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At least 487 records · Page 27

Digital system for structural dynamics simulation

State-of-the-art digital hardware and software for the simulation of complex structural dynamic interactions, such as those which occur in rotating structures (engine systems). System were incorporated in a designed to use an array of processors in which the computation for each physical subelement or functional subsystem would be assigned to a single specific processor in the simulator. These node processors are microprogrammed bit-slice microcomputers which function autonomously and can communicate with each other and a central control minicomputer over parallel digital lines. Inter-processor nearest neighbor communications busses pass the constants which represent physical constraints and boundary conditions. The node processors are connected to the six nearest neighbor node processors to simulate the actual physical interface of real substructures. Computer generated finite element mesh and force models can be developed with the aid of the central control minicomputer. The control computer also oversees the animation of a graphics display system, disk-based mass storage along with the individual processing elements.

Krauter, A. I.↗

Radiation-conduction interaction in large space structures

The effects of a penumbra due to the long wave radiation emitted by the earth or to solar energy reflected from the earth on temperature distributions, deflections and stresses in plates are studied to determine their importance in the design of space structures. An examination of the state of stress in a thin plate exposed to the sun suggests that deflections are only slightly modified by the penumbra, but that stresses in the vicinity of the shadow line are more affected. Even with the smoothing due to the penumbra, these stresses should be considered in the design of space structures. A simple relationship is given by which albedo viewfactors can be easily derived from the direct viewfactor, thus simplifying the radiation analysis.

Emery, A. F.↗

Dependence of snow melting and surface-atmosphere interactions on the forest structure

The surface albedo and the surface roughness for forested areas with snow on the ground are expressed in terms of the tree silhouette parameter, the projection on the vertical plane of trees per unit area. The absorption of insolation (direct solar beam) is quantitatively described for a horizontal snow surface with vertical tree trunks, stressing the role of the bark at snow level as triggering the snowmelt.

Ottermann, J.↗

Dependence of snow melting and surface-atmosphere interactions on the forest structure

The surface albedo and the surface roughness for forested areas with snow on the ground are expressed in terms of the tree silhouette parameter, s, the projection on the vertical plane of trees per unit area. The absorption of insolation (direct solar beam) is quantitatively described for a horizontal snow surface with vertical tree trunks, stressing the role of the bark at snow level as triggering the snow melt. Measurement of s by field sampling in two forested sites in central Switzerland yielded values ranging from 1.8 to 2.1.

Otterman, J.↗

The far-infrared structure of the luminous interacting galaxy Arp 299

The strongly interacting galaxies NGC 3690 and IC 694 (or Arp 299) exhibit extensive star formation, a large infrared luminosity, and possible nuclear activity. To determine the origin of the infrared luminosity in this system, high-resolution far-infrared profiles have been obtained in which two distinct sources can clearly be discerned; these observations reveal that 60 percent of the far-infrared luminosity comes from an unresolved source in the center of IC 694, with the remaining 40 percent originating in a compact source in NGC 3690. A new high-resolution 20-micron image of the Arp 299 system is compared with the far-infrared profiles, revealing that NGC 3690 is substantially hotter than IC 694 in the thermal infrared; the observed temperature gradient is opposite to that which is expected if the putative active nucleus in IC 694 generates a significant fraction of the total luminosity.

Joy, Marshall↗

Magnetic Structure and Propagation of Two Interacting CMEs from the Sun to Saturn

One of the grand challenges in heliophysics is the characterization of coronal mass ejection (CME) magnetic structure and evolution from eruption at the Sun through heliospheric propagation. At present, the main difficulties are related to the lack of direct measurements of the coronal magnetic fi elds and the lack of 3D in-situ measurements of the CME body in interplanetary space. Nevertheless, the evolution of a CME magnetic structure can be followed using a combination of multi-point remote-sensing observations and multi-spacecraft in-situ measurements as well as modelling. Accordingly, we present in this work the analysis of two CMEs that erupted from the Sun on 28 April 2012. We follow their eruption and early evolution using remote-sensing data, fi nding indications of CME{CME interaction, and then analyse their interplanetary counterpart(s) using in-situ measurements at Venus, Earth, and Saturn. We observe a seemingly single flux rope at all locations, but find possible signatures of interaction at Earth, where high-cadence plasma data are available. Reconstructions of the in-situ flux ropes provide almost identical results at Venus and Earth but show greater discrepancies at Saturn, suggesting that the CME was highly distorted and/or that further interaction with nearby solar wind structures took place before 10 AU. This work highlights the difficulties in connecting structures from the Sun to the outer heliosphere and demonstrates the importance of multi-spacecraft studies to achieve a deeper understanding of the magnetic confi guration of CMEs.

