Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “higher accuracy”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 811 records · Page 45
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

Collisional excitation of formaldehyde in 'hot' interstellar molecular regions

Earlier calculations for rotational excitation of formaldehyde by collisions with He atoms are extended to include the lowest 81 rotational levels and kinetic temperatures to 300 K. Calculations are generally based on Green et al. (1978) but coupled differential equations are solved via a modified log-derivative propagator at low energies (Manolopoulos, 1986) and an R-matrix propagator at higher energies (Stechel, Walker, and Light, 1978). Consideration is given to the expected accuracy of the rates for excitation of formaldehyde by collisions with He atoms which are calculated in the present paper and to the expected differences between these rates and those for excitation by H2 molecules which comprise a larger fraction of the interstellar gas. The comparisons performed indicate that, for excitation by He, calculated state-to-state rates are likely to be 50 percent accurate, and total excitation rates, better than 20 percent. For excitation by H2, the rates should be increased by a factor of 2.2.

Green, Sheldon↗
NASA NTRS2009

Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flash (TGF) Observations with the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor on the Fermi Observatory

Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) have now been detected with four different orbiting spacecraft. The latest observations are being made with the scintillation detectors of Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Observatory (Fermi). Although this experiment was designed and optimized for the observation of cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), it has unprecedented capabilities for TGF observations, surpassing those of the experiment that discovered TGFs, the BATSE experiment on the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory. Launched in June 2008 from the Kennedy Space Center, the Fermi-GBM has been detecting about one TGF every four weeks. The thick bismuth germinate (BGO) scintillation detectors of the GBM have now observed photon energies from TGFs at energies up to approx.40 MeV. Individual photons are detected with an absolute timing accuracy of 2 microsec. Unlike the BATSE instrument, the GBM data system allows higher counting rates to be recorded and deadtime characteristics are well-known and correctable; thus the saturation effects seen with BATSE are avoided. TGF pulses as narrow as approx.0.1ms have been observed with the GBM. Like BATSE (and unlike RHESSI) an on-board trigger is required to detect TGFs. The minimum time window for this trigger is 16ms. A trigger window this wide greatly reduces the number of detected TGFs, since they most often have a much shorter duration than this window, thus reducing the signal-to-background. New on-board trigger algorithms based on detected photon energies are about to be implemented; this should increase the number of TGF triggers. High-energy spectra from TGFs observed with Fermi-GBM will be described.

Fishman, Gerald J.↗
NASA NTRS2010

The SMAP Level 4 Surface and Root-zone Soil Moisture (L4_SM) Product

The Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) mission is being developed by NASA for launch in 2013 as one of four first-tier missions recommended by the U.S. National Research Council Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space in 2007. The primary science objectives of SMAP are to enhance understanding of land surface controls on the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to determine their linkages. Moreover, the high resolution soil moisture mapping provided by SMAP has practical applications in weather and seasonal climate prediction, agriculture, human health, drought and flood decision support. In this paper we describe the assimilation of SMAP observations for the generation of the planned SMAP Level 4 Surface and Root-zone Soil Moisture (L4_SM) product. The SMAP mission makes simultaneous active (radar) and passive (radiometer) measurements in the 1.26-1.43 GHz range (L-band) from a sun-synchronous low-earth orbit. Measurements will be obtained across a 1000 km wide swath using conical scanning at a constant incidence angle (40 deg). The radar resolution varies from 1-3 km over the outer 70% of the swath to about 30 km near the center of the swath. The radiometer resolution is 40 km across the entire swath. The radiometer measurements will allow high-accuracy but coarse resolution (40 km) measurements. The radar measurements will add significantly higher resolution information. The radar is however very sensitive to surface roughness and vegetation structure. The combination of the two measurements allows optimal blending of the advantages of each instrument. SMAP directly observes only surface soil moisture (in the top 5 cm of the soil column). Several of the key applications targeted by SMAP, however, require knowledge of root zone soil moisture (approximately top 1 m of the soil column), which is not directly measured by SMAP. The foremost objective of the SMAP L4_SM product is to fill this gap and provide estimates of root zone soil moisture that are informed by and consistent with SMAP observations. Such estimates are obtained by merging SMAP observations with estimates from a land surface model in a soil moisture data assimilation system. The land surface model component of the assimilation system is driven with observations-based surface meteorological forcing data, including precipitation, which is the most important driver for soil moisture. The model also encapsulates knowledge of key land surface processes, including the vertical transfer of soil moisture between the surface and root zone reservoirs. Finally, the model interpolates and extrapolates SMAP observations in time and in space. The L4_SM product thus provides a comprehensive and consistent picture of land surface hydrological conditions based on SMAP observations and complementary information from a variety of sources. The assimilation algorithm considers the respective uncertainties of each component and yields a product that is superior to satellite or model data alone. Error estimates for the L4_SM product are generated as a by-product of the data assimilation system.

