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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.

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At least 91 records · Page 5

ICIASF '85 - International Congress on Instrumentation in Aerospace Simulation Facilities, 11th, Stanford University, CA, August 26-28, 1985, Record

Developments related to laser Doppler velocimetry are discussed, taking into account a three-component dual beam laser-Doppler-anemometer to be operated in large wind tunnels, a new optical system for three-dimensional laser-Doppler-anemometry using an argon-ion and a dye laser, and a two-component laser Doppler velocimeter by switching fringe orientation. Other topics studied are concerned with facilities, instrumentation, control, hot wire/thin film measurements, optical diagnostic techniques, signal and data processing, facilities and adaptive wall test sections, data acquisition and processing, ballistic instrument systems, dynamic testing and material deformation measurements, optical flow measurements, test techniques, force measurement systems, and holography. Attention is given to nonlinear calibration of integral wind tunnel balances, a microcomputer system for real time digitized image compression, and two phase flow diagnostics in propulsion systems.

Source record↗

On the effectiveness of neural operators at zero-shot weather downscaling

Machine-learning (ML) methods have shown great potential for weather downscaling. These data-driven approaches provide a more efficient alternative for producing high-resolution weather datasets and forecasts compared to physics-based numerical simulations. Neural operators, which learn solution operators for a family of partial differential equations, have shown great success in scientific ML applications involving physics-driven datasets. Neural operators are grid-resolution-invariant and are often evaluated on higher grid resolutions than they are trained on, i.e., zero-shot super-resolution. Given their promising zero-shot super-resolution performance on dynamical systems emulation, we present a critical investigation of their zero-shot weather downscaling capabilities, which is when models are tasked with producing high-resolution outputs using higher upsampling factors than are seen during training. To this end, we create two realistic downscaling experiments with challenging upsampling factors (e.g., 8x and 15x) across data from different simulations: the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis version 5 (ERA5) and the Wind Integration National Dataset Toolkit. While neural operator-based downscaling models perform better than interpolation and a simple convolutional baseline, we show the surprising performance of an approach that combines a powerful transformer-based model with parameter-free interpolation at zero-shot weather downscaling. We find that this Swin-Transformer-based approach mostly outperforms models with neural operator layers in terms of average error metrics, whereas an Enhanced Super-Resolution Generative Adversarial Network-based approach is better than most models in terms of capturing the physics of the ground truth data. We suggest their use in future work as strong baselines.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Power System Recovery from Momentary Cessation with Transient Stability Improvement

Power system dynamics will be significantly changed by integrating wind farms and solar photovoltaic plants into power systems. This study investigates the effect of momentary cessation of inverter-based resources (IBRs) on transient stability and provides a recovery strategy for bulk IBRs in power systems. The theoretical analysis was initially carried out on a one-machine infinite-bus system, demonstrating the IBR impact in a critical group. The analysis was then expanded to a multimachine power system with IBRs using the single-machine equivalent method. The study found that IBRs in critical and noncritical groups exert contrasting effects on transient stability. Finally, a strategy for enhancing transient stability is proposed by controlling IBRs during power system recovery. The proposed strategy was verified by simulation on IEEE 9-bus and IEEE 39-bus power systems with the addition of IBRs. A 39-bus power system simulation demonstrates the scalability of the proposed method. Here, the proposed strategy provides effective and executable measures for improving system security in the presence of IBRs.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Software-Defined Virtual Synchronous Condenser

