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At least 469 records · Page 26

High End Computing Technologies for Earth Science Applications: Trends, Challenges, and Innovations

Earth science applications of the future will stress the capabilities of even the highest performance supercomputers in the areas of raw compute power, mass storage management, and software environments. These NASA mission critical problems demand usable multi-petaflops and exabyte-scale systems to fully realize their science goals. With an exciting vision of the technologies needed, NASA has established a comprehensive program of advanced research in computer architecture, software tools, and device technology to ensure that, in partnership with US industry, it can meet these demanding requirements with reliable, cost effective, and usable ultra-scale systems. NASA will exploit, explore, and influence emerging high end computing architectures and technologies to accelerate the next generation of engineering, operations, and discovery processes for NASA Enterprises. This article captures this vision and describes the concepts, accomplishments, and the potential payoff of the key thrusts that will help meet the computational challenges in Earth science applications.

Parks, John↗

Stress Measurements on Blair High School Gymnasium: A Demonstration of Space Technology Transfer

This Report describes an actual demonstration of transfer to non-space use of technologies developed for space programs applications. Techniques used in assessing static and dynamic characteristics of the Blair High School gymnasium involved data acquisition by continuous scanning of strain gauge data acquired over a time of wide-temperature range, and analysis by a computer routine developed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory five years ago. The advantage of this method over conventional structural testing of uniquely designed structures was proved. More importantly, the process of demonstration was shown to be of great assistance to, and extension of, normal methods of disseminating information of new technologies. It is felt that significant benefit will derive from this improved mode oi concept transfer.

Kastel, Dean↗

Finite dynamic element formulation for a plane triangular element

Higher order correction terms for the stiffness and inertia matrices associated with a triangular plane stress-strain finite dynamic element are developed in detail. Numerical results are presented which indicate that the adoption of these matrices along with a suitable quadratic matrix eigenproblem solver effects a significant economy in the free vibration solution of structure when compared with the analysis based on the usual finite element procedure. Finally, a FORTRAN IV computer program listing of the various relevant matrices is given.

Gupta, K. K.↗

Three-dimensional inelastic analysis for hot section components, BEST 3D code

The goal is the development of an alternative stress analysis tool, distinct from the finite element method, applicable to the engineering analysis of gas turbine engine structures. The boundary element method was selected for this development effort on the basis of its already demonstrated applicability to a variety of geometries and problem types characteristic of gas turbine engine components. Major features of the BEST3D computer program are described, and some of the significant developments carried out as part of the Inelastic Methods Contract are outlined.

Wilson, Raymond B.↗

Status of structural analysis of 30 cm diameter ion optics

Three structural finite element programs are compared with theory, experimental data, and each other to evaluate their usefulness for modeling the thermomechanical deflection of ion engine electrodes. Two programs, NASTRAN and MARC, used a Cray XMP and the third, Algor, used an IBM compatible personal computer. The shape of the applied temperature gradient greatly affects off-axis displacement, implying that an accurate temperature distribution is required to analyze new designs. The use of bulk material constants to model the perforated electrodes was investigated. The stress and displacement predictions are shown to be sensitive to the temperature gradient and the Young's modulus, and insensitive to number of nodes, above some minimum value, and the Poisson ratio used. The models are shown to be useful tools for evaluating designs. Experimental measurement of temperatures and displacements was identified as the most critical area for further work.

Macrae, Gregory S.↗

Status of structural analysis of 30 cm diameter ion optics

Three structural finite element programs are compared with theory, experimental data, and each other to evaluate their usefulness for modeling the thermomechanical deflection of ion engine electrodes. Two programs, NASTRAN and MARC, used a Cray XMP and the third, Algor, used an IBM compatible personal computer. The shape of the applied temperature gradient greatly affects off-axis displacement, implying that an accurate temperature distribution is required to analyze new designs. The use of bulk material constants to model the perforated electrodes was investigated. The stress and displacement predictions are shown to be sensitive to the temperature gradient and the Young's modulus, and insensitive to number of nodes, above some minimum value, and the Poisson ratio used. The models are shown to be useful tools for evaluating designs. Experimental measurements of temperatures and displacements was identified as the most critical area.

