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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Large and small scale circulation signatures of the ERS-1 SAR over the Gulf Stream

Since September 1991, the ERS-1 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) has collected approximately 170 frames of ocean imagery on 28 passes over the western Gulf Stream in support of ESA experiment US8-2c. SAR signatures of the north wall are seen on nearly all passes, with modulation depth varying from 3% to 35% for 100 m samples. Many small and mesoscale circulation features associated with the Stream are evident. The detailed form of the signature varies considerably, however. Narrow bright or dark linear features appear to follow streamlines, and on one occasion a strong dark line was associated with an in situ measurement of a sharp current shear. Similarly, larger spatial scale changes in backscatter over the Stream were associated with in situ measurements of atmospheric stability transitions. Physical explanations for the narrow features are not so obvious. However, the accumulation of surfactants along converging current boundaries or local short wave straining and breaking appear plausible. These preliminary results strongly suggest that a wide swath (approximately 500 km) SAR with at least 100 m resolution would be a useful adjunct to existing satellite AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) imagery.

Beal, R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Influence of plasma sheet thickening toward the tail flanks on magnetotail stability and dynamics

On the basis of resistive MHD simulations we investigate the stability and dynamic evolution of the magnetotail for configurations with various degrees of plasma sheet thickening from midnight toward the tail flanks, associated with a similar increase of the B(sub z) component. This increase is varied by factors between 2 and 3.5, while the magnitude of B(sub z) at midnight is left unchanged. The increase of B(sub z) has a strong effect on the spatial extend of resistive tearing and reconnection across the tail and on the unstable evolution. For stronger thickening the cross-tail extent of the near-Earth neutral line, formed by reconnection, and correspondingly the amount of reconnected magnetic flux get reduced and the dipolarization effects earthward of the neutral line are more concentrated near midnight. An increase of B(sub z) from midnight toward the flanks by more than a factor of about 3 can possibly even suppress the resistive tearing instability. This indicates the possibility of a stability transition due to a reduction of B(sub z) in the flank regions in response to changes in the solar wind, even when the magnitude of B(sub z) near midnight and the fluctuation level in that region are unchanged (provided that a sufficient fluctuation level exists).

Birn, Joachim↗
NASA NTRS1998

Prediction and Validation of Mars Pathfinder Hypersonic Aerodynamic Data Base

Postflight analysis of the Mars Pathfinder hypersonic, continuum aerodynamic data base is presented. Measured data include accelerations along the body axis and axis normal directions. Comparisons of preflight simulation and measurements show good agreement. The prediction of two static instabilities associated with movement of the sonic line from the shoulder to the nose and back was confirmed by measured normal accelerations. Reconstruction of atmospheric density during entry has an uncertainty directly proportional to the uncertainty in the predicted axial coefficient. The sensitivity of the moment coefficient to freestream density, kinetic models and center-of-gravity location are examined to provide additional consistency checks of the simulation with flight data. The atmospheric density as derived from axial coefficient and measured axial accelerations falls within the range required for sonic line shift and static stability transition as independently determined from normal accelerations.

Gnoffo, Peter A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Stability theory and transition prediction applied to a general aviation fuselage

The linear stability of a fully three-dimensional boundary layer formed over a general aviation fuselage was investigated. The location of the onset of transition was estimated using the N-factor method. The results were compared with existing experimental data and indicate N-factors of approximately 8.5 on the side of the fuselage and 3.0 near the top. Considerable crossflow existed along the side of the body, which significantly affected the unstable modes present in the boundary layer. Fair agreement was found between the predicted frequency range of linear instability modes and available experimental data concerning the spectral content of the boundary layer.

Spall, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1974

On the application of linear stability theory to the problem of supersonic boundary-layer transition

Linear stability theory is used to calculate the amplitude ratio of constant-frequency disturbances as a function of Reynolds number for insulated and cooled-wall flat-plate boundary layers between Mach numbers 1.3 and 5.8. The growth curves are used to examine the consequences of using a fixed amplitude of the most unstable frequency as a transition criterion. The effect of free-stream Mach number on insulated-wall boundary layers is calculated, assuming that the initial disturbance level is constant, is proportional to the square of the free-stream Mach number and to the square root of the energy density of the one-dimensional power spectra of free-stream disturbances measured in supersonic wind tunnels.