Reichle, Rolf↗
NASA NTRS2015

Use of a Viscous Flow Simulation Code for Static Aeroelastic Analysis of a Wing at High-Lift Conditions

In this paper, we present a static aeroelastic analysis of a wind tunnel test model of a wing in high-lift configuration using a viscous flow simulation code. The model wing was tailored to deform during the tests by amounts similar to a composite airliner wing in highlift conditions. This required use of a viscous flow analysis to predict the lift coefficient of the deformed wing accurately. We thus utilized an existing static aeroelastic analysis framework that involves an inviscid flow code (Cart3d) to predict the deformed shape of the wing, then utilized a viscous flow code (Overflow) to compute the aerodynamic loads on the deformed wing. This way, we reduced the cost of flow simulations needed for this analysis while still being able to predict the aerodynamic forces with reasonable accuracy. Our results suggest that the lift of the deformed wing may be higher or lower than that of the non-deformed wing, and the washout deformation of the wing is the key factor that changes the lift of the deformed wing in two distinct ways: while it decreases the lift at low to moderate angles of attack simply by lowering local angles of attack along the span, it increases the lift at high angles of attack by alleviating separation.

Aeroelastic↗
NASA NTRS2016

800 C Silicon Carbide (SiC) Pressure Sensors for Engine Ground Testing

MEMS-based 4H-SiC piezoresistive pressure sensors have been demonstrated at 800 C, leading to the discovery of strain sensitivity recovery with increasing temperatures above 400 C, eventually achieving up to, or near, 100 recovery of the room temperature values at 800 C. This result will allow the insertion of highly sensitive pressure sensors closer to jet, rocket, and hypersonic engine combustion chambers to improve the quantification accuracy of combustor dynamics, performance, and increase safety margin. Also, by operating at higher temperature and locating closer to the combustion chamber, reduction of the length (weight) of pressure tubes that are currently used will be achieved. This will result in reduced costlb to access space.

Pressure sensors↗
NASA NTRS2021

Next generation lunar laser retroreflectors for fundamental physics and lunar science

Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) data represent a powerful tool to understand the dynamics of the Earth-Moon system and the deep lunar interior. Over the past five decades, the ground station technology has significantly improved, whereas the lunar laser retroreflector arrays (LRAs) on the lunar surface did not. Current instrumental LLR error budget is dominated by the spread of the returning laser pulse due to the large size of the arrays. Next-generation single solid lunar Cube Corner Retroreflectors (CCRs) of large optical diameter (whose LLR performance is unaffected by that time spread) aim to fully exploit the current laser ranging station capabilities to attain LLR accuracy below current centimeter value down to the desired millimeter level and much higher data collection rates. Such improvements will have a significant impact, enabling more refined ephemerides, improved tests of General Relativity (GR) and of other theories of relativistic gravity in the Sun-Earth-Moon system and improved knowledge of the properties of the lunar interior.