Macrae, Gregory S.↗

Inspecting for widespread fatigue damage: Is partial debonding the key?

Experimental and analytical results indicate that cracks can initiate, grow, and coalesce more rapidly in fuselage lap joints that have experienced partial or complete debonding. Computational analysis in this paper shows that stress concentrations and stress intensity factors at the rivet holes are far less severe when the bond is intact. Debonding hastens the initiation of widespread fatigue cracks and significantly increases crack growth rate. Thus, debonded regions serve as "breeding grounds" for widespread fatigue damage. Therefore, the effectiveness of lap joint inspection programs may be enhanced if detailed inspections are focused on areas in which debonding has been detected.

Brewer, John↗

Development of Computer Models for the Assessment of Foreign Body Impact Events on Composite Structures

The objective of this project was to model the 5-3/4 inch pressure vessels used on the NASA RTOP program in an attempt to learn more about how impact damage forms and what are the residual effects of the resulting damage. A global-local finite element model was developed for the bottle and the states of stress in the bottles were determined down to the constituent level. The experimental data that was generated on the NASA RTOP program was not in a form that enabled the model developed under this grant to be correlated with the experimental data. As a result of this exercise it is recommended that an experimental program be designed using statistical design of experiment techniques to generate data that can be used to isolate the phenomenon that control the formation of impact damage. This data should include residual property determinations so that models for post impact structural integrity can be developed. It is also recommended that the global-local methodology be integrated directly into the finite element code. This will require considerable code development.

Bucinell, Ronald B.↗

Elastic-plastic analysis using a triangular ring element in NASTRAN

An elastic plastic triangular ring element is implemented in NASTRAN computer program. The plane strain problem of partially plastic thick walled cylinder under internal pressure is solved and compared with the earlier finite difference solution. A very good agreement has been reached. In order to demonstrate its application to more general problems, an overloaded thread problem for the British Standard Buttress is examined. The maximum axial and principal stresses are located and their values are determined as functions of loadings.

Chen, P. C. T.↗

Design of stiffened composite panels with a fracture constraint

An automated procedure for designing minimum-weight composite panels subject to a local damage constraint under tensile loading was developed. A finite element program based on linear elastic fracture mechanics for calculating stress intensity factors (SIF) was incorporated in the design cycle. Panel fracture toughness was obtained by using a strain based criterion. A general purpose mathematical optimization algorithm was used for the weight minimization. Analytical sensitivity derivatives of the SIF employing the adjoint variable technique was used to enhance the computational efficiency of the procedure. Design results for both unstiffened and stiffened plates are presented.

Gurdal, Z.↗

A Numerical Study of the Effects of Curvature and Convergence on Dilution Jet Mixing

An analytical program was conducted to assemble and assess a three-dimensional turbulent viscous flow computer code capable of analyzing the flow field in the transition liners of small gas turbine engines. This code is of the TEACH type with hybrid numerics, and uses the power law and SIMPLER algorithms, an orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system, and an algebraic Reynolds stress turbulence model. The assessments performed in this study, consistent with results in the literature, showed that in its present form this code is capable of predicting trends and qualitative results. The assembled code was used to perform a numerical experiment to investigate the effects of curvature and convergence in the transition liner on the mixing of single and opposed rows of cool dilution jets injected into a hot mainstream flow.

