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At least 379 records · Page 21

Free-Spinning and Recovery Characteristics of a 1/19-Scale Model of the North American T-28C Airplane, TED No. NACA AD 3127

An investigation has been conducted in the Langley 20-foot free-spinning tunnel on a l/19-scale model of the North American T-28C airplane to determine the spin and recovery characteristics. The T-28C airplane is similar to the T-28B airplane except for slight modifications for the arresting hook. The lower rear section of the fuselage was cut out and, consequently, the lower part of the rudder was removed to make a smooth fairing with the fuselage. The T-28B airplane had good recovery characteristics; but these modifications, along with the addition of gun packages on the wings, led to poor and unsatisfactory spin-recovery characteristics during demonstration spins of the T-28C airplane. Model test results indicated that without the gun packages installed, satisfactory recoveries could be obtained if the elevators were held full back while the rudder was fully reversed and the ailerons were held neutral. However, with the addition of gun packages to the wings and the corresponding change in loading, recoveries were considered unsatisfactory. Recoveries attempted by using a larger chord or larger span rudder were improved very slightly, but were still considered marginal or unsatisfactory. Strakes placed on the nose of the model were effective in slowing the spin rotation slightly and, in most instances, decreased the turns for recovery slightly. Recovery characteristics were slightly marginal for the full fuel loading when strakes and the extended-chord rudder were installed; but with the wing fuel partly used, recovery characteristics were again considered unsatisfactory or, at least, definitely on the marginal side. The optimum control technique for recovery is movement of the rudder to full against the spin with the stick held full back (elevators full up) and the ailerons held neutral, followed by forward movement of the stick only after the spin rotation ceases. Inverted-spin test results indicate that the airplane will spin steep and fast and that recovery by full rudder reversal will be satisfactory if the ailerons are held neutral.

Bowman, James S., Jr.↗

Functionally Graded Adhesives for Composite Joints

Adhesives with functionally graded material properties are being considered for use in adhesively bonded joints to reduce the peel stress concentrations located near adherend discontinuities. Several practical concerns impede the actual use of such adhesives. These include increased manufacturing complications, alterations to the grading due to adhesive flow during manufacturing, and whether changing the loading conditions significantly impact the effectiveness of the grading. An analytical study is conducted to address these three concerns. An enhanced joint finite element, which uses an analytical formulation to obtain exact shape functions, is used to model the joint. Furthermore, proof of concept testing is conducted to show the potential advantages of functionally graded adhesives. In this study, grading is achieved by strategically placing glass beads within the adhesive layer at different densities along the joint.

Stapleton, Scott E.↗

Operational Analysis in the Launch Environment

The launch environment is a challenging regime to work due to changing system dynamics, changing environmental loading, joint compression loads that cannot be easily applied on the ground, and control effects. Operational testing is one of the few feasible approaches to capture system level dynamics since ground testing cannot reproduce all of these conditions easily. However, the most successful applications of Operational Modal Testing involve systems with good stationarity and long data acquisition times. This paper covers an ongoing effort to understand the launch environment and the utility of current operational modal tools. This work is expected to produce a collection of operational tools that can be applied to non-stationary launch environment, experience dealing with launch data, and an expanding database of flight parameters such as damping. This paper reports on recent efforts to build a software framework for the data processing utilizing existing and specialty tools; understand the limits of current tools; assess a wider variety of current tools; and expand the experience with additional datasets as well as to begin to address issues raised in earlier launch analysis studies.

James, George↗

The Analysis of Adhesively Bonded Advanced Composite Joints Using Joint Finite Elements

