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At least 595 records · Page 33

Control technology development

The main objectives of the control technology development task are given in the slide below. The first is to develop control design techniques based on flexible structural models, rather than simple rigid-body models. Since large space structures are distributed parameter systems, a new degree of freedom, that of sensor/actuator placement, may be exercised for improving control system performance. Another characteristic of large space structures is numerous oscillatory modes within the control bandwidth. Reduced-order controller design models must be developed which produce stable closed-loop systems when combined with the full-order system. Since the date of an actual large-space-structure flight is rapidly approaching, it is vitally important that theoretical developments are tested in actual hardware. Experimental verification is a vital counterpart of all current theoretical developments.

Schaechter, D. B.↗

Development of a spinning wave heat engine

A theoretical analysis and an experimental investigation were conducted to assess the feasibility of developing a spinning wave heat engine. Such as engine would utilize a large amplitude traveling acoustic wave rotating around a cylindrica chamber, and it should not suffer from the inefficiency, noise, and intermittent thrust which characterizes pulse jet engines. The objective of this investigation was to determine whether an artificially driven large amplitude spinning transverse wave could induce a steady flow of air through the combustion chamber under cold flow conditions. In the theoretical analysis the Maslen and Moore perturbation technique was extended to study flat cylinders (pancake geometry) with completely open side walls and a central opening. In the parallel experimental study, a test moel was used to determine resonant frequencies and radial pressure distributions, as well as oscillatory and steady flow velocities at the inner and outer peripheries. The experimental frequency was nearly the same as the theoretical acoustic value for a model of the same outer diameter but without a central hole. Although the theoretical analysis did not predict a steady velocity component, simulaneous measurements of hotwire and microphone responses have shown that the spinning wave pumps a mean flow radially outward through the cavity.

Zinn, B. T.↗

Multiple crossings of a very thin plasma sheet in the earth's magnetotail

High resolution magnetic field, thermal plasma, and energetic particle data measured on the IMP 8 spacecraft are used to demonstrate that a thin plasma sheet with rapidly flowing plasma undergoes violent oscillatory motion that causes the entire thickness of the plasma sheet to pass over the spacecraft in times which are sometimes as short as 10 s. Ions with 50 and 290 keV energy are investigated since their gyroradii are comparable to the plasma sheet thickness. As the spacecraft moves from the plasma sheet into the lobe, the energetic particle intensities decrease, but the 290 keV ions are relatively more numerous than 50 keV ions on field lines located deeper in the lobe.

Fairfield, D. H.↗

Unsteady Transonic Small Disturbance theory with strong shock waves

Transonic Small Disturbance (TSD) theory is modified to yield steady and unsteady solutions in the case of strong shock waves (where the local Mach number ahead of the shock exceeds 1.3). The modification consists of an additional adjustable nonlinear term which allows the exact Rankine-Hugoniot shock jump relation to be satisfied at all times. The modified TSD theory is applied to steady and unsteady oscillatory transonic flows, and yields results which are in good agreement with solutions of the unsteady Euler equations, and which compare favorably with solutions of the full potential equation when shock waves are weak.

Kerlick, G. D.↗

Behavior of the Si/SiO2 interface observed by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling

Thin-oxide (40-50 A) metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) structures are shown to exhibit, before large levels of electron tunnel injection, the near-ideal behavior predicted for a uniform trapezoidal barrier with thick-oxide properties. The oscillatory field dependence caused by electron-wave interference at the Si/SiO2 interface suggests an abrupt, one-monolayer barrier transition (approximately 2.5 A) consistent with earlier work. After tunnel injection of 10 to the 17th - 5 x 10 to the 18th electrons/sq cm, the barrier undergoes appreciable degradation, leading to enhanced tunneling conductance. Reproducible behavior is observed among different samples. This effect is found to be consistent with the generation of positive states in the region of the oxide near the Si/SiO2 interface (less than 20 A), where the tunneling electrons emerge into the oxide conduction band.

