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At least 685 records · Page 38

Aerodynamic and Structural Evaluation of an SMA Slat-Cove Filler Using Computational and Experimental Tools at Model Scale

Transport class aircraft produce a significant amount of airframe noise during approach and landing due to exposed geometric discontinuities that are hidden during cruise. The leading-edge slat is a primary contributor to this noise. In previous work, use of a slat-cove filler (SCF) has proven to reduce airframe noise by filling the cove aft of the slat, eliminating the circulation region within the cove. The goal of this work is to extend and improve upon past experimental and computational efforts on the evaluation of a scaled high-lift wing with a super elastic shape memory alloy (SMA) SCF. Recent turbulence measurements of the Texas A&M University 3ft-by-4ft wind tunnel allow for more accurate representation of the flow through the test section in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The finite volume models used in CFD analysis are coupled to structural finite element models using a framework compatible with an SMA constitutive model and significant deformation, enabling fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis of the SCF. Both fully-deployed and retraction/deployment cases are considered. The displacement of the SCF on the experimental model is measured at various stages of retraction/deployment using a laser displacement sensor and digital image correlation system. Due to a lack of structural stiffness in the 3D-printed plastic slat during retraction and SCF stowage, a rigid steel slat is incorporated into the physical model and preliminary wind tunnel tests are conducted at multiple angles of attack in both retracted and deployed configurations.

Scholten, William↗

Control system technology and tradeoffs for large space structures

The role of the control system in large space structure design is examined. It is pointed out that control and dynamics aspects of the structure must be considered very early in the design. Innovative techniques will be needed, such as on-orbit dynamic testing, offsetting of disturbance torques, and advances in the analysis area, particularly with respect to system modeling and achieving a tractable dimension of the problem. The technology pursued, while necessarily being focused, must not be too narrow, but should be concerned with the multidisciplinary aspects of large space structures.

Blair, J. C.↗

Characterization of Slosh Damping for Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid Internal Tank Structures

Grid stiffened tank structures such as Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid are widely used in cryogenic tanks for providing stiffening to the tank while reducing mass, compared to tank walls of constant cross-section. If the structure is internal to the tank, it will positively affect the fluid dynamic behavior of the liquid propellant, in regard to fluid slosh damping. As NASA and commercial companies endeavor to explore the solar system, vehicles will by necessity become more mass efficient, and design margin will be reduced where possible. Therefore, if the damping characteristics of the Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid structure is understood, their positive damping effect can be taken into account in the systems design process. Historically, damping by internal structures has been characterized by rules of thumb and for Ortho-Grid, empirical design tools intended for slosh baffles of much larger cross-section have been used. There is little or no information available to characterize the slosh behavior of Iso-Grid internal structure. Therefore, to take advantage of these structures for their positive damping effects, there is much need for obtaining additional data and tools to characterize them. Recently, the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center conducted both sub-scale testing and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of slosh damping for Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid tanks for cylindrical tanks containing water. Enhanced grid meshing techniques were applied to the geometrically detailed and complex Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid structures. The Loci-STREAM CFD program with the Volume of Fluid Method module for tracking and locating the water-air fluid interface was used to conduct the simulations. The CFD simulations were validated with the test data and new empirical models for predicting damping and frequency of Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid structures were generated.

Douglas G. Westra↗

Locating Damaged Members in a Truss Structure Using Modal Test Data: a Demonstration Experiment

On-orbit assessment of large flexible space truss structures can be accomplished, in principle, with dynamic response information, structural identification methods, and model correlation techniques which produce an adjusted mathematical model. In a previously developed approach for damage location, an optimal update of the structure model is formed using the response data, then examined to locate damaged members. An experiment designed to demonstrate and verify the performance of the on-orbit assessment approach uses a laboratory scale model truss structure which exhibits characteristics expected for large space truss structures. Vibration experiments were performed to generate response data for the damaged truss. The damage location approach, analytical work performed in support of the vibration tests, the measured response of the test article, and some preliminary results are described.

Smith, Suzanne Weaver↗

Results of NASTRAN modal analyses and ground vibration tests on the YF-12A airplane

The YF-12A aircraft, a delta-winged vehicle powered by two jet engines, was utilized in an investigation of the structural dynamic characteristics of a large, flexible, supersonic research vehicle. A large NASA structural analysis (NASTRAN) finite-element model was used to compute the ten lowest frequency symmetric and ten lowest frequency antisymmetric modes for the YF-12A aircraft. The results of the analysis were compared with experimental data obtained in a ground vibration test conducted with the completed aircraft. It was found that the finite-element structural model employed provides an adequate prediction of the dynamic behavior of the aircraft structure in the case of basic wing and body modes.

