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At least 559 records · Page 31

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NASA NTRS1994

Influence of cross-flow on nonlinear Tollmien-Schlichting/vortex interaction

The transition of an incompressible three-dimensional boundary layer with strong cross-flow is considered theoretically and computationally in the context of vortex/wave interactions. Specifically the work centers on two lower-branch Tollmien-Schlichting waves which mutually interact nonlinearly to induce a longitudinal vortex flow. The vortex motion in turn gives rise to significant wave modulation via wall-shear forcing. The characteristic Reynolds number is large and, as a consequence, the waves' and the vortex motion are governed primarily by triple deck theory. The nonlinear interaction is captured by a viscous partial-differential system for the vortex coupled with a pair of amplitude equations for each wave pressure. Following analysis and computation over a wide range of parameters, three distinct responses are found to emerge in the nonlinear behavior of the flow solution downstream: an algebraic finite-distance singularity, far-downstream saturation or far-downstream wave decay leaving pure vortex flow. These depend on the input conditions, the wave angles and the size of the cross flow.

Davis, D. A. R.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Hybrid Simulations of Interstellar Pickup Ion Acceleration at the Solar Wind Termination Shock

Hybrid (kinetic ion/fluid electron) simulations have been used to study self-consistently the injection and initial stages of acceleration of interstellar pickup ions at the solar wind termination shock. Results are presented from one-dimensional simulations of high Mach number oblique (40 deg-50 deg) shocks with a 10% population of interstellar pickup hydrogen. In these simulations, the pickup ions, the solar wind ions, the shock fields and the waves are all treated self-consistently. Pickup ions reflected by the shock excite large amplitude (DELTA.B / B approximately 0.3) upstream magnetosonic waves. These waves, in turn, scatter the pickup hydrogen, as expected in the diffusive shock acceleration process. The spectrum of excited waves broadens in time. We find that, for the parameters studied, the termination shock efficiently injects and accelerates the interstellar pickup hydrogen, and thus this work represents a microscopic verification of this anomalous cosmic ray injection mechanism. Comparison of injected fluxes from the simulations with Voyager fluxes extrapolated to the termination shock suggests that injection at the termination shock is probably greater than injection by interplanetary shocks. A study of accelerated pickup ion orbits shows that the energy gain comes predominantly from shock drift acceleration in the shock front, with the upstream waves aiding the acceleration by allowing multiple encounters with the shock.

Liewer, P. C.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Application of blast wave theory to explosive propulsion

An analysis was carried out by using blast wave theory to delineate the important aspects of detonating explosives in nozzles, such as flow and wave phenomena, characteristic length and time scales, and the parameters on which the specific impulse is dependent. The propulsive system utilizes the momentum of the ambient gas set into motion in the nozzle by the explosion. A somewhat simplified model was considered for the situation where the mass of ambient gas in the nozzle is much greater than the mass of gas produced in the explosion, a condition of interest for dense atmospheres, e.g., near the surface of Venus. Instantaneous detonation and energy release was presumed to occur at the apex of a conical nozzle, and the shock wave generated by the explosion was taken to propagate as a spherical wave, thereby setting the ambient gas in the nozzle into one-dimensional radially outward motion.

Back, L. H.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Dynamics Explorer observations of equatorial spread F - Evidence for drift waves

Recent DE-2 data from the Langmuir probe, vector electric field, and ion drift meter instruments are employed to study equatorial spread F in the frequency regime of the low frequency drift and the lower hybrid drift instabilities. Strong electron density gradients topside equatorial F region correspond to regions of high electric field waves and large ion drift velocities. The electric field waves are seen in two distinct wavelength ranges which correspond to the parameter regimes of the low frequency drift and the lower hybrid drift instabilities. In the smaller of the two wavelength ranges the lower hybrid drift instability is found to be unstable, based on the ion drift velocity and the other plasma parameters measured on DE-2, and using published theory. Thus there is experimental evidence that the lower hybrid drift instability may produce the observed short wavelength waves without invoking a cascading mechanism.