The design and sizing of adhesively bonded joints has always been a major bottleneck in the design of composite vehicles. Dense finite element (FE) meshes are required to capture the full behavior of a joint numerically, but these dense meshes are impractical in vehicle-scale models where a course mesh is more desirable to make quick assessments and comparisons of different joint geometries. Analytical models are often helpful in sizing, but difficulties arise in coupling these models with full-vehicle FE models. Therefore, a joint FE was created which can be used within structural FE models to make quick assessments of bonded composite joints. The shape functions of the joint FE were found by solving the governing equations for a structural model for a joint. By analytically determining the shape functions of the joint FE, the complex joint behavior can be captured with very few elements. This joint FE was modified and used to consider adhesives with functionally graded material properties to reduce the peel stress concentrations located near adherend discontinuities. Several practical concerns impede the actual use of such adhesives. These include increased manufacturing complications, alterations to the grading due to adhesive flow during manufacturing, and whether changing the loading conditions significantly impact the effectiveness of the grading. An analytical study is conducted to address these three concerns. Furthermore, proof-of-concept testing is conducted to show the potential advantages of functionally graded adhesives. In this study, grading is achieved by strategically placing glass beads within the adhesive layer at different densities along the joint. Furthermore, the capability to model non-linear adhesive constitutive behavior with large rotations was developed, and progressive failure of the adhesive was modeled by re-meshing the joint as the adhesive fails. Results predicted using the joint FE was compared with experimental results for various joint configurations, including double cantilever beam and single lap joints.

Stapleton, Scott E.↗

Norton-Thevenin Receptance Coupling (NTRC) as a Payload Design Tool

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) is funding a study to develop an alternate method for performing coupled loads analysis called Norton-Thevenin Receptance Coupling (NTRC). NTRC combines Receptance Coupling (RC), a frequency-domain synthesis method and Norton-Thevenin (NT) theory, an impedance based approach for simulating the interaction between dynamic systems. The goal of developing the NTRC method is to provide a tool that payload developers can use to reduce the conservatism in defining preliminary design loads, assess the impact of design changes between formal load cycles, and to perform trade studies for design optimization with a minimum amount of data required from the launch vehicle (LV) provider. NTRC also has the ability to perform parametric loads analysis where many different design configurations can be evaluated. This will result in cost and schedule benefits to the payload developer that are currently not possible under the standard coupled loads analysis (CLA) flow where typically only 2-3 official load cycles are performed by the LV provider over the life of a payload program. NTRC is not envisioned as a replacement for the official load cycles performed by the LV provider but rather as a means to address the types of design issues faced by the payload developer before and between official load cycles.The presentation provides an overview of the NTRC methodology and discusses how NTRC can be used to replicate the results from a standard LV CLA. The presentation covers the benchmarking that has been performed as part of the NESC study to demonstrate the accuracy of the technique for both frequency and time domain dynamic analyses. Future plans for benchmarking the NTRC approach against CLA results for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) and commercial launch vehicles are discussed and the role that NTRC is envisioned to play in the payload development cycle.

Structural Dynamics↗

Norton-Thevenin Receptance Coupling (NTRC) as a Payload Analysis Tool

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) has funded a study of a new method formulated by NASA Engineers called Norton-Thevenin Receptance Coupling (NTRC) to perform coupled loads analysis (CLA). The problem that NTRC attempts to solve is the dependency of the payload organization to high CLA costs, long schedules, lack of standard capabilities to evaluate multiple configurations and unavailability of loads when needed. NTRC solves the problem by providing a tool that payload developers can use to obtain loads at a fraction of the cost of a CLA at any time that it is required. While NTRC is not intended to replace the formal load cycles performed by the launch vehicle (LV) provider, it will provide the ability to reduce the conservatism in defining preliminary design loads, assess the impact of design changes between formal load cycles, perform trade studies and perform parametric loads analysis where many different design configurations can be evaluated with a minimum amount of data required from the LV provider. NTRC condenses all the necessary information into the launch vehicle to payload/s connection points or boundary degrees of freedom (BD). The launch vehicle model is represented by its impedance at its BDs; its forcing functions are represented by the acceleration at those BDs when the payload is absent and the latter is represented by its impedance at the same BDs. Payload responses are represented by transfer functions of selected response to interface BDs. The methodology has contributed to the Loads and Dynamics discipline advancement and successfully passed Peer Reviews. NTRC is exact in the frequency domain. Time domain replication and accuracy is outstanding. A second phase is envisioned to benchmark the whole set of CLA events for the Agency's most utilized Launch Vehicles, and ready it for operational deployment at NASA.

