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At least 559 records · Page 31

Forward and reverse transfer function model synthesis

A process for synthesizing a mathematical model for a linear mechanical system using the forward and reverse Fourier transform functions is described. The differential equation for a system model is given. The Bode conversion of the differential equation, and the frequency and time-domain optimization matching of the model to the forward and reverse transform functions using the geometric simplex method of Nelder and Mead (1965) are examined. The effect of the window function on the linear mechanical system is analyzed. The model is applied to two examples; in one the signal damps down before the end of the time window and in the second the signal has significant energy at the end of the time window.

Houghton, J. R.↗

Design sensitivity analysis of rotorcraft airframe structures for vibration reduction

Optimization of rotorcraft structures for vibration reduction was studied. The objective of this study is to develop practical computational procedures for structural optimization of airframes subject to steady-state vibration response constraints. One of the key elements of any such computational procedure is design sensitivity analysis. A method for design sensitivity analysis of airframes under vibration response constraints is presented. The mathematical formulation of the method and its implementation as a new solution sequence in MSC/NASTRAN are described. The results of the application of the method to a simple finite element stick model of the AH-1G helicopter airframe are presented and discussed. Selection of design variables that are most likely to bring about changes in the response at specified locations in the airframe is based on consideration of forced response strain energy. Sensitivity coefficients are determined for the selected design variable set. Constraints on the natural frequencies are also included in addition to the constraints on the steady-state response. Sensitivity coefficients for these constraints are determined. Results of the analysis and insights gained in applying the method to the airframe model are discussed. The general nature of future work to be conducted is described.

Murthy, T. Sreekanta↗

CFD Analysis of Spray Combustion and Radiation in OMV Thrust Chamber

The Variable Thrust Engine (VTE), developed by TRW, for the Orbit Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) uses a hypergolic propellant combination of Monomethyl Hydrazine (MMH) and Nitrogen Tetroxide (NTO) as fuel and oxidizer, respectively. The propellants are pressure fed into the combustion chamber through a single pintle injection element. The performance of this engine is dependent on the pintle geometry and a number of complex physical phenomena and their mutual interactions. The most important among these are (1) atomization of the liquid jets into fine droplets; (2) the motion of these droplets in the gas field; (3) vaporization of the droplets (4) turbulent mixing of the fuel and oxidizer; and (5) hypergolic reaction between MMH and NTO. Each of the above phenomena by itself poses a considerable challenge to the technical community. In a reactive flow field of the kind occurring inside the VTE, the mutual interactions between these physical processes tend to further complicate the analysis. The objective of this work is to develop a comprehensive mathematical modeling methodology to analyze the flow field within the VTE. Using this model, the effect of flow parameters on various physical processes such as atomization, spray dynamics, combustion, and radiation is studied. This information can then be used to optimize design parameters and thus improve the performance of the engine. The REFLEQS CFD Code is used for solving the fluid dynamic equations. The spray dynamics is modeled using the Eulerian-Lagrangian approach. The discrete ordinate method with 12 ordinate directions is used to predict the radiative heat transfer in the OMV combustion chamber, nozzle, and the heat shield. The hypergolic reaction between MMH and NTO is predicted using an equilibrium chemistry model with 13 species. The results indicate that mixing and combustion is very sensitive to the droplet size. Smaller droplets evaporate faster than bigger droplets, leading to a well mixed zone in the combustion chamber. The radiative heat flux at combustion chamber and nozzle walls are an order of negligible less than the conductive heat flux. Simulations performed with the heat shield show that a negligible amount of fluid is entrained into the heat shield region. However, the heat shield is shown to be effective in protecting the OMV structure surrounding the engine from the radiated heat.

Giridharan, M. G.↗

Nonlinear Curve-Fitting Program

Nonlinear optimization algorithm helps in finding best-fit curve. Nonlinear Curve Fitting Program, NLINEAR, interactive curve-fitting routine based on description of quadratic expansion of X(sup 2) statistic. Utilizes nonlinear optimization algorithm calculating best statistically weighted values of parameters of fitting function and X(sup 2) minimized. Provides user with such statistical information as goodness of fit and estimated values of parameters producing highest degree of correlation between experimental data and mathematical model. Written in FORTRAN 77.

