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At least 775 records · Page 43

Viscous stability theory for thermally stratified flow - Discontinuous jets and shear layers.

The method used by Drazin to investigate the stability of unbounded, viscous, homogeneous, parallel shear flow to small wavenumber disturbances is extended to study the effect of thermal stratification on the stability of unbounded jets and shear layers. By this method the stability characteristics of continuous profiles are inferred from the stability characteristics of discontinuous profiles. The characteristic value problem for discontinuous jet and shear layers is posed by the requirement that the solutions of the governing differential equation satisfy the matching conditions and boundedness conditions for layers that extend to infinity. The analysis leads to a characteristic determinant which is required to vanish for the characteristic values of the parameters: the Reynolds number, the wavenumber, and the wave speed. The stabilizing effect of the thermal stratification as parameterized by the Richardson number was found to be most stabilizing for small wavenumber (large-scale) disturbances.

Gage, K. S.↗

Low-frequency flute instabilities of a hollow cathode arc discharge - Theory and experiment.

The characteristics of two low-frequency electrostatic flute instabilities of a low-pressure hollow cathode arc discharge are reported. Mode I has azimuthal mode number m = 1, and occurs when the radial electric field is negative (directed inward), while mode II has m = - 1 and occurs when the field is positive. The radial electric field is controlled by varying the potential of a secondary anode cylinder located close to the outer discharge radius. A linear perturbation analysis, based on the two-fluid equations, is given for a low-beta, collisionless, cylindrical plasma column, immersed in a uniform axial magnetic field, having a Gaussian density profile and an arbitrary radial electric field profile. Reasonable correlation between theory and experiment is demonstrated for both modes.

Ilic, D. B.↗

Application of infrared line models in the detection of atmospheric pollutants

The total absorptions of the three line profiles, Lorentz, Doppler, and Voight, are compared for a range of intervening parameters. It is found that, for the intermediate path lengths, the use of the combined Lorentz-Doppler (Voight) line profile is essential in calculating the atmospheric transmittance. The line-by-line model transmittance expression is incorporated in the atmospheric radiative flux equation. This equation, in turn, is utilized to determine the pollutant concentration in the atmosphere from the data obtained by the radiation measurement from an aircraft- or satellite-mounted instrument.

Tiwari, S. N.↗

Ionospheric composition in SAR-arcs

Theoretical ion and electron density profiles in the SAR-arc region are calculated using a model of the ionosphere based on the coupled continuity, momentum, and energy equations for O(+), NO(+), and O2(+). It is found that an increase in the reaction O(+) + N2 yields NO(+) + N, which results from enhanced N2 vibrational excitation due to the high electron temperatures found in SAR arcs, can cause a reduction in F-region electron densities by up to a factor of two. The increase in the O(+) + N2 reaction rate is shown to result in a marked change in the ion composition in SAR arcs, with NO(+) being an important ion up to altitudes of about 350 km at night. Since observed electron-density depressions in SAR arcs generally vary between factors of two and seven, it is concluded that the increase in the O(+) + N2 reaction rate cannot account for these depressions by itself.

Raitt, W. J.↗

Asymmetric trailing-edge flows at high Reynolds number

Results from an experimental investigation of asymmetric trailing-edge flows at high Reynolds numbers and subsonic Mach numbers are presented. Measurements include skin friction; surface and flow-field pressures; and mean-velocity, turbulent shear-stress, and turbulent kinetic-energy profiles in the trailing-edge region. Comparisons are made with computed solutions using Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes and boundary-layer equations; two different turbulence models are used. Two attached flow are considered, one having a moderate adverse pressure gradient and the other a more severe gradient. From the comparisons, an evaluation is made of the predictions for these two pressure-gradient cases. Although the comparisons demonstrate reasonable agreement for the moderate pressure-gradient case, some differences are noted for the severe pressure-gradient case.

Cleary, J. W.↗

Diagnosis of vertical motion from VAS retrievals

Satellite-derived temperature profiles are used to determine if reliable estimates of synoptic-scale vertical motion can be obtained from the adiabatic, vorticity, and omega equation techniques. The period of study contains a short-wave trough over the Midwest and a convective outbreak over the middle Mississippi River Valley. Satellite soundings are available at 1-3 h intervals at five times. The emphasis is on assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the three vertical motion procedures, and determining the effects of short-interval observations on the calculations. Results show that the quasi-geostrophic omega equation provided patterns and magnitudes most consistent with observed weather events and 12 h radiosonde-derived motions. The vorticity method produced less satisfactory results, while adiabatic motions were unacceptable. The time derivative term dominated adiabatic motions and was a major influence in the vorticity method. Unrealistic temperature tendencies resulted from the retrieval algorithm; i.e., a diurnal temperature bias extended upwards to 500 mb, and there was a compensating effect at higher levels.

