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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 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

Technology for the product and process data base

The computerized product and process data base is increasingly recognized to be the cornerstone component of an overall system aimed at the integrated automation of the industrial processes of a given company or enterprise. The technology needed to support these more effective computer integrated design and manufacturing methods, especially the concept of 3-D computer-sensible product definitions rather than engineering drawings, is not fully available and rationalized. Progress is being made, however, in bridging this technology gap with concentration on the modeling of sophisticated information and data structures, high-performance interactive user interfaces and comprehensive tools for managing the resulting computerized product definition and process data base.

Barnes, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Effects of simulated flight on the structure and noise of underexpanded jets

Mean plume static and pitot pressures and far-field acoustic pressure were measured for an underexpanded convergent nozzle in simulated flight. Results show that supersonic jet mixing noise behaves in flight in the same way that subsonic jet mixing noise does. Regarding shock-associated noise, the frequencies of both screech and peak broadband shock noise were found to decrease with flight speed. The external flow determines the dominant screech mode over a wide range of nozzle pressure rations. Change in the screech mode strongly affects both the development of the downstream shock structure and the characteristic frequency of the broadband shock-associated noise. When no mode change occurs, the main effect of the external flow is to stretch the axial development of the shock cells.

Norum, T. D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Numerical optimization design of advanced transonic wing configurations

A computationally efficient and versatile technique for use in the design of advanced transonic wing configurations has been developed. A reliable and fast transonic wing flow-field analysis program, TWING, has been coupled with a modified quasi-Newton method, unconstrained optimization algorithm, QNMDIF, to create a new design tool. Fully three-dimensional wing designs utilizing both specified wing pressure distributions and drag-to-lift ration minimization as design objectives are demonstrated. Because of the high computational efficiency of each of the components of the design code, in particular the vectorization of TWING and the high speed of the Cray X-MP vector computer, the computer time required for a typical wing design is reduced by approximately an order of magnitude over previous methods. In the results presented here, this computed wave drag has been used as the quantity to be optimized (minimized) with great success, yielding wing designs with nearly shock-free (zero wave drag) pressure distributions and very reasonable wing section shapes.

Cosentino, G. B.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Interactive aircraft flight control and aeroelastic stabilization

The potential benefits and costs of optimizing both the structural stiffness and the active control of aircraft in a rational manner are investigated. The ultimate goal is to arrive at a unified treatment of structural and active control design for the stability augmentation of flexible aircraft. An exhaustive literature evaluation in the area of passive tailoring for aircraft performance is undertaken. A mathematical technique to be used for aeroservoelastic tailoring studies is described. Two analytical models, one elementary, the other sophisticated, are developed to illustrate the potential for aeroservoelastic tailoring. Both models have essential features of real world hardware, yet the physical understanding is not buried in a myriad of detail. These models are also described.

Weisshaar, T. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Discrete approximation methods for parameter identification in delay systems

Approximation schemes for parameter identification problems in which the governing state equation is a linear functional differential equation of retarded type are constructed. The basis of the schemes is the replacement of the parameter identification problem having an infinite dimensional state equation by a sequence of approximating parameter identification problems in which the states are given by finite dimensional discrete difference equations. The difference equations are constructed using linear semigroup theory and rational function approximations to the exponential. Sufficient conditions are given for the convergence of solutions to the approximating problems, which can be obtained using conventional methods, to solutions to the original parameter identification problem. Finite difference and spline based schemes using Paderational function approximations to the exponential are constructed, and shown to satisfy the sufficient conditions for convergence. A discussion and analysis of numerical results obtained through the application of the schemes to several examples is included.

Rosen, I. G.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A degree of controllability definition - Fundamental concepts and application to modal systems

Starting from basic physical considerations, this paper develops a concept of the degree of controllability of a control system, and then develops numerical methods to generate approximate values of the degree of controllability for any linear time-invariant system. In many problems, such as the control of future, very large, flexible spacecraft and certain chemical process control problems, the question of how to choose the number and locations of the control system actuators is an important one. The results obtained here offer the control system designer a tool which allows him to rank the effectiveness of alternative actuator distributions, and hence to choose the actuator locations on a rational basis. The degree of controllability is shown to take a particularly simple form when the dynamic equations of a satellite are in second-order modal form. The degree of controllability concept has still other fundamental uses - it allows one to study the system structural relations between the various inputs and outputs of a linear system, which has applications to decoupling and model reduction.

