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At least 775 records · Page 43

Application of computational aero-acoustics to real world problems

The application of computational aeroacoustics (CAA) to real problems is discussed in relation to the analysis performed with the aim of assessing the application of the various techniques. It is considered that the applications are limited by the inability of the computational resources to resolve the large range of scales involved in high Reynolds number flows. Possible simplifications are discussed. It is considered that problems remain to be solved in relation to the efficient use of the power of parallel computers and in the development of turbulent modeling schemes. The goal of CAA is stated as being the implementation of acoustic design studies on a computer terminal with reasonable run times.

Hardin, Jay C.↗

Free-Surface and Contact Line Motion of Liquid in Microgravity

This project involves fundamental studies of the role of nonlinearity in determining the motion of liquid masses under the principal influences of surface tension, viscosity and inertia. Issues to be explored are relevant to aspects of terrestrial processes, as well as being immediately applicable to fluid management in a low-gravity environment. Specific issues include: (1) the mechanic's of liquid masses in large-amplitude motions, (2) the influence of bounding surfaces on the motion, and (3) the ability of such surfaces to control liquid motion by wetting forces, especially when they are augmented by various surface treatments. Mathematical techniques include asymptotic analysis of the governing equations, for problem simplification, and numerical simulation, using both boundary-element and finite-difference methods. The flow problem is divided into an 'outer' or inviscid potential-flow region and one or more inner, or viscous dominated, regions. Relevant to one inner region, the vicinity of the contact line, we discuss time-dependent simulation of slow droplet motion, on a surface of variable wettability, using the lubrication approximation. The simulation uses a disjoining pressure model and reproduces realistic wetting-dewetting behavior.

Schwartz, Leonard W.↗

Review of Godunov Methods

In this paper, second order Godunov methods are reviewed. The early versions by Colella and Woodward (PPM) and van Leer (MUSCL) are described in their original form. The simplification of these by Roe, based on approximate Riemann solver, is then presented. Attention is next given to the improvement in MUSCL due to Hancock and van Leer leading to a fuller paper by Huynh. Finally, brief reference is made to TVD and ENO schemes due to Harten.

Holt, Maurice↗

Self-Consistent Simulation of the Brownian Stage of Dust Growth

It is a widely accepted view that in proto-planetary accretion disks the collision and following sticking of dust particles embedded in the gas eventually leads to the formation of planetesimals (coagulation). For the smallest dust grains, Brownian motion is assumed to be the dominant source of their relative velocities leading to collisions between these dust grains. As the dust grains grow they eventually couple to the turbulent motion of the gas which then drives the coagulation much more efficiently. Many numerical coagulation simulations have been carried out to calculate the fractal dimension of the aggregates, which determines the duration of the ineffective Brownian stage of growth. Predominantly on-lattice and off-lattice methods were used. However, both methods require simplification of the astrophysical conditions. The aggregates found by those methods had a fractal dimension of approximately 2 which is equivalent to a constant, mass-independent friction time. If this value were valid for the conditions in an accretion disk, this would mean that the coagulation process would finally 'freeze out' and the growth of a planetesimal would be impossible within the lifetime of an accretion disk. In order to investigate whether this fractal dimension is model independent, we simulate self-consistently the Brownian stage of the coagulation by an N-particle code. This method has the advantage that no further assumptions about homogeneity of the dust have to be made. In our model, the dust grains are considered as aggregates built up of spheres. The equation of motion of the dust grains is based on the probability density for the diffusive transport within the gas atmosphere. Because of the very low number density of the dust grains, only 2-body-collisions have to be considered. As the Brownian stage of growth is very inefficient, the system is to be simulated over long periods of time. In order to find close particle pairs of the system which are most likely to undergo a collision, we use a particle-in-cell (PIC) method for the early stages of the simulation where the system is still very homogeneous and a tree method later when the particles are more clustered.

