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At least 451 records · Page 25

Structural Health Monitoring Using High-Density Fiber Optic Strain Sensor and Inverse Finite Element Methods

In an effort to mitigate accidents due to system and component failure, NASA s Aviation Safety has partnered with industry, academia, and other governmental organizations to develop real-time, on-board monitoring capabilities and system performance models for early detection of airframe structure degradation. NASA Langley is investigating a structural health monitoring capability that uses a distributed fiber optic strain system and an inverse finite element method for measuring and modeling structural deformations. This report describes the constituent systems that enable this structural monitoring function and discusses results from laboratory tests using the fiber strain sensor system and the inverse finite element method to demonstrate structural deformation estimation on an instrumented test article

Vazquez, Sixto L.↗

Structural Anomaly Detection Using Fiber Optic Sensors and Inverse Finite Element Method

NASA Langley Research Center is investigating a variety of techniques for mitigating aircraft accidents due to structural component failure. One technique under consideration combines distributed fiber optic strain sensing with an inverse finite element method for detecting and characterizing structural anomalies anomalies that may provide early indication of airframe structure degradation. The technique identifies structural anomalies that result in observable changes in localized strain but do not impact the overall surface shape. Surface shape information is provided by an Inverse Finite Element Method that computes full-field displacements and internal loads using strain data from in-situ fiberoptic sensors. This paper describes a prototype of such a system and reports results from a series of laboratory tests conducted on a test coupon subjected to increasing levels of damage.

Quach, Cuong C.↗

Dynamic Inversion based Control of a Docking Mechanism

The problem of position and attitude control of the Stewart platform based docking mechanism is considered motivated by its future application in space missions requiring the autonomous docking capability. The control design is initiated based on the framework of the intelligent flight control architecture being developed at NASA Ames Research Center. In this paper, the baseline position and attitude control system is designed using dynamic inversion with proportional-integral augmentation. The inverse dynamics uses a Newton-Euler formulation that includes the platform dynamics, the dynamics of the individual legs along with viscous friction in the joints. Simulation results are presented using forward dynamics simulated by a commercial physics engine that builds the system as individual elements with appropriate joints and uses constrained numerical integration,

Kulkarni, Nilesh V.↗

Interactive Inverse Design Optimization of Fuselage Shape for Low-Boom Supersonic Concepts

This paper introduces a tool called BOSS (Boom Optimization using Smoothest Shape modifications). BOSS utilizes interactive inverse design optimization to develop a fuselage shape that yields a low-boom aircraft configuration. A fundamental reason for developing BOSS is the need to generate feasible low-boom conceptual designs that are appropriate for further refinement using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based preliminary design methods. BOSS was not developed to provide a numerical solution to the inverse design problem. Instead, BOSS was intended to help designers find the right configuration among an infinite number of possible configurations that are equally good using any numerical figure of merit. BOSS uses the smoothest shape modification strategy for modifying the fuselage radius distribution at 100 or more longitudinal locations to find a smooth fuselage shape that reduces the discrepancies between the design and target equivalent area distributions over any specified range of effective distance. For any given supersonic concept (with wing, fuselage, nacelles, tails, and/or canards), a designer can examine the differences between the design and target equivalent areas, decide which part of the design equivalent area curve needs to be modified, choose a desirable rate for the reduction of the discrepancies over the specified range, and select a parameter for smoothness control of the fuselage shape. BOSS will then generate a fuselage shape based on the designer's inputs in a matter of seconds. Using BOSS, within a few hours, a designer can either generate a realistic fuselage shape that yields a supersonic configuration with a low-boom ground signature or quickly eliminate any configuration that cannot achieve low-boom characteristics with fuselage shaping alone. A conceptual design case study is documented to demonstrate how BOSS can be used to develop a low-boom supersonic concept from a low-drag supersonic concept. The paper also contains a study on how perturbations in the equivalent area distribution affect the ground signature shape and how new target area distributions for low-boom signatures can be constructed using superposition of equivalent area distributions derived from the Seebass-George-Darden (SGD) theory.

