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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 559 records · Page 31

A direct approach to the design of linear multivariable systems

Design of multivariable systems is considered and design procedures are formulated in the light of the most recent work on model matching. The word model matching is used exclusively to mean matching the input-output behavior of two systems. The term is used in the frequency domain to indicate the comparison of two transfer matrices containing transfer functions as elements. Design methods where non-interaction is not used as a criteria were studied. Two design methods are considered. The first method of design is based solely upon the specification of generalized error coefficients for each individual transfer function of the overall system transfer matrix. The second design method is called the pole fixing method because all the system poles are fixed at preassigned positions. The zeros of terms either above or below the diagonal are partially fixed via steady state error coefficients. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed and an example is worked to demonstrate their uses. The special cases of triangular decoupling and minimum constraints are discussed.

Agrawal, B. L.↗

Analysis of twist and lean of tall towers

A method for analytically determining the amount of twist and lean of a tall tower of equilateral triangular cross section is described. This method is also applicable to tall structures of other shapes and cross-sectional areas. A BASIC computer program that determines the angle of twist and amount of lean is provided.

Source record↗

Deployable flexible ventral fins for use as an emergency spin recovery device in aircraft

A flexible fin device for mounting on an aircraft to effect spin recovery is described. The device may be selectively deployed to provide a triangular planform of flexible material to provide spin recovery, and retracted for compact storage during non-use. A single flexible fin may be deflected in a specific direction depending on direction of spin rotation, or two flexible fins forming an inverted V configuration may be used. The device is mounted on the underbody of the aircraft.

Burk, S. M., Jr.↗

Water impact analysis of space shuttle solid rocket motor by the finite element method

Preliminary analysis showed that the doubly curved triangular shell elements were too stiff for these shell structures. The doubly curved quadrilateral shell elements were found to give much improved results. A total of six load cases were analyzed in this study. The load cases were either those resulting from a static test using reaction straps to simulate the drop conditions or under assumed hydrodynamic conditions resulting from a drop test. The latter hydrodynamic conditions were obtained through an emperical fit of available data. Results obtained from a linear analysis were found to be consistent with results obtained elsewhere with NASTRAN and BOSOR. The nonlinear analysis showed that the originally assumed loads would result in failure of the shell structures. The nonlinear analysis also showed that it was useful to apply internal pressure as a stabilizing influence on collapse. A final analysis with an updated estimate of load conditions resulted in linear behavior up to full load.

Buyukozturk, O.↗

Periodic Trojan-type orbits in the earth-sun system

Periodic orbits about the triangular equilibrium points are found for the planar restricted three-body problem using the earth-sun system. The maximum semimajor axis for tadpole orbits ranges from the infinitesimal orbit at 1.000 AU to the near-limiting orbit at 1.00285 AU. Horseshoe orbits are found for 1.0029 to 1.0080 AU, larger horseshoes being unstable because of close approaches to the earth. Using stability tests devised by Rabe (1961, 1962), the limit of stability for nonperiodic orbits is found to occur for maximum semimajor axes near 1.0020 AU. In addition, near-periodic tadpole orbits appear to be stable against perturbations by Jupiter and Venus for periods of at least 10,000 yr. The possibility that minor planets actually exist in such orbits is considered.

Weissman, P. R.↗

A decomposition for some operators

A decomposition of some operators is obtained that represents a generalization of Brown's (1953) work on quasi-normal operators. It is shown that the decomposition obtained is of most interest when the operator considered is far from being finite-dimensional. An application of the results obtained to the study of quasi-triangular operators is presented for illustration.

Morrel, B. B.↗

Analytical displacements and vibrations of cantilevered unsymmetric fiber composite laminates

A fiber composite flat cantilever plate that has symmetric and nonsymmetric laminate configurations is theoretically investigated to determine its static and dynamic structural response. The finite element analysis method used includes a unique triangular finite element developed at Lewis for the analysis of fiber composite airfoils. The various responses investigated include tip displacements, natural frequencies, and fundamental mode shapes. The results show that the displacements and the natural frequencies can be in considerable error for nonsymmetric laminate configurations if the membrane-bending coupling is not taken into account. Structural response results obtained from ten laminate configurations are presented in tabular forms and may be used as an aid in selecting laminate configurations for composite airfoils.

