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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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NASA NTRS2001

A Statistical Project Control Tool for Engineering Managers

This slide presentation reviews the use of a Statistical Project Control Tool (SPCT) for managing engineering projects. A literature review pointed to a definition of project success, (i.e., A project is successful when the cost, schedule, technical performance, and quality satisfy the customer.) The literature review also pointed to project success factors, and traditional project control tools, and performance measures that are detailed in the report. The essential problem is that with resources becoming more limited, and an increasing number or projects, project failure is increasing, there is a limitation of existing methods and systematic methods are required. The objective of the work is to provide a new statistical project control tool for project managers. Graphs using the SPCT method plotting results of 3 successful projects and 3 failed projects are reviewed, with success and failure being defined by the owner.

Bauch, Garland T.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Some Continuum Aspects of Data Assimilation

A long-sought goal in data assimilation is to build more fully the time dimension into the data assimilation process. Truly four-dimensional data assimilation requires evolving second-moment information, namely the estimation error covariance, along with the state estimate itself. The continuum evolution equations for the estimation error covariance constitute a system of partial differential equations in six space dimensions, forced by a model error covariance and by the observations themselves. The high dimensionality of this system poses a difficult computational problem. Numerous methods have been proposed for approximate, discrete solution of this system of equations. Four-dimensional variational schemes solve these equations indirectly, while schemes based on Kalman filtering solve the equations more directly, usually on a small subspace of the full six-dimensional space. In both cases, most proposed solution methods are not derived from the continuum covariance evolution equations themselves. Instead, most methods simply inherit the discretization used for evolving the state estimate, either in the form of a discrete tangent linear model or, in the case of ensemble schemes, in the form of a fully nonlinear discrete model. In this lecture we show that solutions of the continuum covariance evolution equations possess simple properties that are not readily satisfied upon discretization of the equations. we give numerical examples illustrating that "inherited" discretizations sometimes fail to produce meaningfully accurate solutions. Finally, we suggest alternative discretization methods that may yield more faithful approximate solutions of the continuum problem.

Cohn, Stephen E.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Cracked shells under skew-symmetric loading

The general problem of a shell containing a through crack in one of the principal planes of curvature and under general skew-symmetric loading is considered. By employing a Reissner type shell theory which takes into account the effect of transverse shear strains, all boundary conditions on the crack surfaces are satisfied separately. Consequently, unlike those obtained from the classical shell theory, the angular distributions of the stress components around the crack tips are shown to be identical to the distributions obtained from the plane and anti-plane elasticity solutions. Results are given for axially and circumferentially cracked cylindrical shells, spherical shells, and toroidal shells under uniform in-plane shearing, out of plane shearing, and torsion. The problem is formulated for specially orthostropic materials, therefore, the effect of orthotropy on the results is also studied.

Delale, F.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Structural Properties and Estimation of Delay Systems

Two areas in the theory of delay systems were studied: structural properties and their applications to feedback control, and optimal linear and nonlinear estimation. The concepts of controllability, stabilizability, observability, and detectability were investigated. The property of pointwise degeneracy of linear time-invariant delay systems is considered. Necessary and sufficient conditions for three dimensional linear systems to be made pointwise degenerate by delay feedback were obtained, while sufficient conditions for this to be possible are given for higher dimensional linear systems. These results were applied to obtain solvability conditions for the minimum time output zeroing control problem by delay feedback. A representation theorem is given for conditional moment functionals of general nonlinear stochastic delay systems, and stochastic differential equations are derived for conditional moment functionals satisfying certain smoothness properties.

Kwong, R. H. S.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Considerations in the placement of phase calibration tones

In the use of tones to calibrate unwanted instrumental phases for very long baseline interferometry experiments, certain problems exist which are related to the placement of these phase calibrator tones. (1) A bias exists in an analytically generated stopping function used during correlation if its frequency satisfies the following condition; f = (f sub s)x(m)/n, where f sub s = sampling frequency, m = any integer, and n = any odd integer. (2) Due to the quantized representation of sine waves in the stopping function, odd harmonics of the fundamental frequencies are generated. Several mechanisms are available through which these harmonics can cause errors in the residual phase extracted from the recorded tones. (3) When multiple tones are injected into a pass band, intermodulation products can occur. The magnitude of these effects is discussed along with strategies designed to avoid them.