Kempf, S.↗

On the Generation of Turbulent Inflow Conditions for Boundary Layer Simulations

Turbulent flows that exhibit inhomogeneities in the streamwise direction pose a particular challenge to numerical simulation approaches due to the need to prescribe time-dependent turbulent inflow conditions. In most cases the flow downstream is more or less 'driven' by the conditions at the inlet, making it necessary to specify realistic turbulent fluctuations that are in equilibrium with the assumed mean flow. This requirement often dictates that the inflow data should satisfy the Navier-Stokes equations, which in turn implies that an independent simulation be used to generate them. Detailed simulations for the purpose of creating inflow conditions can be costly and thus certain levels of approximation are desirable. In this paper we shall focus on an approximate yet accurate method for generating inflow conditions for spatially-developing boundary layer simulations. The proposed method is essentially a simplification of the method of Spalart and Leonard (1985), who devised an ingenious transformation that allows for the calculation of spatially evolving boundary layers in conjunction with periodic boundary conditions applied in the streamwise direction. While this method is elegant and highly accurate, it is more complicated than is necessary for the purpose of generating inflow data. A few key approximations are used in this work to arrive at a 'modified Spalart method' that is very easy to implement and efficient to use. The new method is shown to yield results that compare well with the computations of Spalart (1988). When used as a means of generating inflow data, the modified Spalart method is shown to be superior to existing approaches.

Lund, T. S.↗

Effect of chemistry and turbulence on NO formation in oxygen-natural gas flames

The effects of chemistry and turbulence on NO formation in oxygen-natural turbulent diffusion flames gas flames have been investigated. The chemistry of nitric oxides has been studied numerically in the counterflow configuration. Systematic calculations with the GRI 2.11 mechanism for combustion of methane and NO chemistry were conducted to provide a base case. It was shown that the 'simple' Zeldovich mechanism accounts for more than 75% of N2 consumption in the flame in a range of strain-rates varying between 10 and 1000 s-l. The main shortcomings of this mechanism are: 1) overestimation (15%) of the NO production rate at low strain-rates because it does not capture the reburn due to the hydrocarbon chemistry, and 2) underestimation (25%) of the NO production rate at high strainrates because it ignores NO production through the prompt mechanism. Reburn through the Zeldovich mechanism alone proves to be significant at low strain-rates. A one-step model based on the Zeldovich mechanism and including reburn has been developed. It shows good agreement with the GRI mechanism at low strain-rates but underestimates significantly N2 consumption (about 50%) at high strain-rates. The role of turbulence has been assessed by using an existing 3-D DNS data base of a diffusion flame in decaying turbulence. Two PDF closure models used in practical industrial codes for turbulent NO formation have been tested. A simpler version of the global one-step chemical scheme for NO compared to that developed in this study was used to test the closure assumptions of the PDF models, because the data base could not provide all the necessary ingredients. Despite this simplification, it was possible to demonstrate that the current PDF models for NO overestimate significantly the NO production rate due to the fact that they neglect the correlations between the fluctuations in oxygen concentration and temperature. A single scalar PDF model for temperature that accounts for such correlations based on laminar flame considerations has been developed and showed excellent agreement with the values given by the DNS.

Samaniego, J. -M.↗

Validation of an Accurate Three-Dimensional Helical Slow-Wave Circuit Model

The helical slow-wave circuit embodies a helical coil of rectangular tape supported in a metal barrel by dielectric support rods. Although the helix slow-wave circuit remains the mainstay of the traveling-wave tube (TWT) industry because of its exceptionally wide bandwidth, a full helical circuit, without significant dimensional approximations, has not been successfully modeled until now. Numerous attempts have been made to analyze the helical slow-wave circuit so that the performance could be accurately predicted without actually building it, but because of its complex geometry, many geometrical approximations became necessary rendering the previous models inaccurate. In the course of this research it has been demonstrated that using the simulation code, MAFIA, the helical structure can be modeled with actual tape width and thickness, dielectric support rod geometry and materials. To demonstrate the accuracy of the MAFIA model, the cold-test parameters including dispersion, on-axis interaction impedance and attenuation have been calculated for several helical TWT slow-wave circuits with a variety of support rod geometries including rectangular and T-shaped rods, as well as various support rod materials including isotropic, anisotropic and partially metal coated dielectrics. Compared with experimentally measured results, the agreement is excellent. With the accuracy of the MAFIA helical model validated, the code was used to investigate several conventional geometric approximations in an attempt to obtain the most computationally efficient model. Several simplifications were made to a standard model including replacing the helical tape with filaments, and replacing rectangular support rods with shapes conforming to the cylindrical coordinate system with effective permittivity. The approximate models are compared with the standard model in terms of cold-test characteristics and computational time. The model was also used to determine the sensitivity of various circuit parameters including typical manufacturing dimensional tolerances and support rod permittivity. By varying the circuit parameters of an accurate model using MAFIA, these sensitivities can be computed for manufacturing concerns, and design optimization previous to fabrication, thus eliminating the need for costly experimental iterations. Several variations were made to a standard helical circuit using MAFIA to investigate the effect that variations on helical tape and support rod width, metallized loading height and support rod permittivity, have on TWT cold-test characteristics.

