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At least 469 records · Page 26

Vertical temperature sounding of the atmosphere

Attention is given to physical principles that affect the determination of atmospheric temperature profiles from observations of outgoing IR and microwave radiation. Simultaneous analysis of IR and microwave observations enhances observations in each spectral region. While IR soundings have higher sensitivity to lower tropospheric temperatures, ground temperatures, and sea surface temperatures, microwave observations are not only more suited to stratospheric sounding but are sensitive to snow and ice cover. They significantly aid correction of IR observations for cloud effects. Because effective cloud parameters and snow and ice cover can be inferred from the observations, 'temperature sounders' also yield data for a number of important climatic parameters.

Suskind, J.↗

Sound generation and upstream influence due to instability waves interacting with non-uniform mean flows

Attention is given to the sound produced by artificially excited, spatially growing instability waves on subsonic shear layers. Real flows that always diverge in the downstream direction allow sound to be produced by the interaction of the instability waves with the resulting streamwise variations of the flow. The upstream influence, or feedback, can interact with the splitter plate lip to produce a downstream-propagating instability wave that may under certain conditions be the same instability wave that originally generated the upstream influence. The present treatment is restricted to very low Mach number flows, so that compressibility effects can only become important over large distances.

Goldstein, M. E.↗

A new look at sound generation by blade/vortex interaction

As a preliminary attempt to understand the dynamics of blade/vortex interaction, the two-dimensional problem of a rectilinear vortex filament interacting with a Joukowski airfoil is analyzed in both the lifting and nonlifting cases. The vortex velocity components could be obtained analytically and integrated to determine the vortex trajectory. With this information, the aeroacoustic low-frequency Green's function approach could then be employed to calculate the sound produced during the encounter. The results indicate that the vortex path deviates considerably from simple convection due to the presence of the airfoil and that a reasonably sharp sound pulse is radiated during the interaction whose fundamental frequency is critically dependent upon whether the vortex passes above or below the airfoil. Determination of this gross parameter of the interaction is shown to be highly nonlinearly dependent upon airfoil circulation, vortex circulation, and initial position.

Hardin, J. C.↗

The scattering of ultrasonic third sound from substrate surface defects

The interaction of third sound with isolated surface defects is examined. Phase-inverted reflections are observed to occur at surface defects even when the wavelength of the third sound is much greater than the dimensions of the defect. The origin of the scattering mechanism is believed to be due to the change in the helium film thickness in the vicinity of the topological variations introduced by the presence of the surface defects. Data are obtained for ultrasonic frequencies in the 20-200 kHz range.

Generazio, E. R.↗

Low-frequency absorption of sound in air

Thirty sets of sound absorption measurements in air at a pressure of 1 atmosphere are presented at temperatures from 10 C to 50 C, relative humidities from 0 to 100 percent, and frequencies from 10 to 2500 Hz. The measurements were conducted by the method of free decay in a resonant tube having a length of 18.261 m and bore diameter of 0.152 m. Background measurements in a gas consisting of 89.5 percent N2 and 10.5 percent Ar, a mixture which has the same sound velocity as air, permitted the wall and structural losses of the tube to be separated from the constituent absorption, consisting of classical rotational and vibrational absorption, in the air samples. The data were used to evaluate the vibrational relaxation frequencies of N2 and/or O2 for each of the 30 sets of meteorological parameters. Over the full range of humidity, the measured relaxation frequencies of N2 in air lie between those specified by ANSI Standard S1.26-1978 and those measured earlier in binary N2H2O mixtures. The measured relaxation frequencies could be determined only at very low values of humidity, reveal a significant trend away from the ANSI standard, in agreement with a prior investigation.

Zuckerwar, A. J.↗

Prediction of sound fields in acoustical cavities using the boundary element method

A method was developed to predict sound fields in acoustical cavities. The method is based on the indirect boundary element method. An isoparametric quadratic boundary element is incorporated. Pressure, velocity and/or impedance boundary conditions may be applied to a cavity by using this method. The capability to include acoustic point sources within the cavity is implemented. The method is applied to the prediction of sound fields in spherical and rectangular cavities. All three boundary condition types are verified. Cases with a point source within the cavity domain are also studied. Numerically determined cavity pressure distributions and responses are presented. The numerical results correlate well with available analytical results.