L. Porcelli↗
DOE OSTI2024

Towards modelling AR Sco: generalized particle dynamics and strong radiation-reaction regimes

Numerical simulations of relativistic plasmas have become more feasible, popular, and crucial for various astrophysical sources with the availability of computational resources. The necessity for high-accuracy particle dynamics is especially highlighted in pulsar modelling due to the extreme associated electromagnetic fields and particle Lorentz factors. Including the radiation-reaction force in the particle dynamics adds even more complexity to the problem, but is crucial for such extreme astrophysical sources. We have also realized the need for such modelling concerning magnetic mirroring and particle injection models proposed for AR Sco, the first white dwarf pulsar. This paper demonstrates the benefits of using higher-order explicit numerical integrators with adaptive time-step methods to solve the full particle dynamics with radiation-reaction forces included. We show that for standard test scenarios, namely various combinations of uniform E- and B-fields and a static dipole B-field, the schemes we use are equivalent to and in extreme field cases outperform standard symplectic integrators in accuracy. We show that the higher-order schemes have massive computational time improvements due to the adaptive time-steps we implement, especially in non-uniform field scenarios and included radiation reaction where the particle gyro-radius rapidly changes. When balancing accuracy and computational time, we identified the adaptive Dormand–Prince eighth-order scheme to be ideal for our use cases. The schemes we use maintain accuracy and stability in describing the particle dynamics and we indicate how a charged particle enters radiation-reaction equilibrium and conforms to the analytical Aristotelian Electrodynamics expectations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2018

A Data-Driven Analysis of a Tactical Surface Scheduler

NASA's Airspace Technology Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) integrates arrival, departure, and surface operations to extend integrated traffic sequencing all the way from the gate to the overhead stream and back again for multi-airport, metroplex environments. A key concept of ATD-2 centers on surface scheduling that allows aircraft to taxi, climb, and insert within the overhead stream with minimal interruptions. A core principle is to allow aircraft to absorb delay at the gate prior to engine start in order to reduce overall fuel burn and emissions. To achieve these goals, it is necessary for the scheduler to properly balance the demand at the runway with the available capacity while also predicting accurate takeoff times. This paper provides a data-driven analysis of the runway demand capacity balancing and measures the accuracy of schedules that are generated while running in a live operational environment at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. We found that using minimum-time wake vortex separation constraints to define runway capacity resulted in scheduling departure operations at a slightly higher rate than the runway was operating and we discovered a surprising relationship between the runway rate and the accuracy of the schedules.

Tactical Surface Scheduler↗
NASA NTRS2018

A Data-Driven Analysis of a Tactical Surface Scheduler

NASA's Airspace Technology Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) integrates arrival, departure, and surface operations to extend integrated traffic sequencing all the way from the gate to the overhead stream and back again for multi-airport, metroplex environments. A key concept of ATD-2 centers on surface scheduling that allows aircraft to taxi, climb, and insert within the overhead stream with minimal interruptions. A core principle is to allow aircraft to absorb delay at the gate prior to engine start in order to reduce overall fuel burn and emissions. To achieve these goals, it is necessary for the scheduler to properly balance the demand at the runway with the available capacity while also predicting accurate takeoff times. This paper provides a data-driven analysis of the runway demand capacity balancing and measures the accuracy of schedules that are generated while running in a live operational environment at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. We found that using minimum-time wake vortex separation constraints to define runway capacity resulted in scheduling departure operations at a slightly higher rate than the runway was operating and we discovered a surprising relationship between the runway rate and the accuracy of the schedules.

Tactical Surface Scheduler↗
DOE OSTI2024

Adaptive immersed isogeometric level-set topology optimization

Here, this paper presents for the first time an adaptive immersed approach for level-set topology optimization using higher-order truncated hierarchical B-spline discretizations for design and state variable fields. Boundaries and interfaces are represented implicitly by the iso-contour of one or multiple level-set functions. An immersed finite element method, the eXtended IsoGeometric Analysis, is used to predict the physical response. The proposed optimization framework affords different adaptively refined higher-order B-spline discretizations for individual design and state variable fields. The increased continuity of higher-order B-spline discretizations together with local refinement enables direct control over the accuracy of the representation of each field while simultaneously reducing computational cost compared to uniformly refined discretizations. A flexible mesh adaptation strategy enables local refinement based on geometric measures or physics-based error indicators. These adaptive discretization and analysis approaches are integrated into gradient-based optimization schemes, evaluating the design sensitivities using the adjoint method. Numerical studies illustrate the features of the proposed framework with static, linear elastic, multi-material, two- and three-dimensional problems. The examples provide insight into the effect of refining the design variable field on the optimization result and the convergence rate of the optimization process. Using coarse higher-order B-spline discretizations for level-set fields promotes the development of smooth designs and suppresses the emergence of small features. Moreover, adaptive mesh refinement for state variable fields results in a reduction of overall computational cost. Higher-order B-spline discretizations are especially interesting when evaluating gradients of state variable fields due to their higher inter-element continuity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2007