Kory, Carol L.↗

Improved Gaussian Beam-Scattering Algorithm

The localized model of the beam-shape coefficients for Gaussian beam-scattering theory by a spherical particle provides a great simplification in the numerical implementation of the theory. We derive an alternative form for the localized coefficients that is more convenient for computer computations and that provides physical insight into the details of the scattering process. We construct a FORTRAN program for Gaussian beam scattering with the localized model and compare its computer run time on a personal computer with that of a traditional Mie scattering program and with three other published methods for computing Gaussian beam scattering. We show that the analytical form of the beam-shape coefficients makes evident the fact that the excitation rate of morphology-dependent resonances is greatly enhanced for far off-axis incidence of the Gaussian beam.

Lock, James A.↗

Application of Low Dimensional Manifolds in NO(x) Prediction

A new post-processing technique has been developed, based on the Intrinsic Low Dimensional Manifold (ILDM) method of Maas and Pope. The ILDM method is a dynamical systems approach to the simplification of large chemical kinetic mechanisms. By identifying low-dimensional attracting manifolds, the method allows complex full mechanisms to be parameterized by just a few variables: In effect, generating reduced chemical mechanisms by an automatic procedure. These resulting mechanisms however, still retain all the species used in the full mechanism. The NO(x) post-processor takes an ILDM reduced mechanism and attempts to map this mechanism to the results of a CFD calculation. This mapping allows the NO(x) concentrations at each grid node to be obtained from the ILDM reduced mechanism, as well as other trace species of interest. Because a mapping procedure is used, this method is very fast, being able to process one million node calculations in just a few minutes.

Norris, A. T.↗

Test of a flexible spacecraft dynamics simulator

There are a number of approaches one can take to modeling the dynamics of a flexible body. While one can attempt to capture the full dynamical behavior subject to disturbances from actuators and environmental torques, such a detailed description often is unnecessary. Simplification is possible either by limiting the amplitude of motion to permit linearization of the dynamics equations or by restricting the types of allowed motion. In this work, we study the nonlinear dynamics of bending deformations of wire booms on spinning spacecraft. The theory allows for large amplitude excursions from equilibrium while enforcing constraints on the dynamics to prohibit those modes that are physically less relevant or are expected to damp out fast. These constraints explicitly remove the acoustic modes (i.e., longitudinal sound waves and shear waves) while allowing for arbitrary bending and twisting, motions which typically are of lower frequency. As a test case, a spin axis reorientation maneuver by the Polar Plasma Laboratory (POLAR) spacecraft has been simulated. POLAR was chosen as a representative spacecraft because it has flexible wire antennas that extend to a length of 65 meters. Bending deformations in these antennas could be quite large and have a significant effect on the attitude dynamics of the spacecraft body. Summary results from the simulation are presented along, with a comparison with POLAR flight data.