Everhart, Joel L.↗

Optimal Estimation of Rain Rate Profiles From Radar Returns at Attenuating Wavelengths

There are significant inherent ambiguities when one tries to determine a particular vertical rain intensity profile from a given time profile of radar echo powers measured by a downward-looking (spaceborne or airborne) radar at a single attenuating frequency. In this paper, we quantify these ambiguities mathematically, and examine their effects on the performance of rain-rate retrieval algorithms initially proposed for use by the Precipitation Radar of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM).

vertical rain intensity profiles spaceborne radar ↗

Error Analysis System for Spacecraft Navigation Using the Global Positioning System (GPS)

The Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is currently developing improved space-navigation filtering algorithms to use the Global Positioning System (GPS) for autonomous real-time onboard orbit determination. In connection with a GPS technology demonstration on the Small Satellite Technology Initiative (SSTI)/Lewis spacecraft, FDD analysts and programmers have teamed with the GSFC Guidance, Navigation, and Control Branch to develop the GPS Enhanced Orbit Determination Experiment (GEODE) system. The GEODE system consists of a Kalman filter operating as a navigation tool for estimating the position, velocity, and additional states required to accurately navigate the orbiting Lewis spacecraft by using astrodynamic modeling and GPS measurements from the receiver. A parallel effort at the FDD is the development of a GPS Error Analysis System (GEAS) that will be used to analyze and improve navigation filtering algorithms during development phases and during in-flight calibration. For GEAS, the Kalman filter theory is extended to estimate the errors in position, velocity, and other error states of interest. The estimation of errors in physical variables at regular intervals will allow the time, cause, and effect of navigation system weaknesses to be identified. In addition, by modeling a sufficient set of navigation system errors, a system failure that causes an observed error anomaly can be traced and accounted for. The GEAS software is formulated using Object Oriented Design (OOD) techniques implemented in the C++ programming language on a Sun SPARC workstation. The Phase 1 of this effort is the development of a basic system to be used to evaluate navigation algorithms implemented in the GEODE system. This paper presents the GEAS mathematical methodology, systems and operations concepts, and software design and implementation. Results from the use of the basic system to evaluate navigation algorithms implemented on GEODE are also discussed. In addition, recommendations for generalization of GEAS functions and for new techniques to optimize the accuracy and control of the GPS autonomous onboard navigation are presented.

Truong, S. H.↗

Development and Application of the Collaborative Optimization Architecture in a Multidisciplinary Design Environment

Collaborative optimization is a design architecture applicable in any multidisciplinary analysis environment but specifically intended for large-scale distributed analysis applications. In this approach, a complex problem is hierarchically de- composed along disciplinary boundaries into a number of subproblems which are brought into multidisciplinary agreement by a system-level coordination process. When applied to problems in a multidisciplinary design environment, this scheme has several advantages over traditional solution strategies. These advantageous features include reducing the amount of information transferred between disciplines, the removal of large iteration-loops, allowing the use of different subspace optimizers among the various analysis groups, an analysis framework which is easily parallelized and can operate on heterogenous equipment, and a structural framework that is well-suited for conventional disciplinary organizations. In this article, the collaborative architecture is developed and its mathematical foundation is presented. An example application is also presented which highlights the potential of this method for use in large-scale design applications.

Braun, R. D.↗

Assessments of Physiology and Cognition in Hybrid-Reality Environments (APACHE)