Potential of VIIRS Time Series Data for Aiding the USDA Forest Service Early Warning System for Forest Health Threats: A Gypsy Moth Defoliation Case Study

This report details one of three experiments performed during FY 2007 for the NASA RPC (Rapid Prototyping Capability) at Stennis Space Center. This RPC experiment assesses the potential of VIIRS (Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite) and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data for detecting and monitoring forest defoliation from the non-native Eurasian gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar). The intent of the RPC experiment was to assess the degree to which VIIRS data can provide forest disturbance monitoring information as an input to a forest threat EWS (Early Warning System) as compared to the level of information that can be obtained from MODIS data. The USDA Forest Service (USFS) plans to use MODIS products for generating broad-scaled, regional monitoring products as input to an EWS for forest health threat assessment. NASA SSC is helping the USFS to evaluate and integrate currently available satellite remote sensing technologies and data products for the EWS, including the use of MODIS products for regional monitoring of forest disturbance. Gypsy moth defoliation of the mid-Appalachian highland region was selected as a case study. Gypsy moth is one of eight major forest insect threats listed in the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003; the gypsy moth threatens eastern U.S. hardwood forests, which are also a concern highlighted in the HFRA of 2003. This region was selected for the project because extensive gypsy moth defoliation occurred there over multiple years during the MODIS operational period. This RPC experiment is relevant to several nationally important mapping applications, including agricultural efficiency, coastal management, ecological forecasting, disaster management, and carbon management. In this experiment, MODIS data and VIIRS data simulated from MODIS were assessed for their ability to contribute broad, regional geospatial information on gypsy moth defoliation. Landsat and ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) data were used to assess the quality of gypsy moth defoliation mapping products derived from MODIS data and from simulated VIIRS data. The project focused on use of data from MODIS Terra as opposed to MODIS Aqua mainly because only MODIS Terra data was collected during 2000 and 2001-years with comparatively high amounts of gypsy moth defoliation within the study area. The project assessed the quality of VIIRS data simulation products. Hyperion data was employed to assess the quality of MODIS-based VIIRS simulation datasets using image correlation analysis techniques. The ART (Application Research Toolbox) software was used for data simulation. Correlation analysis between MODIS-simulated VIIRS data and Hyperion-simulated VIIRS data for red, NIR (near-infrared), and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) image data products collectively indicate that useful, effective VIIRS simulations can be produced using Hyperion and MODIS data sources. The r(exp 2) for red, NIR, and NDVI products were 0.56, 0.63, and 0.62, respectively, indicating a moderately high correlation between the 2 data sources. Temporal decorrelation from different data acquisition times and image misregistration may have lowered correlation results. The RPC experiment also generated MODIS-based time series data products using the TSPT (Time Series Product Tool) software. Time series of simulated VIIRS NDVI products were produced at approximately 400-meter resolution GSD (Ground Sampling Distance) at nadir for comparison to MODIS NDVI products at either 250- or 500-meter GSD. The project also computed MODIS (MOD02) NDMI (Normalized Difference Moisture Index) products at 500-meter GSD for comparison to NDVI-based products. For each year during 2000-2006, MODIS and VIIRS (simulated from MOD02) time series were computed during the peak gypsy moth defoliation time frame in the study area (approximately June 10 through July 27). Gypsy moth defoliation mapping products from simated VIIRS and MOD02 time series were produced using multiple methods, including image classification and change detection via image differencing. The latter enabled an automated defoliation detection product computed using percent change in maximum NDVI for a peak defoliation period during 2001 compared to maximum NDVI across the entire 2000-2006 time frame. Final gypsy moth defoliation mapping products were assessed for accuracy using randomly sampled locations found on available geospatial reference data (Landsat and ASTER data in conjunction with defoliation map data from the USFS). Extensive gypsy moth defoliation patches were evident on screen displays of multitemporal color composites derived from MODIS data and from simulated VIIRS vegetation index data. Such defoliation was particularly evident for 2001, although widespread denuded forests were also seen for 2000 and 2003. These visualizations were validated using aforementioned reference data. Defoliation patches were visible on displays of MODIS-based NDVI and NDMI data. The viewing of apparent defoliation patches on all of these products necessitated adoption of a specialized temporal data processing method (e.g., maximum NDVI during the peak defoliation time frame). The frequency of cloud cover necessitated this approach. Multitemporal simulated VIIRS and MODIS Terra data both produced effective general classifications of defoliated forest versus other land cover. For 2001, the MOD02-simulated VIIRS 400-meter NDVI classification produced a similar yet slightly lower overall accuracy (87.28 percent with 0.72 Kappa) than the MOD02 250-meter NDVI classification (88.44 percent with 0.75 Kappa). The MOD13 250-meter NDVI classification had a lower overall accuracy (79.13 percent) and a much lower Kappa (0.46). The report discusses accuracy assessment results in much more detail, comparing overall classification and individual class accuracy statistics for simulated VIIRS 400-meter NDVI, MOD02 250-meter NDVI, MOD02-500 meter NDVI, MOD13 250-meter NDVI, and MOD02 500-meter NDMI classifications. Automated defoliation detection products from simulated VIIRS and MOD02 data for 2001 also yielded similar, relatively high overall classification accuracy (85.55 percent for the VIIRS 400-meter NDVI versus 87.28 percent for the MOD02 250-meter NDVI). In contrast, the USFS aerial sketch map of gypsy moth defoliation showed a lower overall classification accuracy at 73.64 percent. The overall classification Kappa values were also similar for the VIIRS (approximately 0.67 Kappa) versus the MOD02 (approximately 0.72 Kappa) automated defoliation detection product, which were much higher than the values exhibited by the USFS sketch map product (overall Kappa of approximately 0.47). The report provides additional details on the accuracy of automated gypsy moth defoliation detection products compared with USFS sketch maps. The results suggest that VIIRS data can be effectively simulated from MODIS data and that VIIRS data will produce gypsy moth defoliation mapping products that are similar to MODIS-based products. The results of the RPC experiment indicate that VIIRS and MODIS data products have good potential for integration into the forest threat EWS. The accuracy assessment was performed only for 2001 because of time constraints and a relative scarcity of cloud-free Landsat and ASTER data for the peak defoliation period of the other years in the 2000-2006 time series. Additional work should be performed to assess the accuracy of gypsy moth defoliation detection products for additional years.The study area (mid-Appalachian highlands) and application (gypsy moth forest defoliation) are not necessarily representative of all forested regions and of all forest threat disturbance agents. Additional work should be performed on other inland and coastal regions as well as for other major forest threats.