Synchronous condensers (SCs) play important roles in integrating wind energy into relatively weak power grids. However, the design of SCs usually depends on specific application requirements and may not be adaptive enough to the frequently-changing grid conditions caused by the transition from conventional to renewable power generation. This paper devises a software-defined virtual synchronous condenser (SDViSC) method to address the challenges. Our contributions are fourfold: 1) design of a virtual synchronous condenser (ViSC) to enable full converter wind turbines to provide built-in SC functionalities; 2) engineering SDViSCs to transfer hardware-based ViSC controllers into software services, where a Tustin transformation-based software-defined control algorithm guarantees accurate tracking of fast dynamics under limited communication bandwidth; 3) a software-defined networking-enhanced SDViSC communication scheme to allow enhanced communication reliability and reduced communication bandwidth occupation; and 4) Prototype of SDViSC on our real-time, cyber-in-the-loop digital twin of large-wind-farm in an RTDS environment. Furthermore, extensive test results validate the excellent performance of SDViSC to support reliable and resilient operations of wind farms under various physical and cyber conditions.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

NASA/Army XV-15 tilt rotor research aircraft familiarization document

The design features and general characteristics of the NASA/Army XV-15 tilt rotor research aircraft are described. This aircraft was conceived as a proof-of-concept vehicle and a V/STOL research tool for integrated wind tunnel, flight-simulation, and flight-test investigations. Discussions of special design provisions and safety considerations necessary to perform these missions are included in this report. In addition to predictions of aircraft and engine performance for the hover, helicopter, and airplane flight modes, analytical estimates of the structural and dynamic limitations of the XV-15 are provided.

Source record↗

Applications of Computer Graphics in Engineering

Various applications of interactive computer graphics to the following areas of science and engineering were described: design and analysis of structures, configuration geometry, animation, flutter analysis, design and manufacturing, aircraft design and integration, wind tunnel data analysis, architecture and construction, flight simulation, hydrodynamics, curve and surface fitting, gas turbine engine design, analysis, and manufacturing, packaging of printed circuit boards, spacecraft design.

Source record↗

Enabling Civilian Low-Altitude Airspace and Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Operations

UAS operations will be safer if a UTM system is available to support the functions associated with Airspace management and geo-fencing (reduce risk of accidents, impact to other operations, and community concerns); Weather and severe wind integration (avoid severe weather areas based on prediction); Predict and manage congestion (mission safety);Terrain and man-made objects database and avoidance; Maintain safe separation (mission safety and assurance of other assets); Allow only authenticated operations (avoid unauthorized airspace use).

Unmanned↗

Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

NASA is developing a system to safely enable low altitude unmanned aerial system (UAS) operations. The system is referred to as UAS Traffic Management (UTM). The UTM will safely enable a variety of business models and multiple operations in the same airspace. The UTM will provide services such as airspace configuration and geo-fencing, weather and wind integration, demand-capacity imbalance management, and separation management, and contingency management. The UTM research and development has been conducted in collaboration with many in industry, academia, and government. The UTM system will evolve through four builds. Each build will be collaboratively tested with partners. The final prototype will be available for persistent daily use of UAS operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).

low-altitude airspace↗

Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

NASA is developing a system to safely enable low altitude unmanned aerial system (UAS) operations. The system is referred to as UAS Traffic Management (UTM). The UTM will safely enable a variety of business models and multiple operations in the same airspace. The UTM will provide services such as airspace configuration and geo-fencing, weather and wind integration, demand-capacity imbalance management, and separation management, and contingency management. The UTM research and development has been conducted in collaboration with many in industry, academia, and government. The UTM system will evolve through four builds. Each build will be collaboratively tested with partners. The final prototype will be available for persistent daily use of UAS operations beyond line of sight.

low-altitude airspace↗

Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

NASA is developing a system to safely enable low altitude unmanned aerial system (UAS) operations. The system is referred to as UAS Traffic Management (UTM). The UTM will safely enable a variety of business models and multiple operations in the same airspace. The UTM will provide services such as airspace configuration and geo-fencing, weather and wind integration, demand-capacity imbalance management, and separation management, and contingency management. The UTM research and development has been conducted in collaboration with many in industry, academia, and government. The UTM system will evolve through four builds. Each build will be collaboratively tested with partners. The final prototype will be available for persistent daily use of UAS operations beyond line of sight.

