Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “CONSISTENCY”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 433 records · Page 24

Material properties for mantle convection consistent with observed surface fields

An attempt is made to derive constraints on mantle convection from observed surface fields: plate velocities, gravity, topography and heat flow. The spherical harmonic spectra of the fields are expressed in terms of a spectral magnitude and slope, and requirements for the minimal representation of the equations for mantle convection are discussed. The effects of the boundary layer represented by the surface fields on convection at the mantle surface and at deeper levels are then examined, and a mean value of the effective mantle viscosity of approximately 10 to the 23rd g/cm per sec is obtained, together with values of 10 to the 8th and 10 to the 7th for the Rayleigh numbers of whole mantle and upper mantle convection, respectively. Consideration is then given to the compositional, thermal and rheological aspects of mantle convection, and it is pointed out that constraints on the depth and other properties of convection will require more detailed modeling using the relationships between the harmonic coefficients of the surface fields.

Kaula, W. M.↗

Consistent Tolerance Bounds for Statistical Distributions

Assumption that sample comes from population with particular distribution is made with confidence C if data lie between certain bounds. These "confidence bounds" depend on C and assumption about distribution of sampling errors around regression line. Graphical test criteria using tolerance bounds are applied in industry where statistical analysis influences product development and use. Applied to evaluate equipment life.

Mezzacappa, M. A.↗

Numerical simulation of plasma insulator interactions in space. Part 1: The self consistent calculation

A computer program is being developed to simulate the interaction of a plasma with a conducting disk partially covered by an insulator. Initial runs consider only charge sticking to the dielectric. Results indicate that the current density drawn by the hole in the dielectric increases approximately linearly with voltage for conductor voltages between 5 volts and 250 volts.

Nonnast, J. H.↗

DE-2 photoelectron measurements consistent with a large scale parallel electric field over the polar cap

Winningham and Heikkila (1974) presented observations of various polar cap particle morphologies. They interpreted observations of 'anomalous' photoelectron angular distribution over the polar caps to be indicative of a large scale, outwardly directed, parallel electric field over the polar cap. The parallel field was observed to be spatially and/or temporarily variable. However, results obtained by Winningham and Heikkila have one weakness, which is related to the lack of simultaneous observations at many pitch angles. The present investigation is, therefore, concerned with the presentation of results from Dynamics Explorer 2 (DE-2) which confirm the experimental results of Winningham and Heikkila. It is concluded that the earth's polar caps act much like any conductor immersed in a plasma and illuminated by sunlight. DE-1 and DE-2 would then represent tiny point probes examining the internal details in the sheath region of the polar cap.

Winningham, J. D.↗

A new consistent spatial differencing scheme for the transonic full-potential equation

A new spatial differencing scheme for the transonic full-potential equation in conservative form has been developed. This scheme guarantees zero truncation error on any curvilinear mesh for freestream flows in either two- or three-space dimensions. Solutions obtained with this new differencing scheme, away from freestream regions, exhibit greatly improved accuracy, especially for nonsmooth or singular meshes.

Flores, J.↗

Minimal upper mantle temperature variations consistent with observed heat flow and plate velocities

Heat-flow and plate-velocity measurements are used to model upper-mantle temperature variations; the results are intended to form the basis for a gravity-field-variation model and are also applicable to the interpretation of petrological and seismological data. A 5-deg grid is used, a depth of 280 km is chosen as the fully convecting level, and it is assumed that 85 percent of the global heat production (4.0 x 10 to the 13th W) comes from below this level. The velocity field is calculated by integrating the momentum equations down to 280 km (assuming laterally homogeneous viscosity and density) and then used to determine the temperature fields. The results are presented in graphs, tables, and maps. The largest lateral temperature differences are about 1500 C and occur in the top 20 km, where the largest (about 200 C/Myr) nonlinear terms of the energy equation are also found. Below 50 km, heat transfer becomes more convective than conductive, and the most significant temperature variation appears in the form of negative 'tongues' as cold as -825 C at about 100 km. Temperature variations of at least + or - 180 C are calculated at the fully convecting level.

Kaula, W. M.↗

An investigation of the consistency of the ionospheric measurements of the photoelectron flux and solar EUV flux

This paper demonstrates that there is an inconsistency between ionospheric measurements of the photoelectron flux and the solar EUV flux. The problem which occurs for EUV wavelengths near 250 A or photoelectron energies near 35 eV has serious implications for theoretical photoelectron flux calculations and could help to explain up to 40 percent of the difference between calculated and measured photoelectron fluxes for electron energies below 35 eV. It is also shown that: (1) only photons with wavelengths shorter than 310 A are of importance in producing photoelectrons; (2) above 20 eV, the photoelectron flux is controlled by the production of primary photoelectrons, while below 20 eV the flux is controlled by degraded photoelectrons; (3) the calculated cascading production rate is insensitive to the cross sections used for the calculation; and (4) the photoelectron flux is inversely proportional to the total inelastic cross sections.

Richards, P. G.↗

Efficient self-consistent viscous-inviscid solutions for unsteady transonic flow

An improved method is presented for coupling a boundary layer code with an unsteady inviscid transonic computer code in a quasi-steady fashion. At each fixed time step, the boundary layer and inviscid equations are successively solved until the process converges. An explicit coupling of the equations is described which greatly accelerates the convergence process. Computer times for converged viscous-inviscid solutions are about 1.8 times the comparable inviscid values. Comparison of the results obtained with experimental data on three airfoils are presented. These comparisons demonstrate that the explicitly coupled viscous-inviscid solutions can provide efficient predictions of pressure distributions and lift for unsteady two-dimensional transonic flow.