Minich, M. D.↗

Effectiveness of spoilers on the GA(W)-1 airfoil with a high performance Fowler flap

Two-dimensional wind-tunnel tests were conducted to determine effectiveness of spoilers applied to the GA(W)-1 airfoil. Tests of several spoiler configurations show adequate control effectiveness with flap nested. It is found that providing a vent path allowing lower surface air to escape to the upper surface as the spoiler opens alleviates control reversal and hysteresis tendencies. Spoiler cross-sectional shape variations generally have a modest influence on control characteristics. A series of comparative tests of vortex generators applied to the (GA-W)-1 airfoil show that triangular planform vortex generators are superior to square planform vortex generators of the same span.

Wentz, W. H., Jr.↗

The effect of wing dihedral and section suction distribution on vortex bursting

Eleven semi-span wing models were tested in the 1/8-scale model of the Langley V/STOL tunnel to qualitatively study vortex bursting. Flow visualization was achieved by using helium filled soap bubbles introduced upstream of the model. The angle of attack range was from 0 deg to 45 deg. The results show that the vortex is unstable, that is, the bursting point location is not fixed at a given angle of attack but moves within certain bounds. Upstream of the trailing edge, the bursting point location has a range of two inches; downstream, the range is about six inches. Anhedral and dihedral appear to have an insignificant effect on the vortex and its bursting point location. Altering the section suction distribution by improving the triangularity generally increases the angle of attack at which vortex bursting occurs at the trailing edge.

Washburn, K. E.↗

Application of NASTRAN for stress analysis of left ventricle of the heart

Knowing the stress and strain distributions in the left ventricular wall of the heart is a prerequisite for the determination of the muscle elasticity and contractility in the process of assessing the functional status of the heart. NASTRAN was applied for the calculation of these stresses and strains and to help in verifying the results obtained by the computer program FEAMPS which was specifically designed for the plane-strain finite-element analysis of the left ventricular cross sections. Adopted for the analysis are the true shape and dimensions of the cross sections reconstructed from multiplanar X-ray views of a left ventricle which was surgically isolated from a dog's heart but metabolically supported to sustain its beating. A preprocessor was prepared to accommodate both FEAMPS and NASTRAN, and it has also facilitated the application of both the triangular element and isoparameteric quadrilateral element versions of NASTRAN. The stresses in several crucial regions of the left ventricular wall calculated by these two independently developed computer programs are found to be in good agreement. Such confirmation of the results is essential in the development of a method which assesses the heart performance.

Pao, Y. C.↗

Radiation from an array of gray circular fins of trapezoidal profile

A numerical method is developed to calculate the temperature distribution and radiation heat transfer for an annular fin and tube radiator, with fins having trapezoidal profiles. All surfaces are assumed gray and to emit and reflect diffusely. Radiative interactions between adjacent fins and between the fins and tube are included. The thermal conductivity of the fin material may vary linearly with temperature. Results of a parametric study of the special case of circular fins of triangular profile having constant thermal conductivity are presented and used to optimize a fin array with respect to minimum weight.

Schnurr, N. M.↗

Calculation of arbitrary-order diffraction efficiencies of thick gratings with arbitrary grating shape

A method for calculating arbitrary-order diffraction efficiencies of thick, lossless transmission gratings with arbitrary periodic grating shapes has been developed. A Fourier-series representation of the grating is employed, along with a coupled-mode theory of diffraction. For illustration, numerical values of the diffraction efficiencies at the first three Bragg angles are calculated for sinusoidal, square-wave, triangular, and saw-tooth gratings. Numerical results for the same grating shapes with the same parameters are also calculated for comparison, by extending Burckhardt's numerical method for analyzing thick sinusoidal gratings. The comparison shows that the coupled-mode theory provides results with relative computational ease and results that are in agreement with calculations obtained by extending the more-rigorous Burckhardt theory to nonsinusoidal grating shapes and to higher-order Bragg angles.

