A survey of structural flexibility effects on spacecraft control systems.
Spacecraft control system and flexible structures interactions, discussing transient phenomena, limit-cycle oscillations and instabilities
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Spacecraft control system and flexible structures interactions, discussing transient phenomena, limit-cycle oscillations and instabilities
This document describes the climate of version 1 of the NASA-NCAR model developed at the Data Assimilation Office (DAO). The model consists of a new finite-volume dynamical core and an implementation of the NCAR climate community model (CCM-3) physical parameterizations. The version of the model examined here was integrated at a resolution of 2 degrees latitude by 2.5 degrees longitude and 32 levels. The results are based on assimilation that was forced with observed sea surface temperature and sea ice for the period 1979-1995, and are compared with NCEP/NCAR reanalyses and various other observational data sets. The results include an assessment of seasonal means, subseasonal transients including the Madden Julian Oscillation, and interannual variability. The quantities include zonal and meridional winds, temperature, specific humidity, geopotential height, stream function, velocity potential, precipitation, sea level pressure, and cloud radiative forcing.
The effects of functional, reversible ablation and potential recruitment of the most irregular otolith afferents on the dynamics and sensitivity of the translational vestibuloocular reflexes (trVORs) were investigated in rhesus monkeys trained to fixate near and far targets. Translational motion stimuli consisted of either steady-state lateral and fore-aft sinusoidal oscillations or short-lasting transient lateral head displacements. Short-duration (usually <2 s) anodal (inhibitory) and cathodal (excitatory) currents (50-100 microA) were delivered bilaterally during motion. In the presence of anodal labyrinthine stimulation, trVOR sensitivity and its dependence on viewing distance were significantly decreased. In addition, anodal currents significantly increased phase lags. During transient motion, anodal stimulation resulted in significantly lower initial eye acceleration and more sluggish responses. Cathodal currents tended to have opposite effects. The main characteristics of these results were simulated by a simple model where both regularly and irregularly discharging afferents contribute to the trVORs. Anodal labyrinthine currents also were found to decrease eye velocity during long-duration, constant velocity rotations, although results were generally more variable compared with those during translational motion.
Viscosity of semiconductor and metallic melts is usually measured by oscillating cup method. This method utilizes the melts contained in vacuum sealed silica ampoules, thus the problems related to volatility, contamination, and high temperature and pressure can be alleviated. In a typical design, the time required for a single measurement is of the order of one hour. In order to reduce this time to a minute range, a high resolution (0.05 arc.sec) angular detection system is implemented in our design of the viscometer. Furthermore, an electromagnet generating a rotational magnetic field (RMF) is incorporated into the apparatus. This magnetic field can be used to remotely and non intrusively measure the electrical conductivity of the melt. It can also be used to induce a well controlled rotational flow in the system. The transient behavior of this flow can potentially yield the viscosity of the fluid. Based on RMF implementation, two novel viscometry methods are proposed in this work: a) the transient torque method, b) the resonance method. A unified theoretical approach to the three methods (oscillating cup, transient torque, and resonance) is presented along with the initial test results of the constructed apparatus. Advantages of each of the method are discussed.
Viscosity is a good indicator of structural changes for complex liquids, such as semiconductor melts with chain or ring structures. This paper discusses the theoretical and experimental results of the transient torque technique for non-intrusive viscosity measurement. Such a technique is essential for the high temperature viscosity measurement of high pressure and toxic semiconductor melts. In this paper, our previous work on oscillating cup technique was expanded to the transient process of a magnetically driven melt flow in a damped oscillation system. Based on the analytical solution for the fluid flow and cup oscillation, a semi-empirical model was established to extract the fluid viscosity. The analytical and experimental results indicated that such a technique has the advantage of short measurement time and straight forward data analysis procedures
The time-dependent, compressible, Reynolds-averaged, full Navier-Stokes equations are applied to solve an axisymmetric flow around a forward-facing stepbody (spikebody) at supersonic speeds and a stalling airfoil at transonic speeds. Important transient and unsteady phenomena, not yet well understood, are examined, and significant new findings of the present solution to the phenomena are discussed. The phenomena described in detail are as follows: The evolution of the shock wave pressure built up by the impact of the pressure waves, one from the trailing edge; the separation of the flow as influenced by the shock wave; the location of the reversed flow, the separation point, and the reattachment point; and the transient (or unsteady) phenomena of the flow pulsation, oscillation, and stalling of the body and airfoil wake flow. The numerical results show that the transient flow instability is caused by a supersonic jet induced in the separation bubble by the shock-bifurcation (lambda shock) mechanism between the separation shock and the reflected shock. Pulsation and stall phenomena are caused by a sudden increase in the leading-edge pressure due to the jet and the separation bubble interacting along the stagnation point flow.
