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NASA NTRS1976

Pioneer 10 and 11 observations and the dynamics of Jupiter's atmosphere

Three results of the Pioneer 10 and 11 infrared radiometer experiment are examined. The first result is that the effective temperature is the same at the poles and equator, in spite of the excess solar heat deposited at the equator. This is consistent with theories of convection which indicate that an extremely small equator-to-pole temperature difference could suppress the internal heat flux at the equator relative to the pole by an amount sufficient to balance the difference in solar energy deposition. The second result is that the effective temperature of belts is 3 to 4 K greater than that of zones. This is almost exactly accounted for by the lower albedo of the belts, and is consistent with a model where the internal heat flux is the same under belts and zones, and the horizontal atmospheric heat flux is zero. The third results is the clearly visible instability along the equatorward edges of zones in the Northern Hemisphere.

Ingersoll, A. P.↗

NASA NTRS1977

STAYLAM: A FORTRAN program for the suction transition analysis of a yawed wing laminar boundary layer

A computer program called STAYLAM is presented for the computation of the compressible laminar boundary-layer flow over a yawed infinite wing including distributed suction. This program is restricted to the transonic speed range or less due to the approximate treatment of the compressibility effects. The prescribed suction distribution is permitted to change discontinuously along the chord measured perpendicular to the wing leading edge. Estimates of transition are made by considering leading edge contamination, cross flow instability, and instability of the Tollmien-Schlichting type. A program listing is given in addition to user instructions and a sample case.

Carter, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Magnetic field line draping in the plasma depletion layer

Simultaneous IMP 8 solar wind and ISEE 1/2 observations for a northern dawn ISEE 1/2 magnetopause crossing on November 6, 1977. During this crossing, ISEE 1/2 observed quasi-periodic pulses of magnetosheathlike plasma on northward magnetic field lines. The ISEE 1/2 observations were originally interpreted as evidence for strong diffusion of magnetosheath plasma across the magnetopause and the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at the inner edge of the low-latitude boundary layer. An alternate explanation, in terms of magnetic field merging and flux transfer events, has also been advocated. In this paper, a third interpretation is proposed in terms of quasi-periodic magnetopause motion which causes the satellites to repeatedly exit the magnetosphere and observe draped northward magnetosheath magnetic field lines in the plasma depletion layer.

Sibeck, D. G.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Effects of Nose Bluntness on Stability of Hypersonic Boundary Layers over Blunt Cone

Receptivity and stability of hypersonic boundary layers are numerically investigated for boundary layer flows over a 5-degree straight cone at a free-stream Mach number of 6.0. To compute the shock and the interaction of shock with the instability waves, we solve the Navier-Stokes equations in axisymmetric coordinates. The governing equations are solved using the 5th-order accurate weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for space discretization and using third-order total-variation-diminishing (TVD) Runge-Kutta scheme for time integration. After the mean flow field is computed, disturbances are introduced at the upstream end of the computational domain. Generation of instability waves from leading edge region and receptivity of boundary layer to slow acoustic waves are investigated. Computations are performed for a cone with nose radii of 0.001, 0.05 and 0.10 inches that give Reynolds numbers based on the nose radii ranging from 650 to 130,000. The linear stability results showed that the bluntness has a strong stabilizing effect on the stability of axisymmetric boundary layers. The transition Reynolds number for a cone with the nose Reynolds number of 65,000 is increased by a factor of 1.82 compared to that for a sharp cone. The receptivity coefficient for a sharp cone is about 4.23 and it is very small, approx.10(exp -3), for large bluntness.