Young, L. E.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Cleaning chemistry of InSb(100) molecular beam epitaxy substrates

InSb has been used as a substrate for molecular beam epitaxy. For good epitaxial growth, a substrate surface which is smooth and clean on an atomic scale is required. Chemical cleaning procedures provide an oxide film to passivate the surface. This film is then desorbed by in situ heating. The material forming the film should, therefore, have a high vapor pressure at some temperature less than the substrate melting temperature. A chloride film appears to satisfy the latter requirement. The present investigation is, therefore, concerned with the formation of a chloride film rather than an oxide film. Carbon contamination has been found to cause problems in chemical cleaning procedures. The level of carbon contamination found in the case of chloride film formation, is therefore compared with the corresponding level observed in procedures using oxide films. It appears that a chloride film grown in connection with a short exposure time to a Cl2 plasma is preferable to other passivation films studied.

Vasquez, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Multidisciplinary optimization of controlled space structures with global sensitivity equations

A new method for the preliminary design of controlled space structures is presented. The method coordinates standard finite element structural analysis, multivariable controls, and nonlinear programming codes and allows simultaneous optimization of the structures and control systems of a spacecraft. Global sensitivity equations are a key feature of this method. The preliminary design of a generic geostationary platform is used to demonstrate the multidisciplinary optimization method. Fifteen design variables are used to optimize truss member sizes and feedback gain values. The goal is to reduce the total mass of the structure and the vibration control system while satisfying constraints on vibration decay rate. Incorporating the nonnegligible mass of actuators causes an essential coupling between structural design variables and control design variables. The solution of the demonstration problem is an important step toward a comprehensive preliminary design capability for structures and control systems. Use of global sensitivity equations helps solve optimization problems that have a large number of design variables and a high degree of coupling between disciplines.

Padula, Sharon L.↗
NASA NTRS1998

A High Frequency Model of Cascade Noise

Closed form asymptotic expressions for computing high frequency noise generated by an annular cascade in an infinite duct containing a uniform flow are presented. There are two new elements in this work. First, the annular duct mode representation does not rely on the often-used Bessel function expansion resulting in simpler expressions for both the radial eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the duct. In particular, the new representation provides an explicit approximate formula for the radial eigenvalues obviating the need for solutions of the transcendental annular duct eigenvalue equation. Also, the radial eigenfunctions are represented in terms of exponentials eliminating the numerical problems associated with generating the Bessel functions on a computer. The second new element is the construction of an unsteady response model for an annular cascade. The new construction satisfies the boundary conditions on both the cascade and duct walls simultaneously adding a new level of realism to the noise calculations. Preliminary results which demonstrate the effectiveness of the new elements are presented. A discussion of the utility of the asymptotic formulas for calculating cascade discrete tone as well as broadband noise is also included.

Envia, Edmane↗
NASA NTRS2003

Learning the ABCs (of Project Management)

To lead a project effectively, one has to establish and maintain the flexibility to take appropriate actions when needed. Overconstrained situations should be avoided. To get on top of matters and stay there, a manager needs to anticipate what it will take to successfully complete the job. Physical and financial resources, personnel, and management structure are all important considerations. Carving out the necessary turf up front can make a world of difference to the project's outcome. After the "what," "where," and "when" of a project are nailed down, the next question is "how" to do the job. When I first interviewed for the job of Science Payload Manager on the Advanced Composition (ACE) Explorer mission, Dr. Edward Stone (ACE Principal Investigator) asked, "Al, give me an idea of your management style." It was a question I had not considered before. I thought about it for a few seconds and then answered, "Well, the first descriptive term that comes to mind is the word "tranquility". That seemed to startle him. So I added, "I guess what I mean is, that if the situation is tranquil and the project is running smoothly, then I've anticipated all the problems and taken necessary actions to head them off." He then asked: "Have you ever reached this state?" "No," I admitted, "but I strive for it." That seemed to satisfy him because I got the job.

