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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 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone Levels in Ground Based Studies

Baseline values of immunoreactive ACTH were established in the normal healthy adult. Normal levels of ACTH secretion were determined for both the male and the female in circulating plasma and serum. The data obtained in these studies are particularly significant in that the sampling was carefully controlled; only healthy employed individuals of both sexes were tested in a routine work situation that would not be considered conducive to stress. It has been found that alterations in the classically described circadian rhythm of ACTH secretion can occur when activities (such as work/rest cycles) are imposed on the individual studied. These changes can be demonstrated even when there is no appreciable change noted in the rhythm of hydrocortisone secretion.

Campbell, B. O.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A recursive approach to the equations of motion for the maneuvering and control of flexible multi-body systems

Interest lies in a mathematical formulation capable of accommodating the problem of maneuvering a space structure consisting of a chain of articulated flexible substructures. Simultaneously, any perturbations from the 'rigid body' maneuvering and any elastic vibration must be suppressed. The equations of motion for flexible bodies undergoing rigid body motions and elastic vibrations can be obtained conveniently by means of Lagrange's equations in terms of quasi-coordinates. The advantage of this approach is that it yields equations in terms of body axes, which are the same axes that are used to express the control forces and torques. The equations of motion are nonlinear hybrid differential quations. The partial differential equations can be discretized (in space) by means of the finite element method or the classical Rayleigh-Ritz method. The result is a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations of high order. The nonlinearity can be traced to the rigid body motions and the high order to the elastic vibration. Elastic motions tend to be small when compared with rigid body motions.

Kwak, Moon K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A study of the interaction between a wake vortex and an encountering airplane

An analytical study of the mutual interaction between a wake vortex and an encountering airplane has been conducted. The interaction was calculated on the basis of conservation of angular momentum of the wake vortex and the encountering airplane in the roll axis. For the nominal conditions assumed in the study, the interaction reduced the roll response in the lust second by 20 percent compared to the classical method of calculating the response. However, depending on the conditions assumed, the reduction varied from 0 to 30 percent which could be highly significant in determining separation standards for airplanes. Controlled experiments are needed to determine the exact amount of interaction.

Stewart, E. C.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Aerodynamic Parameter Estimation Using Reconstructed Turbulence Measurements

A classical method for reconstructing atmospheric turbulence from onboard measurements of airdata and inertial sensors was improved. The reconstructed turbulence was included in a system identification analysis to estimate nondimensional stability and control derivatives in a longitudinal short period model using the maximum likelihood equation-error method with Fourier transform data. Practical aspects of the approach are discussed, such as reconstruction accuracy, data collinearity, model structure, and real-time estimation. Results using simulation and flight test data for a subscale airplane indicated that accurate turbulence reconstructions and parameter estimates could be obtained from maneuvering flight in high levels of turbulence.

Jared A Grauer↗
NASA NTRS1974

Control optimization of a lifting body entry problem by an improved and a modified method of perturbation function

A study of the solution problem of a complex entry optimization was studied. The problem was transformed into a two-point boundary value problem by using classical calculus of variation methods. Two perturbation methods were devised. These methods attempted to desensitize the contingency of the solution of this type of problem on the required initial co-state estimates. Also numerical results are presented for the optimal solution resulting from a number of different initial co-states estimates. The perturbation methods were compared. It is found that they are an improvement over existing methods.

Garcia, F., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Decoherence and Brownian motion of a polarizable particle near a medium

Optically levitated nanoparticles are ideal experimental testbeds for investigating macroscopic superpositions and microscopic thermodynamics. Integrating such levitated nanoparticles with photonic structures can enable strong coupling between their center-of-mass motion and guided photonic modes, facilitating enhanced control and probing of their motion. When coupling a particle to a photonic structure, such as a waveguide, the effects of fluctuations become prominent at nanoscales. In this work, we analyze the classical and quantized center-of-mass motion of a polarizable particle interacting with the fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in the presence of a medium. We derive a position localization master equation for the particle's quantized center of mass, and examine its classical center-of-mass momentum diffusion, elucidating correspondences between classical and quantum Brownian motion of polarizable particles near media. We study the decoherence rate of the particle in the presence of a planar surface as a function of temperature and distance from the surface, comparing it to common sources of decoherence. Our results are pertinent to experiments aimed at preparing levitated nanospheres in macroscopic quantum states and investigating their Brownian dynamics.