Kara, K.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Effects of Wall Cooling on Hypersonic Boundary Layer Receptivity Over a Cone

Effects of wall cooling on the receptivity process induced by the interaction of slow acoustic disturbances in the free-stream are numerically investigated for a boundary layer flow over a 5-degrees straight cone. The free-stream Mach number is 6.0 and the Reynolds number is 7.8x10(exp 6)/ft. Both the steady and unsteady solutions are obtained by solving the full Navier-Stokes equations using 5th-order accurate weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for space discretization and using 3rd-order total variation diminishing (T VD) Runge-K utta scheme for time integration. Computations are performed for a cone with nose radius of 0.001 inch for adiabatic wall temperature (T(sub aw)), 0.75*T(sub aw), 0.5*T(sub aw), 0.40*T(sub aw), 0.30*T(sub aw), and 0.20*T(sub aw). Once the mean flow field is computed, disturbances are introduced at the upstream end of the computational domain. Generation of instability waves from leading edge region and receptivity of boundary layer to slow acoustic waves are investigated. Computations showed that wall cooling has strong stabilization effect on the first mode disturbances as was observed in the experiments. T ransition location moved to upstream when wall cooling was applied It is also found that the boundary layer is much more receptive to fast acoustic wave (by almost a factor of 50). When simulations performed using the same forcing frequency growth of the second mode disturbances are delayed with wall cooling and they attained values two times higher than that of adiabatic case. In 0.20*T(sub aw) case the transition Reynolds number is doubled compared to adiabatic conditions. The receptivity coefficient for adiabatic wall case (804 R) is 1.5225 and for highly cooled cones (241, and 161 R); they are in the order of 10(exp -3).

Kara, K.↗

NASA NTRS1980

An explanation of the instability of the free vortex cores occurring over delta winds with raised edges

By rolling up the surfaces of discontinuity originating from the leading edge of delta wings, free vortex cores are formed above the wing. In case of greater angles of incidence, the flow in these vortex cores shows an instability which abruptly produces strong turbulence. In the present paper an explanation is given of this instability being a "frictionless instability" of the vortex core flow by increasing helical interference vortices. The occurring vortex core flows are calculated and investigated for stability by means of a stability criterion concerning flows with helical streamlines given by H. Ludwieg.

Ludwieg, H.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Effects of Cavities and Protuberances on Transition over Hypersonic Vehicles

Surface protuberances and cavities on a hypersonic vehicle are known to cause several aerodynamic or aerothermodynamic issues. Most important of all, premature transition due to these surface irregularities can lead to a significant rise in surface heating. To help understand laminar-turbulent transition induced by protuberances or cavities on a Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) surface, high-fidelity numerical simulations are carried out for both types of trips on a CEV wind tunnel model. Due to the large bluntness, these surface irregularities reside in an accelerating subsonic boundary layer. For the Mach 6 wind tunnel conditions with a roughness Reynolds number Re(sub kk) of 800, it was found that a protuberance with a height to boundary layer thickness ratio of 0.73 leads to strong wake instability and spontaneous vortex shedding, while a cavity with identical geometry only causes a rather weak flow unsteadiness. The same cavity with a larger Reynolds number also leads to similar spontaneous vortex shedding and wake instability. The wake development and the formation of hairpin vortices for both protuberance and cavity were found to be qualitatively similar to that observed for an isolated hemisphere submerged in a subsonic, low speed flat-plate boundary layer. However, the shed vortices and their accompanying instability waves were found to be slightly stabilized downstream by the accelerating boundary layer along the CEV surface. Despite this stabilizing influence, it was found that the wake instability spreads substantially in both wall-normal and azimuthal directions as the flow is evolving towards a transitional state. Similarities and differences between the wake instability behind a protuberance and a cavity are investigated. Computations for the Mach 6 boundary layer over a slender cylindrical roughness element with a height to the boundary layer thickness of about 1.1 also shows spontaneous vortex shedding and strong wake instability. Comparisons of detailed flow structures associated with protuberances at subsonic and supersonic edge Mach numbers indicate distinctively different instability mechanisms.

