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At least 523 records · Page 29

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NASA NTRS1991

Least-squares/parabolized Navier-Stokes procedure for optimizing hypersonic wind tunnel nozzles

A new procedure is demonstrated for optimizing hypersonic wind-tunnel-nozzle contours. The procedure couples a CFD computer code to an optimization algorithm, and is applied to both conical and contoured hypersonic nozzles for the purpose of determining an optimal set of parameters to describe the surface geometry. A design-objective function is specified based on the deviation from the desired test-section flow-field conditions. The objective function is minimized by optimizing the parameters used to describe the nozzle contour based on the solution to a nonlinear least-squares problem. The effect of the changes in the nozzle wall parameters are evaluated by computing the nozzle flow using the parabolized Navier-Stokes equations. The advantage of the new procedure is that it directly takes into account the displacement effect of the boundary layer on the wall contour. The new procedure provides a method for optimizing hypersonic nozzles of high Mach numbers which have been designed by classical procedures, but are shown to produce poor flow quality due to the large boundary layers present in the test section. The procedure is demonstrated by finding the optimum design parameters for a Mach 10 conical nozzle and a Mach 6 and a Mach 15 contoured nozzle.

Korte, John J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Undamped plasma waves

This paper describes small-amplitude nonlinear plasma wave solutions to the one-dimensional Vlasov-Maxwell equations. A sufficient condition for waves of a given phase velocity to exist arbitrarily close to a given spatially uniform Vlasov equilibrium is developed, and sufficient analytical information for the construction of approximate expressions for the electric potential and distribution functions is derived, with exact knowledge of the asymptotic behavior of the error terms. These results have a very surprising physical implication: the Landau damping of small-amplitude waves is not inevitable. Instead, there exist plasma waves that trap particles even at arbitrarily small amplitude and do not damp.

Holloway, James P.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Dynamics of axisymmetric loops

Time-dependent, 2D MHD simulations in cylindrical geometry are presently employed to study the evolution of a solar magnetic loop in response to rotation within circular sections at the loop ends. While the magnetic energy initially increases as time-squared, and the solution fluctuates at a characteristic loop frequency, the average kinetic energy subsequently increases rapidly and levels off at a higher value that is still substantially lower than the magnetic energy release. Magnetic energy thenceforth increases exponentially with time, and deviations from a force-free field begin to appear. Finally, the current and field are no longer force-free, and the solution becomes highly nonlinear.

Steinolfson, R. S.↗

NASA NTRS1990

High-order state space simulation models of helicopter flight mechanics

This paper describes the formulation and validation of a high-order linearized mathematical model of helicopter flight mechanics, which includes rotor flap and lag degrees of freedom as well as inflow dynamics. The model is extracted numerically from an existing nonlinear, blade element, time simulation model. Extensive modifications in the formulation and solution process of the nonlinear model, required for a theoretically rigorous linearization, are described in detail. The validation results show that the linearized model successfully captures the coupled rotor-fuselage dynamics in the frequency band most critical for the design of advanced flight control systems. Additional results quantify the extent to which the order of the model can be reduced without loss of fidelity.

Kim, Frederick D.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Numerical simulations of galactic wakes

We have performed a series of numerical simulations which examine the simple but realistic case of a galaxy with a smooth potential corresponding to a King profile, and with no interstellar medium. This corresponds to the case of an early-type cluster galaxy that has previously been stripped of its gas. The simulations provide a numerical basis for future work involving galaxies with interstellar media. We use a time-explicit finite difference code (Lufkin & Hawley 1992, ApJ submitted) to obtain solutions to the nonlinear equations for adiabatic flow in axisymmetry. The computational grid covers a region extending 500 kpc from a stationary galaxy radially and along the symmetry axis. We use a graded mesh, allowing for full resolution near the galaxy. Because the assumed potential has a finite depth, no artificial inner boundary condition is necessary; reflection symmetry at the axis is assumed. With a total grid size of 64 radial x 128 vertical, each run requires approximately 5 minutes of cpu time on the NCSA Cray-2.

