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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Neural networks application to divergence-based passive ranging

The purpose of this report is to summarize the state of knowledge and outline the planned work in divergence-based/neural networks approach to the problem of passive ranging derived from optical flow. Work in this and closely related areas is reviewed in order to provide the necessary background for further developments. New ideas about devising a monocular passive-ranging system are then introduced. It is shown that image-plan divergence is independent of image-plan location with respect to the focus of expansion and of camera maneuvers because it directly measures the object's expansion which, in turn, is related to the time-to-collision. Thus, a divergence-based method has the potential of providing a reliable range complementing other monocular passive-ranging methods which encounter difficulties in image areas close to the focus of expansion. Image-plan divergence can be thought of as some spatial/temporal pattern. A neural network realization was chosen for this task because neural networks have generally performed well in various other pattern recognition applications. The main goal of this work is to teach a neural network to derive the divergence from the imagery.

Barniv, Yair↗
NASA NTRS1995

Vorticity and divergence in the solar photosphere

We have studied an outstanding sequence of continuum images of the solar granulation from Pic du Midi Observatory. We have calculated the horizontal vector flow field using a correlation tracking algorithm, and from this determined three scalar field: the vertical component of the curl; the horizontal divergence; and the horizontal flow speed. The divergence field has substantially longer coherence time and more power than does the curl field. Statistically, curl is better correlated with regions of negative divergence - that is, the vertical vorticity is higher in downflow regions, suggesting excess vorticity in intergranular lanes. The average value of the divergence is largest (i.e., outflow is largest) where the horizontal speed is large; we associate these regions with exploding granules. A numerical simulation of general convection also shows similar statistical differences between curl and divergence. Some individual small bright points in the granulation pattern show large local vorticities.

Wang, YI↗
NASA NTRS1997

Consistency Between Divergent Circulations from Reanalysis Data Sets and Satellite-Derived Precipitation, Radiation, and Surface Fluxes

Large-scale divergent circulations are part of the atmospheric dynamic response to diabatic heating from condensation, radiative processes, and surface heat fluxes. Vertical motion and the associated divergent wind is thus intimately tied to the hydrologic cycle and the global heat balance. Despite its importance, the divergent circulation is too small in comparison to the rotational flow to measure directly with any accuracy. Vertical motions are recovered diagnostically from reanalyses and, as such, are subject to shortcomings in model physics, numerics, and data availability. We use several GEWEX pre-EOS data sets derived from satellite data to assess interannual divergent flow anomalies in the NCEP, GSFC, and GSFC DAO analyse. Among the data sets are monthly, 2.5 degree gridded precipitation (MSU and SSM/I-based), TOA radiative fluxes from ERBS, surface radiative fluxes from the SRB project, and surface latent and sensible flux estimates from SSM/I. Most of these data sets can be considered as independent of the reanalysis fields. We focus largely on the period 1987-1989 encompassing a strong El Nino / la Nina couplet. Consequently we emphasize interannual changes rather than climatological aspects of the reanalyses. In the processes of this study we use simple integral constraints enforced through the satellite-derived data sets to derive corrections to the divergent circulation produced from the reanalyses. We examine the implications of these corrections in describing how perturbations to the tropical heat balance evolve during a warm / cool couplet. In particular the perturbations to the planetary scale water vapor transport, and the resulting changes in TOA and surface radiative fluxes are considered.

Robertson, Franklin R.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Spray formation mechanism of diverging-tapered-hole GDI injector and its potentials for GDI engine applications

The gasoline-direct-injection market recently, which has shown the improved spray atomization and lower engine particulate emissions compared to conventional straight-hole nozzles. However, the near-nozzle spray formation mechanism associated with this atomization potential of the diverging-he potentials of the diverging-tapered-hole nozzle for GDI engine applications. The analyses focus on the in- and near-nozzle flow structure, and flow dynamics and stability outside the nozzle. We find that the results showed that the diverging-tapered-hole nozzle coupled with proper hole length generated the radially expanding crescent-moon-like flow structure in the hole that promoted the spray atomization and dispersion outside the nozzle. The expansion of the hole cross-sectional area in the diverging-tapered-hole nozzle was appeared to attenuate the mutual interactions of fuel flows in the hole from various origins that formed rather stable sprays. These flow characteristics are discussed to be promising for the compact and robust spray generation for GDI engine applications.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

