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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 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

Orientation of the earth by numerical integration

A fundamental problem is the determination of the orientation of the earth in the celestial coordinate system. Classical reductions for precession and nutation can be expected to be consistent with the present-day observations, however, corrections to the classical theory are difficult to model because of the large number of coefficients involved. Consequently, a portion of the research has been devoted to numerically integrating the Eulerian equations of motion for a rigid earth and considering the six initial conditions of the integration as unknowns. Comparison of the three adjusted Eulerian angles from the numerical integration over 1000 days indicates agreement with classical theory to within 0.003 seconds of arc.

Fajemirokun, F. A.↗
NASA NTRS1958

Free-Flight Investigation of Aerodynamic Heat Transfer to a Simulated Glide-Rocket Shape at Mach Numbers up to 10

Heat-transfer measurements were made on a simulated glide-rocket shape in free flight at Mach numbers up to 10 and free-stream Reynolds numbers of 2 x 10 based on distance along surface from apex and 3 x 10 based on nominal leading-edge diameter. The model simulated the bottom of a 75 deg delta wing at 8O deg angle of attack. The data indicated that for the test conditions a modified three-dimensional stagnation-point theory will predict to reasonable engineering accuracy the heating on a highly swept wing leading edge, the heating being reduced by sweep by the 3/2 power of the cosine of the sweep angle. The data also indicate that laminar heating rates over the windward surface of a highly swept flat glider wing at moderate angles of attack can be predicted with reasonable engineering accuracy by flat-plate theory using wedge local flow conditions and basing Reynolds numbers on lengths from the wing leading edge parallel to the surface center line.

FREE FLIGHT↗
NASA NTRS1955

Investigations at Supersonic Speeds of 22 Triangular Wings Representing Two Airfoil Sections for Each of 11 Apex Angles

The results of tests of 22 triangular wings, representing two leading-edge shapes for each of 11 apex angles, at Mach numbers 1.62, 1.92, and 1.40 are presented and compared with theory. All wings have a common thickness ratio of 8 percent and a common maximum-thickness point at 18 percent chord. Lift, drag, and pitching moment are given for all wings at each Mach number. The relation of transition in the boundary layer, shocks on the wing surfaces, and characteristics of the pressure distributions is discussed for several wings.

Love, Eugene S↗
NASA NTRS1976

A BBGKY framework for fluid turbulence

A framework is presented for a systematic kinetic theory of turbulence originating from the Liouville equation for the Fourier coefficients of fluid variables. The real and imaginary parts of these Fourier coefficients play the role that particle coordinates (positions and momenta) play in the BBGKY theory. The basic relations of the problem are the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in two dimensions with zero viscosity, with the probability distributions of Fourier coefficients rather than moments being the basic variables of the theory. A kinetic equation is derived and shown to possess a number of requirements that any reasonable kinetic equation must have: conservation laws, positive-definite spectral densities, and an H-theorem. The major lack in the theory is any reliable information on the relaxation predicted by the complicated linear operator H. Closure of the hierarchy is achieved by the hypothesis that the five-coefficient correlation function is negligible. Problems associated with inclusion of viscosity and external driving forces are discussed.

Montgomery, D.↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Elegance of Disordered Granular Packings: A Validation of Edwards' Hypothesis

We have found a way to analyze Edwards' density of states for static granular packings in the special case of round, rigid, frictionless grains assuming constant coordination number. It obtains the most entropic density of single grain states, which predicts several observables including the distribution of contact forces. We compare these results against empirical data obtained in dynamic simulations of granular packings. The agreement between theory and the empirics is quite good, helping validate the use of statistical mechanics methods in granular physics. The differences between theory and empirics are mainly due to the variable coordination number, and when the empirical data are sorted by that number we obtain several insights that suggest an underlying elegance in the density of states

Metzger, Philip T.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Marangoni bubble motion in zero gravity