Brownian motion↗
DOE OSTI2025

Qudit Dynamical Decoupling on a Superconducting Quantum Processor

Multilevel qudit systems are increasingly being explored as alternatives to traditional qubit systems due to their denser information storage and processing potential. However, qudits are more susceptible to decoherence than qubits due to increased loss channels, noise sensitivity, and crosstalk. To address these challenges, we develop protocols for dynamical decoupling (DD) of qudit systems based on the Heisenberg-Weyl group. We implement and experimentally verify these DD protocols on a superconducting transmon processor that supports qudit operation based on qutrits (d = 3) and ququarts (d = 4). Specifically, we demonstrate single-qudit DD sequences to decouple qutrits and ququarts from system-bath-induced decoherence. Here we also introduce two-qudit DD sequences designed to suppress the detrimental cross-Kerr couplings between coupled qudits. This allows us to demonstrate a significant improvement in the fidelity of time-evolved qutrit Bell states. Our results highlight the utility of leveraging DD to enable scalable qudit-based quantum computing.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1984

Computer vision for real-time orbital operations. Center directors discretionary fund

Machine vision research is examined as it relates to the NASA Space Station program and its associated Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV). Initial operation of OMV for orbital assembly, docking, and servicing are manually controlled from the ground by means of an on board TV camera. These orbital operations may be accomplished autonomously by machine vision techniques which use the TV camera as a sensing device. Classical machine vision techniques are described. An alternate method is developed and described which employs a syntactic pattern recognition scheme. It has the potential for substantial reduction of computing and data storage requirements in comparison to the Two-Dimensional Fast Fourier Transform (2D FFT) image analysis. The method embodies powerful heuristic pattern recognition capability by identifying image shapes such as elongation, symmetry, number of appendages, and the relative length of appendages.

Vinz, F. L.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Reusable Autonomy

Currently, spacecraft ground systems have a well defined and somewhat standard architecture and operations concept. Based on domain analysis studies of various control centers conducted over the years it is clear that ground systems have core capabilities and functionality that are common across all ground systems. This observation alone supports the realization of reuse. Additionally, spacecraft ground systems are increasing in their ability to do things autonomously. They are being engineered using advanced expert systems technology to provide automated support for operators. A clearer understanding of the possible roles of agent technology is advancing the prospects of greater autonomy for these systems. Many of their functional and management tasks are or could be supported by applied agent technology, the dynamics of the ground system's infrastructure could be monitored by agents, there are intelligent agent-based approaches to user-interfaces, etc. The premise of this paper is that the concepts associated with software reuse, applicable in consideration of classically-engineered ground systems, can be updated to address their application in highly agent-based realizations of future ground systems. As a somewhat simplified example consider the following situation, involving human agents in a ground system context. Let Group A of controllers be working on Mission X. They are responsible for the command, control and health and safety of the Mission X spacecraft. Let us suppose that mission X successfully completes it mission and is turned off. Group A could be dispersed or perhaps move to another Mission Y. In this case there would be reuse of the human agents from Mission X to Mission Y. The Group A agents perform their well-understood functions in a somewhat but related context. There will be a learning or familiarization process that the group A agents go through to make the new context, determined by the new Mission Y, understood. This simplified scenario highlights some of the major issues that need to be addressed when considering the situation where Group A is composed of software-based agents (not their human counterparts) and they migrate from one mission support system to another. This paper will address: - definition of an agent architecture appropriate to support reuse; - identification of non-mission-specific agent capabilities required; - appropriate knowledge representation schemes for mission-specific knowledge; - agent interface with mission-specific knowledge (a type of Learning); development of a fully-operational group of cooperative software agents for ground system support; architecture and operation of a repository of reusable agents that could be the source of intelligent components for realizing an autonomous (or nearly autonomous) agent-based ground system, and an agent-based approach to repository management and operation (an intelligent interface for human use of the repository in a ground-system development activity).