Hoegy, W. R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Rayleigh lidar observations of gravity wave activity in the upper stratosphere at Urbana, Ill.

During 13 nights of Rayleigh lidar measurements at Urbana, Ill. in 1984 to 1986, thirty-six quasi-monochromatic gravity waves were observed in the 35 to 50 km altitude region of the stratosphere. The characteristics of the waves are compared with other lidar and radar measurements of gravity waves and the theoretical models of wave saturation and dissipation phenomena. The measured vertical wavelengths ranged from 2 to 11.5 km and the measured vertical phase velocities ranged from 10 to 85 cm/s. The vertical wavelengths and vertical phase velocities were used to infer observed wave periods which ranged from 100 to 1000 min and horizontal wavelengths which ranged from 70 to 2000 km. Dominant wave activity was found at vertical wavelengths between 2 to 4 km and 7 to 10 km. No significant seasonal variations were evident in the observed parameters. Vertical and horizontal wavelengths showed a clear tendency to increase with wave periods, which is consistent with recent sodium lidar studies of quasi-monochromatic waves near the mesopause. An average amplitude growth length of 20.9 km for the rms wind perturbations was estimated from the data. Kinetic energy density associated with the waves decreased with height, suggesting that waves in this altitude region were subject to dissipation or saturation effects.

Gardner, C. S.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Two dimensional PIC simulations of plasma heating by the dissipation of Alfven waves

Two dimensional plasma particle simulations of the evolution of large amplitude circularly polarized Alfven waves propagating parallel to the magnetic field show that the waves decay via both one- and two- dimensional parametric decay instabilities. For parameters studied, one-dimensional processes dominate the simulations, but two-dimensional decay processes, including the recently predicted filamentation instability are also observed. The daughter waves generated by the parametric decay are primarily damped by the ions, leading to ion heating. The parametric decay processes efficiently convert the ordered fluid ion motion in the Alfven wave into ion thermal energy. These processes may be important for the dissipation of Alfven waves in the solar wind, the corona and other space plasma environments. The computations were performed on the Intel Touchstone parallel supercomputer.

Liewer, P. C.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Underexpanded Screeching Jets From Circular, Rectangular, and Elliptic Nozzles

The screech frequency and amplitude, the shock spacing, the hydrodynamic-acoustic standing wave spacing, and the convective velocity of large organized structures are measured in the nominal Mach number range of 1.1 less than or = Mj less that or = l0.9 for supersonic, underexpanded jets exhausting from a circular, a rectangular and an elliptic nozzle. This provides a carefully measured data set useful in comparing the importance of various physical parameters in the screech generation process. The hydrodynamic-acoustic standing wave is formed between the potential pressure field of large turbulent structures and the acoustic pressure field of the screech sound. It has been demonstrated earlier that in the currently available screech frequency prediction models replacement of the shock spacing by the standing wave spacing provides an exact expression. In view of this newly found evidence, a comparison is made between the average standing wavelength and the average shock spacing. It is found that there exists a small, yet important, difference, which is dependent on the azimuthal screech mode. For example, in the flapping modes of circular, rectangular, and elliptic jets, the standing wavelength is slightly longer than the shock spacing, while for the helical screech mode in a circular jet the opposite is true. This difference accounts for the departure of the existing models from predicting the exact screech frequency. Another important parameter, necessary in screech prediction, is the convective velocity of the large organized structures. It is demonstrated that the presence of the hydrodynamic-acoustic standing wave, even inside the jet shear layer, becomes a significant source of error in the convective velocity data obtained using the conventional methods. However, a new relationship, using the standing wavelength and screech frequency is shown to provide more accurate results.