Spruce, Joseph P.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Enabling in-time Prognostics with Surrogate Modeling through Physics-enhanced Dynamic Mode Decomposition Method

Computational models provide essential quantitative tools for assessing and predicting the health and performance of physical systems. However, high-fidelity models are rarely used in real-time operations or large optimization loops, due to their time-intensive nature. A common approach to improving computational efficiency of prognosis is to employ surrogate models. Such models can significantly decrease computation time for some accuracy loss. In this context, use of Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) is proposed to generate surrogate models for lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery discharge. DMD has been suggested and used successfully in the area of fluid dynamics for over a decade, but it has not been applied to the PHM domain, where far-ahead prediction of nonlinear behavior is crucial to propagate faults or predict Remaining Useful Life (RUL). For Li-ion battery health management, the standard application of DMD using only the observable quantities of interest was unable to capture the nonlinear discharge of batteries exhibited in lab testing. The Koopman theory, however, provides a mechanism to tradeoff low dimensional nonlinear models with high-dimensional linear ones in a DMD framework, by augmenting nonlinear state variables into the system representation. In this way, DMD allows for configurable simulation accuracy dependent on the dimensionality of the Koopman operator. For battery health management, we augmented the observable variables with the hidden states of a higher-fidelity physics model to build the DMD surrogate. In comparison to a high-fidelity model, the surrogate improved computational efficiency with only a minimal loss of accuracy, and enabled long-term prognostics horizons. A generalized method for this was implemented in the prog models python package.