Dichmann, Donald↗

Analysis and Design of Variable Stiffness Composite Cylinders

An investigation of the possible performance improvements of thin circular cylindrical shells through the use of the variable stiffness concept is presented. The variable stiffness concept implies that the stiffness parameters change spatially throughout the structure. This situation is achieved mainly through the use of curvilinear fibers within a fiber-reinforced composite laminate, though the possibility of thickness variations and discrete stiffening elements is also allowed. These three mechanisms are incorporated into the constitutive laws for thin shells through the use of Classical Lamination Theory. The existence of stiffness variation within the structure warrants a formulation of the static equilibrium equations from the most basic principles. The governing equations include sufficient detail to correctly model several types of nonlinearity, including the formation of a nonlinear shell boundary layer as well as the Brazier effect due to nonlinear bending of long cylinders. Stress analysis and initial buckling estimates are formulated for a general variable stiffness cylinder. Results and comparisons for several simplifications of these highly complex governing equations are presented so that the ensuing numerical solutions are considered reliable and efficient enough for in-depth optimization studies. Four distinct cases of loading and stiffness variation are chosen to investigate possible areas of improvement that the variable stiffness concept may offer over traditional constant stiffness and/or stiffened structures. The initial investigation deals with the simplest solution for cylindrical shells in which all quantities are constant around the circumference of the cylinder. This axisymmetric case includes a stiffness variation exclusively in the axial direction, and the only pertinent loading scenarios include constant loads of axial compression, pressure, and torsion. The results for these cases indicate that little improvement over traditional laminates exists through the use of curvilinear fibers, mainly due to the presence of a weak link area within the stiffness variation that limits the ultimate load that the structure can withstand. Rigorous optimization studies reveal that even though slight increases in the critical loads can be produced for designs with an arbitrary variation of the fiber orientation angle, the improvements are not significant when compared to traditional design techniques that utilize ring stiffeners and frames. The second problem that is studied involves arbitrary loading of a cylinder with a stiffness variation that changes only in the circumferential direction. The end effects of the cylinder are ignored, so that the problem takes the form of an analysis of a cross-section for a short cylinder segment. Various load cases including axial compression, pressure, torsion, bending, and transverse shear forces are investigated. It is found that the most significant improvements in load-carrying capability exist for cases which involve loads that also vary around the circumference of the shell, namely bending and shear forces. The stiffness variation of the optimal designs contribute to the increased performance in two ways: lowering the stresses in the critical areas through redistribution of the stresses; and providing a relatively stiff region that alters the buckling behavior of the structure. These results lead to an in-depth optimization study involving weight optimization of a fuselage structure subjected to typical design constraints. Comparisons of the curvilinear fiber format to traditional stiffened structures constructed of isotropic and composite materials are included. It is found that standard variable stiffness designs are quite comparable in terms of weight and load-carrying capability yet offer the added advantage of tailorability of distinct regions of the structure that experience drastically different loading conditions. The last two problems presented in this work involve the nonlinear phenomenon of long tubes under bending. Though this scenario is not as applicable to fuselage structures as the previous problems, the mechanisms that produce the nonlinear effect are ideally suited to be controlled by the variable stiffness concept. This is due to the fact that the dominating influence for long cylinders under bending is the ovalization of the cross-section, which is governed mainly by the stiffness parameters of the cylindrical shell. Possible improvement of the critical buckling moments for these structures is investigated using either a circumferential or axial stiffness variation. For the circumferential case involving infinite length cylinders, it is found that slight improvements can be observed by designing structures that resist the cross-sectional deformation yet do not detract from the buckling resistance at the critical location. The results also indicate that buckling behavior is extremely dependent on cylinder length. This effect is most easily seen in the solution of finite length cylinders under bending that contain an axial stiffness variation. For these structures, the only mechanism that exhibits improved response are those that effectively shorten the length of the cylinder, thus reducing the cross-sectional deformation due to the forced restraint at the ends. It was found that the use of curvilinear fibers was not able to achieve this effect in sufficient degree to resist the deformation, but that ring stiffeners produced the desired response admirably. Thus, it is shown that the variable stiffness concept is most effective at improving the bending response of long cylinders through the use of a circumferential stiffness variation.

Tatting, Brian F.↗

Problems Arising from Current Trends in Propulsion System Design and Guidance Schemes

Mission requirements in various NASA programs dictate the necessity for high reliability, continual and chronic increases in payload capability, and precise injection into the prescribed orbit. In some vehicles, concepts employed to meet these criteria in the areas of guidance and propulsion have been found to be somewhat in conflict. For the express purpose of increasing reliability, the primary emphasis in engine and feed design has been placed on simplification including the removal of control systems. In the guidance area considerable attention has been given to the development of methods of implementation which allow complete reshaping of the pitch program if the stage should perform at some level other than predicted. In such a guidance scheme the assumption is made that observed differences in performance levels are constant throughout flight. In the absence of propulsion control systems, however, some oscillations about a mean value representative of the shift can be expected. Analyses showed that this occurrence would severely limit the effectiveness of the Iterative Guidance Mode. The purpose of this paper is to deal with the definition, causes and cures of this problem.