Li, Wu↗

A Comparison of Land Surface Model Soil Hydraulic Properties Estimated by Inverse Modeling and Pedotransfer Functions

Soil hydraulic properties (SHPs) regulate the movement of water in the soil. This in turn plays an important role in the water and energy cycles at the land surface. At present, SHPS are commonly defined by a simple pedotransfer function from soil texture class, but SHPs vary more within a texture class than between classes. To examine the impact of using soil texture class to predict SHPS, we run the Noah land surface model for a wide variety of measured SHPs. We find that across a range of vegetation cover (5 - 80% cover) and climates (250 - 900 mm mean annual precipitation), soil texture class only explains 5% of the variance expected from the real distribution of SHPs. We then show that modifying SHPs can drastically improve model performance. We compare two methods of estimating SHPs: (1) inverse method, and (2) soil texture class. Compared to texture class, inverse modeling reduces errors between measured and modeled latent heat flux from 88 to 28 w/m(exp 2). Additionally we find that with increasing vegetation cover the importance of SHPs decreases and that the van Genuchten m parameter becomes less important, while the saturated conductivity becomes more important.

Gutmann, Ethan D.↗

When Deriving the Spatial QRS-T Angle from the 12-lead ECG, which Transform is More Frank: Regression or Inverse Dower?

Our primary objective was to ascertain which commonly used 12-to-Frank-lead transformation yields spatial QRS-T angle values closest to those obtained from simultaneously collected true Frank-lead recordings. Simultaneous 12-lead and Frank XYZ-lead recordings were analyzed for 100 post-myocardial infarction patients and 50 controls. Relative agreement, with true Frank-lead results, of 12-to-Frank-lead transformed results for the spatial QRS-T angle using Kors regression versus inverse Dower was assessed via ANOVA, Lin s concordance and Bland-Altman plots. Spatial QRS-T angles from the true Frank leads were not significantly different than those derived from the Kors regression-related transformation but were significantly smaller than those derived from the inverse Dower-related transformation (P less than 0.001). Independent of method, spatial mean QRS-T angles were also always significantly larger than spatial maximum (peaks) QRS-T angles. Spatial QRS-T angles are best approximated by regression-related transforms. Spatial mean and spatial peaks QRS-T angles should also not be used interchangeably.

Schlegel, Todd T.↗

Enhancing Spin Filters by Use of Bulk Inversion Asymmetry

Theoretical calculations have shown that the degrees of spin polarization in proposed nonmagnetic semiconductor resonant tunneling spin filters could be increased through exploitation of bulk inversion asymmetry (BIA). These enhancements would be effected through suitable orientation of spin collectors (or spin-polarization- inducing lateral electric fields), as described below. Spin filters -- more precisely, sources of spin-polarized electron currents -- have been sought for research on, and development of, the emerging technological discipline of spintronics (spin-transport electronics). The proposed spin filters were to be based on the Rashba effect, which is an energy splitting of what would otherwise be degenerate quantum states, caused by a spinorbit interaction in conjunction with a structural-inversion asymmetry (SIA) in the presence of interfacial electric fields in a semiconductor heterostructure. The magnitude of the energy split is proportional to the electron wave number. In a spin filter, the spin-polarized currents produced by the Rashba effect would be extracted by quantum-mechanical resonant tunneling.

Ting, David↗

Kinematic Slip Model for 12 May 2008 Wenchuan-Beichuan Mw 7.9 Earthquake from Joint Inversion of ALOS, Envisat, and Teleseismic Data

The presentations explores kinematics of the Wenchaun-Beichuan earthquake using data from ALOS, Envisat, and teleseismic recordings. Topics include geomorphic mapping, ALOS PALSAR range offsets, ALOS PALSAR interferometry, Envisat IM interferometry, Envisat ScanSAR, Joint GPS-InSAR inversion, and joint GPS-teleseismic inversion (static and kinematic).

seismology↗

Inversion Method for Early Detection of ARES-1 Case Breach Failure

A document describes research into the problem of detecting a case breach formation at an early stage of a rocket flight. An inversion algorithm for case breach allocation is proposed and analyzed. It is shown how the case breach can be allocated at an early stage of its development by using the rocket sensor data and the output data from the control block of the rocket navigation system. The results are simulated with MATLAB/Simulink software. The efficiency of an inversion algorithm for a case breach location is discussed. The research was devoted to the analysis of the ARES-l flight during the first 120 seconds after the launch and early prediction of case breach failure. During this time, the rocket is propelled by its first-stage Solid Rocket Booster (SRB). If a breach appears in SRB case, the gases escaping through it will produce the (side) thrust directed perpendicular to the rocket axis. The side thrust creates torque influencing the rocket attitude. The ARES-l control system will compensate for the side thrust until it reaches some critical value, after which the flight will be uncontrollable. The objective of this work was to obtain the start time of case breach development and its location using the rocket inertial navigation sensors and GNC data. The algorithm was effective for the detection and location of a breach in an SRB field joint at an early stage of its development.