Viswanathan, C. N.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A mathematical model for the iron/chromium redox battery

A mathematical model has been developed to describe the isothermal operation of a single anode-separator-cathode unit cell in a redox-flow battery and has been applied to the NASA iron/chromium system. The model, based on porous electrode theory, incorporates redox kinetics, mass transfer, and ohmic effects as well as the parasitic hydrogen reaction which occurs in the chromium electrode. A numerical parameter study was carried out to predict cell performance to aid in the rational design, scale-up, and operation of the flow battery. The calculations demonstrate: (1) an optimum electrode thickness and electrolyte flow rate exist; (2) the amount of hydrogen evolved and, hence, cycle faradaic efficiency, can be affected by cell geometry, flow rate, and charging procedure; (3) countercurrent flow results in enhanced cell performance over cocurrent flow; and (4) elevated temperature operation enhances cell performance.

Fedkiw, P. S.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Stability and structure of stretched vortices

The linear stability of the symmetric Burgers vortex to a class of two-dimensional perturbations is demonstrated. The linear stability of the axially symmetric Burgers vortex to two-dimensional low-Reynolds number disturbances is first discussed. The analysis describes the connection of the normal modes with a classical set of special functions. An expansion in Reynolds number gives the variation of the temporal eigenvalues of the normal modes. Then, Burgers-type solutions are sought where the radially inward-straining field is not axially symmetric. A rational perturbation procedure is used to obtain a new class of nonsymmetric Burgers vortices valid when the Reynolds number and the asymmetry in the external strain are small. Finally, the perturbation solutions are numerically extended to larger values of the parameters.

Robinson, A. C.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Output feedback and generic stabilizability

Attention is given to questions of pole placement and stabilization for generic linear systems with prescribed state, input and output dimension for the case where the controller must be implemented by linear memoryless output feedback. A criterion is presented in terms of a special pole placement property for generic stabilizability, and this criterion is used to describe constraints on the dimension which are consistent with generic stabilizability. Also treated are the rationality and solvability by radicals of stabilizing or pole positioning gains, and the way in which decision algebra can theoretically handle existence questions for generic systems is described.

Byrnes, C. I.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The solidification of monotectic alloys - Microstructures and phase spacings

The microstructures of directionally grown monotectic alloys in metallic and organic systems fall into two categories those which can form aligned fibrous composite structures with even phase spacings and fiber sections, and those in which the phase distribution is coarser and less regular. This division appears to relate to the form of the phase diagram and has been rationalized by Cahn (1977, 1979) in terms of the relative surface energies between solid and two liquids to give steady state or nonsteady state profiles. The transition in growth behavior occurs when the ratio of the monotectic temperature to that of the upper consolute temperature is approximately 0.9. Differences in phase spacings between a range of monotectic and eutectic systems are discussed in terms of the expected growth interface shapes and the factors which will influence them.

Grugel, R. N.↗
NASA NTRS1983

A new explicit method for the numerical solution of parabolic differential equations

A new method is derived for solving parabolic partial differential equations arising in transient heat conduction or in boundary-layer flows. The method is based on a combination of the modified differential quadrature (MDQ) method with the rational Runge-Kutta time-integration scheme. It is fully explicit, requires no matrix inversion, and is stable for any time-step for the heat equations. Burgers equation and the one- and two-dimensional heat equations are solved to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. The present method is found to be very accurate and efficient when results are compared with analytic solutions.

Satofuka, N.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Nonlinear computations of a solar flare model

A cylindrical axisymmetric tearing mode model for solar flares is investigated numerically. Large magnetic energy release only occurs when there are at least two mode rational surfaces in the current-carrying plasma.

Strauss, H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Fitting aerodynamic forces in the Laplace domain: An application of a nonlinear nongradient technique to multilevel constrained optimization

A technique which employs both linear and nonlinear methods in a multilevel optimization structure to best approximate generalized unsteady aerodynamic forces for arbitrary motion is described. Optimum selection of free parameters is made in a rational function approximation of the aerodynamic forces in the Laplace domain such that a best fit is obtained, in a least squares sense, to tabular data for purely oscillatory motion. The multilevel structure and the corresponding formulation of the objective models are presented which separate the reduction of the fit error into linear and nonlinear problems, thus enabling the use of linear methods where practical. Certain equality and inequality constraints that may be imposed are identified; a brief description of the nongradient, nonlinear optimizer which is used is given; and results which illustrate application of the method are presented.