McKay, George H., Jr.↗

XTE Proposal #20102--"SS 433's High Energy Spectrum"

We observed the jet-producing compact binary system SS 433 with RXTE during three multiwavelength campaigns, the first in conjunction with ASCA observations, the second simultaneous with a VLA-VLBA-MERLIN campaign, and the third associated with a Nobeyama millimeter-band campaign. All these campaigns included optical observations. Occurring at different jet precession and binary phases, the observations also monitored the system during a radio flare. The data provide SS 433's X-ray spectrum over more than an energy decade, and track the spectral variations as the X-ray source was partially eclipsed. The continuum can be modeled as a power law with an exponential cutoff, which can be detected to approximately 50 keV. Strong line emission is evident in the 5-10 keV range which can be modeled as a broad line whose energy is precession independent and a narrow line whose energy does vary with jet precession phase; this line model is clearly an over simplification since the PCA does not have sufficient energy resolution to detect the lines ASCA observed. The eclipses are deeper at high energy and at jet precession phases when the jets are more inclined towards and away from us. A large radio flare occurred between two sets of X-ray monitoring observations; an X-ray observation at the peak of the flare found a softer spectrum with a flux approximately 1/3 that of the quiescent level.

Band, David L.↗

Inviscid Design of Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Nozzles for a Real Gas

A straightforward procedure has been developed to quickly determine an inviscid design of a hypersonic wind tunnel nozzle when the test crash is both calorically and thermally imperfect. This real gas procedure divides the nozzle into four distinct parts: subsonic, throat to conical, conical, and turning flow regions. The design process is greatly simplified by treating the imperfect gas effects only in the source flow region. This simplification can be justified for a large class of hypersonic wind tunnel nozzle design problems. The final nozzle design is obtained either by doing a classical boundary layer correction or by using this inviscid design as the starting point for a viscous design optimization based on computational fluid dynamics. An example of a real gas nozzle design is used to illustrate the method. The accuracy of the real gas design procedure is shown to compare favorably with an ideal gas design based on computed flow field solutions.

Korte, J. J.↗

A Simulation to Study Speed Distributions in a Solar Plasma

We have carried out a numerical simulation of a plasma with characteristics similar to those found in the core of the Sun. Particular emphasis is placed on the Coulomb interaction between the ions and electrons, which could result in a relative velocity distribution different from the Maxwell-Boltzmann (MB) distribution generally assumed for a plasma. The fact that the distribution may not exactly follow the MB distribution could have very important consequences for a variety of problems in solar physics, especially the neutrino problem. Very briefly, the neutrino problem is that the observed neutrino detections from the Sun are smaller than what the standard solar theory predicts. In Section I we introduce the problem and in section II we discuss the approach to try to solve the problem: i.e., a molecular dynamics approach. In section III we provide details about the integration method, and any simplifications that can be applied to the problem. In section IV (the core of this report) we state our results. First for the specific case of 1000 particles and then for other cases with different number of particles. In section V we summarize our findings and state our conclusions. Sections VI VII and VIII provide the list of figures, reference material and acknowledgements respectively.

Cheeseman, Peter↗

Precision and Radiosonde Validation of Satellite Gridpoint Temperature Anomalies. Part I; MSU Channel 2: MSU Channel 2 - Pt. 1