Mackey, Ryan M.↗

High C/O Chemistry and Weak Thermal Inversion in the Extremely Irradiated Atmosphere of Exoplanet WASP-12b

The carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) in a planet provides critical information about its primordial origins and subsequent evolution. A primordial C/O greater than 0.8 causes a carbide-dominated interior as opposed to the silicate-dominated composition as found on Earth; the solar C/O is 0.54. Theory, shows that high C/O leads to a diversity of carbon-rich planets that can have very different interiors and atmospheres from those in the solar system. Here we report the detection of C/O greater than or equal to 1 in a planetary atmosphere. The transiting hot Jupiter WASP-12b has a dayside atmosphere depleted in water vapour and enhanced in methane by over two orders of magnitude compared to a solar-abundance chemical equilibrium model at the expected temperatures. The observed concentrations of the prominent molecules CO, CH4, and H2O are consistent with theoretical expectations for an atmosphere with the observed C/O = 1. The C/O ratios are not known for giant planets in the solar system, although they are expected to equal the solar value. If high C/O ratios are common, then extrasolar planets are likely very different in interior composition, and formed very differently, from expectations based on solar composition, potentially explaining the large diversity in observed radii. We also find that the extremely irradiated atmosphere (greater than 2500 K) of WASP-12b lacks a prominent thermal inversion, or a stratosphere, and has very efficient day-night energy circulation. The absence of a strong thermal inversion is in stark contrast to theoretical predictions for the most highly irradiated hot-Jupiter atmospheres.

Madhusudhan, Nikku↗

Success Stories in Control: Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion Control

NASA plays an important role in advancing the state of the art in flight control systems. In the case of Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion (NDI) NASA supported initial implementation of the theory in an aircraft and demonstration in a space vehicle. Dr. Dale Enns of Honeywell Aerospace Advanced Technology performed this work in cooperation with NASA and under NASA contract. Honeywell and Lockheed Martin were subsequently contracted by AFRL to create "Design Guidelines for Multivariable Control Theory". This foundational work directly contributed to the advancement of the technology and the credibility of the control law as a design option. As a result Honeywell collaborated with Lockheed Martin to produce a Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion controller for the X-35 and subsequently Lockheed Martin did the same for the production Lockheed Martin F-35 vehicle. The theory behind NDI is to use a systematic generalized approach to controlling a vehicle. Using general aircraft nonlinear equations of motion and onboard aerodynamic, mass properties, and engine models specific to the vehicle, a relationship between control effectors and desired aircraft motion can be formulated. Using this formulation a control combination is used that provides a predictable response to commanded motion. Control loops around this formulation shape the response as desired and provide robustness to modeling errors. Once the control law is designed it can be used on a similar class of vehicle with only an update to the vehicle specific onboard models.

Bosworth, John T.↗

SO2 Emissions and Lifetimes: Estimates from Inverse Modeling Using In Situ and Global, Space-Based (SCIAMACHY and OMI) Observations

Top-down constraints on global sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions are inferred through inverse modeling using SO2 column observations from two satellite instruments (SCIAMACHY and OMI). We first evaluated the S02 column observations with surface SO2 measurements by applying local scaling factors from a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to SO2 columns retrieved from the satellite instruments. The resulting annual mean surface SO2 mixing ratios for 2006 exhibit a significant spatial correlation (r=0.86, slope=0.91 for SCIAMACHY and r=0.80, slope = 0.79 for OMI) with coincident in situ measurements from monitoring networks throughout the United States and Canada. We evaluate the GEOS-Chem simulation of the SO2 lifetime with that inferred from in situ measurements to verity the applicability of GEOS-Chem for inversion of SO2 columns to emissions. The seasonal mean SO2 lifetime calculated with the GEOS-Chem model over the eastern United States is 13 h in summer and 48 h in winter, compared to lifetimes inferred from in situ measurements of 19 +/- 7 h in summer and 58 +/- 20 h in winter. We apply SO2 columns from SCIAMACHY and OMI to derive a top-down anthropogenic SO2 emission inventory over land by using the local GEOS-Chem relationship between SO2 columns and emissions. There is little seasonal variation in the top-down emissions (<15%) over most major industrial regions providing some confidence in the method. Our global estimate for annual land surface anthropogenic SO2 emissions (52.4 Tg S/yr from SCIAMACHY and 49.9 Tg S / yr from OMI) closely agrees with the bottom-up emissions (54.6 Tg S/yr) in the GEOS-Chem model and exhibits consistency in global distributions with the bottom-up emissions (r = 0.78 for SCIAMACHY, and r = 0.77 for OMI). However, there are significant regional differences.