Lufkin, Eric A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

A powerful local shear instability in weakly magnetized disks. III - Long-term evolution in a shearing sheet. IV - Nonaxisymmetric perturbations

The nonlinear evolution of the recently identified accretion disk magnetic shear instability is investigated through a series of numerical simulations. Finite-difference computations of the equations of compressible MHD are carried out on an axisymmetric shearing sheet system with periodic boundary conditions designed to approximate a local region within an accretion disk. Initial field configurations that include some net vertical component evolve into a nonlinear, exponentially growing solution with large poloidal velocities and magnetic fields with energies comparable to the thermal energy density. The stability of a purely azimuthal field configuration is examined, and it is found that nonaxisymmetric instability is present, but with a growth time measured in tens of orbital periods. In general, the most rapid growth occurs for very small radial and azimuthal wavenumbers, leading to coherent magnetic field structure in planes parallel to the disk. It is suggested that this instability is a key ingredient for the generation of magnetic fields in disks.

Hawley, John F.↗

NASA NTRS1992

A comparative analysis of two land surface heterogeneity representations

Two contrasting representations of land surface variability used in general circulation models (GCMs) are compared through an analysis of their corresponding surface energy balance equations. In one representation (the 'mixture' approach), different vegetation types are assumed to be homogeneously mixed over a grid square, so that the GCM atmosphere sees near-surface conditions pertaining to the mixture only. In the second representation (the 'mosaic' approach), different vegetation types are viewed as separate 'tiles' of a grid-square 'mosaic', and each tile interacts with the atmosphere independently. The mosaic approach is computationally simpler and in many ways more flexible than the mixture approach. Analytical solutions to the linearized energy balance equations and numerical solutions to the nonlinear equations both demonstrate that the mixture strategy, when applied to two coexisting vegetation types that differ only in canopy transpiration resistance, promotes both total turbulent flux and latent heat flux relative to the mosaic strategy. The effective differences between the strategies, however, are small over a wide range of conditions. In particular, the strategies are effectively equivalent when the transpiration resistances of the different vegetation types are of the same order of magnitude.

Koster, Randal D.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Numerical methods in laminar and turbulent flow; Proceedings of the 7th International Conference, Stanford Univ., CA, July 15-19, 1991. Vol. 7, pts. 1 & 2

Consideration is given to the impulse response of a laminar boundary layer and receptivity; numerical transition to turbulence in plane Poiseuille flow; large eddy simulation of turbulent wake flow; a viscous model and loss calculation of a multisplitter cascade; vortex initiation during dynamic stall of an airfoil; a numerical analysis of isothermal flow in a combustion chamber; and compressible flow calculations with a two-equation turbulence model and unstructured grids. Attention is also given to a 2D calculation of a buoyant flow around a burning sphere, a fast multigrid method for 3D turbulent incompressible flows, a streaming flow induced by an oscillating cascade of circular cylinders, an algebraic multigrid scheme for solving the Navier-Stokes equations on unstructured meshes; and nonlinear coupled multigrid solutions to thermal problems employing different nodal grid arrangements and convective transport approximations.

Taylor, C.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Drag reduction in channel flow using nonlinear control

Two nonlinear control schemes have been applied to the problem of drag reduction in channel flow. Both schemes have been tested using numerical simulations at a mass flux Reynolds numbers of 4408, utilizing 2D nonlinear neutral modes for goal dynamics. The OGY-method, which requires feedback, reduces drag to 60-80 percent of the turbulent value at the same Reynolds number, and employs forcing only within a thin region near the wall. The H-method, or model-based control, fails to achieve any drag reduction when starting from a fully turbulent initial condition, but shows potential for suppressing or retarding laminar-to-turbulent transition by imposing instead a transition to a low drag, nonlinear traveling wave solution to the Navier-Stokes equation. The drag in this state corresponds to that achieved by the OGY-method. Model-based control requires no feedback, but in experiments to date has required the forcing be imposed within a thicker layer than the OGY-method. Control energy expenditures in both methods are small, representing less than 0.1 percent of the uncontrolled flow's energy.

Keefe, Laurence R.↗

NASA NTRS1993

High resolution numerical simulation of the linearized Euler equations in conservation law form

A linearized Euler solver based on a high resolution numerical scheme is presented. The approach is to linearize the flux vector as opposed to carrying through the complete linearization analysis with the dependent variable vector written as a sum of the mean and the perturbed flow. This allows the linearized equations to be maintained in conservation law form. The linearized equations are used to compute unsteady flows in turbomachinery blade rows arising due to blade vibrations. Numerical solutions are compared to theoretical results (where available) and to numerical solutions of the nonlinear Euler equations.