Mack, L. M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Correlations of norbornenyl crosslinked polyimide resin structures with resin thermo-oxidative stability, resin glass transition temperature and composite initial mechanical properties

PMR (polymerization of monomeric reactants) methodology was used to prepare 70 different polyimide oligomeric resins and 30 different unidirectional graphite fiber/polyimide composites. Monomeric composition as well as chain length between sites of crosslinks were varied to examine their effects on resin thermo-oxidative stability and glass transition temperature (Tg) of the cured/postcured resins. A linear correlation of decreasing 316 C resin weight loss/surface area versus (1) decreasing aliphatic content, or (2) increasing benzylic/aliphatic content stoichiometry ratio over a wide range of resin compositions was observed. An almost linear correlation of Tg versus molecular distance between the crosslinks was also observed. An attempt was made to correlate Tg with initial composite mechanical properties (flexural strength and interlaminar shear strength). However, the scatter in mechanical strength data prevented obtaining a clear correlation. Instead, only a range of composite mechanical properties was obtained at 25, 288, and 316 C. Perhaps more importantly, what did become apparent during the correlation study was (1) the PMR methodology could be used to prepare composites from resins containing a wide variety of monomer modifications, (2) that these composites almost invariably provided satisfactory initial mechanical properties as long as the resins formulated exhibited satisfactory processing flow, and (3) that PMR resins exhibited predictable rates of 316 C weight loss/surface area based on their benzylic/aliphatic stoichiometery ratio.

Alston, William B.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Supersonic boundary-layer transition on the LaRC F-106 and the DFRF F-15 aircraft. Part 1: Transition measurements and stability analysis

For the case of the F-15 flight tests, boundary layer transition was observed up to Mach numbers of 1.2. For very limited and specific flight conditions, laminar flow existed back to about 20 percent chord on the surface clean up glove. Hot film instrumentation was effective for locating the region of transition. For the F-106 flight tests, transition on the wing or vertical tail generally occurred very near the attachment line. Transition was believed to be caused by either attachment line contamination or strong cross flow development due to the high sweep angles of the test articles. The compressibility analysis showed that cross flow N-factors were in the range of 5 to 12 at transition.

Collier, Fayette S., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Transition Analysis for the CRM-NLF Wind Tunnel Configuration using Transport Equation Models and Linear Stability Correlations

Transition models based on auxiliary transport equations augmenting the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) framework rely upon transition correlations that were derived from a limited number of low-speed experiments. Furthermore, these models often account for only a subset of the relevant transition mechanisms and/or cannot accurately predict the sensitivity of those mechanisms to the changes in significant flow parameters. A preceding investigation had targeted the assessment of the transport-equation-based transition models in NASA's OVERFLOW 2.3b solver, namely, the amplification factor transport (AFT-2017b) equation model coupled with the Spalart-Allmaras RANS model and the Langtry-Menter transition models (LM2009 without crossflow effects and LM2015 including the modeling of crossflow transition) implemented with Menter’s shear-stress transport equation (SST2003) RANS model. Comparisons with recent measurements at transonic freestream conditions on the Common Research Model with Natural Laminar Flow (CRM-NLF) reinforced our earlier finding that all three of the above models significantly underpredict the reported extent of the laminar flow region over the entire span of the wing, regardless of the dominant instability mechanism(s) underlying the onset of the transition process. The underprediction of the laminar flow extent was attributed to the failure of the above models in accounting for the stabilizing effect of compressibility on the amplification of Tollmien-Schlichting instabilities. Based on previous linear stability studies related to compressibility effects, the present work proposes modifications to the two classes of transition models that reduce to the original form of each model at low subsonic speeds and do not require any nonlocal flow information or additional transport equation(s). The modifications are shown to significantly improve the predicted laminar extent of the flow and compare well against the data from the CRM-NLF experiment. Additionally, a previous assessment of transition prediction based on the dual, nonparallel N -factor method in conjunction with linear parabolized stability equations (PSE) is extended to additional angles of attack to provide the first comprehensive assessment of transition models based on nonparallel disturbance amplification over the CRM-NLF. In general, the transition criterion based on the dual, nonparallel N-factor method with N TS = N CF = 6 is reasonably successful at correlating with the measured transition fronts at R eMAC = 15 million for all angles of attack investigated herein and provides additional validation of the improved predictions from the compressibility-corrected transition models.