Maserjian, J.↗

Closed-loop stability of large space structures via singular and regular perturbation techniques - New results

Large Space Structures are treated as a special class of highly oscillatory distributed parameter systems. Practical controllers will need to be finite dimensional; however, this calls the closed-loop stability into question due to spillover interactions. Recent results, obtained using regular and singular perturbations theory, give stability bounds for closed-loop control of this type of distributed parameter system; this paper surveys these results and their implications for large space structures.

Balas, M. J.↗

Static and unsteady pressure measurements on a 50 degree clipped delta wing at M = 0.9

Static and unsteady pressures were measured on a 50.45 degree clipped delta wing in the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel with Freon as the test medium. Data taken at M = 0.9 is presented for static and oscillatory deflections of the trailing edge control surface and for the wing in pitch. Comparisons of the static measured data are made with results computed using the Bailey-Ballhaus small disturbance code.

Hess, R. W.↗

Recent developments in transonic Euler flow over a circular cylinder

Numerical solutions to the Euler equations for transonic flow over a circular cylinder suggest that the inviscid flow separates ahead of the rear stagnation point. The present understanding of this phenomenon and various solutions presented at a workshop on this subject are discussed. All the evidence suggests that inviscid separation is a feature of the Euler equations induced by vorticity and/or stagnation pressure loss in the flow. The possibility of multiple solutions suggested by Hafez (1981) and the oscillatory behavior for the full circle observed by Steger (1977) are seen as needing further investigation.

Salas, M. D.↗

Detonation propulsion experiments and theory

Test data are presented for the use of a single detonation of explosives in long-cone, short-cone, straight, and firing-plug nozzles to provide propulsion in a simulated Jupiter atmosphere, as well as the ambient gases N, CO2 and He. The long-cone nozzle yielded a progressive increase with ambient pressure for the higher molecular weight gases CO2 and N, while the lower molecular weight He and simulated Jupiter atmosphere showed a specific pulse decrease with increasing ambient pressure. The short-plug nozzle yielded a small specific impulse reduction with increasing ambient pressure, and its results were found to be nearly independent of ambient gas molecular weight. All data gathered are analyzed by using first principles, approximate blast wave theory predictions, and two-dimensional numerical calculations. Rarefaction and oscillatory wave phenomena are found to significantly influence specific impulse.

Back, L. H.↗

Umbral oscillations in a detailed model umbra

The Scheuer and Thomas (1981) theory of umbral oscillations as magneto-atmospheric wave resonant modes is extended and confirmed, by calculating the resonant modes of a more detailed model of the umbral atmosphere. The depths of forcing needed for the production of the 140-185 sec oscillation periods observed are in agreement with the depths of overstable convection found in such studies as that of Moore (1973) and Mullan and Yun (1973). The present study, along with those cited, offers a consistent explanation of umbral oscillations as a resonant response to oscillatory convection in the umbral subphotosphere. The response is in the form of a trapped, fast, magneto-atmospheric wave in the photosphere and chromosphere.

Thomas, J. H.↗

ISEE-1 and -2 observations of magnetic field strength overshoots in quasi-perpendicular bow shocks

According to the Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions, the magnetic field strength increases in passing from upstream to downstream of a magnetohydrodynamic shock. At the earth's bow shock the magnetic field often increases significantly more than is required by the Rankine-Hugoniot conditions before decaying in an oscillatory fashion to its downstream average value. Recent OGO-5 and ISEE studies, together with the realization that overshoots also occur in the bow shocks of Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn have focussed attention on these phenomena. It is found that none of the nonlinear dispersive wave theories in the shock literature can account for the overshoot. The present investigation documents the dependence of the overshoot amplitude and thickness on solar wind parameters. Magnetic field overshoots are found to be characteristic of supercritical quasi-perpendicular shocks. The overshoot thickness scales as the ion Larmor radius based upon the solar wind speed and magnetic field.