Sreenivas, Kidambi↗

NASA NTRS1993

Variable-permittivity linear inverse problem for the H(sub z)-polarized case

The H(sub z)-polarized inverse problem has rarely been studied before due to the complicated way in which the unknown permittivity appears in the wave equation. This problem is equivalent to the acoustic inverse problem with variable density. We have recently reported the solution to the nonlinear variable-permittivity H(sub z)-polarized inverse problem using the Born iterative method. Here, the linear inverse problem is solved for permittivity (epsilon) and permeability (mu) using a different approach which is an extension of the basic ideas of diffraction tomography (DT). The key to solving this problem is to utilize frequency diversity to obtain the required independent measurements. The receivers are assumed to be in the far field of the object, and plane wave incidence is also assumed. It is assumed that the scatterer is weak, so that the Born approximation can be used to arrive at a relationship between the measured pressure field and two terms related to the spatial Fourier transform of the two unknowns, epsilon and mu. The term involving permeability corresponds to monopole scattering and that for permittivity to dipole scattering. Measurements at several frequencies are used and a least squares problem is solved to reconstruct epsilon and mu. It is observed that the low spatial frequencies in the spectra of epsilon and mu produce inaccuracies in the results. Hence, a regularization method is devised to remove this problem. Several results are shown. Low contrast objects for which the above analysis holds are used to show that good reconstructions are obtained for both permittivity and permeability after regularization is applied.

Moghaddam, M.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Dynamo generation of magnetic field in the white dwarf GD 358

On the basis of Whole Earth Telescope observations of the g-mode oscillation spectrum of the white dwarf GD 358, Winget et al. find evidence for significant differential rotation and for a time-varying magnetic field concentrated in the surface layers of this star. Here we argue on theoretical grounds that this magnetic field is produced by an alpha omega dynamo operating in the lower part of a surface convection zone in GD 358. Our argument is based on numerical solutions of the nonlinear, local dynamo equations of Robinson & Durney, with specific parameters based on our detailed models of white-dwarf convective envelopes, and universal constants determined by a calibration with the the Sun's dynamo. The calculations suggest a dynamo cycle period of about 6 years for the fundamental mode, and periods as short as 1 year for the higher-order modes that are expected to dominate in view of the large dynamo number we estimate for GD 358. These dynamo periods are consistent with the changes in the magnetic field of GD 358 over the span of 1 month inferred by Winget et. al. from their observations. Our calculations also suggest a peak dynamo magnetic field strength at the base of the surface convection zone of about 1800 G, which is consistent with the field strength inferred from the observations.

Markiel, J. Andrew↗

NASA NTRS1995

Galactic cosmic-ray mediation of a spherical solar wind flow. 1: The steady state cold gas hydrodynamical approximation

Realistic models of the outer heliosphere should consider that the interstellar cosmic-ray pressure becomes comparable to pressures in the solar wind at distances more than 100 AU from the Sun. The cosmic-ray pressure dynamically affects solar wind flow through deceleration. This effect, which occurs over a scale length of the order of the effective diffusion length at large radial distances, has important implications for cosmic-ray modulation and acceleration. As a first step toward solution of this nonlinear problem, a steady state numerical model was developed for a relatively cold spherical solar wind flow which encounters the confining isotropic pressure of the surrounding Galactic medium. This pressure is assumed to be dominated by energetic particles (Galactic cosmic rays). The system of equations, which are solved self-consistently, includes the relevant hydrodynamical equations for the solar wind flow and the spherical cosmic-ray transport equation. To avoid the closure parameter problem of the two-fluid model, the latter equation is solved for the energy-dependent cosmic-ray distribution function.

Le Roux, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1961

A Theoretical Study of the Angular Motions of Spinning Bodies in Space

Euler's dynamic equations were linearized and solved analytically. Analytical expressions which relate angular motions to spin-rate and inertia distributions were obtained and found to be in good agreement with machine solutions of the nonlinear equations for the case of a rectangular-pulse pitching-moment disturbance. Consideration was given to the effects produced by having artificial damping in the system.

Suddath, Jerrold H.↗

NASA NTRS1959

Slender-Body Theory Based On Approximate Solution of the Transonic Flow Equation

Approximate solution of the nonlinear equations of the small disturbance theory of transonic flow are found for the pressure distribution on pointed slender bodies of revolution for flows with free-stream, Mach number 1, and for flows that are either purely subsonic or purely supersonic. These results are obtained by application of a method based on local linearization that was introduced recently in the analysis of similar problems in two-dimensional flows. The theory is developed for bodies of arbitrary shape, and specific results are given for cone-cylinders and for parabolic-arc bodies at zero angle of attack. All results are compared either with existing theoretical results or with experimental data.