In Part 1 of this study, monthly 2.5 deg. gridpoint anomalies in the TIROS-N (Television and Infrared Operational Satellite-N) series Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) channel 2 brightness temperatures during 1979-88 are evaluated with multiple satellites and radiosonde data for their climate temperature monitoring capability. The MSU anomalies we computed about a 10-year mean annual cycle at each grid point, with the MSUs intercalibrated to a common arbitrary level. The intercalibrations remove relative biases between instruments of up to several tenths of a degree celsius. The monthly gridpoint anomaly agreement between concurrently operating satellites reveals single-satellite precision on generally better than 0.07 C in the tropics and better than 0.15 C at higher latitudes. Monthly anomalies in radiosonde channel 2 brightness temperatures computed with the radiative transfer equation compare very closely to the MSU measured anomalies in all climate zones, with correlations generally from 0.94 to 0.98 and standard errors of 0.15 C in the tropics to 0.30 C at high latitudes. Simplification of these radiative transfer calculations to a static weighting profile applied to the radiosonde temperature profile leads to an average degradation of only 0.02 deg. in the monthly skill. In terms of a more traditionally measured quantity, the MSU channel 2 anomalies match best with either the radiosonde 100-20-kPa or 100-15-kPa layer anomalies. No significant spurious trends were found in the 10-yr satellite dataset compared to the radiosondes that would indicate a calibration drift in either system. Thus, sequentially launched, overlapping passive microwave radiometers provide a useful system for monitoring intraseasonal to interannual climate anomalies and offer hope for monitoring of interdecadal trends from space. The Appendix includes previously unpublished details of the MSU gridpoint anomaly dataset construction. Part II of this study addresses the removal from channel 2 of the temperature influence above the 30-kPa level, providing a sharper and thus potentially more useful weighting function for monitoring lower tropospheric temperatures.

Spencer, Roy W.↗

A Simulation to Study Speed Distributions in a Solar Plasma

We (Peter Cheeseman of NASA Ames/Caelum Research) & Jose Luis Alvarellos of the SJSU Physics Department/SJSU Foundation.) have carried out a numerical simulation of a plasma with characteristics similar to those found in the core of the Sun. Particular emphasis is placed on the Coulomb interaction between the ions and electrons, which could result in a relative velocity distribution different from the Maxwell-Boltzmann (MB) distribution generally assumed for a plasma. The fact that the distribution may not exactly follow the MB distribution could have very important consequences for a variety of problems in solar physics, especially the neutrino problem. Very briefly. the neutrino problem is that the observed neutrino detections from the Sun are smaller than what the standard solar theory predicts. In Section 1 we introduce the problem and in section 2 we discuss the approach to try to solve the problem: i.e., a molecular dynamics approach. In section 3 we provide details about the integration method, and any simplifications that can be applied to the problem. In section 4 (the core of this report) we state our results, first for the specific case of 1000 particles and then for other cases with different number of particles. In section 5 we summarize our findings and state our conclusions. Sections 6 and 7 provide the list of figures, reference material and acknowledgments respectively.

Cheeseman, Peter↗

Application of a Reduced Order Kalman Filter to Initialize a Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean Model: Impact on the Prediction of El Nino

A reduced order Kalman Filter, based on a simplification of the Singular Evolutive Extended Kalman (SEEK) filter equations, is used to assimilate observed fields of the surface wind stress, sea surface temperature and sea level into the nonlinear coupled ocean-atmosphere model. The SEEK filter projects the Kalman Filter equations onto a subspace defined by the eigenvalue decomposition of the error forecast matrix, allowing its application to high dimensional systems. The Zebiak and Cane model couples a linear reduced gravity ocean model with a single vertical mode atmospheric model of Zebiak. The compatibility between the simplified physics of the model and each observed variable is studied separately and together. The results show the ability of the model to represent the simultaneous value of the wind stress, SST and sea level, when the fields are limited to the latitude band 10 deg S - 10 deg N. In this first application of the Kalman Filter to a coupled ocean-atmosphere prediction model, the sea level fields are assimilated in terms of the Kelvin and Rossby modes of the thermocline depth anomaly. An estimation of the error of these modes is derived from the projection of an estimation of the sea level error over such modes. This method gives a value of 12 for the error of the Kelvin amplitude, and 6 m of error for the Rossby component of the thermocline depth. The ability of the method to reconstruct the state of the equatorial Pacific and predict its time evolution is demonstrated. The method is shown to be quite robust for predictions I up to six months, and able to predict the onset of the 1997 warm event fifteen months before its occurrence.

Ballabrera-Poy, Joaquim↗