Erika Palmerio↗

CSI compensation for reduced-order model based control of a flexible robot manipulator

In controller design for flexible structures, certain system modes are extremely important for the overall performance of the structure. A reduced-order model (ROM) based control focuses on these modes, providing a viable, active control algorithm for large systems. Unfortunately, unmodeled structure dynamics can interact with the ROM controller (CSI) and cause crippling deterioration of system performance, possibly to the point that system stability is lost. A residual model filter (RMF) eliminates one channel of control structure interaction (CSI), while adding only a simple, second-order filter to the control loop. Thus, the ROM controller can be designed independently, based strictly on performance criteria, and residual mode filters can then be selected to compensate for CSI. A flexible robot manipulator is used for preliminary experimentation with the ROM/RMF design methodology. Since the controller was to be implemented both with, and without compensation for CSI, the ROM control gains are carefully chosen such that closed loop stability is never compromised. In this way, RMF effectiveness is easily evaluated in terms of the improvement in system performance resulting from CSI compensation.

Reisenauer, Brian T.↗

Vibroacoustic response of structures and perturbation Reynolds stress near structure-turbulence interface

The interaction between a turbulent flow and certain types of structures which respond to its excitation is investigated. One-dimensional models were used to develop the basic ideas applied to a second model resembling the fuselage construction of an aircraft. In the two-dimensional case a simple membrane, with a small random variation in the membrane tension, was used. A decaying turbulence was constructed by superposing infinitely many components, each of which is convected as a frozen pattern at a different velocity. Structure-turbulence interaction results are presented in terms of the spectral densities of the structural response and the perturbation Reynolds stress in the fluid at the vicinity of the interface.

Maekawa, S.↗

Effect of interaction on landing-gear behavior and dynamic loads in a flexible airplane structure

The effects of interaction between a landing gear and a flexible airplane structure on the behavior of the landing gear and the loads in the structure have been studied by treating the equations of motion of the airplane and the landing gear as a coupled system. The landing gear is considered to have nonlinear characteristics typical of conventional gears, namely, velocity-squared damping, polytropic air-compression springing, and exponential tire force-deflection characteristics. For the case where only two modes of the structure are considered, an equivalent three-mass system is derived for representing the airplane and landing-gear combination, which may be used to simulate the effects of structural flexibility in jig drop tests of landing gears. As examples to illustrate the effects of interaction, numerical calculations, based on the structural properties of two large airplanes having considerably different mass and flexibility characteristics, are presented.

Cook, Francis E↗

Numerical Simulation of the Generation of Axisymmetric Mode Jet Screech Tones

An imperfectly expanded supersonic jet, invariably, radiates both broadband noise and discrete frequency sound called screech tones. Screech tones are known to be generated by a feedback loop driven by the large scale instability waves of the jet flow. Inside the jet plume is a quasi-periodic shock cell structure. The interaction of the instability waves and the shock cell structure, as the former propagates through the latter, is responsible for the generation of the tones. Presently, there are formulas that can predict the tone frequency fairly accurately. However, there is no known way to predict the screech tone intensity. In this work, the screech phenomenon of an axisymmetric jet at low supersonic Mach number is reproduced by numerical simulation. The computed mean velocity profiles and the shock cell pressure distribution of the jet are found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements. The same is true with the simulated screech frequency. Calculated screech tone intensity and directivity at selected jet Mach number are reported in this paper. The present results demonstrate that numerical simulation using computational aeroacoustics methods offers not only a reliable way to determine the screech tone intensity and directivity but also an opportunity to study the physics and detailed mechanisms of the phenomenon by an entirely new approach.

Shen, Hao↗

Integration of Structural Analysis and Manufacturing Process Planning for Global Optimization with Automated Fiber Placement

Design of mass-efficient composite structures intended for Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) requires close interaction between structural analysis and manufacturing process planning. Tools exist for each of these disciplines, but software interplay has been insufficient for rapid and efficient design iteration. Within the NASA Advanced Composites Consortium (ACC), the Design for Manufacturing (DFM) task has made significant progress towards linking these disciplines and respective software – HyperX (design), CAPP (process planning), and VCP (tool path generation). The initial focus in previous work was on data exchange between disciplines. The ability to both export and consume composite design and manufacturing data to and from each tool. This paper focuses on the effort to automate and streamline the connection between the tools listed above, with the goal of being able to automatically generate a composite AFP design that is mass-efficient and manufacturable. The optimization method being pursued is a bi-level approach, where each tool performs optimization within its discipline. The optimization in HyperX is focused on mass and laminate strength, while CAPP is focused on maximizing manufacturability. VCP is used to generate fiber paths for each design iteration. These sub-processes are wrapped with a global level optimization, driven by HyperX, used to converge the design. This paper describes the current state of this effort, which is a completed HyperX-VCP iteration loop and initial work on the HyperX-CAPP iteration loop. Additionally, example results are shown for a wind blade structure with double curvature.