Holdeman, J. D.↗

Continuous fiber ceramic matrix composites for heat engine components

High strength at elevated temperatures, low density, resistance to wear, and abundance of nonstrategic raw materials make structural ceramics attractive for advanced heat engine applications. Unfortunately, ceramics have a low fracture toughness and fail catastrophically because of overload, impact, and contact stresses. Ceramic matrix composites provide the means to achieve improved fracture toughness while retaining desirable characteristics, such as high strength and low density. Materials scientists and engineers are trying to develop the ideal fibers and matrices to achieve the optimum ceramic matrix composite properties. A need exists for the development of failure models for the design of ceramic matrix composite heat engine components. Phenomenological failure models are currently the most frequently used in industry, but they are deterministic and do not adequately describe ceramic matrix composite behavior. Semi-empirical models were proposed, which relate the failure of notched composite laminates to the stress a characteristic distance away from the notch. Shear lag models describe composite failure modes at the micromechanics level. The enhanced matrix cracking stress occurs at the same applied stress level predicted by the two models of steady state cracking. Finally, statistical models take into consideration the distribution in composite failure strength. The intent is to develop these models into computer algorithms for the failure analysis of ceramic matrix composites under monotonically increasing loads. The algorithms will be included in a postprocessor to general purpose finite element programs.

Tripp, David E.↗

A numerical study of the effects of curvature and convergence on dilution jet mixing

An analytical program was conducted to assemble and assess a three-dimensional turbulent viscous flow computer code capable of analyzing the flow field in the transition liners of small gas turbine engines. This code is of the TEACH type with hybrid numerics, and uses the power law and SIMPLER algorithms, an orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system, and an algebraic Reynolds stress turbulence model. The assessments performed in this study, consistent with results in the literature, showed that in its present form this code is capable of predicting trends and qualitative results. The assembled code was used to perform a numerical experiment to investigate the effects of curvature and convergence in the transition liner on the mixing of single and opposed rows of cool dilution jets injected into a hot mainstream flow.

Holdeman, J. D.↗

Reliability analysis of laminated CMC components through shell subelement techniques

An updated version of the integrated design program Composite Ceramics Analysis and Reliability Evaluation of Structures (C/CARES) was developed for the reliability evaluation of ceramic matrix composites (CMC) laminated shell components. The algorithm is now split into two modules: a finite-element data interface program and a reliability evaluation algorithm. More flexibility is achieved, allowing for easy implementation with various finite-element programs. The interface program creates a neutral data base which is then read by the reliability module. This neutral data base concept allows easy data transfer between different computer systems. The new interface program from the finite-element code Matrix Automated Reduction and Coupling (MARC) also includes the option of using hybrid laminates (a combination of plies of different materials or different layups) and allows for variations in temperature fields throughout the component. In the current version of C/CARES, a subelement technique was implemented, enabling stress gradients within an element to be taken into account. The noninteractive reliability function is now evaluated at each Gaussian integration point instead of using averaging techniques. As a result of the increased number of stress evaluation points, considerable improvements in the accuracy of reliability analyses were realized.

Starlinger, Alois↗

Elastic plastic fracture mechanics methodology for surface cracks

The Elastic Plastic Fracture Mechanics (EPFM) Methodology has evolved significantly in the last several years. Nevertheless, some of these concepts need to be extended further before the whole methodology can be safely applied to structural parts. Specifically, there is a need to include the effect of constraint in the characterization of material resistance to crack growth and also to extend these methods to the case of 3D defects. As a consequence, this project was started as a 36 month research program with the general objective of developing an EPFM methodology to assess the structural reliability of pressure vessels and other parts of interest to NASA containing defects. This report covers a computer modelling algorithm used to simulate the growth of a semi-elliptical surface crack; the presentation of a finite element investigation that compared the theoretical (HRR) stress field to that produced by elastic and elastic-plastic models; and experimental efforts to characterize three dimensional aspects of fracture present in 'two dimensional', or planar configuration specimens.