Panda, J.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Technique for predicting high-frequency stability characteristics of gaseous-propellant combustors

A technique for predicting the stability characteristics of a gaseous-propellant rocket combustion system is developed based on a model that assumes coupling between the flow through the injector and the oscillating chamber pressure. The theoretical model uses a lumped parameter approach for the flow elements in the injection system plus wave dynamics in the combustion chamber. The injector flow oscillations are coupled to the chamber pressure oscillations with a delay time. Frequency and decay (or growth) rates are calculated for various combustor design and operating parameters to demonstrate the influence of various parameters on stability. Changes in oxidizer design parameters had a much larger influence on stability than a similar change in fuel parameters. A complete description of the computer program used to make these calculations is given in an appendix.

Priem, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Stokes parameters modulator for birefringent filters

The Solar Birefringent Filter (Filter Polarisiant Solaire Selectif FPSS) of Meudon Observatory is presently located at the focus of a solar refractor with a 28 cm lens directly pointed at the Sun. It produces a diffraction limited image without instrumental polarization and with a spectral resolution of 46,000 in a field of 6 arc min. diameter. The instrument is calibrated for absolute Doppler velocity measurements and is presently used for quantitative imagery of the radial velocity motions in the photosphere. The short period oscillations are recorded. Work of adapting the instrument for the imagery of the solar surface in the Stokes parameters is discussed. The first polarizer of the birefringent filter, with a reference position angle 0 deg, is associated with a fixed quarter wave plate at +45 deg. A rotating quarter wave plate is set at 0 deg and can be turned by incremented steps of exactly +45 deg. Another quarter wave plate also initially set at 0 deg is simultaneously incremented by -45 deg but only on each even step of the first plate. A complete cycle of increments produces images for each of the 6 parameters I + or - Q, I + or - U and I + or - V. These images are then subtracted by pairs to produce a full image in the three Stokes parameters Q, U and V. With proper retardation tolerance and positioning accuracy of the quarter wave plates, the cross talk between the Stokes parameters was calculated and checked to be minimal.

Dollfus, A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Materials characterization using acoustic nonlinearity parameters and harmonic generation - Engineering materials

The paper reviews nonlinear bulk compressional wave acoustic measurement systems and the applications of measurements from such systems to engineering materials. Preliminary measurements indicate that it is possible to determine percent second phase precipitates in aluminum alloys, while other measurements show promise in the determination of properties related to the fatigue states of metals. It is also shown that harmonic generation can be used for the study of crack opening loads in compact tension specimens, which in turn gives useful information about the fatigue properties of various engineering materials.

Yost, William T.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Viscous hydrodynamic instability theory of the peak and minimum pool boiling heat fluxes

Liquid viscosity was included in the Bellman-Pennington theory of the Taylor wave in a liquid vapor interface. Predictions of the most susceptible wavelength, and of the wave frequency, were made as a function of a liquid viscosity parameter and the Bond number. The stability of a gas jet in a viscous liquid was studied and the result is used to predict the peak heat flux on large horizontal heaters. Experimental measurements of the dominant Taylor wave and its growth rate were made during the film boiling of cyclohexanol on cylindrical heaters. The results bear out the predictions quite well. The thickness of the vapor blanket surrounding a cylindrical heater was measured and a correlation suggested. The effect of large fluxes of vapor volume on the dominant wavelength was also noted. Theoretical results of the peak heat flux are compared with the experimental data, and the effect of finite geometry of flat plate heaters on the peak heat flux is also discussed.

Dhir, V. K.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Microphysics of Waves and Instabilities in the Solar Wind and Their Macro Manifestations in the Corona and Interplanetary Space