Truszkowski, Walt↗
DOE OSTI2025

Real-Time Automated pH Control within Batch Processes Relying on Raman pH Measurement

Nuclear fission is an energy source that can provide consistent power with very low associated carbon emissions. However, management of the used nuclear fuel is an important aspect of the application of nuclear power. Recycling of useful components from used fuel is an attractive option, but this involves chemical processing of the fuel. Possible chemical separation technologies that might be used in this regard are sensitive to solution pH. Raman spectroscopy is a promising technique for monitoring the pH of solutions in real time. Classical pH probes are too fragile to be used in the harsh environments encountered in nuclear fuel processing. Raman probes are robust and can withstand these harsh environments to track pH. Coupled with chemometric analysis, the demonstration of the use of Raman spectroscopy to track and predict the pH in carboxylate-buffered systems is made possible. Utilizing this spectroscopy in conjunction with Programmable Logic Controllers mimics industrial control systems used in many modern industrial settings. This showcases a pragmatic approach toward leveraging Raman spectroscopy and chemometric model outputs as inputs for a real-time control system. The model to predict pH created by chemometrics proved to be successful in tracking pH. The optimal pH for TALSPEAK extraction of lanthanides and actinides from aqueous solution is known to proceed in a narrow pH range of around pH = 2.8 ± 0.1. This study uses Raman optical monitoring and automated control to return and maintain solution pH within this range after acid or base perturbations move the solution pH well outside this region. Root-mean-square errors show that pH changes measured using Raman spectroscopy on the batch process solution are reliably measured and used to automatically correct and maintain solution pH. Measurement of solution pH tracks favorably with electrochemical pH probe comparison measurements. As a result, the ability to showcase Raman spectroscopy paired with chemometrics analysis acts as a durable, better alternative data source compared to traditional pH probes to optimize the separation efficiency in the used nuclear fuel processing.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1988

Turbulent swirling jets with excitation

An existing cold-jet facility at NASA Lewis Research Center was modified to produce swirling flows with controllable initial tangential velocity distribution. Two extreme swirl profiles, i.e., one with solid-body rotation and the other predominated by a free-vortex distribution, were produced at identical swirl number of 0.48. Mean centerline velocity decay characteristics of the solid-body rotation jet flow exhibited classical decay features of a swirling jet with S - 0.48 reported in the literature. However, the predominantly free-vortex distribution case was on the verge of vortex breakdown, a phenomenon associated with the rotating flows of significantly higher swirl numbers, i.e., S sub crit greater than or equal to 0.06. This remarkable result leads to the conclusion that the integrated swirl effect, reflected in the swirl number, is inadequate in describing the mean swirling jet behavior in the near field. The relative size (i.e., diameter) of the vortex core emerging from the nozzle and the corresponding tangential velocity distribution are also controlling factors. Excitability of swirling jets is also investigated by exciting a flow with a swirl number of 0.35 by plane acoustic waves at a constant sound pressure level and at various frequencies. It is observed that the cold swirling jet is excitable by plane waves, and that the instability waves grow about 50 percent less in peak r.m.s. amplitude and saturate further upstream compared to corresponding waves in a jet without swirl having the same axial mass flux. The preferred Strouhal number based on the mass-averaged axial velocity and nozzle exit diameter for both swirling and nonswirling flows is 0.4.