CFD modeling↗
NASA NTRS2016

Ab Initio Simulations of Temperature Dependent Phase Stability and Martensitic Transitions in NiTi

For NiTi based alloys, the shape memory effect is governed by a transition from a low-temperature martensite phase to a high-temperature austenite phase. Despite considerable experimental and computational work, basic questions regarding the stability of the phases and the martensitic phase transition remain unclear even for the simple case of binary, equiatomic NiTi. We perform ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to describe the temperature-dependent behavior of NiTi and resolve several of these outstanding issues. Structural correlation functions and finite temperature phonon spectra are evaluated to determine phase stability. In particular, we show that finite temperature, entropic effects stabilize the experimentally observed martensite (B19') and austenite (B2) phases while destabilizing the theoretically predicted (B33) phase. Free energy computations based on ab initio thermodynamic integration confirm these results and permit estimates of the transition temperature between the phases. In addition to the martensitic phase transition, we predict a new transition between the B33 and B19' phases. The role of defects in suppressing these phase transformations is discussed.

nickel titanium↗
NASA NTRS2016

Ab Initio Simulations of Phase Stability and Martensitic Transitions in NiTi

For NiTi based alloys, the shape memory effect is governed by a transition from a low-temperature martensite phase to a high-temperature austenite phase. Despite considerable experimental and computational work, basic questions regarding the stability of the phases and the martensitic phase transition remain unclear even for the simple case of binary, equiatomic NiTi. We perform ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to describe the temperature-dependent behavior of NiTi and resolve several of these outstanding issues. Structural correlation functions and finite temperature phonon spectra are evaluated to determine phase stability. We show that finite temperature, entropic effects stabilize the experimentally observed martensite (B19') and austenite (B2) phases while destabilizing the theoretically predicted (B33) phase. Free energy computations based on ab initio thermodynamic integration confirm these results and permit estimates of the transition temperature between the phases. In addition to the martensitic phase transition, we predict a new transition between the B33 and B19' phases. The role of defects in suppressing phase transformation temperatures is discussed.

Simulations↗
NASA NTRS2022

Transition Analysis for the CRM-NLF Wind Tunnel Configuration using Transport Equation Models and Linear Stability Correlations

Transition models based on auxiliary transport equations augmenting the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) framework rely upon transition correlations that were derived from a limited number of low-speed experiments. Furthermore, these models often account for only a subset of the relevant transition mechanisms and/or cannot accurately predict the sensitivity of those mechanisms to the changes in significant flow parameters. A preceding investigation had targeted the assessment of the transport-equation-based transition models in NASA's OVERFLOW 2.3b solver, namely, the amplification factor transport (AFT-2017b) equation model coupled with the Spalart-Allmaras RANS model and the Langtry-Menter transition models (LM2009 without crossflow effects and LM2015 including the modeling of crossflow transition) implemented with Menter’s shear-stress transport equation (SST2003) RANS model. Comparisons with recent measurements at transonic freestream conditions on the Common Research Model with Natural Laminar Flow (CRM-NLF) reinforced our earlier finding that all three of the above models significantly underpredict the reported extent of the laminar flow region over the entire span of the wing, regardless of the dominant instability mechanism(s) underlying the onset of the transition process. The underprediction of the laminar flow extent was attributed to the failure of the above models in accounting for the stabilizing effect of compressibility on the amplification of Tollmien-Schlichting instabilities. Based on previous linear stability studies related to compressibility effects, the present work proposes modifications to the two classes of transition models that reduce to the original form of each model at low subsonic speeds and do not require any nonlocal flow information or additional transport equation(s). The modifications are shown to significantly improve the predicted laminar extent of the flow and compare well against the data from the CRM-NLF experiment. Additionally, a previous assessment of transition prediction based on the dual, nonparallel N -factor method in conjunction with linear parabolized stability equations (PSE) is extended to additional angles of attack to provide the first comprehensive assessment of transition models based on nonparallel disturbance amplification over the CRM-NLF. In general, the transition criterion based on the dual, nonparallel N-factor method with N TS = N CF = 6 is reasonably successful at correlating with the measured transition fronts at R eMAC = 15 million for all angles of attack investigated herein and provides additional validation of the improved predictions from the compressibility-corrected transition models.

