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Results for “ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD”

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 505 records · Page 28

Effects of shields on cables

Aircraft wiring subjected to rapidly changing electromagnetic fields was considered. The ways in which shielded cables reduce surge voltages were studied along with the ways in which common practice regarding the use of shields may be at variance with the use required for the control of lightning effects. Courses in which this apparent conflict of use may be resolved were suggested. Noise currents flowing on shields of cables related to the noise signals coupled onto signal conductors were also investigated.

Franklin A Fisher↗

Design to minimize indirect effects

Design criteria presented aimed at minimizing or eliminating the indirect effects of lightning. Certain premises were cited on which the criteria were based. Premises indicate that it is desirable to prevent irreversible damage to the aircraft, and that safety of the crew and vehicle is essential. Electronic equipment must be located in regions where the electromagnetic fields produced by lightning are lowest and must be designed with protective shielding.

Franklin A Fisher↗

Approximate analytic solutions for the optical pumping of fluorescent dyes

A general technique for solving a system of rate equations describing the interaction of an electromagnetic field and a molecular system is presented. The method is used to obtain approximate time-dependent solutions for the upper-level population of fluorescent dyes in the presence of a pump field.

Lawandy, N. M.↗

Simulation of radiation from lightning return strokes - The effects of tortuosity

A Monte Carlo simulation has been developed for the electromagnetic fields radiated from a tortuous lightning channel. This was done using a piecewise linear model for the channel and employing for each element the field radiated by a traveling wave on an arbitrarily oriented filament over a conducting plane. The simulation reproduces experimental data reasonably well and has been used to study the effects of tortuosity on the fields radiated by return strokes. Tortuosity can significantly modify the radiated waveform, tending to render it less representative of the current pulse and more nearly unipolar than one would expect based on the theory for a long straight channel. In the frequency domain the effect of tortuosity is an increase in high frequency energy as compared with an equivalent straight channel. The extent of this increase depends on the mean length of the elements comprising the channel and can be significant.

Levine, D. M.↗

External bulb variable volume maser

A maser functioning as a frequency standard stable to one part in 10 to the 14th power includes a variable volume, constant surface area storage bulb having a fixed volume portion located in a resonant cavity from which the frequency standard is derived. A variable volume portion of the bulb, exterior to the resonant cavity, has a maximum volume on the same order of magnitude as the fixed volume bulb portion. The cavity has a length to radius ratio of at least 3:1 so that the operation is attained without the need for a feedback loop. A baffle plate, between the fixed and variable volume bulb portions, includes apertures for enabling hydrogen atoms to pass between the two bulb portions and is an electromagnetic shield that prevents coupling of the electromagnetic field of the cavity into the variable volume bulb portion.

Reinhardt, V. S.↗

The prediction of lightning-induced voltages on metallic and composite aircraft

Various government agencies have put forth effort to enable the prediction of what lightning current will do to aircraft avionic systems. Ongoing and future efforts of predicting avionic voltages and currents caused by electromagnetic fields external to the aircraft are illustrated. The Intrasystem Analysis Program (IAP) was put to use to predict lightning-induced voltages on avionic systems. Presently funded programs are investigating the modification nonmetallic composite materials will cause to the metallic IAP program predictions. The various factors involved in designing prediction techniques are discussed.

Birken, J.↗

Research in space physics at the University of Iowa

Current investigations relating to energetic particles and the electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields associated with the earth, the sun, the moon, the planets, comets, and the interplanetary medium are reported. Primary emphasis is on observational work using a wide diversity of intruments on satellites of the earth and the moon and on planetary and interplanetary spacecraft, and on phenomenological analysis and interpretation. Secondary emphasis is given to closely related observational work by ground based radio-astronomical and optical techniques, and to theoretical problems in plasma physics as relevant to solar, planetary, and interplanetary phenomena.

Vanallen, J. A.↗

Gyrotron: A high-frequency microwave amplifier

A proposed microwave amplifier mechanism for future generations of millimeter high power uplinks to spacecraft and planetary radar transmitters is introduced. Basic electron-electromagnetic field interaction theory for RF power gain is explained. The starting point for general analytical methods leading to detailed design results is presented.

Kupiszewski, A.↗

The TELEC - A plasma type of direct energy converter

The Thermo-Electronic Laser Energy Converter (TELEC) is a high-power density plasma device designed to convert a 10.6-micron CO2 laser beam into electric power. Electromagnetic radiation is absorbed in plasma electrons, creating a high-electron temperature. Energetic electrons diffuse from the plasma and strike two electrodes having different areas. The larger electrode collects more electrons and there is a net transport of current. An electromagnetic field is generated in the external circuit. A computer program has been designed to analyze TELEC performance allowing parametric variation for optimization. Values are presented for TELEC performance as a function of cesium pressure and for current density and efficiency as a function of output voltage. Efficiency is shown to increase with pressure, reaching a maximum over 45%.