Spreiter, John R.↗

NASA NTRS2000

A Solution Adaptive Technique Using Tetrahedral Unstructured Grids

An adaptive unstructured grid refinement technique has been developed and successfully applied to several three dimensional inviscid flow test cases. The method is based on a combination of surface mesh subdivision and local remeshing of the volume grid Simple functions of flow quantities are employed to detect dominant features of the flowfield The method is designed for modular coupling with various error/feature analyzers and flow solvers. Several steady-state, inviscid flow test cases are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the method for solving practical three-dimensional problems. In all cases, accurate solutions featuring complex, nonlinear flow phenomena such as shock waves and vortices have been generated automatically and efficiently.

Pirzadeh, Shahyar Z.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Hierarchical Statistical 3D ' Atomistic' Simulation of Decanano MOSFETs: Drift-Diffusion, Hydrodynamic and Quantum Mechanical Approaches

When MOSFETs are scaled to deep submicron dimensions the discreteness and randomness of the dopant charges in the channel region introduces significant fluctuations in the device characteristics. This effect, predicted 20 year ago, has been confirmed experimentally and in simulation studies. The impact of the fluctuations on the functionality, yield, and reliability of the corresponding systems shifts the paradigm of the numerical device simulation. It becomes insufficient to simulate only one device representing one macroscopical design in a continuous charge approximation. An ensemble of macroscopically identical but microscopically different devices has to be characterized by simulation of statistically significant samples. The aims of the numerical simulations shift from predicting the characteristics of a single device with continuous doping towards estimating the mean values and the standard deviations of basic design parameters such as threshold voltage, subthreshold slope, transconductance, drive current, etc. for the whole ensemble of 'atomistically' different devices in the system. It has to be pointed out that even the mean values obtained from 'atomistic' simulations are not identical to the values obtained from continuous doping simulations. In this paper we present a hierarchical approach to the 'atomistic' simulation of aggressively scaled decanano MOSFETs. A full scale 3D drift-diffusion'atomostic' simulation approach is first described and used for verification of the more economical, but also more restricted, options. To reduce the processor time and memory requirements at high drain voltage we have developed a self-consistent option based on a thin slab solution of the current continuity equation only in the channel region. This is coupled to the Poisson's equation solution in the whole simulation domain in the Gummel iteration cycles. The accuracy of this approach is investigated in comparison with the full self-consistent solution. At low drain voltage only single solution of the nonlinear Poisson equation is sufficient to extract the current with satisfactory accuracy. A pilot version of a hydrodynamic 'atomistic' simulator has been developed in order to study the effect of the nonequilibrium, non local transport in decanano MOSFETs on the random dopant induced current fluctuations. For the first time we have also applied the density gradient approach in 3D to investigate the effect of the quantum confinement on the threshold voltage fluctuations. The developed 'atomistic' simulation techniques have been applied to study various fluctuation resistant MOSFET architectures including epitaxial and delta doped devices.

Asenov, Asen↗

NASA NTRS1999

Hierarchical Approach to 'Atomistic' 3-D MOSFET Simulation

We present a hierarchical approach to the 'atomistic' simulation of aggressively scaled sub-0.1 micron MOSFET's. These devices are so small that their characteristics depend on the precise location of dopant atoms within them, not just on their average density. A full-scale three-dimensional drift-diffusion atomistic simulation approach is first described and used to verify more economical, but restricted, options. To reduce processor time and memory requirements at high drain voltage, we have developed a self-consistent option based on a solution of the current continuity equation restricted to a thin slab of the channel. This is coupled to the solution of the Poisson equation in the whole simulation domain in the Gummel iteration cycles. The accuracy of this approach is investigated in comparison to the full self-consistent solution. At low drain voltage, a single solution of the nonlinear Poisson equation is sufficient to extract the current with satisfactory accuracy. In this case, the current is calculated by solving the current continuity equation in a drift approximation only, also in a thin slab containing the MOSFET channel. The regions of applicability for the different components of this hierarchical approach are illustrated in example simulations covering the random dopant-induced threshold voltage fluctuations, threshold voltage lowering, threshold voltage asymmetry, and drain current fluctuations.

Asenov, Asen↗