Fuelberg, Henry E.↗

Universal limiter for transient interpolation modeling of the advective transport equations: The ULTIMATE conservative difference scheme

A fresh approach is taken to the embarrassingly difficult problem of adequately modeling simple pure advection. An explicit conservative control-volume formation makes use of a universal limiter for transient interpolation modeling of the advective transport equations. This ULTIMATE conservative difference scheme is applied to unsteady, one-dimensional scalar pure advection at constant velocity, using three critical test profiles: an isolated sine-squared wave, a discontinuous step, and a semi-ellipse. The goal, of course, is to devise a single robust scheme which achieves sharp monotonic resolution of the step without corrupting the other profiles. The semi-ellipse is particularly challenging because of its combination of sudden and gradual changes in gradient. The ULTIMATE strategy can be applied to explicit conservation schemes of any order of accuracy. Second-order schemes are unsatisfactory, showing steepening and clipping typical of currently popular so-called high resolution shock-capturing of TVD schemes. The ULTIMATE third-order upwind scheme is highly satisfactory for most flows of practical importance. Higher order methods give predictably better step resolution, although even-order schemes generate a (monotonic) waviness in the difficult semi-ellipse simulation. Little is to be gained above ULTIMATE fifth-order upwinding which gives results close to the ultimate for which one might hope.

Leonard, B. P.↗

Applications of the conjugate gradient FFT method in scattering and radiation including simulations with impedance boundary conditions

The theoretical and computational aspects related to the application of the Conjugate Gradient FFT (CGFFT) method in computational electromagnetics are examined. The advantages of applying the CGFFT method to a class of large scale scattering and radiation problems are outlined. The main advantages of the method stem from its iterative nature which eliminates a need to form the system matrix (thus reducing the computer memory allocation requirements) and guarantees convergence to the true solution in a finite number of steps. Results are presented for various radiators and scatterers including thin cylindrical dipole antennas, thin conductive and resistive strips and plates, as well as dielectric cylinders. Solutions of integral equations derived on the basis of generalized impedance boundary conditions (GIBC) are also examined. The boundary conditions can be used to replace the profile of a material coating by an impedance sheet or insert, thus, eliminating the need to introduce unknown polarization currents within the volume of the layer. A general full wave analysis of 2-D and 3-D rectangular grooves and cavities is presented which will also serve as a reference for future work.

Barkeshli, Kasra↗

The three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer near a plane of symmetry

The asymptotic structure of the three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer near a plane of symmetry is considered in the limit of large Reynolds number. A self-consistent two-layer structure is shown to exist wherein the streamwise velocity is brought to rest through an outer defect layer and an inner wall layer in a manner similar to that in two-dimensional boundary layers. The cross-stream velocity distribution is more complex and two terms in the asymptotic expansion are required to yield a complete profile which is shown to exhibit a logarithmic region. The flow in the inner wall layer is demonstrated to be collateral to leading order; pressure-gradient effects are formally of higher order but can cause the velocity profile to skew substantially near the wall at the large but finite Reynolds numbers encountered in practice. The governing set of ordinary differential equations describing a self-similar flow is derived. The calculated numerical solutions of these equations are matched asymptotically to an inner wall-layer solution and the results show trends that are consistent with experimental observations.

Degani, A. T.↗

Heat Transfer on a Flat Plate with Uniform and Step Temperature Distributions

Heat transfer associated with turbulent flow on a step-heated or cooled section of a flat plate at zero angle of attack with an insulated starting section was computationally modeled using the GASP Navier-Stokes code. The algebraic eddy viscosity model of Baldwin-Lomax and the turbulent two-equation models, the K- model and the Shear Stress Turbulent model (SST), were employed. The variations from uniformity of the imposed experimental temperature profile were incorporated in the computations. The computations yielded satisfactory agreement with the experimental results for all three models. The Baldwin- Lomax model showed the closest agreement in heat transfer, whereas the SST model was higher and the K-omega model was yet higher than the experiments. In addition to the step temperature distribution case, computations were also carried out for a uniformly heated or cooled plate. The SST model showed the closest agreement with the Von Karman analogy, whereas the K-omega model was higher and the Baldwin-Lomax was lower.