A breakthrough resulted from the investigation of plasma heating by ion-cyclotron waves in rapidly expanding flow tubes, often referred to as coronal funnels and expected to originate in the low transition region where the temperature gradient in the solar atmosphere rises very sharply. The investigation was made using a three-fluid plasma consisting of protons, electrons and alpha particles. It was found that these waves heat the solar wind plasma by directly heating the heavier species, namely the alphas. Although only alpha particles dissipate the waves, the strong Coulomb coupling between alpha particles and protons, and between protons and electrons, makes it possible for protons and electrons to be heated also to more than one million degrees, i.e. to coronal temperatures. Interestingly, the extreme heating of the alpha particles, however, is such that they end up being hotter and faster, and are no longer in thermal equilibrium with the protons and electrons. once the rapid expansion of the flow tube is complete, the particles return to thermal equilibrium. The observational signatures of these results are such that if spectral lines formed below a million degrees are observed at different heights in the corona, the inferred outflow velocities may vary by a factor of 5 to 6. In addition, if minor ions are indeed much faster than protons and electrons at temperatures below a million degrees, then one cannot reliably determine the bulk outflow velocity of the solar wind in that region from inferences of minor ion outflow velocities. A detailed parameter study on the resonant interaction between ion cyclotron waves and alpha particles and other minor ions is also under way. It is found that the highest frequency of the waves, or the location of the heating determines whether a thermal equilibrium can be established between minor ions and protons. As the maximum frequency is increased, alpha particles and protons become farther away from thermal equilibrium. As the maximum frequency becomes smaller, alpha particles and protons are more likely to be in thermal equilibrium. However, if the maximum frequency is below a critical value, ion cyclotron resonance occurs at a greater height and a hot corona cannot be produced.

Habbal, Shadia Rifai↗

NASA NTRS1980

Similarity solutions of a strong shock wave propagation in a mixture of a gas and dusty particles

The similarity solutions of a strong shock wave propagation in a mixture of a gas and small solid particles have been investigated. Similarity solution exists only when the shock is very strong and the surrounding medium is of a constant density and at rest and with negligible counterpressure. The non-dimensional fundamental equations are derived and studied. The results depend on three non-dimensional parameters; i.e. (1) the ratio of the specific heats of the gas, (2) the mass concentration of the solid particles in the mixture and (3) the ratio of the density of the solid to that of initial density of the gas. Numerical solutions for various values of these parameters are presented and discussed. The speeds of the shock wave front and its location with various energy releases are given.

Pai, S. I.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Model images of radio halos around supernova remnants

I present model calculations of profiles and two-dimensional images of the radio synchrotron emission of young supernova remnants, concentrating on observable effects of relativistic eletrons diffusing upstream of the shock wave. If the preshock electron scattering mean free path is sufficiently long, observable synchrotron halos outside the bulk of the radio emission can potentially result; their absence can constrain the mean free path from above. If scattering is primarily due, as expected, to Alfven waves with amplitude detla(B), the halo is expected to extend a distance of order r(sub g)c(delta(B)/B)(exp 2)/v(sub s) beyond the shock, where r(sub g) is the gyroradius of the electrons emitting at the observed frequency, B is the upstream magnetic field strength, v(sub s) is the shock velocity, and the amplitude delta(B) refers to wave with wavelength comparable to r(sub g), of order 10(exp 13) cm for typical supernova-remnant parameters. However, the detailed geometry of the halo varies with the assumptions about particle acceleration in the shock wave. I present an atlas of model profiles and images as a function of preshock diffusion length, of aspect angle between the magnetic field and the line of sight, and of other relevant parameters.

Reynolds, Stephen P.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Acoustic-radiation stress in solids. I - Theory

The general case of acoustic-radiation stress associated with quasi-compressional and quasi-shear waves propagating in infinite and semiinfinite lossless solids of arbitrary crystalline symmetry is studied. The Boussinesq radiation stress is defined and found to depend directly on an acoustic nonlinearity parameter which characterizes the radiation-induced static strain, a stress-generalized nonlinearity parameter which characterizes the stress nonlinearity, and the energy density of the propagating wave. Application of the Boltzmann-Ehrenfest principle of adiabatic invariance to a self-constrained system described by the nonlinear equations of motion allows the acoustic-radiation-induced static strain to be identified with a self-constrained variation in the time-averaged product of the internal energy density and displacement gradient. The time-averaged product is scaled by the acoustic nonlinearity parameter and represents the first-order nonlinearity in the virial theorem. Finally, the relationship between the Boussinesq and the Cauchy radiation stress is obtained in a closed three-dimensional form.