Kipp, C. R.↗

Cylindrical sound wave generated by shock-vortex interaction

The passage of a columnar vortex broadside through a shock is investigated. This has been suggested as a crude, but deterministic, model of the generation of 'shock noise' by the turbulence in supersonic jets. The vortex is decomposed by Fourier transform into plane sinusoidal shear waves disposed with radial symmetry. The plane sound waves produced by each shear wave/shock interaction are recombined in the Fourier integral. The waves possess an envelope that is essentially a growing cylindrical sound wave centered at the transmitted vortex. The pressure jump across the nominal radius R = ct attenuates with time as 1/(square root of R) and varies around the arc in an antisymmetric fashion resembling a quadrupole field. Very good agreement, except near the shock, is found with the antisymmetric component of reported interferometric measurements in a shock tube. Beyond the front r approximately equals R is a precursor of opposite sign, that decays like 1/R, generated by the 1/r potential flow around the vortex core. The present work is essentially an extension and update of an early approximate study at M = 1.25. It covers the range (R/core radius) = 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000 for M = 1.25 and (in part) for M = 1.29 and, for fixed (R/core radius) = 1000, the range M = 1.01 to infinity.

Ribner, H. S.↗

Sound generation by flow over relatively deep cylindrical cavities

To develop a system for acoustic coding of moving objects containing drilled cylindrical cavities, the production of high-intensity tones by deep cylindrical cavities in a flat surface at low (0.12-0.24) Mach numbers was investigated. The sound intensity and frequency have been determined as functions of flow velocity, diameter, and depth of the cavities. It is shown that whistles can be designed for a given frequency (in the range of 5-17 kHz) and flow, and the sound pressure levels can be calculated by the equations given. Using these equations a whistle producing 106 dB at a 30.5-cm distance from a cylindrical cavity of 0.508 cm in diameter and 1.32 cm in depth with an airflow of 57.7 m/s past the cavity was designed.

Parthasarathy, S. P.↗

Measurement of angular distribution of sound emission from training projectiles in subsonic flight

Training projectiles with nose ring cavities that produce intense whistles in stationary free-jet tests were shot in a relatively straight-line trajectory. A ground based microphone was used to obtain the angular distribution of sound intensity produced from the subsonically flying projectile. Data reduction required calculation of Doppler and attenuation factors which were determined based on a non-linear trajectory. Also, the directional sensitivity of the microphone was measured and used in the data reduction. Significant angular variation of sound intensity produced from the projectile was found which can be used to plot an intensity contour map on the ground. A full-scale field test confirmed the validity of the aeroacoustic concept of producing a relatively intense whistle from the projectile, and the usefulness of a real-time data acquisition system.

Cho, Y. I.↗

Assessment of VAS soundings in the analysis of a preconvective environment

The ability of geosynchronous satellite soundings to analyze a preconvective environment is studied. VAS data of temperature, dewpoint, equivalent potential temperature, precipitation, and lifted index from the central U.S. on July 13, 1981 are derived with 30 km resolution at three hour intervals. It is observed that the VAS retrievals identify mesoscale regions with convective instability, and significant spatial gradients and temporal changes in the thermal and moisture fields are detected. The presence of small clouds degrades the VAS data; however, the study reveals that VAS soundings produce high-resolution spatial and temporal measurements of potential thunderstorm regions.

Mostek, A.↗

Active vehicle charging measurements in sounding rocket and space shuttle orbiter environments at Low Earth Orbit (LEO) altitude

It was concluded that for electron beam emission up to 100mA, vehicle charging is not a significant problem with the Space Shuttle Orbiter. Similarly, sounding rocket payloads have no serious charging problems up to this level of beam current, provided that the maximum amount of the rocket skin is available to collect ionospheric electrons from the LEO altitude range. However, sounding rockets are marginal in their collecting area capability and other effects may occur to balance the beam current when operated at lower altitudes during the night.

Raitt, W. J.↗

A study of methods to predict and measure the transmission of sound through the walls of light aircraft. Numerical method for analyzing the optimal performance of active noise controllers

An optimal active noise controller is formulated and analyzed for three different active noise control problems. The first problem formulated is the active control of enclosed or partially enclosed harmonic sound fields where the noise source strengths and enclosure boundary description are known. The enclosure boundary is described by either pressure, velocity, or impedance boundary conditions. The second problem formulated is the active control of the free field power radiated from a distributed noise source with a known time harmonic surface velocity. The third problem formulated is the active control of enclosed or partially enclosed harmonic sound field where the noise source strengths of enclosure boundary description may not be known. All three formulations are derived using an indirect boundary element technique. Formulation and verification of an indirect boundary element method is presented. The active noise controller formulations for enclosures are capable of analyzing systems with generalized enclosure shapes, point noise sources, and/or locally reacting impedance boundary conditions. For each formulation, representative results of optimal active noise controller case studies are presented, and some general conclusions are drawn.