Kordes, E. E.↗

Multidisciplinary propulsion simulation using the numerical propulsion system simulator (NPSS)

Implementing new technology in aerospace propulsion systems is becoming prohibitively expensive. One of the major contributions to the high cost is the need to perform many large scale system tests. The traditional design analysis procedure decomposes the engine into isolated components and focuses attention on each single physical discipline (e.g., fluid for structural dynamics). Consequently, the interactions that naturally occur between components and disciplines can be masked by the limited interactions that occur between individuals or teams doing the design and must be uncovered during expensive engine testing. This overview will discuss a cooperative effort of NASA, industry, and universities to integrate disciplines, components, and high performance computing into a Numerical propulsion System Simulator (NPSS).

Claus, Russel W.↗

Evaluation of Rotor Structural and Aerodynamic Loads using Measured Blade Properties

The structural properties of Higher harmonic Aeroacoustic Rotor Test (HART I) blades have been measured using the original set of blades tested in the wind tunnel in 1994. A comprehensive rotor dynamics analysis is performed to address the effect of the measured blade properties on airloads, blade motions, and structural loads of the rotor. The measurements include bending and torsion stiffness, geometric offsets, and mass and inertia properties of the blade. The measured properties are correlated against the estimated values obtained initially by the manufacturer of the blades. The previously estimated blade properties showed consistently higher stiffnesses, up to 30% for the flap bending in the blade inboard root section. The measured offset between the center of gravity and the elastic axis is larger by about 5% chord length, as compared with the estimated value. The comprehensive rotor dynamics analysis was carried out using the measured blade property set for HART I rotor with and without HHC (Higher Harmonic Control) pitch inputs. A significant improvement on blade motions and structural loads is obtained with the measured blade properties.

Jung, Sung N.↗

System and method for inspecting parts using dynamic response function

A system and method for the non-destructive testing of additively manufactured parts. An input mechanism excites with an excitation force (e.g., a vibration) an additive manufacturing build structure, which includes a part on a build platform, to induce a dynamic response in the part. An output mechanism (e.g., a non-contact transducer) senses the induced dynamic response in the part. A processor determines and examines the relationship between the response and excitation to identify an indication of a defect in the part, and communicates an alert if the indication is identified. The processor may compare the phase, magnitude, coherence, or time delay of the relationship to a reference relationship and/or may compare the modal frequency or the modal damping to a reference to identify a deviation greater than a pre-established threshold.

Hartwig, Troy Juan↗

Filter failure detection for systems with large space structure dynamics

A failure detection filter is applied to the detection of actuator and sensor failures on a free-free beam. Computer simulation tests are used to verify the filter design and study the effect of unmodeled modes on filter performance. In actuator tests, the failure signal to spillover noise ratio was found to be greatest when the filter bandwidth was 5 rad/sec beyond the input frequency. Observation spillover, however, was found to vary widely in tests run under similar conditions (same input frequency and filter poles) but with different detector gains. In sensor tests, the maximum signal-to-noise ratio for varying filter bandwidth depended upon the initial conditions placed on the unmodeled modes; the performance was good even for initial amplitudes on the first unmodeled mode 7.5% of that on the last modeled mode.

Carignan, C. R.↗

Piezoelectric Bolt Breakers and Bolt Fatigue Testers

A proposed family of devices for inducing fatigue in bolts in order to break the bolts would incorporate piezoelectric actuators into resonant fixtures as in ultrasonic/ sonic drills/corers and similar devices described in numerous prior NASA Tech Briefs articles. These devices were originally intended primarily for use as safer, more-reliable, more-versatile alternatives to explosive bolts heretofore used to fasten spacecraft structures that must subsequently be separated from each other quickly on command during flight. On Earth, these devices could be used for accelerated fatigue testing of bolts. Fatigue theory suggests that a bolt subjected to both a constant-amplitude dynamic (that is, oscillatory) stress and a static tensile stress below the ultimate strength of the bolt material will fail faster than will a bolt subjected to only the dynamic stress. This suggestion would be applied in a device of the proposed type. The device would be designed so that the device and the bolt to be fatigue-tested or broken would be integral parts of an assembly (see figure). The static tension in the tightened bolt would apply not only the clamping force to hold the joined structures (if any) together but also the compression necessary for proper operation of the piezoelectric actuators as parts of a resonant structural assembly. The constant-amplitude dynamic stress would be applied to the bolt by driving the piezoelectric actuators with a sinusoidal voltage at the resonance frequency of longitudinal vibration of the assembly. The amplitude of the excitation would be made large enough so that the vibration would induce fatigue in the bolt within an acceptably short time. In the spacecraft applications or in similar terrestrial structural-separation applications, devices of the proposed type would offer several advantages over explosive bolts: Unlike explosive bolts, the proposed devices would be reusable, could be tested before final use, and would not be subject to catastrophic misfire. In fatigue-testing applications, devices of the proposed type would offer advantages of compactness and low cost, relative to conventional fatigue- testing apparatuses. In both structural- separation and fatigue-testing applications, bolts to be broken or tested could be instrumented with additional ultrasonic transducers for monitoring of pertinent physical properties and of fatigue failure processes.

