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At least 829 records · Page 46

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NASA NTRS1976

Thermal instability in post-flare plasmas

The cooling of post-flare plasmas is discussed and the formation of loop prominences is explained as due to a thermal instability. A one-dimensional model was developed for active loop prominences. Only the motion and heat fluxes parallel to the existing magnetic fields are considered. The relevant size scales and time scales are such that single-fluid MHD equations are valid. The effects of gravity, the geometry of the field and conduction losses to the chromosphere are included. A computer code was constructed to solve the model equations. Basically, the system is treated as an initial value problem (with certain boundary conditions at the chromosphere-corona transition region), and a two-step time differencing scheme is used.

Antiochos, S. K.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Extinction-sedimentation inversion technique for measuring size distribution of artificial fogs

In measuring the size distribution of artificial fog particles, it is important that the natural state of the particles not be disturbed by the measuring device, such as occurs when samples are drawn through tubes. This paper describes a method for carrying out such a measurement by allowing the fog particles to settle in quiet air inside an enclosure through which traverses a parallel beam of light for measuring the optical depth as a function of time. An analytic function fit to the optical depth time decay curve can be directly inverted to yield the size distribution. Results of one such experiment performed on artificial fogs are shown as an example. The forwardscattering corrections to the measured extinction coefficient are also discussed with the aim of optimizing the experimental design so that the error due to forwardscattering is minimized.

Deepak, A.↗

NASA NTRS1979

The solution of the three-dimensional viscous-compressible Navier-Stokes equations on a vector computer

The development of a vectorized computer code for the solution of the three-dimensional viscous-compressible Navier-Stokes equations is described. The code is applied on the CDC STAR-100 vector computer which is capable of achieving high result rates when a high degree of parallelism is present in the computations. The computational technique is an explicit time-split MacCormack predictor-corrector algorithm. Since a large volume of data is processed and virtual memory utilized, a data management scheme based on interleaving is used. The program has been applied to obtain the solution of the laminar supersonic flow about a family of three-dimensional corners. The equations of motion are expressed in a generalized form relative to a uniform rectangular computational domain. The metric coefficient and boundary conditions must be supplied for the corresponding physical domain. For calculations with 30,000 grid points, a computational rate of 0.00015 seconds per grid point per time step is observed.

Smith, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Computer aided manipulator control

This paper describes the hardware and software system of a dedicated mini- and microcomputer network developed at the JPL teleoperator project to aid the operator in real-time control of remote manipulators. The operator can be in series or in parallel with the control computer during operation. The purpose of the project is to develop, demonstrate and evaluate advanced supervisory control concepts and techniques for space applications. The paper concludes with a brief outline of future development plans and issues.

Bejczy, A. K.↗

NASA NTRS1980

An implicit algorithm for the transonic full-potential equation in conservative form

A fast, implicit approximate factorization algorithm for the solution of the conservative full-potential equation for transonic flow in two and three dimensions is presented. Stability in supersonic regions is maintained by the use of an upwind evaluation of the density coefficient along all coordinate directions, providing an effective upwind difference of the streamwise terms for any orientation of the velocity vector and thereby enhancing the reliability of the algorithm. The algorithm is shown to provide rapid convergence for the computation of certain difficult two-dimensional test cases, including cases with fishtail shock patterns, demonstrating the reliability and efficiency of the procedure. Surface pressure coefficient distributions obtained by the present method are also found to be in good agreement with those computed by successive-line overrelaxation and a hybrid direct-solver/successive-line overrelaxation scheme, with significant reductions in CPU time required. A three-dimensional solution for a swept wing mounted between parallel walls is also presented which demonstrates the high convergence rate of the algorithm in three dimensions as well as two.

Holst, T.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Sigma/deg/ signature of the Amazon rain forest obtained from the Seasat scatterometer

Scatterometer data from Seasat of the Amazon rain forest were examined to determine if the region is suitable to use as a reference for calibration of radars. The consistency of Skylab data viewing the Amazon region prompted the analyses, and the Seasat-A scatterometer system (SASS) gathered data of the same region at varying angles. The instrument employed a 100 W 14.6 GHz signal with the reflected power sampled 61 times during each 1.89 sec measurement period. Doppler filters were used in 15 parallel channels of reception, and represented areas 20 km by 50-70 km. Tests were made of regional and temporal stability of the Amazon area, with five measurement angles averaged at different incidence angles to find the mean deviation, which was found to be less than 0.5 dB. Diurnal effects were confined to early morning, and further tests are recommended to obtain results for an entire year, to develop screening methods for thick clouds and rain, and to determine the deviation more precisely.