On ambiguities and divergences in perturbative renormalization group functions

There is an ambiguity in choosing field-strength renormalization factors in the $ \overline{\mathrm{MS}} $ scheme starting from the 3-loop order in perturbation theory. More concerning, trivially choosing Hermitian factors has been shown to produce divergent renormalization group functions, which are commonly understood to be finite quantities. We demonstrate that the divergences of the RG functions are such that they vanish in the RG equation due to the Ward identity associated with the flavor symmetry. It turns out that any such divergences can be removed using the renormalization ambiguity and that the use of the flavor-improved β-function is preferred. We show how our observations resolve the issue of divergences appearing in previous calculations of the 3-loop SM Yukawa β-functions and provide the first calculation of the flavor-improved 3-loop SM β-functions in the gaugeless limit.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Fine-scale contemporary recombination variation and its fitness consequences in adaptively diverging stickleback fish

Despite deep evolutionary conservation, recombination rates vary greatly across the genome and among individuals, sexes and populations. Yet the impact of this variation on adaptively diverging populations is not well understood. Here we characterized fine-scale recombination landscapes in an adaptively divergent pair of marine and freshwater populations of threespine stickleback from River Tyne, Scotland. Through whole-genome sequencing of large nuclear families, we identified the genomic locations of almost 50,000 crossovers and built recombination maps for marine, freshwater and hybrid individuals at a resolution of 3.8 kb. We used these maps to quantify the factors driving variation in recombination rates. We found strong heterochiasmy between sexes but also differences in recombination rates among ecotypes. Hybrids showed evidence of significant recombination suppression in overall map length and in individual loci. Recombination rates were lower not only within individual marine–freshwater-adaptive loci, but also between loci on the same chromosome, suggesting selection on linked gene ‘cassettes’. Through temporal sampling along a natural hybrid zone, we found that recombinants showed traits associated with reduced fitness. Our results support predictions that divergence in cis-acting recombination modifiers, whose functions are disrupted in hybrids, may play an important role in maintaining differences among adaptively diverging populations.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Low-divergence femtosecond X-ray pulses from a passive plasma lens

Electron and X-ray beams originating from compact laser-wakefield accelerators have very small source sizes that are typically on the micrometre scale. Therefore, the beam divergences are relatively high, which makes it difficult to preserve their high quality during transport to applications. To improve on this, tremendous efforts have been invested in controlling the divergence of the electron beams, but no mechanism for generating collimated X-ray beams has yet been demonstrated experimentally. Here we propose and realize a scheme where electron bunches undergoing focusing in a dense, passive plasma lens can emit X-ray pulses with divergences approaching the incoherent limit. Furthermore, compared with conventional betatron emission, the divergence of this so-called plasma lens radiation is reduced by more than an order of magnitude in solid angle, while maintaining a similar number of emitted photons per electron. This X-ray source offers the possibility of producing brilliant and collimated few-femtosecond X-ray pulses for ultra-fast science, in particular for studies based on X-ray diffraction and absorption spectroscopy.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Monotonic multi-state quantum f -divergences

We use the Tomita–Takesaki modular theory and the Kubo–Ando operator mean to write down a large class of multi-state quantum f-divergences and prove that they satisfy the data processing inequality. For two states, this class includes the (α, z)-Rényi divergences, the f-divergences of Petz, and the Rényi Belavkin-Staszewski relative entropy as special cases. The method used is the interpolation theory of non-commutative Lωp spaces, and the result applies to general von Neumann algebras, including the local algebra of quantum field theory. We conjecture that these multi-state Rényi divergences have operational interpretations in terms of the optimal error probabilities in asymmetric multi-state quantum state discrimination.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Transcriptome and DNA methylome divergence of inflorescence development between 2 ecotypes in Panicum hallii

The morphological diversity of the inflorescence determines flower and seed production, which is critical for plant adaptation. Hall's panicgrass (Panicum hallii, P. hallii) is a wild perennial grass that has been developed as a model to study perennial grass biology and adaptive evolution. Highly divergent inflorescences have evolved between the 2 major ecotypes in P. hallii, the upland ecotype (P. hallii var hallii, HAL2 genotype) with compact inflorescence and large seed and the lowland ecotype (P. hallii var filipes, FIL2 genotype) with an open inflorescence and small seed. Here we conducted a comparative analysis of the transcriptome and DNA methylome, an epigenetic mark that influences gene expression regulation, across different stages of inflorescence development using genomic references for each ecotype. Global transcriptome analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and co-expression modules underlying the inflorescence divergence revealed the potential role of cytokinin signaling in heterochronic changes. Comparing DNA methylome profiles revealed a remarkable level of differential DNA methylation associated with the evolution of P. hallii inflorescence. We found that a large proportion of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were located in the flanking regulatory regions of genes. Intriguingly, we observed a substantial bias of CHH hypermethylation in the promoters of FIL2 genes. The integration of DEGs, DMRs, and $K_a$/$K_s$ ratio results characterized the evolutionary features of DMR-associated DEGs that contribute to the divergence of the P. hallii inflorescence. This study provides insights into the transcriptome and epigenetic landscape of inflorescence divergence in P. hallii and a genomic resource for perennial grass biology.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1958