prognostics and health management↗
DOE OSTI2024

Comparison of Sub-Ppm Instrument Response Suggests Higher Detection Limits Could Be Used to Quantify Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Infrastructure

Quantifying and controlling fugitive methane emissions from oil and gas facilities remains essential for addressing climate goals, but the costs associated with monitoring millions of production sites remain prohibitively expensive. Current thinking, supported by measurement and simple dispersion modelling, assumes single-digit parts-per-million instrumentation is required. To investigate instrument response, the inlets of three trace-methane (sub-ppm) analyzers were collocated on a facility designed to release gas of known composition at known flow rates between 0.4 and 5.2 kg CH 4 h –1 from simulated oil and gas infrastructure. Methane mixing ratios were measured by each instrument at 1 Hertz resolution over nine hours. While mixing ratios reported by a cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS)-based instrument were on average 10.0 ppm (range 1.8 to 83 ppm), a mid-infrared laser absorption spectroscopy (MIRA)-based instrument reported short-lived mixing ratios far larger than expected (range 1.8 to 779 ppm) with a similar nine-hour average to the CRDS (10.1 ppm). We suggest the peaks detected by the MIRA are likely caused by a micrometeorological phenomenon, where vortex shedding has resulted in heterogeneous methane plumes which only the MIRA can observe. Further analysis suggests an instrument like the MIRA (an optical-cavity-based instrument with cavity size ≤10 cm3 measuring at ≥2 Hz with air flow rates in the order of ≤0.3 slpm at distances of ≤20 m from the source) but with a higher detection limit (25 ppm) could detect enough of the high-concentration events to generate representative 20 min-average methane mixing ratios. Even though development of a lower-cost, high-precision, high-accuracy instrument with a 25 ppm detection threshold remains a significant problem, this has implications for the use of instrumentation with higher detection thresholds, resulting in the reduction in cost to measure methane emissions and providing a mechanism for the widespread deployment of effective leak detection and repair programs for all oil and gas infrastructure.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
NASA NTRS1994

Analytic Sensitivities for Shape Optimization in Equivalent Plate Structural Wing Models

Equivalent plate modeling techniques based on Ritz analysis with simple polynomials prove to be efficient tools for structural modeling of wings in the preliminary design stage. Accuracy problems are encountered, however, when these models are used to obtain finite difference behavior sensitivities with respect to planform shape. The accuracy problems are associated with the poor numerical conditioning of static and eigenvalue equations. As higher-order polynomials are being used to Improve the analysis itself, the more sensitive is the finite difference derivative to the step size used. This article describes a formulation of wing equivalent plate modeling in which it is simple to obtain analytic, explicit expressions for stiffness and mass matrix elements without the need to perform numerical integration. This formulation leads naturally to analytic expressions for the derivatives of displacements, stresses, and natural frequencies with respect to shape design variables. This article examines the accuracy of finite difference derivatives compared with the analytic derivatives, and shows that In some cases it is impossible to obtain any information of value by finite differences. Analytic sensitivities, in this case, are still sufficiently accurate for design optimization.

Livne, Eli↗
NASA NTRS2011

Characterization of Axial Inducer Cavitation Instabilities via High Speed Video Recordings

Sub-scale water tests were undertaken to assess the viability of utilizing high resolution, high frame-rate digital video recordings of a liquid rocket engine turbopump axial inducer to characterize cavitation instabilities. These high speed video (HSV) images of various cavitation phenomena, including higher order cavitation, rotating cavitation, alternating blade cavitation, and asymmetric cavitation, as well as non-cavitating flows for comparison, were recorded from various orientations through an acrylic tunnel using one and two cameras at digital recording rates ranging from 6,000 to 15,700 frames per second. The physical characteristics of these cavitation forms, including the mechanisms that define the cavitation frequency, were identified. Additionally, these images showed how the cavitation forms changed and transitioned from one type (tip vortex) to another (sheet cavitation) as the inducer boundary conditions (inlet pressures) were changed. Image processing techniques were developed which tracked the formation and collapse of cavitating fluid in a specified target area, both in the temporal and frequency domains, in order to characterize the cavitation instability frequency. The accuracy of the analysis techniques was found to be very dependent on target size for higher order cavitation, but much less so for the other phenomena. Tunnel-mounted piezoelectric, dynamic pressure transducers were present throughout these tests and were used as references in correlating the results obtained by image processing. Results showed good agreement between image processing and dynamic pressure spectral data. The test set-up, test program, and test results including H-Q and suction performance, dynamic environment and cavitation characterization, and image processing techniques and results will be discussed.