Cantrell, J. H., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Reverse Energy Cascade in Turbulent Weakly Ionized Plasmas

For systems far from equilibrium, the neglect of a role for viscous effects in turbulence may be generally inappropriate when the relaxation time for the molecular process approaches the local flow time (Orou et al. (1996)). Furthermore, for stationary collisional plasmas, the conventional Reynolds number is irrelevant under circumstances where the standard features of turbulence in ordinary gases are observed in the plasma (Johnson et al. (1987)). The current theoretical understanding of these turbulent phenomenon is particularly inadequate for turbulence associated with ionizing shock waves; generally speaking, thermodynamic, acoustic and pressure fluctuations are all seen as amplified across the shock wave followed by a dramatic decay (relaminarization) usually attributed to a lack of importance of viscosity in the turbulent regions. This decay would be accelerated when the flow speed is also reduced due to the importance usually given to the conventional Reynolds number (which is directly proportional to velocity) as a quality of turbulence index. However, evidence supporting this consensus is lacking. By contrast, recent evidence of vanishing triple correlations form De Silva et al. (1996) provides strong support for early theoretical speculation of inherently molecular effects in macroscopic turbulence in Tsuge (1974). This specifically suggests that the role of compressive effects ordinarily associated with the shock wave could be significantly muted by the existence of a strongly turbulent local environment. There is also more recent theoretical speculation (Frisch et al. (1984)) of an inherently and previously unsuspected non-dissipative nature to turbulence, with energy conservation being nurtured by reverse energy cascades in the turbulent fluctuation spectra. Furthermore, the role which might be played by fluctuations on quantum mechanical phenomena and variations in molecular parameters is completely unknown, especially of the sort which might be found in optical spectra. A determination of the role which changing turbulent parameters might play on optical signatures behind a reflected shock wave should therefore provide a useful tool for the evolution of theoretical models for turbulence.

Williams, Kyron↗

NASA NTRS2023

3D Simulation of Lower-Hybrid Drift Waves in Strong Guide Field Asymmetric Reconnection in Laboratory Experiments

The magnetic reconnection experiment has recently seen short wavelength (kp (e)(1) lower-hybrid waves near the electron diffusion region in strong guide field reconnection. Based on plasma parameters from the experiment, we perform a three-dimensional fully kinetic simulation in order to investigate the generation of the lower-hybrid waves and their effects on the reconnection process. We find that the low-beta regions around the reconnection site are unstable to the lower-hybrid drift instability propagating in the outflow direction, driven by the difference between the electron and ion outflows. The waves modify the electron distributions, leading to periodic opening and closing of gaps in electron velocity space, and provide a small contribution to the anomalous resistivity. Finally, the simulation results are discussed in the context of space observations and laboratory experiments.

J. Ng↗

NASA NTRS1974

Four-D global reference atmosphere technical description, part 1

An empirical atmospheric model was developed which generates values for pressure, density, temperature, and winds from surface levels to orbital altitudes. The output parameters consist of components for: (1) latitude, longitude, and altitude dependent monthly and annual means; (2) quasi-biennial oscillations; and (3) random perturbations to simulate partially the variability due to synoptic, diurnal, planetary wave, and gravity wave variations. Quasi-biennial and random variation perturbations are computed from parameters determined from various empirical studies and are added to the monthly mean values. This model has been developed as a computer program called PROFILE which can be used to generate altitude profiles of atmospheric parameters along any simulated trajectory through the atmosphere. The PROFILE program was developed for design applications in the space shuttle program. Other applications of the model are discussed, such as for global circulation and diffusion studies, and for generating profiles for comparison with other atmospheric measurement techniques, (e.g. satellite measured temperature profiles).

Justus, C. G.↗