Sherrit, Stewart↗

Solvation Structure of Methanol-in-Salt Electrolyte Revealed by Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and Simulations

The solvation structure of water-in-salt electrolytes was thoroughly studied, and two competing structures—anion solvated structure and anion network—were well-defined in recent publications. To further reveal the solvation structure in those highly concentrated electrolytes, particularly the influence of solvent, methanol was chosen as the solvent for this proposed study. In this work, small-angle X-ray scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy were utilized to obtain the global and local structural information. With the concentration increment, the anion network formed by TFSI - became the dominant structure. Meanwhile, the hydrogen bonds among methanol were interrupted by the TFSI - anion and formed a new connection with them. Further, molecular dynamic simulations with two different force fields (GAFF and OPLS-AA) are tested, and GAFF agreed with synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering/wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) results well and provided insightful information about molecular/ion scale solvation structure. This article not only deepens the understanding of the solvation structure in highly concentrated solutions, but more importantly, it provides additional strong evidence for utilizing SAXS/WAXS to validate molecular dynamics simulations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Vibration of a cryomodule’s coupler during road transportation: Multibody analysis and experimental validation

The road transportation of critical components for cryogenic cryomodules is a challenging task. Indeed, the shipping and the handling of fundamental sub-assemblies can expose these components to harmful dynamic loads that can jeopardize their structural integrity. This article has the purpose of developing a finite element multibody model capable of assessing the acceleration on a test coupler for a cavity of the Single Spoke Resonator 1 subjected to a typical road transportation trip. A multibody model consisting of rigid bodies and finite element–imported flexible bodies has been created allowing a comparison of the simulated and experimental acceleration. Afterwards, an experimental on-road test, whose set-up is described in this article, has been carried out at Fermilab with instrumented components. Being able to effectively simulate and validate the dynamic effects on such sub-assemblies makes it possible, for the future, to simulate more complex structures subject to dynamic loadings, such as the entire cryomodules during shipping. Furthermore, the results from the simulations can be used to guide the design of new suspension systems suitable for the reduction mitigation of structural vibration during the road transportation of cryomodules.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Extraction of Dynamic Inflow Models for Coaxial and Tandem Rotors from CFD Simulations

The dynamic inflow coupling with rotor/body dynamics is crucial in the analysis of stability and control law design for helicopters. Over the past several decades, finite-state inflow models for single rotor configurations in hover, forward flight, and maneuver have developed (Ref.1-3). By capturing the interference effects between rotors, the extension of pressure potential finite state inflow model has promising result for coaxial rotor configuration (Ref.4-6). Recently, the focus of the dynamic inflow modeling has shifted to tandem rotor configurations (Ref.7, 8). The development of the dynamic inflow models for tandem rotor configuration still have some limitations due to the lack of knowledge of rotor-to-rotor interference, and rotor-wake interference. Experimental methods, and computational fluid dynamics methods are commonly used to understand the rotor performance and rotor airload variations, and measure or predict inflow velocity distributions at the rotor desk. The inflow distributions are subsequently used to improve the dynamic inflow models. Tandem rotor configurations have been studied experimentally and computationally for several decades (Ref.9-12). Sweet (Ref.10) observed that a tandem rotor with 76-percent-radius overlap required 14% more induced power at hovering condition, relative to an isolated rotor of equivalent disk area. Sweet also found that, above a shaft-to-shaft distance of 1.03 diameter, the performance of the tandem rotor was nearly the same as two isolated rotors. The objective of the present study is to apply computational fluid dynamics simulations of tandem rotors for the extraction of dynamic inflow models. The extended methodology is first validated by comparing the computed induced power against test data. Subsequently inflow distributions and wake structures are analyzed.