low-altitude airspace↗

Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Power: Standards, Control, Power Quality and Transmission

Offshore wind is expected to be a major player in the global efforts toward decarbonization, leading to exceptional changes in modern power systems. Understanding the impacts and capabilities of the relatively new and uniquely positioned assets in grids with high integration levels of inverter-based resources, however, is lacking, raising concerns about grid reliability, stability, power quality, and resilience, with the absence of updated grid codes to guide the massive deployment of offshore wind. To help fill the gap, this paper presents an overview of the state-of-the-art technologies of offshore wind power grid integration. First, the paper investigates the most current grid requirements for wind power plant integration, based on a harmonized European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) framework and notable international standards, and it illuminates future directions. The paper discusses the wind turbine and wind power plant control strategies, and new control approaches, such as grid-forming control, are presented in detail. The paper reviews recent research on the ancillary services that offshore wind power plants can potentially provide, which, when harmonized, will not only comply with regulations but also improve the value of the asset. The paper explores topics of wind power plant harmonics, reviewing the latest standards in detail and outlining mitigation methods. The paper also presents stability analysis methods for wind power plants, with discussions centered on validity and computational efficiency. Finally, the paper discusses wind power plant transmission solutions, with a focus on high-voltage direct-current topologies and controls.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Design of a 3.4-MW wind turbine with integrated plasma actuator-based load control

Historically, cost reduction in wind energy has been accomplished by increasing hub heights and rotor diameters to capture more energy per turbine. The growth in rotor and turbine costs with increasing turbine sizes is also driven by the additional structure that must be added to withstand unsteady aerodynamic loads caused by turbulence, gusts, wind shear, misaligned yaw, upwind wakes, and the tower shadow. In this paper, we present a holistic design solution to integrate active load control using a controllable Gurney flap based on plasma actuators. We illustrate the design solution for a land-based 3.4-MW wind turbine rotor. Comparisons to a baseline reference 3.4-MW wind turbine show significant load reduction (15–18% DEL reduction for flap-wise blade root moments), rotor mass reduction (5–8%), and LCOE reduction (1.16–3.11%). To achieve these results, a comprehensive sequential-iterative design procedure is introduced to integrate the controllable Gurney flap into the turbine design and to drive the design solution toward the best LCOE reduction solution. Results are presented for mapping fatigue load reductions into cost reductions. In addition, an evaluation of active load control extended from Region-III to also include Region-II showed a further 34% reduction in DEL.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Control co-design under uncertainty for offshore wind farms: Optimizing grid integration, energy storage, and market participation

Offshore wind farms (OWFs) are set to significantly contribute to global decarbonization efforts. Developers often use a sequential approach to optimize design variables and market participation for grid-integrated offshore wind farms. However, this method can lead to sub-optimal system performance, and uncertainties associated with renewable resources are often overlooked in decision-making. Here, this paper proposes a control co-design approach, optimizing design and control decisions for integrating OWFs into the power grid while considering energy market and primary frequency market participation. Additionally, we introduce optimal sizing solutions for energy storage systems deployed onshore to enhance revenue for OWF developers over time. This framework addresses uncertainties related to wind resources and energy prices. We analyze five U.S. west-coast offshore wind farm locations and potential interconnection points, as identified by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Results show that optimized control co-design solutions can increase market revenue by 3.2% and provide flexibility in managing wind resource uncertainties.