It was shown experimentally that the Marangoni phenomenon is a primary mechanism for the movement of a gas bubble in a nonisothermal liquid in a low gravity environment. A mathematical model consisting of the Navier-Stokes and thermal energy equations, together with the appropriate boundary conditions for both media, is presented. Parameter perturbation theory is used to solve this boundary value problem; the expansion parameter is the Marangoni number. The zeroth, first, and second order approximations for the velocity, temperature and pressure distributions in the liquid and in the bubble, and the deformation and terminal velocity of the bubble are determined. Experimental zero gravity data for a nitrogen bubble in ethylene glycol, ethanol, and silicone oil subjected to a linear temperature gradient were obtained using the NASA Lewis zero gravity drop tower. Comparison of the zeroth order analytical results for the bubble terminal velocity showed good agreement with the experimental measurements. The first and second order solutions for the bubble deformation and bubble terminal velocity are valid for liquids having Prandtl numbers on the order of one, but there is a lack of appropriate data to test the theory fully.

Thompson, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Asteroid family identifications and proper elements

This paper lists proper elements and family memberships for the first 2065 numbered asteroids plus 20 higher numbered objects. All proper elements were calculated using the Williams (1969) theory. The information contained in the 13 columns of the table is discussed in detail. It is noted that the proper elements and family assignments for the first 1796 numbered objects are mostly identical to those reported previously by Williams (1979). However, proper elements were recalculated for 68 objects in the earlier list, and entries were made for asteroids omitted from that list. Family identifications have changed for several objects as a result of the improvement of the osculating elements and a recalculation of the proper elements of asteroids which formerly had poor orbits.

Williams, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1966

Grid turbulence at large Reynolds numbers.

Grid turbulence for large Reynolds numbers, noting consistency of power spectra values with Kolmogoroff scaling, decay law and Reynolds number effect on turbulence

GRID↗
NASA NTRS1972

Aerodynamics of high-performance Ludwieg tubes.

A small perturbation analysis of the flow in a Ludwieg tube supply is described which includes both the growing turbulent boundary-layer and axial pipe nonuniformities. Measured pressure time histories are used to check the theory and its extension to high pipe Mach numbers and large flow perturbations. The nonsteady coupling of this flow to a nozzle is investigated. Calculations are made of the effects on the nozzle boundary layer, while a separate analysis is carried out for the case of complete mixing in a nozzle plenum. The double expansion nozzle is shown to extend Ludwieg-tube capability. Analytical and experimental studies are made of the aerodynamic problems that can arise in these nozzles.

Russell, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Structure in the nonlinear saturation spectrum of parametric instabilities.

The nonlinear saturation spectrum of the decay instability is obtained in the limit of small spontaneous emission, for comparable ion and electron temperatures, from numerical solutions of a kinetic equation based on an accurate expression for the nonlinearity. The spectral energy occupies several pairs of isolated saucer-shaped regions in wave-vector space. The regions increase in thickness, angular diameter, and number as the pump power is increased. The theory thus predicts the generation of waves propagating in directions which can differ substantially from the direction of the pump field. Ionospheric observations confirm this prediction; they were difficult to reconcile with the predictions of previous theories based on an approximated expression for the nonlinearity. The present work also corrects the results of previous one-dimensional theories that used an accurate expression for the nonlinearity and predicted 'spectral lines' in the limit of vanishing spontaneous emission.

Fejer, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Studies of heat source driven natural convection

Natural convection energy transport in a horizontal layer of internally heated fluid with a zero heat flux lower boundary, and an isothermal upper boundary, has been studied. Quantitative information on the time-mean temperature distribution and the fluctuating component of temperature about the mean temperature in steady turbulent convection are obtained from a small thermocouple inserted into the layer through the upper bounding plate. Data are also presented on the development of temperature at several vertical positions when the layer is subject to both a sudden increase and to a sudden decrease in power input. For changes of power input from zero to a value corresponding to a Rayleigh number much greater than the critical linear stability theory value, a slight hysteresis in temperature profiles near the upper boundary is observed between the heat-up and cool-down modes.