Livesey, W. A.↗

Portable Fatigue-Testing Machine

Portable machine constructed for fatigue testing of structural materials or machinery parts subjected to fatigue loads. Piezoelectric crystal stack adds oscillatory force to constant force. Machine tests wider variety of objects than with usual rotating-beam fatigue tests.

Lewis, J.↗

Comparison of analytical and experimental subsonic steady and unsteady pressure distributions for a high-aspect-ratio-supercritical wing model with oscillating control surfaces

The results of a comparative study using the unsteady aerodynamic lifting surface theory, known as the Doublet Lattice method, and experimental subsonic steady- and unsteady-pressure measurements, are presented for a high-aspect-ratio supercritical wing model. Comparisons of pressure distributions due to wing angle of attack and control-surface deflections were made. In general, good correlation existed between experimental and theoretical data over most of the wing planform. The more significant deviations found between experimental and theoretical data were in the vicinity of control surfaces for both static and oscillatory control-surface deflections.

Mccain, W. E.↗

Dynamic stability characteristics in pitch, yaw, and roll of a supercritical-wing research airplane model

The aerodynamic damping in pitch, yaw, and roll and the oscillatory stability in pitch and yaw of a supercritical-wing research airplane model were determined for Mach numbers of 0.25 to 1.20 by using the small-amplitude forced-oscillation technique. The angle-of-attack range was from -2 deg to 20 deg. The effects of the underwing leading-edge vortex generators and the contributions of the wing, vertical tail, and horizontal tail to the appropriate damping and stability were measured.

Boyden, R. P.↗

Unsteady boundary-layer injection

The boundary-layer equations for two-dimensional incompressible flow are integrated numerically for the flow over a flat plate and a Howarth body. Injection is introduced either impulsively or periodically along a narrow strip. Results indicate that injection perpendicular to the wall is transmitted instantly across the boundary layer and has little effect on the velocity profile parallel to the wall. The effect is a little more noticeable for flows with adverse pressure gradients. Injection parallel to the wall results in fuller velocity profiles. Parallel and oscillatory injection appears to influence the mean. The amplitude of oscillation decreases with distance from the injection strip but further downstream it increases again in a manner reminiscent of an unstable process.

Telionis, D. P.↗

LANDSAT-4 image data quality analysis

Analysis during the quarter was carried out on geometric, radiometric, and information content aspects of both MSS and thematic mapper (TM) data. Test sites in Webster County, Iowa and Chicago, IL., and near Joliet, IL were studied. Band to band registration was evaluated and TM Bands 5 and 7 were found to be approximately 0.5 pixel out of registration with 1,2,3,4, and the thermal was found to be misregistered by 4 30 m pixels to the east and 1 pixel south. Certain MSS bands indicated nominally .25 pixel misregistration. Radiometrically, some striping was observed in TM bands and significant oscillatory noise patterns exist in MSS data which is possibly due to jitter. Information content was compared before and after cubic convolution resampling and no differences were observed in statistics or separability of basic scene classes.

Anuta, P. E.↗

Flutter and steady/unsteady aerodynamic characteristics of supercritical and conventional transport wings

This paper presents the technical details and results of a high-speed wind-tunnel test program of an aeroelastic cantilevered transport type wing with two pylon-mounted engines. The tests were conducted in the NASA-Langley 16-foot Transonic Dynamic tunnel (TDT) during December 1981. Flutter of identical planforms, mass properties, and stiffness. The test parameters included different values of model stiffness and wing loading at various angles of attack. The models were instrumented at span-wise wing stations to determine bending and torsion deflections and vertical accelerations. At two model wing stations, pressure transducers were distributed along the chord to record static and unsteady oscillatory pressures during the approach to and onset of flutter. This paper presents the test program with results of the flutter characteristics and selected steady and unsteady aerodynamic data for both airfoils at different angles of attack for various Mach numbers and dynamic pressures.

Grosser, W. F.↗