Taghavi, Rahmat↗
DOE OSTI2024

Reduced-dimension Bayesian optimization for model calibration of transient vapor compression cycles

Development and calibration of first-principles dynamic models of vapor compression cycles (VCCs) is of critical importance for applications that include control design and fault detection and diagnostics. Nevertheless, the inherent complexity of models that are represented by large systems of differential–algebraic equations leads to significant challenges for model calibration processes that utilize classical gradient-based methods. Bayesian optimization (BO) is a sample-efficient and gradient-free approach using a probabilistic surrogate model and optimal search over a feasible parameter space. Despite the benefits of BO in reducing computational costs, challenges remain in dealing with a high-dimensional calibration task resulting from a large set of parameters that have significant impacts on system behavior and need to be calibrated simultaneously. This paper presents a reduced-dimension BO framework for calibrating transient VCCs models where the calibration space is projected to a low-dimensional subspace for accelerating convergence of the solution algorithm and consequently reducing the number of transient simulations. The proposed approach was demonstrated via two case studies associated with different VCC applications where 10 parameters were calibrated in each case using laboratory measurements. The reduced-dimension BO framework only required 1 / 8 th of the iterations associated with a standard BO method that deals with high-dimensional calibration parameters for converged solutions and yielded comparable accuracy. Furthermore, both calibrated models revealed significant accuracy improvements compared to uncalibrated models.

Ma, Jiacheng↗
DOE OSTI2026

Planar Systems for Quantum Information

This project aims to develop two‐dimensional (2D) moiré materials as a quantum simulator to implement model Hamiltonians and their phase diagrams. Progress in quantum information science (QIS) requires the development of advanced quantum materials systems. The rich family of layered van der Waals materials and their heterostructures present opportunities to create previously unrealized types of applications for QIS. Specifically, when two layers of van der Waals materials are overlaid with a small twist angle or/and lattice mismatch, a moiré superlattice with a period of about ten nanometers is formed. This provides a periodic trapping potential for electrons. Electrons can tunnel between the traps and repel each other by their mutual Coulomb interactions. The platform of 2D moiré materials provides many attractive features, including tunability of length and energy scales, charge density, and even lattice symmetry. It presents new possibilities for realizing quantum simulation of the many-body physics in a solid-state platform. This integrated team of six investigators seeks to develop relevant theoretical treatments to link ab-initio studies of 2D moiré materials to model Hamiltonians and to evaluate correlated phases predicted by these model Hamiltonians in the relevant regimes. On the experimental side, the team aims to develop methods to realize a homogeneous and highly controlled potential landscape for the electrons and to initiate, protect, and measure their quantum many-body states.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1993

Linear, multivariable robust control with a mu perspective

The structured singular value is a linear algebra tool developed to study a particular class of matrix perturbation problems arising in robust feedback control of multivariable systems. These perturbations are called linear fractional, and are a natural way to model many types of uncertainty in linear systems, including state-space parameter uncertainty, multiplicative and additive unmodeled dynamics uncertainty, and coprime factor and gap metric uncertainty. The structured singular value theory provides a natural extension of classical SISO robustness measures and concepts to MIMO systems. The structured singular value analysis, coupled with approximate synthesis methods, make it possible to study the tradeoff between performance and uncertainty that occurs in all feedback systems. In MIMO systems, the complexity of the spatial interactions in the loop gains make it difficult to heuristically quantify the tradeoffs that must occur. This paper examines the role played by the structured singular value (and its computable bounds) in answering these questions, as well as its role in the general robust, multivariable control analysis and design problem.