Kulacki, F. A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Post-flight differential correction analysis using Vinti's spheroidal method for the small astronomy satellite orbit

The results of an intensive analysis of a differential orbit improvement method utilizing observational data for a 550-kilometer altitude, near-circular, near-equatorial satellite orbit are presented. Observations of the Small Astronomy Satellite (SAS-1) are in the form of direction cosines as measured at two ground interferometer tracking stations near the Equator during the first 22 orbital revolutions (approximately 37 hours) after launch of the spacecraft. Numerical results, in both tabular and graphical form, are displayed for numerous iterated fittings of various observational arcs by differential correction of the orbital elements. Parameters varied in these comparative cases include the time duration of the observational data block, the number of pairs of direction cosine data and the number of tracking station passes included in the solution, the distribution of such passes between the two available tracking stations, and the acceptance criterion for the observational residuals in the least squares fitting procedure. It was found that three observational pairs of direction cosine data, the minimum number possible for a uniquely determined solution in theory, are sufficient to promote covergence to an accurate solution, if properly selected.

Walden, H.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Turbulent vortex streets and the entrainment mechanism of the turbulent wake

The results of an experimental investigation of a turbulent vortex street in the range from 1000 to 20,000 are presented. The vortex street was created by the motion of a circular cylinder in a motionless fluid (mercury). Photographs obtained showed that the turbulent street, created by the vortex shedding behind the cylinder, persisted at longer downstream distances and higher Reynolds numbers than previously reported in the literature. A theory was developed to account for the experimental measurements pertaining to the change of the geometrical characteristics, (the distance between the two rows of vortices and the longitudinal distance between two consecutive vortices on the same row), of the street in the downstream direction. The implications of the structure of the vortex street on the entrainment mechanism of the turbulent wake are discussed.

Papailiou, D. D.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Random walk theory applied to electron avalanche formation

Use of microscopic detail in random walk theory describing the initial formations of a large number of avalanches shows that concomitant electron transport coefficients quickly relax to equilibrium values. This enables the use of random walks having step sizes and probabilities based only on local electric field strengths and densities. A self-consistent avalanche solution which accounts for collective long range Coulomb interactions as well as short range elastic and inelastic collisions between electrons and background atoms is demonstrated for helium. Avalanche growth retardation followed by an abrupt growth augmentation as time proceeds is shown to be associated with the formation of regions of charge density extrema near the avalanche axis and within the axial distance covered by the electron swarm.

Englert, G. W.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Spin projection of single-determinant wavefunctions

The components of the one- and two-particle density matrices resulting from spin projection of a single-determinant wave function are rederived by the method of expansion in terms of the natural orbitals of charge density, and the results are found to diverge from those given by Harriman and Sando for the two-particle case. The theory is generalized to include molecules with unequal numbers of electrons and basis orbitals and is applied to a number of organic molecules and ions. The correctness and internal consistency of the results argue in favor of the modification described.

Phillips, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Aeroelastic characteristics of an oblique wing

In theory, the most efficient wing shape for transonic and low supersonic speeds is simply a long narrow straight subsonic wing turned at an oblique angle to the flight direction. This theory has been verified by tests at Mach numbers from .6 to 1.4 in supersonic wind tunnel and by comparative studies of transonic transport designs.

Jones, R. T.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Effects of high subsonic flow on sound propagation in a variable-area duct

The propagation of sound in a converging-diverging duct containing a quasi-one-dimensional steady flow with a high subsonic throat Mach number was studied. The behavior of linearized acoustic theory at the throat of the duct was shown to be singular. This singularity implies that linearized acoustic theory is invalid. The explicit singular behavior was determined and used to sketch the development (by the method of matched asymptotic expansions) of a nonlinear theory for sound propagation in a sonic throat region.

Callegari, A. J.↗