Experimental and Analytical Investigation of the Transonic and Supersonic Divergence Characteristics of a Delta-Plan-Form All- Movable Control

The static aeroelastic divergence characteristics of a delta-planform model of the canard control surface of a proposed air-to-ground missile have been studied both analytically and experimentally in the Mach number range from 0.6 to 3.0. The experiments indicated that divergence occurred at a nearly constant value of dynamic pressure at Mach numbers up to 1.2. At higher Mach numbers somewhat higher values of dynamic pressure were required to produce divergence. The analysis and the experiment indicate that the camber stiffness of the control surface and the stiffness of the control actuator are both important in divergence of surfaces of this type.

PLANFORM↗
NASA NTRS1973

Scale dependence of the 200-mb divergence inferred from EOLE data.

The EOLE experiment with 480 constant-volume balloons distributed over the Southern Hemisphere approximately at the 200-mb level, has provided a unique, highly accurate set of tracer trajectories in the general westerly circulation. The trajectories of neighboring balloons are analyzed to estimate the horizontal divergence from the Lagrangian derivative of the area of one cluster. The variance of the divergence estimates results from two almost comparable effects: the true divergence of the horizontal flow and eddy diffusion due to small-scale, two-dimensional turbulence. Taking this into account, the rms divergence is found to be of the order of 0.00001 per sec and decreases logarithmically with cluster size. This scale dependence is shown to be consistent with the quasi-geostrophic turbulence model of the general circulation in midlatitudes.

Morel, P.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Ion beam divergence characteristics of two-grid accelerator systems

The first comprehensive experimental investigation of two-grid accelerator systems is presented. A wide range of geometrical grid parameters and grid set operating conditions were investigated for their effect on ion beam divergence. Ion beam divergence was found to depend most strongly on normalized perveance per hole, grid separation ratio, net-to-total accelerating voltage ratio, and discharge-to-total accelerating voltage ratio variations. The graphical results contained herein provide guidelines for the design of ion accelerator systems. A general ion beam divergence angle correlation was developed to permit approximate beam divergence estimates, at parametric values other than those tested, of present grid set designs. Although argon was the main test gas used in this study, it is shown that the results are applicable to other propellants as well.

Aston, G.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Roles of divergent and rotational winds in the kinetic energy balance during intense convective activity

Contributions of divergent and rotational wind components to the synoptic-scale kinetic energy balance are described using rawinsonde data at 3 and 6 h intervals from NASA's fourth Atmospheric Variability experiment. Two intense thunderstorm complexes occurred during the period. Energy budgets are described for the entire computational region and for limited volumes that enclosed storm-induced, upper level wind maxima located poleward of convection. Although small in magnitude, the divergent wind component played an important role in the cross-contour generation and horizontal flux divergence of kinetic energy. The importance of V(D) appears directly related to the presence and intensity of convection. Although K(D) usually comprised less than 10 percent of the total kinetic energy content, generation of kinetic energy by V(D) was a major factor in the creation of upper-level wind maxima to the north of the storm complexes. Omission of the divergent wind apparently would lead to serious misrepresentations of the energy balance. A random error analysis is presented to assess confidence limits in the various energy parameters.

Fuelberg, H. E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Use of satellite radiometric imagery data for improvement in the analysis of divergent wind in the tropics

A scheme is proposed to incorporate satellite radiometric imagery data into the specification of initial conditions for the National Meteorological Center (NMC) operational global prediction model in order to improve the analysis of the divergent wind field in the tropics. The basic assumptions are that outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data can provide 1) the division between convective (upward motion) and clear sky (downward motion) areas, and 2) the height of convection cells. The intensity of ascending motion in the convective areas is estimated based on OLR data. The intensity of descending motion is evaluated from the thermodynamic energy balance between radiative cooling and adiabatic warming, since the local time change of temperature is small in the tropics. Once the vertical motion field is determined, the horizontal divergence field can be calculated from the mass continuity equation. Then a divergent wind field is determined. The total wind is the sum of the new divergent wind and the rotational part, which is assumed to be unchanged. The proposed scheme is tested using the NMC analysis dataset of 21 January 1985 with satisfactory results.