Frandsen, Allan↗
NASA NTRS2003

Kalman Filtering with Inequality Constraints for Turbofan Engine Health Estimation

Kalman filters are often used to estimate the state variables of a dynamic system. However, in the application of Kalman filters some known signal information is often either ignored or dealt with heuristically. For instance, state variable constraints (which may be based on physical considerations) are often neglected because they do not fit easily into the structure of the Kalman filter. This paper develops two analytic methods of incorporating state variable inequality constraints in the Kalman filter. The first method is a general technique of using hard constraints to enforce inequalities on the state variable estimates. The resultant filter is a combination of a standard Kalman filter and a quadratic programming problem. The second method uses soft constraints to estimate state variables that are known to vary slowly with time. (Soft constraints are constraints that are required to be approximately satisfied rather than exactly satisfied.) The incorporation of state variable constraints increases the computational effort of the filter but significantly improves its estimation accuracy. The improvement is proven theoretically and shown via simulation results. The use of the algorithm is demonstrated on a linearized simulation of a turbofan engine to estimate health parameters. The turbofan engine model contains 16 state variables, 12 measurements, and 8 component health parameters. It is shown that the new algorithms provide improved performance in this example over unconstrained Kalman filtering.

Simon, Dan↗
NASA NTRS2020

On Boundary-Value Problems for RANS Equations and Two-Equation Turbulence Models

Currently, in engineering computations for high Reynolds number turbulent flows, turbulence modeling continues to be the most frequently used approach to represent the effects of turbulence. Such models generally rely on solving either one or two transport equations along with the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations. The solution of the boundary-value problem of any system of partial differential equations requires the complete delineation of the equations and the boundary conditions, including any special restrictions and conditions. In the literature, such a description is often incomplete, neglecting important details related to the boundary conditions and possible restrictive conditions, such as how to ensure satisfying prescribed values of the dependent variables of the transport equations in the far field of a finite domain. In this article, we discuss the possible influence of boundary values, as well as near-field and far-field behavior, on the solution of the RANS equations coupled with transport equations for turbulence modeling. In so doing, we defne the concept of a welldefined boundary-value problem. Additionally, a three-dimensional, rather than a simpler one-dimensional analysis is performed to analyze the near-wall and far-field behavior of the turbulence model variables. This allows an assessment of the decay rate of these variables required to realize the boundary conditions in the far field. This paper also addresses the impact of various transformations of two-equation models (e.g., the model of Wilcox) to remove the singular behavior of the dissipation rate (ω) at the surface boundary. Finally, the issue of well-posedness regarding the governing equations is considered. A compelling argument (although not a proof) for ill-posedness is made for both direct and inverse problems.

Navier–Stokes equations↗
NASA NTRS1975

Space shuttle program: Lightning protection criteria document

The lightning environment for space shuttle design is defined and requirements that the design must satisfy to insure protection of the vehicle system from direct and indirect effects of lightning are imposed. Specifications, criteria, and guidelines included provide a practical and logical approach to protection problems.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1980

A consistent set of trial functions for conical shells

A consistent approach is developed for the determination of trial functions for a class of shells of revolution. The trial functions satisfy the in-plane and out-of-plane boundary conditions at the shell ends and include the effects of tangential inertia. The resulting expressions converge rapidly for the problem of linear free vibration

El-Raheb, M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A reduced order observer based controller design for H-infinity optimization

In this paper the H-infinity control problem is investigated. It is well-known that for this problem, in general, controllers of the same dynamic order as the given system are needed. However, in the case that the standard assumptions on two direct feedthrough matrices are not satisfied, it is here shown that dynamic compensators of a lower dynamical order can be found. This result can be derived by using the standard reduced order observer based controllers in the case that one or more states are measured without noise.