CFD modeling↗
NASA NTRS1993

Role of secondary instability theory and parabolized stability equations in transition modeling

In modeling the laminar-turbulent transition region, the designer depends largely on benchmark data from experiments and/or direct numerical simulations that are usually extremely expensive. An understanding of the evolution of the Reynolds stresses, turbulent kinetic energy, and quantifies in the transport equations like the dissipation and production is essential in the modeling process. The secondary instability theory and the parabolized stability equations method are used to calculate these quantities, which are then compared with corresponding quantities calculated from available direct numerical simulation data for the incompressible boundary-layer flow of laminar-turbulent transition conditions. The potential of the secondary instability theory and the parabolized stability equations approach in predicting these quantities is discussed; results indicate that inexpensive data that are useful for transition modeling in the early stages of the transition region can be provided by these tools.

El-Hady, Nabil M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Flight-measured laminar boundary-layer transition phenomena including stability theory analysis

Flight experiments were conducted on a single-engine turboprop aircraft fitted with a 92-in-chord, 3-ft-span natural laminar flow glove at glove section lift coefficients from 0.15 to 1.10. The boundary-layer transition measurement methods used included sublimating chemicals and surface hot-film sensors. Transition occurred downstream of the minimum pressure point. Hot-film sensors provided a well-defined indication of laminar, laminar-separation, transitional, and turbulent boundary layers. Theoretical calculations of the boundary-layer parameters provided close agreement between the predicted laminar-separation point and the measured transition location. Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) wave growth n-factors between 15 and 17 were calculated at the predicted point of laminar separation. These results suggest that for many practical airplane cruise conditions, laminar separation (as opposed to T-S instability) is the major cause of transition in predominantly two-dimensional flows.

Obara, C. J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Transition prediction using three dimensional stability analysis

Several methods of transition prediction by linear stability analysis are compared. The spectral stability analysis code SALLY is used to analyze flows over laminar flow control wings. It is shown that transition by the envelope method and a new modified wave packet method are comparable in reliability but that the envelope method is more efficient computationally.

Malik, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1965

Transition in circular couette flow.

Stability and transition in Couette flow between concentric rotating cylinders including design and instrumentation of experimental machines

COUETTE FLOW↗
NASA NTRS1993

A detailed study of mean-flow solutions for stability analysis of transitional flows

A finite-volume upwind-difference parabolized Navier-Stokes code is utilized to obtain laminar mean-flow solutions at Mach 3.5 on a half-angle cone of 5 deg at an angle-of-attack of 2 deg. A detailed study is conducted on this configuration; the main focus is the velocity profiles in the leeward and windward symmetry planes at various axial locations. Comparisons of the solution profiles are made with both a central-difference code that incorporates scalar and matrix dissipation models and another state-of-the-art upwind-difference finitevolume code. The results obtained emphasize the importance of using matrix dissipation models for schemes that require explicit artificial dissipation. These results also illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the planeby-plane marching procedure for computing mean-flow solutions for predicting the onset of transition with linear instability.

Ramakrishnan, R.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Nonlinear Transient Growth and Boundary Layer Transition

Parabolized stability equations (PSE) are used in a variational approach to study the optimal, non-modal disturbance growth in a Mach 3 at plate boundary layer and a Mach 6 circular cone boundary layer. As noted in previous works, the optimal initial disturbances correspond to steady counter-rotating streamwise vortices, which subsequently lead to the formation of streamwise-elongated structures, i.e., streaks, via a lift-up effect. The nonlinear evolution of the linearly optimal stationary perturbations is computed using the nonlinear plane-marching PSE for stationary perturbations. A fully implicit marching technique is used to facilitate the computation of nonlinear streaks with large amplitudes. To assess the effect of the finite-amplitude streaks on transition, the linear form of plane- marching PSE is used to investigate the instability of the boundary layer flow modified by spanwise periodic streaks. The onset of bypass transition is estimated by using an N- factor criterion based on the amplification of the streak instabilities. Results show that, for both flow configurations of interest, streaks of sufficiently large amplitude can lead to significantly earlier onset of transition than that in an unperturbed boundary layer without any streaks.

Laminar turbulent transition↗