Su, S. F.↗

Analytical displacements and vibrations of cantilevered unsymmetric fiber composite laminates

A fiber composite flat cantilever plate that has symmetric and nonsymmetric laminate configurations is theoretically investigated to determine its static and dynamic structural response. The finite element analysis method used includes a unique triangular finite element developed at Lewis for the analysis of fiber composite airfoils. The various responses investigated include tip displacements, natural frequencies, and fundamental mode shapes. The results show that laminate configurations may be selected for a cantilever such that when the tip at the leading edge is loaded normal to the plane of the plate, the tip at the trailing edge can (1) deflect in the opposite direction, (2) deflect about the same, or (3) deflect more than the tip at the leading edge. This variation in response can be utilized to provide built-in structural damping to resist flutter.

Minich, M. D.↗

Integrated potential formulation of unsteady supersonic aerodynamics for interacting wings

A numerical integrated velocity potential method for the determination of unsteady aerodynamic forces on arbitrary interacting wings and tails in supersonic flow has been developed. Constant Mach number has been assumed throughout the flow field. Normalwash and sidewash integrals have been derived. The upwash integral remains to be derived. Singular integrals in the expressions for the velocity components have been evaluated in closed form. Lifting surfaces are represented by triangular elements defined by arbitrarily spaced characteristic lines and the true surface edges. The wake field is represented by rectangular strip elements. Velocity potential distributions and generalized aerodynamic coefficients have been compared.

Appa, K.↗

Research and development of an electrochemical biocide reactor

An alternate disinfecting process to chemical agents, heat, or radiation in an aqueous media has been studied. The process is called an electrochemical biocide and employs cyclic, low-level voltages at chemically inert electrodes to pass alternating current through water and, in the process, to destroy microorganisms. The paper describes experimental hardware, methodology, and results with a tracer microorganism (Escherichia coli). The results presented show the effects on microorganism kill of operating parameters, including current density (15 to 55 mA/sq cm (14 to 51 ASF)), waveform of applied electrical signal (square, triangular, sine), frequency of applied electrical signal (0.5 to 1.5 Hz), process water flow rate (100 to 600 cc/min (1.6 to 9.5 gph)), and reactor resident time (0 to 4 min). Comparisons are made between the disinfecting property of the electrochemical biocide and chlorine, bromine, and iodine.

See, G. G.↗

Mixed isoparametric elements for Saint-Venant torsion

Mixed isoparametric elements are presented for the Saint-Venant torsion problem of laminated and anisotropic bars. Both triangular and quadrilateral elements are considered. The 'generalized' element stiffness matrix is obtained by using a modified form of the Hellinger-Reissner mixed variational principle. Group-theoretic techniques are used in conjunction with computerized symbolic integration to obtain analytic expressions for the stiffness coefficients. The accuracy of the mixed isoparametric elements developed is demonstrated by means of numerical examples, and their advantages over commonly used stress and displacement elements are discussed.

Noor, A. K.↗

A general algorithm using finite element method for aerodynamic configurations at low speeds

A finite element algorithm for numerical simulation of two-dimensional, incompressible, viscous flows was developed. The Navier-Stokes equations are suitably modelled to facilitate direct solution for the essential flow parameters. A leap-frog time differencing and Galerkin minimization of these model equations yields the finite element algorithm. The finite elements are triangular with bicubic shape functions approximating the solution space. The finite element matrices are unsymmetrically banded to facilitate savings in storage. An unsymmetric L-U decomposition is performed on the finite element matrices to obtain the solution for the boundary value problem.

Balasubramanian, R.↗

Automated finite element grid break-up method, a verification of the six node averaging approach

The verification of the nodal averaging method for generating automated finite triangular element grids was demonstrated. This was accomplished with a six node averaging program (SNAP) which was placed on an IBM 2250 vector graphics scope terminal. The advantage of this method is that it is unnecessary to program time consuming geometric division and transition algorithms.

Barten, H. J.↗