Stoorvogel, Anton A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

A hydrodynamic approach to cosmology: The mixed dark matter cosmological scenario

We compute the evolution of spatially flat, mixed cold and hot dark matter models containing both baryonic matter and two kinds of dark matter. Hydrodynamics is treated with a highly developed Eulerian hydrodynamic code (see Cen 1992). A standard particle-mesh (PM) code is also used in parallel to calculate the motion of the dark matter components. We adopt the following parameters: h equivalent to (sub 0)/100 km/s Mpc(exp -1) = 0.5, OMEGA(sub C) = 0.3, and OMEGA(sub B) = 0.06, with amplitude of the perturbation spectrum fixed by the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE) Dark Matter Radiation (DMR) measurements (Smoot et al. 1992) being sigma (sub 8) = 0.67. Four different boxes are simulated with box sizes of L = (64, 16, 4, 1) h(exp -1) Mpc, respectively, the two small boxes providing good resolution but little valid information due to absence of large-scale power. We use 128(exp 3) approximate 10(exp 6.3) baryonic cells, 128(exp .3) cold dark matter particles, and 2 x 128(exp 3) hot dark matter particles. In addition to the dark matter we follow separately six baryonic species (H, H(+), He, He(+), He(++), e(-)) with allowance for both (nonequilibrium) collisional and radiative ionization in every cell. The background radiation field is also followed in detail with allowance made for both continuum and line processes, to allow nonequilibrium heating and cooling processes to be followed in detail. The mean final Zeldovich-Sunyaev y parameter is estimated to be y Bar = (5.4 + or - 2.7) x 10(exp -7) below currently attainable observations, with a rms fluctuation of approximately delta bar y = (0.6 + or - 3.0) x 10(exp -7) on arcminute scales. The rate of galaxy formation peaks at an even later epoch (z approximate 0.3) than in the standard (OMEGA = 1, sigma sub 8 = 0.67) cold dark matter (CDM) model (z approximate 0.5) and, at a redshift of z = 4, is nearly a factor of 100 lower than for the CDM model with the same value of sigma sub 8. With regard to mass function, the smallest objects are stabilized against collapse by thermal energy: the mass-weighted mass spectrum has a broad peak in the vicinity of M(sub B) = 10(exp 9.5) solar mass with a reasonable fit to the Schechter luminosity function if the ratio of baryon mass to blue light is approximately 4. In addition, one very large PM simulation was made in a box with size (320 h(exp - 1) Mpc) containing 3 x 200(exp 3) = 10(exp 7.4) particles. Utilizing this simulation we find that the model yields a cluster mass function which is about a factor of 4 higher than observed, but a cluster-cluster correlation length marginally lower than observed, but that both are closer to observations than in the (COBE) normalized CDM model. The one-dimensional pairwise velocity dispersion is 605 + or - 8 km/s at 1/h separation, lower than that of the DCM model normalized to COBE, but still significant higher than observations (Davis & Peebles 1983). A plausible velocity bias b(sub v) = 0.8 + or - 0.1 on this scale will reduce but not remove the discrepancy. The velocity auto-correlat ion function has a coherence length of 40/h Mpc, which is somewhat lower than the observed counterpart. In all these respects the model would be improved by decreasing the cold fraction of the dark OMEGA(sub CDM)/ (OMEGA(sub CDM) + OMEGA(sub HDB). But formation of galaxies and clusters of galaxies is much later in this model than in COBE-normalized CDM, perhaps too late. To improve on these constraints a larger ratio of OMEGA(sub CDM)/ (OMEGA(sub CDM) + OMEGA(sub HDM)) is required than the value of 0.67 adopted here. It does not seem possible to find a value for this ratio which would satisfy all tests. Overall, the model is similar both on large and intermediate scales to the standard CDM model normalized to the same value of sigma(sub B), but the problem with regard to late formation of galaxies is more severe in this model than in that CDM model. Adding hot dark matter, significantly improves the ability of the COBE-normalized CDM scenario to fit existing observations, but the model is in fact not as good as the CDM model with the same sigma(sub 8) and is still probably unsatisfactory with regard to several critical tests.