NASA is planning to return to the Moon in the mid-2020s as a stepping stone to Mars missions in the 2030s. Spacewalks, or extravehicular activities (EVAs), performed on the Moon and Mars will differ in a variety of ways from those that have been performed in decades past. NASA has identified multiple risks to human health and performance associated with a crewed mission to Mars, especially those associated with exploration EVAs which are expected to be a primary mission activity. Crew may be expected to conduct up to 24 hours of EVA per person per week, where the likelihood of injury and/or mental mistakes are increased compared to ground-based training or current microgravity EVAs and the consequences of which can be catastrophic. Current test environments for exploration EVA research and technology development are large, costly facilities that are limited in their availability or capabilities. Spacesuit testing in a reduced gravity environment such as NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, while a good representation of the crew’s physical workload during exploration EVAs, typically has small datasets and is difficult to integrate physiological sensors or other types of crew performance measures. Meanwhile, scientific field-based testing such as NASA’s Desert Research and Technology Studies offers an operationally relevant environment for exploration EVAs, particularly for cognitive workload, but is also limited by small datasets, lack of a pressurized spacesuit, and obtrusive measures. The limitations of current analogs for exploration EVAs identify a need for a new test environment that can approximate both the physical and cognitive demands associated with exploration EVAs to enable rapid, controlled, and repeatable evaluations of human health and performance risks of exploration missions. In response, the Human Physiology, Performance, Protection, and Operations Laboratory (H-3PO) at NASA Johnson Space Center has developed a hybrid reality exploration EVA analog named the Assessments of Physiology And Cognition in Hybrid-reality Environments (APACHE) to address these limitations using a combination of virtual, physical, and hybrid reality techniques. The APACHE facility resides at NASA Johnson Space Center and serves as a large “sandbox” for EVA research and simulation. At its center is a roughly 15x20ft space surrounded by a 14” tall sandbox partially filled with lunar regolith simulant to emulate the physical feeling of walking on a planetary surface and to allow for simulated geology operations. Nearby, a curved passive treadmill (Skillmill Connect, Technogym, Fairfield, NJ) and an omnidirectional treadmill (Infinadeck, Infinadeck, Rocklin, CA) are included to enable exploration of these large virtual environments while also imposing the physical demands, representative timelines, and cognitive burdens required to navigate and traverse these distances during exploration EVA. A 6DOF motion platform is used to simulate rover operations and supports various human performance evaluations and associated risks. Lastly, APACHE can support two extravehicular (EV) crewmembers working in tandem. A computer workstation is located nearby and also supports an intravehicular (IV) crewmember as part of a full mission simulation. The IV crewmember has direct video and audio communication with the EV crew in VR to provide operational and procedural support. The software used in APACHE was created by the JSC Engineering Directorate, in partnership with Buendea, powered by a custom Unreal Engine 5 (UE5.3, Epic Games) project. APACHE currently utilizes the HTC Vive Pro Eye in a wireless configuration for VR simulations. There are two virtual environments that subjects can explore within APACHE, a Lunar and Martian surface. The virtual Lunar surface was created from LIDAR data of the Lunar South Pole to create roughly 16 sq km of explorable terrain. The virtual Martian surface contains roughly 400 sq km of explorable terrain derived from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter LIDAR data of the Jezero Crater. The immersion and related cognitive burdens of conducting a planetary EVA is simulated through a series of EVA-relevant tasks performed in the VR environment, using these high-fidelity visual representations. Additionally, APACHE includes biosensor driven informatics, such as real-time heart rate monitoring and/or derived values from model simulations, for active monitoring by the EV crew and added cognitive demand. A “Wizard of Oz” control panel enables test operators to activate contingency events such as simulated spacesuit malfunctions, loss of communications, and/or limited visibility. Embedded performance measures such as accuracy, completeness, and execution time have been developed for various exploration tasks to objectively quantify crew performance during an EVA and compare impacts to performance when different environmental stressors, both physical and cognitive, are added to or removed from the simulation. Additionally, validated cognitive and operational performance measures such as the Digit Symbol Substitution Task have been recreated and embedded in VR for direct and relatively unobtrusive measurement of motor perception. The APACHE environment currently supports multiple research studies at NASA. Examples include the CHAPEA project, a series of simulated year-long missions on Mars by a 4-person crew; and the CO2 Contingency Walk Back Study, an investigation of elevated CO2 exposure on crew performance during a contingency EVA scenario. APACHE also provides a test environment to support the development of the Crew State and Risk Model, which is a collection of individualized, mathematical models of crew physical and cognitive state; and the Personalized EVA Informatics and Decision Support system, an operational tool for flight controllers, and eventually a self-reliant Martian crew, to make biomedically-informed decisions in real-time to optimize the EVA planning and execution with respect to crew health and performance. Some technical challenges associated with developing the APACHE environment, as well as current limitations, include VR limitless natural walking with a hybrid spacesuit simulator, optimizing performance for wireless PC VR streaming while maintaining a high degree of visual fidelity, and the integration of various physiological (metabolic masks) and psychometric (eye tracking) sensors with the VR headset.

Human Performance↗

Optimized space shuttle trajectory simulation

A computer program for simulating optimized space shuttle trajectories is presented. The program considers the ascent, return, and synergetic maneuvers of lifting boosters and spacecraft. Other constraints on optimum trajectory such as maximum heating, acceleration, angle of attack, and excluded or included overflight or impact regions are examined. Mathematical models are included to support the theoretical aspects of the discussion.