Mollo, Christopher G.↗

Large-scale coherent structures in free turbulent flows and their aerodynamic sound

After interpreting the observed physical features of large-scale coherent structures in free shear flows on the basis of conservation principles, the role of such structures in sources of turbulent jet sound is discussed. It is found that the lower-frequency sound, which comes from lower-frequency coherent structures peaking further downstream, radiates preferentially nearer the jet axis; the peak radiation moves away from the jet axis as the frequency increases.

Liu, J. T. C.↗

Application of boost guidance to NASA sounding rocket launch operations at the White Sands Missile Range

This paper addresses the unique problems associated with launching the Black Brant V, VIII, and IX sounding rocket vehicles at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) and the significance of the introduction of the S19 to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Wallops Flight Facility sounding rocket program in terms of launch flexibility, improved impact dispersion, higher flight reliability, and reduced program costs. This paper also discusses salient flight results from NASA 36.011UL (the first S19 guided Black Brant launched at WSMR) and the NASA Comet Halley missions (36.010DL and 36.017DL).

Montag, W. H.↗

Development of a reclosable clamshell nose fairing for sounding rocket NASA 21.003UI

A reclosable clamshell noise fairing system was developed and successfully flown on a Black Brant VC sounding rocket. The clamshell system involved the design of unique structural and mechanical subsystems to meet the experimenters requirements, withstand environmental conditions of sounding rocket flight and recovery, and be relatively easy to maintain with a clean interface between the experiment detectors and instrumentation section of the payload. The development of the equations of motion of the mechanism are illustrated and results of the test of the Engineering Test Model (ETM) are shown.

Ferragut, N. J.↗

Complementary satellite sound broadcasting systems: A NASA assessment for the Voice of America

Satellite concepts are examined which offer potentially significant sound broadcast coverage of audio as a complement to VOA's existing and planned terrestrial sound broadcasting system. HF bands are emphasized but additional discussion is included for systems using higher frequencies. Low altitude satellites, shuttle altitude (275 km) and sun synchronous (about 1600 to 1800 km), would not be practical for international broadcasting since many satellites would be required for reliable and widespread coverage. Two concepts are discussed which would offer significant and practical broadcast coverage at HF. One, an 8-hr posigrade equatorial orbit, would offer about 1 hr of widespread, twice daily, coverage to three areas of the globe. The time of coverage is even greater when confined to densely populated areas only (2 to 3 hrs). Another orbit, the Apogee at Constant Time/Equatorial (ACE), provides the same coverage, but only once daily to each area. The latter orbit is highly elliptical, allowing insertion of a greater payload (more broadcast channels) with the existing launch capability. The ACE and 8-hr orbit concepts led to systems of about equal costs, with the ACE being slightly better.

Stevens, Grady H.↗

Experiments on the applicability of MAE techniques for predicting sound diffraction by irregular terrains

The sound field diffracted by a single smooth hill of finite impedance is studied both analytically, within the context of the theory of Matched Asymptotic Expansions (MAE), and experimentally, under laboratory scale modeling conditions. Special attention is given to the sound field on the diffracting surface and throughout the transition region between the illuminated and the shadow zones. The MAE theory yields integral equations that are amenable to numerical computations. Experimental results are obtained with a spark source producing a pulse of 42 microsec duration and about 130 Pa at 1 m. The insertion loss of the hill is inferred from measurements of the acoustic signals at two locations in the field, with subsequent Fourier analysis on an IBM PC/AT. In general, experimental results support the predictions of the MAE theory, and provide a basis for the analysis of more complicated geometries.

Berthelot, Yves H.↗

Active control of sound fields in elastic cylinders by vibrational inputs

An experiment is performed to study the mechanisms of active control of sound fields in elastic cylinders via vibrational outputs. In the present method of control, a vibrational force input was used as the secondary control input to reduce the radiated acoustic field. For the frequencies considered, the active vibration technique provided good global reduction of interior sound even though only one actuator was used.

Jones, J. D.↗