Birrer, I. J.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Shuttle ground turnaround and launch projections

An analysis of factors in the Turnaround Improvement Program intended is presented as a basis for launch rate projections. Noting that a second Shuttle processing facility is in preparation at Kennedy Space Center, details of the initial reprocessing phase, the refurbishing of the SRBs, which are jettisoned about 2 min after lift-off, are described. Until STS-7, Orbiter turnaround begins by configuring the vehicle for flight to KSC on board a 747. The Orbiter Processing Facility at KSC features two identical bays for unloading, inspection, repair, analysis, testing, and preparing for the succeeding flight. The SRBs are repositioned first, then the external tank, and then the Orbiter is fitted back in place. Parallel processing of two Orbiters will begin with STS-5 turnaround, and optimized times are expected to be achieved with the STS-30 flight, with significant test reduction coming with STS-14.

Smith, R. G.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Feasibility study for a generalized gate logic software simulator

Unit-delay simulation, event driven simulation, zero-delay simulation, simulation techniques, 2-valued versus multivalued logic, network initialization, gate operations and alternate network representations, parallel versus serial mode simulation fault modelling, extension of multiprocessor systems, and simulation timing are discussed. Functional level networks, gate equivalent circuits, the prototype BDX-930 network model, fault models, identifying detected faults for BGLOSS are discussed. Preprocessor tasks, postprocessor tasks, executive tasks, and a library of bliss coded macros for GGLOSS are also discussed.

Mcgough, J. G.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Orbit selection for a Mars geoscience/climatology orbiter

This paper is a presentation of recent work to provide orbit design and selection criteria for a close, nearly polar, nearly circular orbit of Mars. The main aspects of the work are the evaluation of atmospheric drag for altitude selection, the orbit evolution for variations in periapsis altitude, and the interactions of those factors with the science objectives of the MGCO mission. A dynamic model of the Mars atmosphere is available from parallel efforts and the latest estimates of the upper atmospheric density and its time history are incorporated into the analysis to provide a final orbit that satisfies planetary quarantine requirements.

Uphoff, C.↗

NASA NTRS1986

A magnetospheric simulation at the space station

It is proposed that a strong magnet (terrella) be flown at or near the Space Station to create an artificial magnetosphere in a laboratory setting. The relative flow of the ionosphere past the terrella will constitute a plasma wind that will interact with the magnetic field of the terrella to produce a localized magnetosphere. This object could then be extensively studied using diagnostic probes attached to the Space Station, or with free flyers. The space and storage requirements would be minimal, since the experiment would be conducted outside the space station. The total equipment would consist of several terrella (with varying surface conductivities), approximately 3 small magnetometer/plasma diagnostic packages, and several gas canisters for upstream seeding. Power requirements would be approximately 60 watts. Several track mounted tethers, each approximately or 200 m long in length, with track parallel to the orbital motion and 100 m long, are also needed. Astronaut time needed would be minimal in the tethered configuration (approximately 4 man hours/week). A free flying configuration, while not needing the tether track, would require much more human interaction.

Lopez, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS1987

A study of the XY model by the Monte Carlo method

The massively parallel processor is used to perform Monte Carlo simulations for the two dimensional XY model on lattices of sizes up to 128 x 128. A parallel random number generator was constructed, finite size effects were studied, and run times were compared with those on a CRAY X-MP supercomputer.

Suranyi, Peter↗

NASA NTRS1987

A magnetospheric simulation at the Space Station

It is proposed that a strong magnet (terrella) be flown at or near the Space Station to create an artificial magnetosphere in a laboratory setting. The relative flow of the ionosphere past the terrella will constitute a plasma wind that will interact with the magnetic field of the terrella to produce a localized magnetosphere. This object could then be extensively studied using diagnostic probes attached to the Space Station or with free flyers. The space and storage requirements would be minimal, since the experiment would be conducted outside the Space Station. The total equipment would consist of several terrella (with varying surface conductivities), approximately 3 small magnetometer/plasma diagnostic packages, and several gas canisters for upstream seeding. Power requirements would be approximately 60 watts. Several track mounted tethers, each approximately or 200 m long in length, with track parallel to the orbital motion and 100 m long, are also needed. Astronaut time needed would be minimal in the tethered configuration (approximately 4 man hours/week). A free flying configuration, while not needing the tether track, would require much more human interaction.

Lopez, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Predeployment validation of fault-tolerant systems through software-implemented fault insertion

Fault injection-based automated testing (FIAT) environment, which can be used to experimentally characterize and evaluate distributed realtime systems under fault-free and faulted conditions is described. A survey is presented of validation methodologies. The need for fault insertion based on validation methodologies is demonstrated. The origins and models of faults, and motivation for the FIAT concept are reviewed. FIAT employs a validation methodology which builds confidence in the system through first providing a baseline of fault-free performance data and then characterizing the behavior of the system with faults present. Fault insertion is accomplished through software and allows faults or the manifestation of faults to be inserted by either seeding faults into memory or triggering error detection mechanisms. FIAT is capable of emulating a variety of fault-tolerant strategies and architectures, can monitor system activity, and can automatically orchestrate experiments involving insertion of faults. There is a common system interface which allows ease of use to decrease experiment development and run time. Fault models chosen for experiments on FIAT have generated system responses which parallel those observed in real systems under faulty conditions. These capabilities are shown by two example experiments each using a different fault-tolerance strategy.