Kaufman, Daniel↗

A New Approach to Model Delamination Growth in Fatigue Using the Virtual Crack Closure Technique Without Re-Meshing

A modeling approach is proposed to simulate delamination propagation in fatigue that combines the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) with a progressive nodal release strategy. The progressive nodal release alleviates the artificial stress concentrations found when using the VCCT with instantaneous release to model 3D delamination without re-meshing. This enables crack shapes that do not conform to the underlying mesh to be readily simulated. The progressive release is formulated such that no artificial growth or healing occurs as a result of a change in loading conditions. Furthermore, expressions for calculating energy release rates at partially released nodes are proposed and applied to arbitrarily shaped delamination fronts. The shape of the delamination front is considered explicitly in the energy release rate calculations, and is determined by considering the normalized crack positions associated with the partial nodal release. Contrary to previous implementations, the local delamination propagation direction is not assumed to follow mesh lines, but instead is computed as part of the iterative procedure proposed to determine the maximum energy release along the crack front. The results obtained suggest the approach can accurately simulate Mode I, Mixed Mode I/II and Mode II fatigue delamination growth and be used to simulate growth of arbitrarily shaped cracks that do not conform to the underlying mesh.

N V De Carvalho↗

RApid Blade and Blade-Vortex InTeraction (RABBIT) GUI implementation via MATLAB Application Designer

Rotorcraft noise source identification and reduction is crucial to the emergence of the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market. One key rotor noise source is Blade Vortex Interaction (BVI), caused by the rotor wake interacting with the rotor blades. The low-fidelity RApid Blade and Blade-Vortex InTeraction (RABBIT) tool was created to predict the location and characteristics of Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) noise. RABBIT enables engineers to quickly locate and understand designs or configurations that cause significant BVI noise. Furthermore, RABBIT can identify the time and location of blade overlap for coaxial rotors. RABBIT is not a general acoustic prediction tool, but instead utilizes vortex and wake parameters to visualize and predict only BVI noise. To date, RABBIT has been validated against CAMRAD II and ANOPP2/AARON for three NASA Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT) concept vehicles: the Quiet Single Main Rotor (QSMR), Side-by-Side, and Quadrotor. RABBIT has been shown to be a useful BVI prediction tool capable of visualizing BVI as a function of various parameters. Impulse factor and time rate of change of loading allows for a unique BVI prediction technique that provides information on impulse strength, location, and frequency. This presentation will highlight how MATLAB’s App Designer was utilized to enable users to navigate RABBIT easily and efficiently without prior experience with MATLAB or rotorcraft acoustics. RABBIT users can build and view rotors in real time with options to control blade chord, radius, phasing, and airfoil geometry. Furthermore, multiple rotors can be combined to create state-of-the-art multi-rotor vehicles or fleets. Editable tables, sliding bars, and push buttons were implemented within MATLAB’s App Designer for RABBIT’s GUI to allow engineers and designers to predict low order acoustic impact of BVI occurrences.

Natasha Lydia Schatzman↗

Exfoliation Propensity of Oxide Scale in Heat Exchangers Used for Supercritical CO2 Power Cycles

Supercritical CO2 (sCO2) Brayton cycle systems offer the possibility of improved efficiency in future fossil energy power generation plants operating at temperatures of 650 C and above. As there are few data on the oxidation/corrosion behavior of structural alloys in sCO2 at these temperatures, modeling to predict the propensity for oxide exfoliation is not well developed, thus hindering materials selection for these novel cycles. The ultimate goal of this effort is to provide needed data on scale exfoliation behavior in sCO2 for confident alloy selection. To date, a model developed by ORNL and EPRI for the exfoliation of oxide scales formed on boiler tubes in high-temperature, high-pressure steam has proven useful for managing exfoliation in conventional steam plants. A major input provided by the model is the ability to predict the likelihood of scale failure and loss based on understanding of the evolution of the oxide morphologies and the conditions that result in susceptibility to exfoliation. This paper describes initial steps taken to extend the existing model for exfoliation of steam-side oxide scales to sCO2 conditions. The main differences between high-temperature, high-pressure steam and sCO2 that impact the model involve (i) significant geometrical differences in the heat exchangers, ranging from standard pressurized tubes seen typically in steam-producing boilers to designs for sCO2 that employ variously-curved thin walls to create shaped flow paths for extended heat transfer area and small channel cross-sections to promote thermal convection and support pressure loads; (ii) changed operating characteristics with sCO2 due to the differences in physical and thermal properties compared to steam; and (iii) possible modification of the scale morphologies, hence properties that influence exfoliation behavior, due to reaction with carbon species from sCO2. The numerical simulations conducted were based on an assumed sCO2 operating schedule and several generic heat exchanger channel shapes and cross-sectional areas. Implications for the evolution of stresses in the oxide scales formed on sCO2 heat exchangers, and ensuing critical oxide thicknesses for exfoliation, were derived and compared with expectations for an equivalent conventional tubular heat exchanger in a steam cycle (for a given alloy).