Lee, Chulkyu↗

Improving the Automatic Inversion of Digital ISIS-2 Ionogram Reflection Traces into Topside Vertical Electron-Density Profiles

The topside-sounders on the four satellites of the International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies (ISIS) program were designed as analog systems. The resulting ionograms were displayed on 35-mm film for analysis by visual inspection. Each of these satellites, launched between 1962 and 1971, produced data for 10 to 20 years. A number of the original telemetry tapes from this large data set have been converted directly into digital records. Software, known as the TOPside Ionogram Scalar with True-height (TOPIST) algorithm has been produced that enables the automatic inversion of ISIS-2 ionogram reflection traces into topside vertical electron-density profiles Ne(h). More than million digital Alouette/ISIS topside ionograms have been produced and over 300,000 are from ISIS 2. Many of these ISIS-2 ionograms correspond to a passive mode of operation for the detection of natural radio emissions and thus do not contain ionospheric reflection traces. TOPIST, however, is not able to produce Ne(h) profiles from all of the ISIS-2 ionograms with reflection traces because some of them did not contain frequency information. This information was missing due to difficulties encountered during the analog-to-digital conversion process in the detection of the ionogram frame-sync pulse and/or the frequency markers. Of the many digital topside ionograms that TOPIST was able to process, over 200 were found where direct comparisons could be made with Ne(h) profiles that were produced by manual scaling in the early days of the ISIS program. While many of these comparisons indicated excellent agreement (<10% average difference over the entire profile) there were also many cases with large differences (more than a factor of two). Here we will report on two approaches to improve the automatic inversion process: (1) improve the quality of the digital ionogram database by remedying the missing frequency-information problem when possible, and (2) using the above-mentioned comparisons as teaching examples of how to improve the original TOPIST software.

Benson, R. F.↗

Inversion of Magnetic Measurements of the CHAMP Satellite Over the Pannonian Basin

The Pannonian Basin is a deep intra-continental basin that formed as part of the Alpine orogeny. In order to study the nature of the crustal basement we used the long-wavelength magnetic anomalies acquired by the CHAMP satellite. The anomalies were distributed in a spherical shell, some 107,927 data recorded between January 1 and December 31 of 2008. They covered the Pannonian Basin and its vicinity. These anomaly data were interpolated into a spherical grid of 0.5 x 0.5, at the elevation of 324 km by the Gaussian weight function. The vertical gradient of these total magnetic anomalies was also computed and mapped to the surface of a sphere at 324 km elevation. The former spherical anomaly data at 425 km altitude were downward continued to 324 km. To interpret these data at the elevation of 324 km we used an inversion method. A polygonal prism forward model was used for the inversion. The minimum problem was solved numerically by the Simplex and Simulated annealing methods; a L2 norm in the case of Gaussian distribution parameters and a L1 norm was used in the case of Laplace distribution parameters. We INTERPRET THAT the magnetic anomaly WAS produced by several sources and the effect of the sable magnetization of the exsolution of hemo-ilmenite minerals in the upper crustal metamorphic rocks.

Kis, K. I.↗

The Prediction Properties of Inverse and Reverse Regression for the Simple Linear Calibration Problem

The calibration of measurement systems is a fundamental but under-studied problem within industrial statistics. The origins of this problem go back to basic chemical analysis based on NIST standards. In today's world these issues extend to mechanical, electrical, and materials engineering. Often, these new scenarios do not provide "gold standards" such as the standard weights provided by NIST. This paper considers the classic "forward regression followed by inverse regression" approach. In this approach the initial experiment treats the "standards" as the regressor and the observed values as the response to calibrate the instrument. The analyst then must invert the resulting regression model in order to use the instrument to make actual measurements in practice. This paper compares this classical approach to "reverse regression," which treats the standards as the response and the observed measurements as the regressor in the calibration experiment. Such an approach is intuitively appealing because it avoids the need for the inverse regression. However, it also violates some of the basic regression assumptions.