Packard, Andy↗
DOE OSTI2025

Quantum computing universal thermalization dynamics in a (2 + 1)D Lattice Gauge Theory

Simulating non-equilibrium phenomena in strongly-interacting quantum many-body systems, including thermalization, is a promising application of near-term and future quantum computation. By performing experiments on a digital quantum computer consisting of fully-connected optically-controlled trapped ions, we study the role of entanglement in the thermalization dynamics of a Z 2 lattice gauge theory in 2+1 spacetime dimensions. Using randomized-measurement protocols, we efficiently learn a classical approximation of non-equilibrium states that yields the gap-ratio distribution and the spectral form factor of the entanglement Hamiltonian. These observables exhibit universal early-time signals for quantum chaos, a prerequisite for thermalization. Our work, therefore, establishes quantum computers as robust tools for studying universal features of thermalization in complex many-body systems, including in gauge theories.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ultrafast optical modulation of vibrational strong coupling in ReCl(CO) 3 (2,2-bipyridine)

Polaritons – hybrid light-matter states formed from the strong coupling of a bright molecular transition with a confined photonic mode – may offer new opportunities for optical control of molecular behavior. Vibrational strong coupling (VSC) has been reported to impact ground-state chemical reactivity, but its influence on electronic excited-state dynamics remains unexplored. Here, we take a first step towards excited-state VSC by demonstrating optical modulation of the ReCl(CO) 3 (bpy), (bpy = 2,2-bipyridine) complex under VSC using femtosecond ultraviolet (UV)-pump/infrared (IR)-probe spectroscopy. We establish ground-state VSC of ReCl(CO) 3 (bpy) in a microfluidic Fabry-Pérot cavity equipped with indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated mirrors. ITO is effectively dichroic as it is reflective in the IR and transmissive in the UV-visible and therefore minimizes optical interference. Excitation with UV pump light drives ReCl(CO) 3 (bpy) into a manifold of electronic excited states that subsequently undergo non-radiative relaxation dynamics. We probe the transient response of the strongly-coupled system in the mid-IR, observing both Rabi contraction and cavity-filtered excited-state absorption signatures. We reconstruct the intrinsic response of intracavity molecules from the transient cavity transmission spectra to enable quantitative comparison with extracavity control experiments. We report no changes in the excited-state dynamics of ReCl(CO) 3 (bpy) under ground-state VSC. However, we do observe significant amplification of transient vibrational signals due to classical cavity-enhanced optical effects. This effort lays the groundwork to pursue direct excited-state VSC aimed at modulating photochemical reactivity.

cavity-enhanced spectroscopy↗
NASA NTRS1990

Using data with models - Ill-posed problems

An attempt is made to show that the combination of data with models leads to a sequence of conventionally ill-posed problems which can be treated in a systematic and practical way by control-theory techniques. The illustrative approach is to exploit the very great mathematical simplifications which result when the methods of finite dimensional vector spaces are used, thus reducing a lot of difficult mathematics to classical least squares. The immediate motivation for this study comes from ocean acoustic tomography.

Wunsch, C.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Turbomachine Sealing and Secondary Flows: Review of Rotordynamics Issues in Inherently Unsteady Flow Systems With Small Clearances - Part 2

Today's computational methods enable the determination of forces in complex systems, but without field validation data, or feedback, there is a high risk of failure when the design envelope is challenged. The data of Childs and Bently and field data reported in NASA Conference Proceedings serve as sources of design information for the development of these computational codes. Over time all turbomachines degrade and instabilities often develop, requiring responsible, accurate, turbomachine diagnostics with proper decisions to prevent failures. Tam et al. (numerical) and Bently and Muszynska (analytical) models corroborate and implicate that destabilizing factors are related through increases in the fluid-force average circumferential velocity. The stability threshold can be controlled by external swirl and swirl brakes and increases in radial fluid film stiffness (e.g., hydrostatic and ambient pressures) to enhance rotor stability. Also cited are drum rotor self-excited oscillations, where the classic fix is to add a split or severed damper ring or cylindrical damper drum, and the Benkert-Wachter work that engendered swirl brake concepts. For a smooth-operating, reliable, long-lived machine, designers must pay very close attention to sealing dynamics and diagnostic methods. Correcting the seals enabled the space shuttle main engine high-pressure fuel turbopump (SSME HPFTP) to operate successfully.

Hendricks, R. C.↗