Kasahara, Akira↗
NASA NTRS1990

Static investigation of a two-dimensional convergent-divergent exhaust nozzle with multiaxis thrust-vectoring capability

An investigation was conducted in the Static Test Facility of the NASA Langley 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel to determine the internal performance of two-dimensional convergent-divergent nozzles designed to have simultaneous pitch and yaw thrust vectoring capability. This concept utilized divergent flap rotation of thrust vectoring in the pitch plane and deflection of flat yaw flaps hinged at the end of the sidewalls for yaw thrust vectoring. The hinge location of the yaw flaps was varied at four positions from the nozzle exit plane to the throat plane. The yaw flaps were designed to contain the flow laterally independent of power setting. In order to eliminate any physical interference between the yaw flap deflected into the exhaust stream and the divergent flaps, the downstream corners of both upper and lower divergent flaps were cut off to allow for up to 30 deg of yaw flap deflection. The impact of varying the nozzle pitch vector angle, throat area, yaw flap hinge location, yaw flap length, and yaw flap deflection angle on nozzle internal performance characteristics, was studied. High-pressure air was used to simulate jet exhaust at nozzle pressure ratios up to 7.0. Static results indicate that configurations with the yaw flap hinge located upstream of the exit plane provide relatively high levels of thrust vectoring efficiency without causing large losses in resultant thrust ratio. Therefore, these configurations represent a viable concept for providing simultaneous pitch and yaw thrust vectoring.

Taylor, John G.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Effects of internal yaw-vectoring devices on the static performance of a pitch-vectoring nonaxisymmetric convergent-divergent nozzle

An investigation was conducted in the static test facility of the Langley 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel to evaluate the internal performance of a nonaxisymmetric convergent divergent nozzle designed to have simultaneous pitch and yaw thrust vectoring capability. This concept utilized divergent flap deflection for thrust vectoring in the pitch plane and flow-turning deflectors installed within the divergent flaps for yaw thrust vectoring. Modifications consisting of reducing the sidewall length and deflecting the sidewall outboard were investigated as means to increase yaw-vectoring performance. This investigation studied the effects of multiaxis (pitch and yaw) thrust vectoring on nozzle internal performance characteristics. All tests were conducted with no external flow, and nozzle pressure ratio was varied from 2.0 to approximately 13.0. The results indicate that this nozzle concept can successfully generate multiaxis thrust vectoring. Deflection of the divergent flaps produced resultant pitch vector angles that, although dependent on nozzle pressure ratio, were nearly equal to the geometric pitch vector angle. Losses in resultant thrust due to pitch vectoring were small or negligible. The yaw deflectors produced resultant yaw vector angles up to 21 degrees that were controllable by varying yaw deflector rotation. However, yaw deflector rotation resulted in significant losses in thrust ratios and, in some cases, nozzle discharge coefficient. Either of the sidewall modifications generally reduced these losses and increased maximum resultant yaw vector angle. During multiaxis (simultaneous pitch and yaw) thrust vectoring, little or no cross coupling between the thrust vectoring processes was observed.

Asbury, Scott C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Static investigation of two fluidic thrust-vectoring concepts on a two-dimensional convergent-divergent nozzle

A static investigation was conducted in the static test facility of the Langley 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel of two thrust-vectoring concepts which utilize fluidic mechanisms for deflecting the jet of a two-dimensional convergent-divergent nozzle. One concept involved using the Coanda effect to turn a sheet of injected secondary air along a curved sidewall flap and, through entrainment, draw the primary jet in the same direction to produce yaw thrust vectoring. The other concept involved deflecting the primary jet to produce pitch thrust vectoring by injecting secondary air through a transverse slot in the divergent flap, creating an oblique shock in the divergent channel. Utilizing the Coanda effect to produce yaw thrust vectoring was largely unsuccessful. Small vector angles were produced at low primary nozzle pressure ratios, probably because the momentum of the primary jet was low. Significant pitch thrust vector angles were produced by injecting secondary flow through a slot in the divergent flap. Thrust vector angle decreased with increasing nozzle pressure ratio but moderate levels were maintained at the highest nozzle pressure ratio tested. Thrust performance generally increased at low nozzle pressure ratios and decreased near the design pressure ratio with the addition of secondary flow.

Wing, David J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Divergence analysis report for the bodies of revolution model support systems

This report documents the sting divergence analyses of nine different model and model support systems that were performed in preparation for a series of wind tunnel tests at the National Transonic Facility at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The models were missile shaped bodies of revolution and the model support systems included a force and moment balance and tapered sting sections. The sting divergence results were obtained from a computer program that solved a two-point boundary value problem which used a second order Runge-Kutta integration technique. The computer solution was based on constant section properties between discrete stations along the sting sections, a procedure was developed and included to evaluate the properties for the minimum number of stations along the tapered sections that would produce no more than one half of one percent error in the divergence results. Also included in the report are development of the aerodynamic input data, listings of all input and output computer data, and summary sheets that highlight the input and the critical sting divergence dynamic pressure for each respective configuration.

Rash, Larry C.↗