Bahrami, Parviz A.↗

An Analytical Solution for Yaw Maneuver Optimization on the International Space Station and Other Orbiting Space Vehicles

This paper presents a new method for optimizing yaw maneuvers, which are the most common large maneuvers on the International Space Station (ISS). The goal of the maneuver optimization is to find a maneuver trajectory with minimal torques acting on the vehicle during the maneuver. Therefore, the thruster firings necessary to perform the maneuver are minimized. Reduction of thruster firings saves propellant and decreases structural loads and contamination of the vehicle critical elements, thus saving the service life of the thrusters and the vehicle itself. Equations describing the pitch and roll motion needed to counteract the major torques during a yaw maneuver are obtained. Also, a yaw rate profile is suggested. In the obtained optimized case, the torques are significantly reduced. The proposed approximate analytical solution does not require extensive computer resources and, therefore, can be implemented using software onboard the ISS. As a result, the maneuver execution will be automatic. This is one of the major benefits of the simplified solution presented in this paper with respect to existing computational approaches. The suggested maneuver optimization method can be used not only for the ISS, but for other space vehicles as well.

Dobrinskaya, Tatiana↗

Cartesian Mesh Simulations for the Third AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshop

Simulation results are presented for all cases from the Third AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshop. An inviscid, embedded-boundary Cartesian-mesh flow solver is used in conjunction with adjoint-based mesh adaptation to compute nearfield pressure signatures. Specialized techniques are applied to maximize accuracy and minimize cost on Cartesian meshes. The Richardson-based error estimate highlights regions of the signatures most sensitive to mesh refinement. Timing results and coarse, medium, and fine mesh sizes for nearfield cases demonstrate that the parallel decomposition approach is efficient in both computational time and wall-clock. Pressure signals are propagated to the ground using an augmented Burgers’ equation solver to predict boom carpets. Ground signatures and loudness metrics are presented for a standard atmosphere as well as more realistic atmospheric profiles, which affect overall noise levels and can significantly widen the boom carpet. Mesh convergence studies show that high sampling frequencies, around 500 kHz, are required for propagation, and the sampling frequency increases at large off-track angles with longer acoustic ray paths and propagation times. The numerical methods yield accurate results for predicting low sonic boom signatures while being among the least computationally expensive of the workshop.

ARMD↗

Numerical spatial marching techniques for estimating duct attenuation and source pressure profiles

A numerical method was developed that could predict the pressure distribution of a ducted source from far field pressure inputs. Using an initial value formulation, the two-dimensional homogeneous Helmholtz wave equation (no steady flow) was solved using explicit marching techniques. The Von Neumann method was used to develop relationships which describe how sound frequency and grid spacing effect numerical stability. At the present time, stability considerations limit the approach to high frequency sound. Sample calculations for both hard and soft wall ducts compare favorably to known boundary value solutions. In addition, assuming that reflections in the duct are small, this initial value approach was successfully used to determine the attenuation of a straight soft wall duct. Compared to conventional finite difference or finite element boundary value approaches, the numerical marching technique is orders of magnitude shorter in computation time and required computer storage and can be easily employed in problems involving high frequency sound.

Baumeister, K. J.↗

Relative effectiveness of kinetic analysis vs single point readings for classifying environmental samples based on community-level physiological profiles (CLPP)

The relative effectiveness of average-well-color-development-normalized single-point absorbance readings (AWCD) vs the kinetic parameters mu(m), lambda, A, and integral (AREA) of the modified Gompertz equation fit to the color development curve resulting from reduction of a redox sensitive dye from microbial respiration of 95 separate sole carbon sources in microplate wells was compared for a dilution series of rhizosphere samples from hydroponically grown wheat and potato ranging in inoculum densities of 1 x 10(4)-4 x 10(6) cells ml-1. Patterns generated with each parameter were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant function analysis (DFA) to test relative resolving power. Samples of equivalent cell density (undiluted samples) were correctly classified by rhizosphere type for all parameters based on DFA analysis of the first five PC scores. Analysis of undiluted and 1:4 diluted samples resulted in misclassification of at least two of the wheat samples for all parameters except the AWCD normalized (0.50 abs. units) data, and analysis of undiluted, 1:4, and 1:16 diluted samples resulted in misclassification for all parameter types. Ordination of samples along the first principal component (PC) was correlated to inoculum density in analyses performed on all of the kinetic parameters, but no such influence was seen for AWCD-derived results. The carbon sources responsible for classification differed among the variable types with the exception of AREA and A, which were strongly correlated. These results indicate that the use of kinetic parameters for pattern analysis in CLPP may provide some additional information, but only if the influence of inoculum density is carefully considered. c2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