Chang, Chau-Lyan↗

NASA NTRS2007

Acoustic Receptivity of Mach 4.5 Boundary Layer with Leading- Edge Bluntness

Boundary layer receptivity to two-dimensional slow and fast acoustic waves is investigated by solving Navier-Stokes equations for Mach 4.5 flow over a flat plate with a finite-thickness leading edge. Higher order spatial and temporal schemes are employed to obtain the solution whereby the flat-plate leading edge region is resolved by providing a sufficiently refined grid. The results show that the instability waves are generated in the leading edge region and that the boundary-layer is much more receptive to slow acoustic waves (by almost a factor of 20) as compared to the fast waves. Hence, this leading-edge receptivity mechanism is expected to be more relevant in the transition process for high Mach number flows where second mode instability is dominant. Computations are performed to investigate the effect of leading-edge thickness and it is found that bluntness tends to stabilize the boundary layer. Furthermore, the relative significance of fast acoustic waves is enhanced in the presence of bluntness. The effect of acoustic wave incidence angle is also studied and it is found that the receptivity of the boundary layer on the windward side (with respect to the acoustic forcing) decreases by more than a factor of 4 when the incidence angle is increased from 0 to 45 deg. However, the receptivity coefficient for the leeward side is found to vary relatively weakly with the incidence angle.

Malik, Mujeeb R.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Airfoil self-noise and prediction

A prediction method is developed for the self-generated noise of an airfoil blade encountering smooth flow. The prediction methods for the individual self-noise mechanisms are semiempirical and are based on previous theoretical studies and data obtained from tests of two- and three-dimensional airfoil blade sections. The self-noise mechanisms are due to specific boundary-layer phenomena, that is, the boundary-layer turbulence passing the trailing edge, separated-boundary-layer and stalled flow over an airfoil, vortex shedding due to laminar boundary layer instabilities, vortex shedding from blunt trailing edges, and the turbulent vortex flow existing near the tip of lifting blades. The predictions are compared successfully with published data from three self-noise studies of different airfoil shapes. An application of the prediction method is reported for a large scale-model helicopter rotor, and the predictions compared well with experimental broadband noise measurements. A computer code of the method is given.

Brooks, Thomas F.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Toroidal modeling of runaway electron loss due to 3D fields in ITER

Mitigation of runaway electrons (REs) by three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field perturbations is numerically investigated for the ITER 15 MA baseline D–T scenario, utilizing the MARS-F code (Liu et al Phys. Plasmas 7 3681) with a drift orbit test particle tracing module. Considered are two types of 3D fields: the n = 3 (n is the toroidal mode number) resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) utilized for the purpose of controlling the edge localized modes in ITER, and perturbations generated by the n = 1 magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in a post-disruption plasma. The RMP field, applied to a pre-disruption plasma, is found to be moderately effective in mitigating the RE seeds in ITER when vacuum field model is assumed. Up to ~40% loss fraction is possible at 90 kA-turn coil current. The mitigation efficiency is however substantially reduced, down to less than 5%, when the plasma response is taken into account. This is due to strong screening of the resonant magnetic field components by the plasma response resulting in much less field line stochasticity. On the other hand, the MARS-F modeling, based on the DINA-simulated post-disruption equilibria, shows that the n = 1 resistive kink instabilities develop in these plasmas, as the edge safety factor qa evolves and drops below integer numbers. RE mitigation by these MHD instabilities is sensitive to the eigenmode structure. The best mitigation is achieved as q a drops below 3, when a global kink instability occurs that encompasses both internal and external components. This global instability is found to be capable of mitigating over 80% MeV-level passing RE orbits at a field perturbation |δB|/B 0 that is comparable to that observed in DIII-D experiments, and full mitigation if the perturbation amplitude is doubled. The 'wetted' area on the ITER limiting surface, due to MHD instability induced RE loss, generally increases with the perturbation amplitude (together with increasing loss fraction). At the highest perturbation level assumed in this study, the wetted area reaches ~60% of the total limiting surface area. Lastly, the lost RE orbits mainly strike the outer divertor region of the limiting surface, with some fraction also hitting a wide area along the inboard side of the surface.