Extraction of Dynamic Inflow Models↗

Augmenting the Structural Dynamics Workflow to Reduce Development Times

The success of future systems development at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) depends, in part, on the ability to make informed decisions quickly. This is particularly true when asked to perform structural-mechanical analyses across many design alternatives. To help reduce development time, techniques in reduced-order finite-element modeling (FEM), pretest predictions, and FEM-test correlation and updating were demonstrated in the fiscal year (FY) 23 Technology and Demonstration Project (TED): Augmenting the Structural Dynamics Workflow to Reduce Development Times. This report expands on the TED project final report, LA-UR-34022.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Multi-fidelity physics-informed machine learning for probabilistic damage diagnosis

Machine learning (ML) models are gaining popularity in structural health monitoring (SHM) because of their ability to learn the complex relationship between damage and sensor data. However, the lack of sufficient experimental data for structures with different degrees of damage is a key problem in training ML models for SHM. This problem can be alleviated by using physics-based models to generate the required training data to build physics-informed ML (PIML) models for SHM. However, it takes significant computational effort to perform enough high-fidelity simulations of the diagnostic test. It is thus desirable to know whether the available computational resource budget should be expended on numerous low-fidelity physics simulations, or a small number of high-fidelity simulations, or their combination. In this paper, we investigate this aspect of generating adequate training data for PIML, by constructing multi-fidelity PIML models. We evaluate the performance of several PIML models, trained with different amounts of low-fidelity and high-fidelity data, in locating hidden cracks in concrete structures using a nonlinear dynamics-based diagnosis technique. Here, we find that high-fidelity physics simulations that do not cover the (test and damage) parameter space do not improve the performance of diagnostic PIML models built using data from many low-fidelity physics simulations.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Computational requirements for on-orbit identification of space systems

For the future space systems, on-orbit identification (ID) capability will be required to complement on-orbit control, due to the fact that the dynamics of large space structures, spacecrafts, and antennas will not be known sufficiently from ground modeling and testing. The computational requirements for ID of flexible structures such as the space station (SS) or the large deployable reflectors (LDR) are however, extensive due to the large number of modes, sensors, and actuators. For these systems the ID algorithm operations need not be computed in real-time, only in near real-time, or an appropriate mission time. Consequently the space systems will need advanced processors and efficient parallel processing algorithm design and architectures to implement the identification algorithms in near real-time. The MAX computer currently being developed may handle such computational requirements. The purpose is to specify the on-board computational requirements for dynamic and static identification for large space structures. The computational requirements for six ID algorithms are presented in the context of three examples: the JPL/AFAL ground antenna facility, the space station (SS), and the large deployable reflector (LDR).

Hadaegh, Fred Y.↗

Comparison of Angle of Attack Measurements for Wind Tunnel Testing

Two optical systems capable of measuring model attitude and deformation were compared to inertial devices employed to acquire wind tunnel model angle of attack measurements during the sting mounted full span 30% geometric scale flexible configuration of the Northrop Grumman Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) installed in the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT). The overall purpose of the test at TDT was to evaluate smart materials and structures adaptive wing technology. The optical techniques that were compared to inertial devices employed to measure angle of attack for this test were: (1) an Optotrak (registered) system, an optical system consisting of two sensors, each containing a pair of orthogonally oriented linear arrays to compute spatial positions of a set of active markers; and (2) Video Model Deformation (VMD) system, providing a single view of passive targets using a constrained photogrammetric solution whose primary function was to measure wing and control surface deformations. The Optotrak system was installed for this test for the first time at TDT in order to assess the usefulness of the system for future static and dynamic deformation measurements.

Jones, Thomas, W.↗

Thin film strain gage development program

Sputtered thin-film dynamic strain gages of 2 millimeter (0.08 in) gage length and 10 micrometer (0.0004 in) thickness were fabricated on turbojet engine blades and tested in a simulated compressor environment. Four designs were developed, two for service to 600 K (600 F) and two for service to 900 K (1200 F). The program included a detailed study of guidelines for formulating strain-gage alloys to achieve superior dynamic and static gage performance. The tests included gage factor, fatigue, temperature cycling, spin to 100,000 G, and erosion. Since the installations are 30 times thinner than conventional wire strain gage installations, and any alteration of the aerodynamic, thermal, or structural performance of the blade is correspondingly reduced, dynamic strain measurement accuracy higher than that attained with conventional gages is expected. The low profile and good adherence of the thin film elements is expected to result in improved durability over conventional gage elements in engine tests.

Grant, H. P.↗