Automated Fiber Placement↗

CME Interaction with Large-Scale Coronal Structures

This talk presents some key observations that highlight the importance of CME interaction with other large scale structures such as CMEs and coronal holes . Such interactions depend on the phase of the solar cycle: during maximum, CMEs are ejected more frequently, so CME-CME interaction becomes dominant. During the rise phase, the polar coronal holes are strong, so the interaction between polar coronal holes and CMEs is important, which also leads to a possible increase in the number of interplanetary CMEs observed as magnetic clouds. During the declining phase, there are more equatorial coronal holes, so CMEs originating near these coronal holes are easily deflected. CMEs can be deflected toward and away from the Sun-Earth line resulting in interesting geospace consequences. For example, the largest geomagnetic storm of solar cycle 23 was due to a CME that was deflected towards the Sun-earth line from E22. CME deflection away from the Sun-Earth line diminishes the chance of a CME producing a geomagnetic storm. CME interaction in the coronagraphic field of view was first identified using enhanced radio emission, which is an indication of acceleration of low energy (approx.10 keV) electrons in the interaction site. CME interaction, therefore, may also have implications for proton acceleration. For example, solar energetic particle events typically occur with a higher intensity, whenever multiple CMEs occur in quick succession from the same source region. CME deflection may also have implications to the arrival of energetic particles to earth because magnetic connectivity may be changed by the interaction. I illustrate the above points using examples from SOHO, STEREO, Wind, and ACE data .

Gopalswarny, Nat↗

Interactive systems analysis of four structural concepts for a Land Mobile Satellite System

Weight and structural analysis data were generated for four structural concepts for a Land Mobile Satellite System (LMSS) using the Interactive Design and Evaluation of Advanced Spacecraft (IDEAS) computer-aided design and analysis program. Structural concepts analyzed included the wrapped radial rib, box ring, tetrahedral truss, and hoop column. Estimates of total spacecraft weight, structural natural frequencies and modal shapes were determined and compared for several loading conditions for each concept. Spacecraft-induced and environmental effects on antenna performance (surface accuracy, defocus and boresight offset) are quantified.

Ferebee, M. J., Jr.↗

CFD for applications to aircraft aeroelasticity

Strong interactions of structures and fluids are common in many engineering environments. Such interactions can give rise to physically important phenomena such as those occurring for aircraft due to aeroelasticity. Aeroelasticity can significantly influence the safe performance of aircraft. At present exact methods are available for making aeroelastic computations when flows are in either the linear subsonic or supersonic range. However, for complex flows containing shock waves, vortices and flow separations, computational methods are still under development. Several phenomena that can be dangerous and limit the performance of an aircraft occur due to the interaction of these complex flows with flexible aircraft components such as wings. For example, aircraft with highly swept wings experience vortex induced aeroelastic oscillations. Correct understanding of these complex aeroelastic phenomena requires direct coupling of fluids and structural equations. Here, a summary is presented of the development of such coupled methods and applications to aeroelasticity since about 1978 to present. The successful use of the transonic small perturbation theory (TSP) coupled with structures is discussed. This served as a major stepping stone for the current stage of aeroelasticity using computational fluid dynamics. The need for the use of more exact Euler/Navier-Stokes (ENS) equations for aeroelastic problems is explained. The current development of unsteady aerodynamic and aeroelastic procedures based on the ENS equations are discussed. Aeroelastic results computed using both TSP and ENS equations are discussed.

Guruswamy, Guru P.↗

On the interaction of jet noise with a nearby flexible structure

The model of the interaction of the noise from a spreading subsonic jet with a panel-stringer assembly is studied numerically in two dimensions. The radiation resulting from this flow/acoustic/structure coupling is computed and analyzed in both the time and frequency domains. The jet is initially excited by a pulse-like source inserted into the flow field. The pulse triggers instabilities associated with the inviscid instability of the jet mean flow shear layer. These instabilities in turn generate sound which provides the primary loading for the panels. The resulting structural vibration and radiation depends strongly on their placement relative to the jet/nozzle configuration. Results are obtained for the panel responses as well as the transmitted and incident pressure. The effect of the panels is to act as a narrow filter, converting the relatively broad band forcing, heavily influenced by jet instabilities, into radiation concentrated in narrow spectral bands.

Mcgreevy, J. L.↗

Interface structure of co-rotating interaction regions

Plasma and particle observations on Ulysses during its passes through the southern and northern heliosphere have revealed that, inside the streamer belt, the large-scale structure of the quiet global heliosphere is dominated by corotating interaction regions (CIRs). Therefore, considerable attention is now being given to the internal plasma structure of CIRs, and in particular, to the manifestations of the stream interfaces that should mark their origins as interactions between low speed solar wind (in the low-latitude streamer belt) and high speed solar wind (from the equatorial extensions of the high latitude polar coronal holes). The SWICS and HI-SCALE experiments on Ulysses combine plasma and energetic particle measurements that are of considerable utility for such studies because, between them, they cover the proton energy range from 10 eV to 5 MeV. These measurements are used, together with magnetic field data, to study the remarkable series of CIRs that occurred during the period beginning July 1992 and the end of 1993 as Ulysses rose from the ecliptic to a southern heliographic latitude of 48 deg. The structure of the regions between the forward and reverse shocks were previously analyzed in terms of the proton specific entropy argument log that should exhibit a discontinuous jump at the stream interface. It was claimed that the stream interface, defined with respect to specific entropy, is also associated with a discontinuity in energetic proton intensities. The energetic particle data (greater than 60 keV) and how they were ordered with respect to interfaces and with respect to the magnetic field were examined.

Ogilvie, K. W.↗