Cen, Renyue↗
NASA NTRS1989

Multiplex gas chromatography: an alternative concept for gas chromatographic analysis of planetary atmospheres

Gas chromatography (GC) is a powerful technique for analyzing gaseous mixtures. Applied to the earth's atmosphere, GC can be used to determine the permanent gases--such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen--and to analyze organic pollutants in air. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has used GC in spacecraft missions to Mars (the Viking Biology Gas Exchange Experiment [GEX] and the Viking Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer [GC-MS]) and to Venus (the Pioneer Venus Gas Chromatograph [PVGC] on board the Pioneer Venus sounder probe) for determining the atmospheric constituents of these two planets. Even though conventional GC was very useful in the Viking and Pioneer missions, spacecraft constraints and limitations intrinsic to the technique prevented the collection of more samples. With the Venus probe, for instance, each measurement took a relatively long time to complete (10 min), and successive samples could not be introduced until the previous samples had left the column. Therefore, while the probe descended through the Venusian atmosphere, only three samples were acquired at widely separated altitudes. With the Viking mission, the sampling rate was not a serious problem because samples were acquired over a period of one year. However, the detection limit was a major disadvantage. The GC-MS could not detect simple hydrocarbons and simple alcohols below 0.1 ppm, and the GEX could not detect them below 1 ppm. For more complex molecules, the detection limits were at the parts-per-billion level for both instruments. Finally, in both the Viking and Pioneer missions, the relatively slow rate of data acquisition limited the number of analyses, and consequently, the amount of information returned. Similar constraints are expected in future NASA missions. For instance, gas chromatographic instrumentation is being developed to collect and analyze organic gases and aerosols in the atmosphere of Titan (one of Saturn's satellites). The Titan-Cassini entry probe, which is being jointly planned by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), might be launched as early as 1994. As in the Pioneer mission, limited time--perhaps only 3-4 h--will be available for the completion of all analyses while the probe descends through the atmosphere. A conventional GC or GC-MS system would be able to analyze no more than two aerosol and two gas samples during the probe's descent. Conventional GC also is limited by the sensitivity of the detector and by the sample volume. For the Titan mission, the sensitivity problems will be worse because the atmospheric pressure at the time of instrument deployment is expected to be < 3 torr. Consequently, the sample volume might not be large enough to satisfy the detector sensitivity requirements. Because of such limitations, alternative GC analysis techniques have been investigated for future NASA missions. Multiplex gas chromatography has been investigated as a possible candidate for chemical analysis within a spacecraft or other restricted environment, and chemical modulators have been developed and used when needed with this technique to reduce the size and weight of the instrumentation. Also, several new multiplex techniques have been developed for use in specific applications.

NASA Center ARC↗
NASA NTRS1978

Determination of launch conditions for Spacelab satisfying the constraints of an absorption spectroscopy project

The conditions for absorption spectroscopy of the homosphere between 20 and 100 km from a space platform such as Spacelab are considered. Using nominal orbital elements, and taking launch data and time as parameters of the problem, formula were established that give the data necessary for determining the flight plan. The geographical coordinates of the tangential points of the solar illumination boundaries were also calculated. It is shown that the latitude coverage of the observation is closely related to launch conditions. Expressions for the pointing angles referred to an instantaneous terrestrial trihedron are given. These angular elements are needed to determine the real pointing angles in a reference system linked to Spacelab.

Vercheval, J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Solution of the minimum time-to-climb problem by matched asymptotic expansions

Application of singular perturbation techniques to trajectory optimization problems of flight mechanics is discussed. The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to obtain an approximate solution to the aircraft minimum time-to-climb problem. Outer, boundary-layer, and composite solutions are obtained to zeroth and first orders. A stability criterion is derived for the zeroth-order boundary-layer solutions (the theory requires a form of boundary-layer stability). A numerical example is considered for which it is shown that the stability criterion is satisfied and a useful numerical solution is obtained. The zeroth-order solution proves to be a poor approximation, but the first-order solution gives a good approximation for both the trajectory and the minimum time-to-climb. The computational cost of the singular perturbation solution is considerably less than that of a steepest descent solution. Thus singular perturbation methods appear to be promising for the solution of optimal control problems.

Ardema, M. D.↗