A stable galaxy, if excited above its ground state, oscillates about that ground state. If it is resonably robust, it can support oscillations of large amplitude. Normal mode oscillations, with surprisingly large amplitudes, have been seen in numerical experiments. Observational evidence shows that real galaxies also oscillate. Galaxies ring like a bell in the experiments, and ringing continues undamped long after initial transients have died out. Their total kinetic energy oscillates with an amplitude as large as 10% of the mean. A fundamental mode dominates. It is homologous expansion/contraction of the entire galaxy (no nodes). Inward or outward velocities due to this mode are sufficiently large in the outer reaches of a galaxy to account for kinematic warps in observed velocity fields. A second spherically symmetrical mode has one node and is important near the center of the galaxy. It may be the driving force behind bulges in spiral galaxies. Two other normal modes have been identified as well. This appears to be the first experimental demonstration of normal mode oscillations within stable galaxy models.
Thermal hydraulic instability can challenge the control and the safety of nuclear reactors. This experimental research captures and investigates the instability in a low-pressure (1–10 atmospheres) natural circulation loop with an adiabatic chimney installed above the heated section. Direct transient local measurement of two-phase flow is performed at multiple axial locations along the flow channel with thermocouples and conductivity probes traversed by customized high-precision mechanisms. Based on the periodicity of oscillations, a post-processing method is proposed to align the data captured non-simultaneously to reconstruct the instability behavior in one representative period. The averaging operation over multiple oscillation cycles is performed to reduce the random errors. Cyclic phenomena are clearly demonstrated by the post-processed data, and rapid void fraction change induced by the flashing is observed to be significant in the driving mechanism for low pressure oscillations. Parametric effects of inlet subcooling, heat flux, inlet flow restriction and system pressure are studied within the experiment range, and qualitative results are explained and compared with existing literature. The ratio between the oscillation period and the travelling time of the fluid particle through the test section is compared with the theoretical value for the density wave oscillation. The new dataset contains directly measured transient multi-dimensional two-phase data along the flow channel for natural circulation under density wave oscillations. The generated dataset is valuable for the validation of system analysis codes and CFD codes in the simulation of natural circulation phenomena and dynamic two-phase flow.
A comprehensive dynamic model of a hybrid rocket has been developed in order to understand and predict the transient behavior including instabilities. A linearized version of the transient model predicted the low-frequency chamber pressure oscillations that are commonly observed in hybrids. The source of the instabilities is based on a complex coupling of thermal transients in the solid fuel, wall heat transfer blocking due to fuel regression rate and the transients in the boundary layer that forms on the fuel surface. The oscillation frequencies predicted by the linearized theory are in very good agreement with 43 motor test results obtained from the hybrid propulsion literature. The motor test results used in the comparison cover a very wide spectrum of parameters including: 1) four separate research and development programs, 2) three different oxidizers (LOX, GOX, N2O), 3) a wide range of motor dimensions (i.e. from 5 inch diameter to 72 inch diameter) and operating conditions and 4) several fuel formulations. A simple universal scaling formula for the frequency of the primary oscillation mode is suggested.
This article provides analyses of subsynchronous oscillations associated with solar photovoltaics (PVs) observed in real world. All have oscillation frequencies at approximately 20 Hz in voltage and current magnitudes. On the other hand, in phase voltage and current, the oscillations show very different signatures. Through constructing simplified linear models and conducting sensitivity analysis, we are able to associate dynamic phenomena with the underlying mechanism and speculate the possible causes of the 20-Hz oscillations. The analysis results have all been validated via simulation results from electromagnetic transient (EMT) test beds constructed in MATLAB/Simscape.
The oscillations from 0-100 kHz in a 6-kW magnetically shielded thruster are experimen- tally characterized. Changes in plasma parameters that result from the magnetic shielding of Hall thrusters have the potential to significantly alter thruster transients. A detailed investigation of the resulting oscillations is necessary both for the purpose of determin- ing the underlying physical processes governing time-dependent behavior in magnetically shielded thrusters as well as for improving thruster models. In this investigation, a high speed camera and a translating ion saturation probe are employed to examine the spatial extent and nature of oscillations from 0-100 kHz in the H6MS thruster. Two modes are identified at 8 kHz and 75-90 kHz. The low frequency mode is azimuthally uniform across the thruster face while the high frequency oscillation is concentrated close to the thruster centerline with an m = 1 azimuthal dependence. These experimental results are discussed in the context of wave theory as well as published observations from an unshielded variant of the H6MS thruster.