Britt, E. J.↗

Approximate analytic solutions for the optical pumping of fluorescent dyes

A general technique for solving a system of rate equations describing the interaction of an electromagnetic field and a molecular system is presented. The method is used to obtain approximate time-dependent solutions for the upper-level populations of fluorescent dyes in the presence of a pump field.

Lawandy, N. M.↗

On the passage of radiation through inhomogeneous, moving media. XIV - Poynting's theorem revisited

Certain arguments by Ko and Chuang (1979) against Lerche's (1975) interpretation of Poynting's theorem for a moving medium with linear constitutive relations are rebutted. It is argued that the contentions of Ko and Chuang are misleading, at the very least, and devoid of original information. Ko and Chuang's ascription of the physical role played by various terms in Poynting's theorem are shown to be subjective and nonunique. It is concluded that the energy and momentum of an electromagnetic field can indeed be partitioned in an essentially arbitrary manner.

Lerche, I.↗

Numerical tracing of electron trajectories

Computer program integrates path of relativistic electron through region of nonuniform static electromagnetic fields with accuracy of 1 micrometer in 10 centimeters. Program can ue be used to evaluate and modify design of electron-imaging systems. Language is FORTRAN IV, for batch or interactive execution on PDP 10, 11, CYBER 70, 170, and CDC 6000.

Delmer, T. N.↗

Preliminary design of large reflectors with flat facets

A concept for approximating curved antenna surfaces using flat facets is discussed. A preliminary design technique for determining the size of the reflector surface facets necessary to meet antenna surface accuracy requirements is presented. A proposed large Microwave Radiometer Satellite is selected as an application, and the far field electromagnetic response of a faceted reflector surface is compared with that from a spherical reflector surface.

Agrawal, P. K.↗

Airborne lightning characterization

A WC-130 aircraft was instrumented with wideband electromagnetic field sensors and flown near active thunderstorms to obtain data on the characteristics of nearby and direct strike lightning. An electric field ground station and time-of-arrival network provided time correlated data to identify the three dimensional locations of the discharge and the different events in the lightning flash. A description of the sensors, calibration procedures, and recording equipment is presented. Data are presented on return stroke characteristics in the 5 to 50 km range.

Baum, R. K.↗

An automatic locating system for cloud-to-ground lightning

Automatic locating systems which respond to cloud to ground lightning and which discriminate against cloud discharges and background noise are described. Subsystems of the locating system, which include the direction finder and the position analyzer, are discussed. The direction finder senses the electromagnetic fields radiated by lightning on two orthogonal magnetic loop antennas and on a flat plate electric antenna. The position analyzer is a preprogrammed microcomputer system which automatically computes, maps, and records lightning locations in real time using data inputs from the direction finder. The use of the locating systems for wildfire management and fire weather forecasting is discussed.

Krider, E. P.↗

Second moments of optical degradation due to a thin turbulent layer

The effect of thin turbulent layers, including boundary layers and shear layers, on light propagation is examined from a theoretical point of view. In particular, a mathematical model is developed to describe the interaction between the aerodynamic or, more precisely, the density fluctuations and the electromagnetic field. It is assumed that the turbulence induces a normally distributed phase aberration which is a homogeneous random function in the plane of the aperture. Hypotheses concerning the density fluctuations in the layer sufficient to guarantee such a phase aberration are exhibited. The optical degradation is described in terms of the optical transfer function (OTF) and the Strehl ratio (I/I O ) which are random. Expressions for the first and second moments of these two parameters are developed from the definitions. Asymptotic ("large" aperture) approximations to these expressions are derived and discussed. Finally, the exact and approximate results are compared for several "typical" values of the ratios of aperture diameter to scale of density fluctuations and rms phase aberration to wave length respectively.

W J Steinmetz↗

Vector analogues of the Maggi-Rubinowicz theory of edge diffraction

The Maggi-Rubinowicz technique for scalar and electromagnetic fields is interpreted as a transformation of an integral over an open surface to a line integral around its rim. Maggi-Rubinowicz analogues are found for several vector physical optics representations. For diffraction from a circular aperture, a numerical comparison between these formulations shows the two methods are in agreement. To circumvent certain convergence difficulties in the Maggi-Rubinowicz integrals that occur as the observer approaches the shadow boundary, a variable mesh integration is used. For the examples considered, where the ratio of the aperture diameter to wavelength is about ten, the Maggi-Rubinowicz formulation yields an 8 to 10 fold decrease in computation time relative to the physical optics formulation.

Meneghini, R.↗

Research in Space Physics at the University of Iowa

Currently active projects conducted to extend knowledge of the energetic particles and the electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields associated with Earth, other celestial bodies, and the interplanetary medium are summarized. These include investigations and/or instruments for Hawkeye 1; Pioneers 10 and 11; Voyagers 1 and 2; ISEE; IMP 8; Dynamics Explorer; Galileo; Spacelab and Orbital flight test missions; VLBI; and the International Solar Polar mission. Experiments and instruments proposed for the future international comet mission, the origin of plasmas in the Earth's environment mission, and the NASA active magnetospheric particle tracer experiment are mentioned.

Vanallen, J. A.↗