Tiffany, S. H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Abundancies of Ni, Cr, CO and major elements in the silicate portion of the Moon: Constraints from primary lunar magmas

The lunar volcanic glasses are samples of primary magnas derived by partial melting of the Moon mantle. The twenty-seven varieties of glass define three linear arrays having nearly constant Mg/Si ratios. The low-Ti magmas in each array approach the chondritic Ti/Al ratio. In addition, the Ca/Al ration in these low-Ti magmas trends toward the chrondritid value as one proceeds from array 1 through array 3. Using the chemistries of these primary magmas, as well as the assumption that the Moon possesses chondritic Ca/Al/Ti/Mg ratios, the silicate composition of the Moon has been estimated. The implications of these results are discussed.

Delano, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Spline methods for approximating quantile functions and generating random samples

Two cubic spline formulations are presented for representing the quantile function (inverse cumulative distribution function) of a random sample of data. Both B-spline and rational spline approximations are compared with analytic representations of the quantile function. It is also shown how these representations can be used to generate random samples for use in simulation studies. Comparisons are made on samples generated from known distributions and a sample of experimental data. The spline representations are more accurate for multimodal and skewed samples and to require much less time to generate samples than the analytic representation.

Schiess, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Vehicle/engine integration

VEHICLE/ENGINE Integration Issues are explored for orbit transfer vehicles (OTV's). The impact of space basing and aeroassist on VEHICLE/ENGINE integration is discussed. The AOTV structure and thermal protection subsystem weights were scaled as the vehicle length and surface was changed. It is concluded that for increased allowable payload lengths in a ground-based system, lower length-to-diameter (L/D) is as important as higher mixture ration (MR) in the range of mid L/D ATOV's. Scenario validity, geometry constraints, throttle levels, reliability, and servicing are discussed in the context of engine design and engine/vehicle integration.

Cooper, L. P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Partial Reflection D-region Electron Densities

The differential absorption technique of measuring electron densities as a function of height in the D region is discussed. In the basic experiment, pulses of medium or high frequency, usually at a fixed frequency (2 to MHz), are radiated upwards with known wave polarizatin (usually linear or circular) from a transmitter at ground level. Partial reflections, from ionospheric scatterers at heights below the E region, are received at the ground, and are resolved into two characteristic components, the ordinary (0) and extraordinary (E) modes whose amplitude ration A(x)/A(o) is then measured as a function of height, h. The heights of these are determined by delay times, the group retardation being minimal in the undisturbed D-region. The electronic system can be very simple. Power splitters and quadrature networks to separate the A(x) and A(o) components are commercially available at low prices and an A-D converter, height-gate system, and microcomputer allows the real-time calculation of mean amplitudes. The ratio of the coefficients of reflection of the two modes, as they originate at each reflection height is then calculable.

Manson, A. H.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Shock tube study of the fuel structure effects on the chemical kinetic mechanisms responsible for soot formation, part 2

Soot formation in oxidation of allene, 1,3-butadiene, vinylacetylene and chlorobenzene and in pyrolysis of ethylene, vinylacetylene, 1-butene, chlorobenzene, acetylen-hydrogen, benzene-acetylene, benzene-butadiene and chlorobenzene-acetylene argon-diluted mixtures was studied behind reflected shock waves. The results are rationalized within the framework of the conceptual models. It is shown that vinylacetylene is much less sooty than allene, which indicates that conjugation by itself is not a sufficient factor for determining the sooting tendency of a molecule. Structural reactivity in the context of the chemical kinetics is the dominant factor in soot formation. Detailed chemical kinetic modeling of soot formation in pyrolysis of acetylene is reported. The main mass growth was found to proceed through a single dominant route composed of conventional radical reactions. The practically irreversible formation reactions of the fused polycyclic aromatics and the overshoot by hydrogen atom over its equilibrium concentration are the g-driving kinetic forces for soot formation.

Frenklach, M.↗