Arellano, Patrick↗
DOE OSTI2022

Characterizing Tradeoffs in Memory, Accuracy, and Speed for Chemistry Tabulation Techniques

Chemistry tabulation is a common approach in practical simulations of turbulent combustion at engineering scales. Linear interpolants have traditionally been used for accessing precomputed multidimensional tables but suffer from large memory requirements and discontinuous derivatives. Higher-degree interpolants address some of these restrictions but are similarly limited to relatively low-dimensional tabulation. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) can be used to overcome these limitations but cannot guarantee the same accuracy as interpolants and introduce challenges in reproducibility and reliable training. These challenges are enhanced as the physics complexity to be represented within the tabulation increases. Here, we assess the efficiency, accuracy, and memory requirements of Lagrange polynomials, tensor product B-splines, and ANNs as tabulation strategies. We analyze results in the context of nonadiabatic flamelet modeling where higher dimension counts are necessary. While ANNs do not require structuring of data, providing benefits for complex physics representation, interpolation approaches often rely on some structuring of the table. Interpolation using structured table inputs that are not directly related to the variables transported in a simulation can incur additional query costs. This is demonstrated in the present implementation of heat losses. We show that ANNs, despite being difficult to train and reproduce, can be advantageous for high-dimensional, unstructured datasets relevant to nonadiabatic flamelet models. Furthermore we demonstrate that Lagrange polynomials show significant speedup for similar accuracy compared to B-splines.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1987

Space station integrated wall damage and penetration damage control. Task 5: Space debris measurement, mapping and characterization system

The procedures and results of a study of a conceptual system for measuring the debris environment on the space station is discussed. The study was conducted in two phases: the first consisted of experiments aimed at evaluating location of impact through panel response data collected from acoustic emission sensors; the second analyzed the available statistical description of the environment to determine the probability of the measurement system producing useful data, and analyzed the results of the previous tests to evaluate the accuracy of location and the feasibility of extracting impactor characteristics from the panel response. The conclusions were that for one panel the system would not be exposed to any event, but that the entire Logistics Module would provide a modest amount of data. The use of sensors with higher sensitivity than those used in the tests could be advantageous. The impact location could be found with sufficient accuracy from panel response data. The waveforms of the response were shown to contain information on the impact characteristics, but the data set did not span a sufficient range of the variables necessary to evaluate the feasibility of extracting the information.

Lempriere, B. M.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Apodization Specific Fitting for Improved Resolution, Charge Measurement, and Data Analysis Speed in Charge Detection Mass Spectrometry

Short-time Fourier transforms with short segment lengths are typically used to analyze single ion charge detection mass spectrometry (CDMS) data either to overcome effects of frequency shifts that may occur during the trapping period or to more precisely determine the time at which an ion changes mass or charge, or enters an unstable orbit. The short segment lengths can lead to scalloping loss unless a large number of zero-fills are used, making computational time a significant factor in real-time analysis of data. Apodization specific fitting leads to a 9-fold reduction in computation time compared to zero-filling to a similar extent of accuracy. This makes possible real-time data analysis using a standard desktop computer. Rectangular apodization leads to higher resolution than the more commonly used Gaussian or Hann apodization and makes it possible to separate ions with similar frequencies, a significant advantage for experiments in which the masses of many individual ions are measured simultaneously. Equally important is a >20% increase in S/N obtained with rectangular apodization compared to Gaussian or Hann, which directly translates to a corresponding improvement in accuracy of both charge measurements and ion energy measurements that rely on the amplitudes of the fundamental and harmonic frequencies. Finally, combined with computing the fast Fourier transform in a lower-level language, this fitting procedure eliminates computational barriers and should enable real-time processing of CDMS data on a laptop computer.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