Sabau, Adrian S↗

Grips for testing of electrical characteristics of a specimen under a mechanical load

Various technologies to facilitate coupled electrical and mechanical measurement of conductive materials are disclosed herein. A gripping device simultaneously holds a specimen in place and causes contact to be made between the specimen and a plurality of electrodes connected to an electrical measuring device. An electrical characteristic of the specimen is then measured while a mechanical load is applied to the specimen, and a relationship between the mechanical load and changes in the electrical characteristic can be identified.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Design and Operation of an Electric Peaking/Industrial Steam Production Unit for SMRs

Various methods of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) can be coupled to nuclear (or renewable) power sources to help absorb grid variability caused by daily load demand changes and renewable intermittency. Our previous research has shown that coupling a sensible heat TES system to a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) allows the reactor to run at effectively nominal full power during periods of variable electric demand by bypassing steam to the TES system during periods of excess capacity. In this paper we demonstrate that this stored thermal energy can be recovered; allowing the TES system to act as a peaking unit during periods of high electric demand, or used to produce steam for ancillary applications such as desalination. For both applications the reactor can operate continuously at approximately 100% power.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

New Advances in Data and Analysis-Driven Residential Energy Efficiency Program Design

This paper presents new capabilities and applications of ResStock, a public-domain tool for residential energy efficiency analysis. The high level of granularity available in the ResStock platform makes it a unique tool to more accurately model the potential for energy efficiency and demand response across the diversity of the residential housing stock. We present state-level results including interactive fact sheets of energy efficiency potential for each state. Energy efficiency program designers can use these results to identify strategic improvements with the highest potential for cost-effective savings in a particular state or region, as well as help identify customer segments for targeted marketing and deployment. Beyond the state-level results, the paper presents three new advances in ResStock capabilities: 1) sub-state, county-level results and evaluation of energy efficiency potential in specific ranges of household income, 2) ability to analyze the cost-effectiveness and emissions impact of electrification measures and packages 3) ability to evaluate the time value of energy efficiency by predicting changes in load shapes. The paper includes discussion and real-world examples of how these new capabilities can be used to enhance the design and implementation of residential energy efficiency programs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Model-Agnostic Algorithm for Real-Time Attack Identification in Power Grid using Koopman Modes

Malicious activities on measurements from sensors like Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) can mislead the control center operator into taking wrong control actions resulting in disruption of operation, financial losses, and equipment damage. In particular, false data attacks initiated during power systems transients caused due to abrupt changes in load and generation can fool the conventional model-based detection methods relying on thresholds comparison to trigger an anomaly. In this paper, we propose a Koopman mode decomposition (KMD) based algorithm to detect and identify false data attacks in real-time. The Koopman modes (KMs) are capable of capturing the nonlinear modes of oscillation in the transient dynamics of the power networks and reveal the spatial embedding of both natural and anomalous modes of oscillations in the sensor measurements. The Koopman-based spatio-temporal nonlinear modal analysis is used to filter out the false data injected by an attacker. The performance of the algorithm is illustrated on the IEEE 68-bus test system using synthetic attack scenarios generated on GridSTAGE, a recently developed multivariate spatio-temporal data generation framework for simulation of adversarial scenarios in cyber-physical power systems.

Nandanoori, Sai Pushpak↗

DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMER ASSET MONITORING ON THE GRID EDGE USING SMART SENSOR DATA

As new loads such as rooftop photovoltaics, electric vehicles and other distributed energy resources become commonplace on the distribution grid, the stress on already aging assets begins to escalate. This increased loading and changing dynamics can exacerbate failure rates. While traditional monitoring efforts focus on transmission and generation assets, utilities are now beginning to pay close attention to distribution assets in order to increase reliability indices and reduce cost from unexpected outages. This research develops low-cost and scalable methods to monitoring the health of a critical distribution grid asset: the service transformer. Existing methods in literature are either invasive and thus difficult to implement or require the device to be tested offline in an expensive lab setting. Data from the ubiquitous smart meter as well as a novel Bluetooth based transformer monitor are leveraged to automatically notify the utility of deteriorating or damaged transformers. Voltage, temperature, and vibration are some of the signals measured and analyzed by the proposed algorithms to predict transformer failures. Furthermore, these algorithms are designed to keep the implementation and processing costs low by taking advantage of edge computing where possible.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Grid-Enhanced, Mobility-Integrated Network Infrastructures for Extreme Fast Charging (GEMINI-XFC)