Howlett, J. T.↗

Self-consistent simulation of plasma interactions with secondary-emitting insulators

A cylindrical particle-in-cell (PIC) plasma simulation code applicable to plasma densities encountered in low Earth orbit (LEO) is described. The simulated geometries include that of a plain disk and a disk surrounded by a dielectric. Both configurations are mounted upon a ground plate in contact with a plasma environment. Techniques allowing simulation of dielectric charging using PIC time scales are discussed. Current versus voltage characteristic curves are calculated and the results are compared to experimental data.

Brandon, S. T.↗

Galactic propagation models consistent with the cosmic ray lifetime derived from Be-10 measurements

Using a propagation calculation with energy dependent parameters, including the depletion of short pathlengths, and incorporating experimental nuclear excitation functions, the variation of the Be-10/Be9 ratio with the matter densities in two nested confinement regions is investigated. It is shown that there is no unique correspondence between a Be-10/Be9 measurement at low energy and the density of matter in the galaxy. Be-10/Be9 measurements at both low and high energy are needed to fully specify the matter densities.

Guzik, T. G.↗

A consistent picture of coronal and chromospheric processes in a well-observed solar flare

The solar flare of 15:22 UT on June 24, 1980 is analyzed using simultaneous observations in hard X-rays, soft X-rays, and H-alpha line profiles obtained from instruments aboard the Solar Maximum Mission and ground-based instruments. The theoretical H-alpha profiles of Canfield, Gunkler, and Ricchiazzi (1984) are used to analyze the H-alpha data, and the work of Hummer and Rybicki (1968) is used to provide qualitative velocity information. The soft X-ray data are employed to obtain coronal measurements of parameters of interest, while the flux and spectrum of the hard X-rays are used to calculate the peak power of nonthermal electrons. Various flare phenomena are studied, including heating of the chromosphere by nonthermal electrons, enhanced coronal pressure, enhanced thermal conduction, chromospheric evaporation and mass motion. It is shown that the observations strongly suggest a scenario in which two large magnetic loop systems interact to provide the flare energy.

Gunkler, T. A.↗

Efficient self-consistent viscous-inviscid solutions for unsteady transonic flow

An improved method is presented for coupling a boundary layer code with an unsteady inviscid transonic computer code in a quasi-steady fashion. At each fixed time step, the boundary layer and inviscid equations are successively solved until the process converges. An explicit coupling of the equations is described which greatly accelerates the convergence process. Computer times for converged viscous-inviscid solutions are about 1.8 times the comparable inviscid values. Comparison of the results obtained with experimental data on three airfoils are presented. These comparisons demonstrate that the explicitly coupled viscous-inviscid solutions can provide efficient predictions of pressure distributions and lift for unsteady two-dimensional transonic flows.

Howlett, J. T.↗

Self-consistent models for the X-ray emission from supernova remnants - An application to Kepler's remnant

A tool for exploring the evolution of X-ray emission from young SNRs is presented which employs a novel approach to the problem of time-dependent ionization in a shock-heated plasma. The solution of this problem is coupled to a spherically symmetric hydrodynamic calculation for the evolution of a point explosion in a uniform medium. The method is applied to Kepler's SNR, and two narrowly constrained classes of models which can simultaneously fit the spectral and morphological features of the object are found. One of these is a Sedov model in which the emission arises from shocked ambient gas, and the other is a reverse-shock model in which the SN ejecta is the dominant source of radiation. The emission from one specific model in each class is compared with the radial surface brightness profile, the 0.2-4.5 keV broadband spectrum, and the 1-3 keV moderate-resolution spectrum of the remnant. Reasonable fits are obtained in both cases.

Hughes, J. P.↗

Thermodynamically consistent constitutive equations for nonisothermal large strain, elasto-plastic, creep behavior

The paper is concerned with the development of constitutive relations for large nonisothermal elastic-viscoplastic deformations for metals. The kinematics of elastic-plastic deformation, valid for finite strains and rotations, is presented. The resulting elastic-plastic uncoupled equations for the deformation rate combined with use of the incremental elasticity law permits a precise and purely deductive development of elastic-viscoplastic theory. It is shown that a phenomenological thermodynamic theory in which the elastic deformation and the temperature are state variables, including few internal variables, can be utilized to construct elastic-viscoplastic constitutive equations, which are appropriate for metals. The limiting case of inviscid plasticity is examined.

Riff, R.↗

Self-consistent analysis of high drift velocity measurements with the STARE system

The use of the STARE and SABRE coherent radar systems as valuable tools for geophysical research has been enhanced by a new technique called the Superimposed-Grid-Point method. This method permits an analysis of E-layer plasma irregularity phase velocity versus flow angle utilizing only STARE or SABRE data. As previous work with STARE has indicated, this analysis has clearly shown that the cosine law assumption breaks down for velocities near and exceeding the local ion acoustic velocities. Use of this method is improving understanding of naturally-occurring plasma irregularities in the E-layer.

Reinleitner, L. A.↗