Abstract Self-organization in an unmagnetized collisionless plasma (in this paper) refers to formation of transient coherent structures such as collective oscillations (electrostatic waves) or magnetic fields resulting from so-called kinetic effects in the plasma. This topical review provides a comprehensive analysis of the self-organization of strong-field photoionized, non-equilibrium plasmas through kinetic instabilities. The authors propose and demonstrate a novel experimental platform that enables the formation of dense plasmas with known highly anisotropic and non-thermal electron velocity distribution functions on a timescale on the order of an inverse electron plasma frequency. We then show that such plasmas are highly susceptible to a hierarchy of kinetic instabilities, including two-stream, current filamentation and Weibel, that convert a fraction of the electron kinetic energy into electric and/or magnetic energy stored in self-organized structures. The electrostatic waves so produced are measured using a collective light (Thomson) scattering technique with femtosecond resolution as the kinetic instabilities aided by collisions eventually thermalize the plasma electrons. In addition, we describe a novel experimental technique that has made it possible to map the temporal evolution of the wavenumber spectrum of the thermal Weibel instability with picosecond resolution, which leads to the formation of quasi-static coherent magnetic fields with different topologies in photoionized plasmas. Finally, the paper summarizes the important results and discusses future directions on this topic.
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Research on network microgrids has primarily focused on control and optimization. However, application aspects such as microgrid-to-microgrid synchronization have not been fully addressed in existing literature. This paper first addresses the challenges of networking microgrids with grid-forming inverter in droop control. Then, it proposes a pre-synchronization algorithm to improves the synchronization speed and transient stability. To improve the speed, the phase difference between adjacent microgrids is minimized. Transients such as inrush current and oscillations are effectively mitigated by increasing the virtual impedance during interconnection. The proposed strategy allows smooth transitions when reconfiguration of the microgrids is needed. The applicability of this strategy to today’s microgrid systems is demonstrated through a validation in a 480V three-phase network microgrid testbed with commercial-grade inverters, protective devices, and switchgear.
Physical and computational models are provided for three cases of shock motion-turbulence interaction: (1) the production of velocity fluctuations due to shock oscillations; (2) eddy alteration due to transient eddy shocklets; and (3) eddy production due to transient shock-entropy spottiness interactions. Shock motions are shown to be efficient in converting mean flow energy into fluctuation energy, and high-frequency induced shock motions produce intense vorticity fields from the incident mean flow. The effects of transient eddy shocklets created by subsonic eddy motion in a supersonic stream are discussed in detail.
A possible scenario for the generation of the narrow-banded radio bursts detected at Uranus by the Voyager 2 planetary radio astronomy experiment is described. In order to account for the emission burstiness which occurs on time scales of hundreds of milliseconds, it is proposed that ULF magnetic surface turbulence generated at the frontside magnetopause propagates down the open/closed field line boundary and mode-converts to kinetic Alfven waves (KAW) deep within the polar cusp. The oscillating KAW potentials then drive a transient electron stream that creates the bursty radio emission. To substantiate these ideas, Voyager 2 magnetometer measurements of enhanced ULF magnetic activity at the frontside magnetopause are shown. It is demonstrated analytically that such magnetic turbulence should mode-convert deep in the cusp at a radial distance of 3 RU.
The NACA is conducting a general investigation of servo-mechanisms for use in powering aircraft control surfaces. This paper presents a theoretical analysis and the results of bench tests of a control-booster system which employs a variable displacement hydraulic pump. The booster is intended for use in a flight investigation to determine the effects of various booster parameters on the handling qualities of airplanes. Such a flight investigation would aid in formulating specific requirements concerning the design of control boosters in general. Results of the theoretical analysis and the bench tests indicate that the subject booster is representative of types which show promise of satisfactory performance. The bench tests showed that the following desirable features were inherent in this booster system: (1) No lost motion or play in any part of the system; (2) no detectable lag between motion of the contra1 stick and control surface; and (3) Good agreement between control displacements and stick-force variations with no hysteresis in the stick-force characteristics. The final design configuration of this booster system showed no tendency to oscillate, overshoot, or have other undesirable transient characteristics common to boosters.
In any interconnected power grid, low-frequency oscillations is a major problem that can limit the power transfer capability and deteriorate power system security due to potential low-damped or even undamped oscillations. Synchronized measurements provided by PMUs enable the design and development of wide-area oscillation damping controllers (WADC) based on measurement-driven model to overcome the limitations of traditional controllers. This work focuses on the impact of a W ADC based on a measurement-driven approach on system separation for the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) grid. A grid model is provided by SEC for this study. Modal analysis is performed to identify the oscillation mode of interest for which the controller is designed. Damping the dominant oscillation mode helps slightly to improve transient stability of the system. Considering bus frequency at different locations in SEC's system as the candidate observation signals, the optimal observation signal is chosen for the W ADC by using the FFT method. The system transfer function model is constructed by utilizing probing measurements. Then, the W ADC parameters are calculated based on the identified model. The performance of the designed W ADC is tested under different contingencies.