Control Co-design↗

NASA ERA Integrated CFD for Wind Tunnel Testing of Hybrid Wing-Body Configuration

The NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project explored enabling technologies to reduce impact of aviation on the environment. One project research challenge area was the study of advanced airframe and engine integration concepts to reduce community noise and fuel burn. To address this challenge, complex wind tunnel experiments at both the NASA Langley Research Center's (LaRC) 14'x22' and the Ames Research Center's 40'x80' low-speed wind tunnel facilities were conducted on a BOEING Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) configuration. These wind tunnel tests entailed various entries to evaluate the propulsion-airframe interference effects, including aerodynamic performance and aeroacoustics. In order to assist these tests in producing high quality data with minimal hardware interference, extensive Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations were performed for everything from sting design and placement for both the wing body and powered ejector nacelle systems to the placement of aeroacoustic arrays to minimize its impact on vehicle aerodynamics. This paper presents a high-level summary of the CFD simulations that NASA performed in support of the model integration hardware design as well as the development of some CFD simulation guidelines based on post-test aerodynamic data. In addition, the paper includes details on how multiple CFD codes (OVERFLOW, STAR-CCM+, USM3D, and FUN3D) were efficiently used to provide timely insight into the wind tunnel experimental setup and execution.

Computational Fluid Dynamics↗

NASA ERA Integrated CFD for Wind Tunnel Testing of Hybrid Wing-Body Configuration

NASAs Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project explores enabling technologies to reduce aviations impact on the environment. One research challenge area for the project has been to study advanced airframe and engine integration concepts to reduce community noise and fuel burn. In order to achieve this, complex wind tunnel experiments at both the NASA Langley Research Centers (LaRC) 14x22 and the Ames Research Centers 40x80 low-speed wind tunnel facilities were conducted on a Boeing Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) configuration. These wind tunnel tests entailed various entries to evaluate the propulsion airframe interference effects including aerodynamic performance and aeroacoustics. In order to assist these tests in producing high quality data with minimal hardware interference, extensive Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations were performed for everything from sting design and placement for both the wing body and powered ejector nacelle systems to the placement of aeroacoustic arrays to minimize its impact on the vehicles aerodynamics. This paper will provide a high level summary of the CFD simulations that NASA performed in support of the model integration hardware design as well as some simulation guideline development based on post-test aerodynamic data. In addition, the paper includes details on how multiple CFD codes (OVERFLOW, STAR-CCM+, USM3D, and FUN3D) were efficiently used to provide timely insight into the wind tunnel experimental setup and execution.

Computational Fluid Dynamics↗

An Integrated Platform for Wind Plant Operations: From Atmosphere to Electrons to the Grid

Under the Atmosphere to Electrons to Grid project (A2e2g), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is developing an optimization platform for wind plant operations. The platform merges forecasting tools with aerodynamic and economic models in order to identify optimal operating schedules and controller functions that will maximize a wind plant's value streams for energy and other grid services. In this presentation, we will describe functionalities of the platform. We will also discuss the implications the use of the platform might have for understanding and valuing the capabilities of wind resources for power system operations.

A2E2G↗

Structural Integrity of a Wind Tunnel Balance

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) has been designing strain-gage balances for utilization in wind tunnels since its inception. The utilization of balances span over a wide variety of aerodynamic tests. A force balance is an inherently critically stressed component due to the requirements of measurement sensitivity. Research and analyses are done in order to investigate the structural integrity of the balances as well as developing an understanding of their performance in order to enhance their capability. Maximum loading occurs when all 6 components of the loads are applied simultaneously with their maximum value allowed (limit load). This circumstance normally does not occur in the wind tunnel. However, if it occurs, is the balance capable of handling the loads with an acceptable factor of safety? LaRC Balance 1621 was modeled and meshed in PATRAN for analysis in NASTRAN. For a complete analysis, it is necessary to consider all the load cases as well as use dense mesh near all the edges. Because of computer limitations, it is not possible to have one model with the dense mesh near all edges. In the present study, a dense mesh is limited to the surface corners where the cage and axial sections meet. Four different load combinations are used for the current analysis. Linear analysis is performed for each load case. In the case where the stress value is above linear elastic region, it is necessary to perform nonlinear analysis. It is also important to investigate the variables limiting the structural integrity of the balances. In order to investigate the possibility of modifying the existing balances to enhance the structural integrity, some modifications are done on this balance. The structural integrity of the balance after modification is investigated.

Karkehabadi, R.↗