NASA Center KSC↗

Sliding Mode Control of the X-33 with an Engine Failure

Ascent flight control of the X-3 is performed using two XRS-2200 linear aerospike engines. in addition to aerosurfaces. The baseline control algorithms are PID with gain scheduling. Flight control using an innovative method. Sliding Mode Control. is presented for nominal and engine failed modes of flight. An easy to implement, robust controller. requiring no reconfiguration or gain scheduling is demonstrated through high fidelity flight simulations. The proposed sliding mode controller utilizes a two-loop structure and provides robust. de-coupled tracking of both orientation angle command profiles and angular rate command profiles in the presence of engine failure, bounded external disturbances (wind gusts) and uncertain matrix of inertia. Sliding mode control causes the angular rate and orientation angle tracking error dynamics to be constrained to linear, de-coupled, homogeneous, and vector valued differential equations with desired eigenvalues. Conditions that restrict engine failures to robustness domain of the sliding mode controller are derived. Overall stability of a two-loop flight control system is assessed. Simulation results show that the designed controller provides robust, accurate, de-coupled tracking of the orientation angle command profiles in the presence of external disturbances and vehicle inertia uncertainties, as well as the single engine failed case. The designed robust controller will significantly reduce the time and cost associated with flying new trajectory profiles or orbits, with new payloads, and with modified vehicles

Shtessel, Yuri B.↗

Shock initiation of low density polymer bonded explosive LX-14: A study of two morphologies

A series of six shock initiation experiments have been carried out on low density LX-14 powder in order to simulate a shock insult on the heavily damage polymer bonded explosive, LX-14. Two distinct morphologies were studied (tap density molding powder and machined swarf), both at the same density of 0.942 g/cm 3 , or 50.1% theoretical maximum density. The purpose of these experiments was to provide data to help make an assessment of the effects that damage has on the material sensitivity to a planar shock. This was achieved primarily by providing shock sensitivity data in the form of a Pop plot, and also reactants equation of state data, which aids in the determination of input conditions for both the experiments performed in this work and also future experiments of this material type. The experiments were of a cut-back format, consisting of four sample heights on each shot and diagnosed with optical velocimetry. The experiments were carried out at the Technical Area 40 Chamber 9 gas gun facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the LX-14 targets were subjected to Al 6061 and Oxygen Free High Conductivity copper impactors launched to velocities up to 2.14 km/s. Time corrected reactive growth wave profiles are presented in this paper along with the derivation of the following Hugoniot parameters for this explosive, where the molding powder and machine swarf are represented by the following linear equations, respectively, U s = 1.64 (±0.64)u p + 2.25 (±0.49) and U s = 0.87 (±.0.60)u p + 4.08 (±0.49). The results show that the steady increase in shock sensitivity with increasing void fraction reaches an inflection point beyond which the shock sensitivity begins to decease. This inflection point lies between 65% and 50% of the theoretical maximum density of the LX-14. In both cases, the damaged LX-14 was not as sensitive as expected, with a relative shock sensitivity of the molding powder being less than the pressed LX-14, and the machined swarf having a shock sensitivity that is comparable to pressed LX-14.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Uncertainties in derived temperature-height soundings A summary

It is shown that high-resolution low-uncertainty temperature-height profiles cannot be deduced from pressure-height data alone because the relative uncertainty in pressure data cannot be expected to be smaller than 1% or 2% in present-day practical instrumentation. The basic equations relating temperature to pressure-height or density-height data are subjected to error analysis to determine the uncertainty introduced into computed temperature-height values by observed data. The results show that the use of density data is much more preferable than the use of pressure data if atmospheric temperature is to be determined as a function of height with a fine height resolution and a small uncertainty from the height profiles of pressure or density and if pressures and densities can be measured with comparable accuracies.

Minzner, R. A.↗

Numerical spatial marching techniques for estimating duct attenuation and source pressure profiles

A numerical method is developed that could predict the pressure distribution of a ducted source from far-field pressure inputs. Using an initial value formulation, the two-dimensional homogeneous Helmholtz wave equation (no steady flow) is solved using explicit marching techniques. The Von Neumann method is used to develop relationships which describe how sound frequency and grid spacing effect numerical stability. At the present time, stability considerations limit the approach to high frequency sound. Sample calculations for both hard and soft wall ducts compare favorably to known boundary value solutions. In addition, assuming that reflections in the duct are small, this initial value approach is successfully used to determine the attenuation of a straight soft wall duct. Compared to conventional finite difference or finite element boundary value approaches, the numerical marching technique is orders of magnitude shorter in computation time and required computer storage and can be easily employed in problems involving high frequency sound.

Baumeister, K. J.↗