GEMINI-XFC will use first-of-a-kind integrated high-fidelity grid and transport modeling to identify effective pathways for widespread electrification, to design and evaluate integrated vehicle-grid control schemes, and to optimize electric vehicle integration at a full regional scale with individual customer resolution. Control variables will include: Charging station design and planning (where and what kind of charging stations); EV route scheduling considering grid "status"; and Dispatch of behind-the-meter energy storage and legacy voltage control actuators (on-load tap changes, voltage regulators, capacitors).

DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION,POWER TRANSMISSION AND DI↗

Criticality safety analysis of spent fuel storage or handling disposals using burnup credit - loading curve calculation - 14445

MILLENNIUM and REEL SAS Companies have shared their own experience to develop a neutron and criticality calculations chain in order to perform isotopic composition predictions of spent fuel after irradiation in a reactor and criticality analysis of fuel storages taking into account burnup credit. The whole calculation sequence is divided into three steps, all calling SCALE 6.1.2 modules. The first two steps are dedicated to the evaluation of isotopic compositions of burnt fuel. As transport and depletion calculations in three dimensions appears to be way too long for the whole core (about several months), dealing with each fuel assembly one by one is the alternative solution MILLENNIUM and REEL SAS commonly chose to study. Therefore, the first step aims at determining the axial burnup profile of a given fuel assembly using a 3-D model with infinite reflections on lateral axes. The T6-depl sequence of TRITON module coupling KENO-VI and ORIGEN-S was used in this step. Sensitivity studies confirmed that addition of the 8 closest neighbors of the studied fuel assembly in the model has an insignificant impact on the axial burnup profile. However, fuel assemblies in the peripheral zone of the core must be treated separately with a model including the nearest fuel assemblies and the effect of peripheral water. Then, the second phase evaluates the isotopic compositions of each fuel assemblies at the center of the active height with a 2-D model under conservative core conditions. The T-depl sequence of the TRITON module coupling NEWT to ORIGEN-S is called in this step. Each fuel assembly must be studied separately to consider loading pattern changes occurring at each cycle. An infinite model with reflections on lateral axes is used and the closest neighbors of the fuel assembly are limited to 2 pins - which is around the size of the neutrons mean free path in the core. This is an innovative physical trick aiming at compensating for a limited computing power. Finally, isotopic compositions calculated are combined with the axial burnup profile of the first step to extrapolate the concentrations along the whole active length. Data can then be added in any criticality model, such as a spent fuel pit or any disposal handling fuel assemblies. Criticality analyses of burnt fissile material using burnup credit can be managed within a reasonable amount of time, on condition that sufficient proofs of code qualification for the studied range of parameters are provided, especially on fission products isotopic compositions calculation. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Parameter Reduction of Composite Load Model Using Active Subspace Method

Over the past decades, the increasing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) has dramatically changed the power load composition in the distribution networks. The traditional static and dynamic load models can hardly capture the dynamic behavior of modern loads especially for fault-induced delayed voltage recovery (FIDVR) events. Thus, a more comprehensive composite load model with combination of static load, different types of induction motors, single-phase A/C motor, electronic load and DERs has been proposed by Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). However, due to the large number of parameters and model complexity, the WECC composite load model (WECC CMLD) raises new challenges to power system studies. To overcome these challenges, in this paper, a cutting-edge parameter reduction (PR) approach for WECC CMLD based on active subspace method (ASM) is proposed. Firstly, the WECC CMLD is parameterized in a discrete-time manner for the application of the proposed method. Then, parameter sensitivities are calculated by discovering the active subspace, which is a lower-dimensional linear subspace of the parameter space of WECC CMLD in which the dynamic response is most sensitive. The interdependency among parameters can be taken into consideration by our approach. Finally, the numerical experiments validate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed approach for WECC CMLD model.

active subspace↗