are compared to experimental data as well as to each other. The comparison reveals that the PDF method provides good agreement with the experimental data, while the moment closure scheme incorrectly shows a broad, laminar-like flame structure.

Norris, Andrew T.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Systematic comparison between the ground based automated Dobson of the Observatory of Haute-Provence and TOMS since 1983

The total ozone quantity has been obtained since September 1983 at O.H.P. using the conventional AD wavelength technique. An average of 180 measurements per year is obtained with the Dobson n deg 85. Each of these daily total quantities is in fact an average of at least 5 measurements. The preliminary comparison with TOMS data show good agreement. We discuss systematic daily and monthly comparisons.

Merienne, Marie-France↗

NASA NTRS1994

Comparison of recalculated Dobson and TOMS total ozone at Hradec Kralove, Czechoslovakia, 1978-1990

The reevaluated Dobson total ozone data from Hradec Kralove, Czechoslovakia were compared with independent Total Ozone Mapping Spectrophotometer (TOMS) 'version 6' data set. The comparison was performed by means of the parallel daily averages of ground-based and satellite total ozone pairs of the period November 1978 to December 1990. The comparison showed slight differences between both data series. Their average relative difference is 0.48 percent. The similar results have been reached for subsets of direct sun and zenith types of measurements as well. Their relative differences are 0.61 percent and 0.11 percent respectively. These facts indicate not only good mutual relation of both data sources but also reliability and accuracy of the zenith charts of the spectrophotometer No. 74 used at Hradec Kralove. Preliminary assessment of seasonal MU-dependence of the differences between Dobson and TOMS data was made while using total ozones of winter and summer months representing values of MU=2.70-5.20 and MU = 1.12-1.30 respectively. The results did not show systematic underestimation or overestimation of total ozone due to MU-dependence of the instrument at Hradec Kralove in both seasons.

Stanek, Martin↗

NASA NTRS1994

A comparison of optical rain gauge and radar data from TOGA/COARE

A comparison between rain gauge data and radar data from the Tropical Oceans Global Atmosphere/Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA/COARE) was studied. The rain gauge data from an echo that passed over the Xiangyanghong #5 on December 24, 1992 was compared to what the MIT radar saw at this location from the R/V Vickers, 103.4 km to the east. The precipitation measured by the rain gauge peaked at 108 mm/hr 92 seconds into the period before tapering off 11 1/2 minutes later. This sharp gradient was evident in a PPI plot of the radar reflectivities and the percentage area-rainfall for the radar data statistics. The percentage area curve was converted to rain rates using a GATE Z-R and compared to a percentage time curve of rain rates according to the rain gauge. A four minute running average applied to the rain gauge rates improved the comparison of peak rates between the rain gauge and radar. Differences in peaks between rain rates observed by the rain gauge and reflectivities observed by the radar could be due to variations in rainfall rates within a single radar data bin. For example, two measurements of reflectivity such as 37 and 47 dBZ within the same bin would result in a 44 dBZ average. This range in rates from 12 mm/hr to 74 mm/hr is observed in 30 seconds by the rain gauges within the first two minutes of the radar echo passage.

Galusha, Linda↗

NASA NTRS1995

Micrometeoroids and debris on LDEF comparison with MIR data

Part of the LDEF tray allocated to French experiments (FRECOPA) has been devoted to the study of dust particles. The tray was located on the face of LDEF directly opposed to the velocity vector. Crater size distributions have made possible the evaluation of the incident microparticle flux in the near-Earth environment. Comparisons are made with measurements obtained on the other faces of LDEF (tray clamps), on the leading edge (MAP) and with results of a similar experiment flown on the MIR space station. The geometry of impact craters, depth in particular, provides useful information on the nature of impacting particles and the correlation of geometry with the chemical analysis of projectile remnants inside craters make possible a discrimination between meteoroids and orbital debris. Emphasis has been laid on the size distribution of small craters in order to assess a cut-off in the distribution of particles in LEO. Special attention has been paid to the phenomenon of secondary impacts. A comparison of flight data with current models of meteoroids and space debris shows a fair agreement for LDEF, except for the smaller particles: the possible contribution of orbital debris in GTO orbits to the LDEF trailing edge flux is discussed. For MIR, flight results show differences with current modeling: the possible enhancement of orbital debris could be due to the contaminating presence of a permanently manned space station.

Mandeville, Jean-Claude↗