Tramonti, L.↗

Three-axis attitude determination from vector observations

Two computationally efficient algorithms are presented for determining three-axis attitude from two or more vector observations. The first of these, the TRIAD algorithm, provides a deterministic (i.e., nonoptimal) solution for the attitude based on two vector observations. The second, the QUEST algorithm, is an optimal algorithm which determines the attitude that achieves the best weighted overlap of an arbitrary number of reference and observation vectors. Analytical expressions are given for the covariance matrices for the two algorithms using a fairly realistic model for the measurement errors. The mathematical relationship of the two algorithms and their relative merits are discussed and numerical examples are given. The advantage of computing the covariance matrix in the body frame rather than in the inertial frame (e.g., in terms of Euler angles) is emphasized. These results are valuable when a single-frame attitude must be computed frequently. They will also be useful to the mission analyst or spacecraft engineer for the evaluation of launch-window constraints or of attitude accuracies for different attitude sensor configurations.

Shuster, M. D.↗

SSME blade damper technology

Before 1975 turbine blade damper designs were based on experience and very simple mathematical models. Failure of the dampers to perform as expected showed the need to gain a better understanding of the physical mechanism of friction dampers. Over the last 10 years research on friction dampers for aeronautical propulsion systems has resulted in methods to optimize damper designs. The first-stage turbine blades on the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) high-pressure oxygen pump have experienced cracking problems due to excessive vibration. A solution is to incorporate a well-designed friction dampers to attenuate blade vibration. The subject study, a cooperative effort between NASA Lewis and Carnegie-Mellon University, represents an application of recently developed friction damper technology to the SSME high-pressure oxygen turbopump. The major emphasis was the contractor's design known as the two-piece damper. Damping occurs at the frictional interface between the top half of the damper and the underside of the platforms of the adjacent blades. The lower half of the damper is an air seal to retard airflow in the volume between blade necks.

Kielb, Robert E.↗

A PC program to optimize system configuration for desired reliability at minimum cost

High reliability is desired in all engineered systems. One way to improve system reliability is to use redundant components. When redundant components are used, the problem becomes one of allocating them to achieve the best reliability without exceeding other design constraints such as cost, weight, or volume. Systems with few components can be optimized by simply examining every possible combination but the number of combinations for most systems is prohibitive. A computerized iteration of the process is possible but anything short of a super computer requires too much time to be practical. Many researchers have derived mathematical formulations for calculating the optimum configuration directly. However, most of the derivations are based on continuous functions whereas the real system is composed of discrete entities. Therefore, these techniques are approximations of the true optimum solution. This paper describes a computer program that will determine the optimum configuration of a system of multiple redundancy of both standard and optional components. The algorithm is a pair-wise comparative progression technique which can derive the true optimum by calculating only a small fraction of the total number of combinations. A designer can quickly analyze a system with this program on a personal computer.

Hills, Steven W.↗

Mathematical analysis

Simple continuum models used in the design, analysis, and control of large space structures are examined. Particular emphasis is placed on boundary value problems associated with the Load Correction Method and control problems involving partial differential equations for the large space structure models. Partial differential equations will be used to model a large space structure, base the design of an optimal controller on this model, approximate the resulting optimal control model, and compare the results with data from other methods.

Donaldson, J. A.↗

High-Performance Computing Optimization for Aladyn – Adaptive Neural Network Molecular Dynamics Mini-Application