Czeck, Edward W.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Parallel conjugate gradient algorithms for manipulator dynamic simulation

Parallel conjugate gradient algorithms for the computation of multibody dynamics are developed for the specialized case of a robot manipulator. For an n-dimensional positive-definite linear system, the Classical Conjugate Gradient (CCG) algorithms are guaranteed to converge in n iterations, each with a computation cost of O(n); this leads to a total computational cost of O(n sq) on a serial processor. A conjugate gradient algorithms is presented that provide greater efficiency using a preconditioner, which reduces the number of iterations required, and by exploiting parallelism, which reduces the cost of each iteration. Two Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient (PCG) algorithms are proposed which respectively use a diagonal and a tridiagonal matrix, composed of the diagonal and tridiagonal elements of the mass matrix, as preconditioners. Parallel algorithms are developed to compute the preconditioners and their inversions in O(log sub 2 n) steps using n processors. A parallel algorithm is also presented which, on the same architecture, achieves the computational time of O(log sub 2 n) for each iteration. Simulation results for a seven degree-of-freedom manipulator are presented. Variants of the proposed algorithms are also developed which can be efficiently implemented on the Robot Mathematics Processor (RMP).

Fijany, Amir↗

NASA NTRS1993

Acceleration Studies

Work to support the NASA MSFC Acceleration Characterization and Analysis Project (ACAP) was performed. Four tasks (analysis development, analysis research, analysis documentation, and acceleration analysis) were addressed by parallel projects. Work concentrated on preparation for and implementation of near real-time SAMS data analysis during the USMP-1 mission. User support documents and case specific software documentation and tutorials were developed. Information and results were presented to microgravity users. ACAP computer facilities need to be fully implemented and networked, data resources must be cataloged and accessible, future microgravity missions must be coordinated, and continued Orbiter characterization is necessary.

Rogers, Melissa J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Parallel implementation of an algorithm for Delaunay triangulation

This work concerns the theory and practice of implementing Tanemura's algorithm for 3D Delaunay triangulation on Intel's Gamma prototype, a 128 processor MIMD computer. Tanemura's algorithm does not vectorize to any significant degree and requires indirect addressing. Efficient implementation on a conventional, vector processing, supercomputer is problematic. Efficient implementation on a parallel architecture is possible, however. In this work, speeds in excess of 8 times a single processor Cray Y-mp are realized on 128 processors of the Intel Gamma prototype.

Merriam, Marshall L.↗

NASA NTRS1994

An experiment in hurricane track prediction using parallel computing methods

The barotropic model is used to explore the advantages of parallel processing in deterministic forecasting. We apply this model to the track forecasting of hurricane Elena (1985). In this particular application, solutions to systems of elliptic equations are the essence of the computational mechanics. One set of equations is associated with the decomposition of the wind into irrotational and nondivergent components - this determines the initial nondivergent state. Another set is associated with recovery of the streamfunction from the forecasted vorticity. We demonstrate that direct parallel methods based on accelerated block cyclic reduction (BCR) significantly reduce the computational time required to solve the elliptic equations germane to this decomposition and forecast problem. A 72-h track prediction was made using incremental time steps of 16 min on a network of 3000 grid points nominally separated by 100 km. The prediction took 30 sec on the 8-processor Alliant FX/8 computer. This was a speed-up of 3.7 when compared to the one-processor version. The 72-h prediction of Elena's track was made as the storm moved toward Florida's west coast. Approximately 200 km west of Tampa Bay, Elena executed a dramatic recurvature that ultimately changed its course toward the northwest. Although the barotropic track forecast was unable to capture the hurricane's tight cycloidal looping maneuver, the subsequent northwesterly movement was accurately forecasted as was the location and timing of landfall near Mobile Bay.

Song, Chang G.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Wake Vortex Transport in Proximity to the Ground

A sensitivity study for aircraft wake vortex transport has been conducted using a validated large eddy simulation (LES) model. The study assumes neutrally stratified and nonturbulent environments and includes the consequences of the ground. The numerical results show that the nondimensional lateral transport is primarily influenced by the magnitude of the ambient crosswind and is insensitive to aircraft type. In most of the simulations, the ground effect extends the lateral position of the downwind vortex about one initial vortex spacing (b(sub o)) in the downstream direction. Further extension by as much as one b(sub o) occurs when the downwind vortex remains 'in ground effect' (IGE) for relatively long periods of time. Results also show that a layer-averaged ambient wind velocity can be used to bound the time for lateral transport of wake vortices to insure safe operations on a parallel runway.

Hamilton, David W.↗