Parker, Peter A.↗

Statistically Optimized Inversion Algorithm for Enhanced Retrieval of Aerosol Properties from Spectral Multi-Angle Polarimetric Satellite Observations

The proposed development is an attempt to enhance aerosol retrieval by emphasizing statistical optimization in inversion of advanced satellite observations. This optimization concept improves retrieval accuracy relying on the knowledge of measurement error distribution. Efficient application of such optimization requires pronounced data redundancy (excess of the measurements number over number of unknowns) that is not common in satellite observations. The POLDER imager on board the PARASOL microsatellite registers spectral polarimetric characteristics of the reflected atmospheric radiation at up to 16 viewing directions over each observed pixel. The completeness of such observations is notably higher than for most currently operating passive satellite aerosol sensors. This provides an opportunity for profound utilization of statistical optimization principles in satellite data inversion. The proposed retrieval scheme is designed as statistically optimized multi-variable fitting of all available angular observations obtained by the POLDER sensor in the window spectral channels where absorption by gas is minimal. The total number of such observations by PARASOL always exceeds a hundred over each pixel and the statistical optimization concept promises to be efficient even if the algorithm retrieves several tens of aerosol parameters. Based on this idea, the proposed algorithm uses a large number of unknowns and is aimed at retrieval of extended set of parameters affecting measured radiation.

Dubovik, O↗

Spatial Variability in Column CO2 Inferred from High Resolution GEOS-5 Global Model Simulations: Implications for Remote Sensing and Inversions

Column CO2 observations from current and future remote sensing missions represent a major advancement in our understanding of the carbon cycle and are expected to help constrain source and sink distributions. However, data assimilation and inversion methods are challenged by the difference in scale of models and observations. OCO-2 footprints represent an area of several square kilometers while NASA s future ASCENDS lidar mission is likely to have an even smaller footprint. In contrast, the resolution of models used in global inversions are typically hundreds of kilometers wide and often cover areas that include combinations of land, ocean and coastal areas and areas of significant topographic, land cover, and population density variations. To improve understanding of scales of atmospheric CO2 variability and representativeness of satellite observations, we will present results from a global, 10-km simulation of meteorology and atmospheric CO2 distributions performed using NASA s GEOS-5 general circulation model. This resolution, typical of mesoscale atmospheric models, represents an order of magnitude increase in resolution over typical global simulations of atmospheric composition allowing new insight into small scale CO2 variations across a wide range of surface flux and meteorological conditions. The simulation includes high resolution flux datasets provided by NASA s Carbon Monitoring System Flux Pilot Project at half degree resolution that have been down-scaled to 10-km using remote sensing datasets. Probability distribution functions are calculated over larger areas more typical of global models (100-400 km) to characterize subgrid-scale variability in these models. Particular emphasis is placed on coastal regions and regions containing megacities and fires to evaluate the ability of coarse resolution models to represent these small scale features. Additionally, model output are sampled using averaging kernels characteristic of OCO-2 and ASCENDS measurement concepts to create realistic pseudo-datasets. Pseudo-data are averaged over coarse model grid cell areas to better understand the ability of measurements to characterize CO2 distributions and spatial gradients on both short (daily to weekly) and long (monthly to seasonal) time scales

Ott, L.↗

Shape and Stress Sensing of Multilayered Composite and Sandwich Structures Using an Inverse Finite Element Method

The marked increase in the use of composite and sandwich material systems in aerospace, civil, and marine structures leads to the need for integrated Structural Health Management systems. A key capability to enable such systems is the real-time reconstruction of structural deformations, stresses, and failure criteria that are inferred from in-situ, discrete-location strain measurements. This technology is commonly referred to as shape- and stress-sensing. Presented herein is a computationally efficient shape- and stress-sensing methodology that is ideally suited for applications to laminated composite and sandwich structures. The new approach employs the inverse Finite Element Method (iFEM) as a general framework and the Refined Zigzag Theory (RZT) as the underlying plate theory. A three-node inverse plate finite element is formulated. The element formulation enables robust and efficient modeling of plate structures instrumented with strain sensors that have arbitrary positions. The methodology leads to a set of linear algebraic equations that are solved efficiently for the unknown nodal displacements. These displacements are then used at the finite element level to compute full-field strains, stresses, and failure criteria that are in turn used to assess structural integrity. Numerical results for multilayered, highly heterogeneous laminates demonstrate the unique capability of this new formulation for shape- and stress-sensing.

Cerracchio, Priscilla↗