This report provides a description and performance evaluation of the optimization techniques for high performance computing (HPC) implementation of the open source Computational Materials mini-application Aladyn (https://github.com/nasa/aladyn). Aladyn is a basic molecular dynamics code written in FORTRAN 2003, which is designed to demonstrate the use of adaptive neural networks (ANNs) in atomistic simulations. The role of ANNs is to efficiently reproduce the very complex energy landscape resulting from the atomic interactions in materials with the accuracy of the more expensive quantum mechanics-based calculations. The ANN is trained on a large set of atomic structures calculated using the density functional theory (DFT) method. While achieving orders of magnitude faster computational performance than DFT, the ANN-based approach was still very computationally demanding compared to the conventional approach of using empirically fitted energy functions. After its initial development, Aladyn was evaluated and optimized by experts at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) division to exploit modern supercomputer architectures. The code has been optimized for execution on multicore central processing units (CPUs), including Intel® Skylake microarchitecture, and on graphic accelerators, such as Nvidia® V100 graphic processing units (GPUs), using Open Multi-Processing (OpenMP) and Open Accelerators (OpenACC) programming interfaces. The optimization achieved a speedup of 4.7 times the baseline version on CPU performance and an additional 2.4 times on CPU+GPU performance. Atomistic computer simulations are a fundamental tool in materials research to model material properties form physics-based first principles. Atomic interaction, governed by Quantum Mechanics (QM) require sophisticated and highly computationally demanding mathematical models to calculate [1]. Classical methods use approximate functional forms, empirically fitted through a set of variable parameters to emulate atomic energies as direct functions of atomic coordinates [2]. While empirical potentials are computationally much simpler, allowing simulations of large-scale systems of up to a trillion (1012) atoms [3], they are substantially less accurate compared to quantum calculations and applicable only to very specific atomic configurations or predefined crystallographic phases. A recently suggested approach is to use heuristic machine learning methods [4], such as those based on Adaptive Neural Networks (ANNs) to predict atomic energies, after being trained on a sufficiently large database of QM-calculated structures [5,6]. This approach reduces significantly the computational complexity, allowing for simulations of orders of magnitude larger systems compared to QM-based methods without compromising accuracy. Still, compared to classical methods using empirical energy functions, ANN methods remain two- to three orders of magnitude more computationally demanding. Hence, the computational cost of simulations, together with the need for extensive training of ANNs, still makes the practical implementation of ANN-based methods quite challenging. The purpose of the Aladyn mini-application software [7], available as open source at https://github.com/nasa/aladyn, is to be a testbed for exploring possible optimization strategies to develop highly scalable parallel algorithms for ANN-based atomistic simulations. Aladyn is aimed at utilizing the architecture of the high-end modern highperformance computing (HPC) hardware based on multicore central processing units (CPUs) equipped with graphic processing unit (GPU) accelerators. Specifically, the goal is to optimize the performance on a single HPC compute node, before implementing scaling to multi-node parallelization using message passing interface (MPI). At the same time, the open source code of Aladyn can serve as a training model for students and professors in academia.

Yamakov, Vesselin I.↗

Complexity Science Applications to Dynamic Trajectory Management: Research Strategies

The promise of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is strongly tied to the concept of trajectory-based operations in the national airspace system. Existing efforts to develop trajectory management concepts are largely focused on individual trajectories, optimized independently, then de-conflicted among each other, and individually re-optimized, as possible. The benefits in capacity, fuel, and time are valuable, though perhaps could be greater through alternative strategies. The concept of agent-based trajectories offers a strategy for automation of simultaneous multiple trajectory management. The anticipated result of the strategy would be dynamic management of multiple trajectories with interacting and interdependent outcomes that satisfy multiple, conflicting constraints. These constraints would include the business case for operators, the capacity case for the Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), and the environmental case for noise and emissions. The benefits in capacity, fuel, and time might be improved over those possible under individual trajectory management approaches. The proposed approach relies on computational agent-based modeling (ABM), combinatorial mathematics, as well as application of "traffic physics" concepts to the challenge, and modeling and simulation capabilities. The proposed strategy could support transforming air traffic control from managing individual aircraft behaviors to managing systemic behavior of air traffic in the NAS. A system built on the approach could provide the ability to know when regions of airspace approach being "full," that is, having non-viable local solution space for optimizing trajectories in advance.

Sawhill, Bruce↗

Trends in computerized structural analysis and synthesis; Proceedings of the Symposium, Washington, D.C., October 30-November 1, 1978

The subjects considered are related to future directions of structural applications and potential of new computing systems, advances and trends in data management and engineering software development, advances in applied mathematics and symbolic computing, computer-aided instruction and interactive computer graphics, nonlinear analysis, dynamic analysis and transient response, structural synthesis, structural analysis and design systems, advanced structural applications, supercomputers, numerical analysis, and trends in software systems. Attention is given to the reliability and optimality of the finite element method, computerized symbolic manipulation in structural mechanics, a standard computer graphics subroutine package, and a drag method as a finite element mesh generation scheme.

Noor, A. K.↗

Design of a candidate flutter suppression control law for DAST ARW-2

A control law is developed to suppress symmetric flutter for a mathematical model of an aeroelastic research vehicle. An implementable control law is attained by including modified LQG (linear quadratic Gaussian) design techniques, controller order reduction, and gain scheduling. An alternate (complementary) design approach is illustrated for one flight condition wherein nongradient-based constrained optimization techniques are applied to maximize controller robustness.

Adams, W. M., Jr.↗

Design of a candidate flutter suppression control law for DAST ARW-2

A control law is developed to suppress symmetric flutter for a mathematical model of an aeroelastic research vehicle. An implementable control law is attained by including modified LQC (Linear Quadratic Gaussian) design techniques, controller order reduction, and gain scheduling. An alternate (complementary) design approach is illustrated for one flight condition wherein nongradient-based constrained optimization techniques are applied to maximize controller robustness.

Adams, W. M., Jr.↗