Ernst, Hugo A.↗

Optimization of residual stresses in MMC's through the variation of interfacial layer architectures and processing parameters

The objective of this work was the development of efficient, user-friendly computer codes for optimizing fabrication-induced residual stresses in metal matrix composites through the use of homogeneous and heterogeneous interfacial layer architectures and processing parameter variation. To satisfy this objective, three major computer codes have been developed and delivered to the NASA-Lewis Research Center, namely MCCM, OPTCOMP, and OPTCOMP2. MCCM is a general research-oriented code for investigating the effects of microstructural details, such as layered morphology of SCS-6 SiC fibers and multiple homogeneous interfacial layers, on the inelastic response of unidirectional metal matrix composites under axisymmetric thermomechanical loading. OPTCOMP and OPTCOMP2 combine the major analysis module resident in MCCM with a commercially-available optimization algorithm and are driven by user-friendly interfaces which facilitate input data construction and program execution. OPTCOMP enables the user to identify those dimensions, geometric arrangements and thermoelastoplastic properties of homogeneous interfacial layers that minimize thermal residual stresses for the specified set of constraints. OPTCOMP2 provides additional flexibility in the residual stress optimization through variation of the processing parameters (time, temperature, external pressure and axial load) as well as the microstructure of the interfacial region which is treated as a heterogeneous two-phase composite. Overviews of the capabilities of these codes are provided together with a summary of results that addresses the effects of various microstructural details of the fiber, interfacial layers and matrix region on the optimization of fabrication-induced residual stresses in metal matrix composites.

Pindera, Marek-Jerzy↗

Predeployment progress of the Canister Deposition Field Demonstration

This report updates the high-level test plan for evaluating surface deposition on three commercial 32PTH2 spent nuclear fuel (SNF) canisters inside NUTECH Horizontal Modular Storage (NUHOMS) Advanced Horizontal Storage Modules (AHSMs) from Orano (formerly Transnuclear Inc.) and provides a summary of the surface sampling activities that have been conducted to date. The details contained in this report represent the best designs and approaches explored for testing as of this publication. Given the rapidly developing nature of this test program, some of these plans may change to accommodate new objectives or requirements. One goal of this testing is to collect defensible and detailed dust deposition measurements from the surface of dry storage canisters in a marine coastal environment to guide chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking (CISCC) research. Another goal is to provide data for the validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based deposition modeling. To facilitate surface sampling, the otherwise highly prototypic dry storage systems will not contain SNF but rather will be electrically heated to mimic the decay heat and thermal hydraulic environment. Test and heater design is supported by detailed CFD modeling. Instrumentation throughout the canister, storage module, and environment will provide extensive information about the thermal-hydraulic behavior of horizontal dry cask storage systems. Manual sampling over a comprehensive portion of the canister surface at regular time intervals will offer detailed quantification and composition of the deposited particulates from a realistic storage environment. Discussions of a potential host site for the Canister Deposition Field Demonstration (CDFD) are ongoing. Until a host site is chosen, testing of key CDFD hardware components including the heater assemblies, power skid, and remote data acquisition system will continue. Functional testing of the finalized heater assemblies and test apparatus started this fiscal year. These initial heater tests have shown the assemblies are performing within design specifications. Staged surface sampling of a mockup of a canister outside the AHSM on a transfer skid was also performed. Refinements to the sampling procedures and techniques were captured from observation of these activities and lessons-learned debriefs. These updated sampling procedures and techniques are planned to be tested again in the field using the mockup in order to assure personnel are using the most accurate and repeatable methods possible prior to deployment for actual CDFD testing.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Automated design optimization of supersonic airplane wing structures under dynamic constraints

The problems of the preliminary and first level detail design of supersonic aircraft wings are stated as mathematical programs and solved using automated optimum design techniques. The problem is approached in two phases: the first is a simplified equivalent plate model in which the envelope, planform and structural parameters are varied to produce a design, the second is a finite element model with fixed configuration in which the material distribution is varied. Constraints include flutter, aeroelastically computed stresses and deflections, natural frequency and a variety of geometric limitations.

Fox, R. L.↗