3D fields↗

DOE OSTI2020

Meso-scale Instability Triggered by Dust Feedback in Dusty Rings: Origin and Observational Implications

High spatial resolution observations of protoplanetary disks by ALMA have revealed many substructures that are providing interesting constraints on disk physics as well as dust dynamics, both of which are essential for understanding planet formation. We carry out high-resolution, 2D global hydrodynamic simulations, including the effects of dust feedback, to study the stability of dusty rings. When the ring edges are relatively sharp and the dust surface density becomes comparable to the gas surface density, we find that dust feedback enhances the radial gradients of both the azimuthal velocity profile and the potential vorticity profile at the ring edges. This eventually leads to instabilities on meso-scales (spatial scales of several disk scale heights), causing dusty rings to be populated with many compact regions with highly concentrated dust densities. We also produce synthetic dust emission images using our simulation results and discuss the comparison between simulations and observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS2005

Receptivity of Supersonic Boundary Layers to Acoustic Disturbances

Boundary layer receptivity to two-dimensional slow and fast acoustic waves is investigated by solving Navier-Stokes equations for Mach 4.5 flow over a flat plate with a finite-thickness leading edge. Higher order spatial and temporal schemes are employed to obtain the solution whereby the flat-plate leading edge region is resolved by providing a sufficiently refined grid. The results show that the instability waves are generated in the leading edge region and that the boundary-layer is much more receptive to slow acoustic waves (by almost a factor of 20) as compared to the fast waves. Hence, this leading-edge receptivity mechanism is expected to be more relevant in the transition process for high Mach number flows. The effect of acoustic wave incidence angle is also studied and it is found that the receptivity of the boundary layer on the windward side (with respect to the acoustic forcing) decreases by more than a factor of 4 when the incidence angle is increased from 0 to 45 deg. However, the receptivity coefficient for the leeward side is found to vary relatively weakly with the incidence angle. The effect of leading-edge thickness is also studied and bluntness is found to stabilize the boundary layer. The relative significance of fast acoustic waves is enhanced in the presence of bluntness.

Malik, Mujeeb R.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A parametric study of the leading edge attachment line for the F-16XL

A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code is used to computationally simulate the flow about a modified F-16XL. Transition mechanisms (e.g. attachment line location and crossflow instability) near the swept wing leading edge are analyzed in detail. Flow visualization is used to study the influence of angle-of-attack on the aforementioned transition mechanisms. Validation of the code is accomplished by comparison of numerically generated surface pressures with that obtained by in-flight experiments.

Flores, Jolen↗

DOE OSTI2025

Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Amplifiers for Fusion Plasma Heating and Control

This paper discusses power electronics developed under the ARPA-E GAMOW program to support nuclear fusion power production. The goal of this project was to develop and assess the potential for wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices in power electronics to enable high-efficiency and high-voltage solid-state systems for fusion plasma generation, heating, and control. The power electronics use an architecture in which multiple high-power boards can be combined to produce megawatt-level power, where using multiple boards provides high reliability. Two main areas of power electronics boards are developed in this project for fusion plasma heating and control applications: (1) pulse generation and control and (2) radiofrequency generation. The first area is for boards capable of driving high-voltage millisecond pulses at high duty cycles. The envisioned application of these pulses is in plasma control of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, plasma position, and edge-localized modes. Pulse-width modulation allows for the implementation of a wide variety of linear and nonlinear control systems. The boards developed for this project could actuate control coils based on digital input signals and can be parallelized to provide megawatts of output power. The design of the pulse generator is a low-side load switch. A load switch was designed and constructed that utilized 2-kV-rated field-effect transistor (FET)-based cascodes developed by Qorvo under this project to perform initial testing of these cascodes. The second area is being implemented using class E amplifiers with WBG devices and a reactance steering network to handle inductive or capacitive plasma loads. Applications include ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) and high-harmonic fast-wave (HHFW) heating. A class E reactance steering network is demonstrated in modeling and experiment with a resistive-inductive load that models an inductively-coupled plasma. Power combining of boards with class E reactance steering networks is also simulated and demonstrated experimentally, to enable scaling up to high power. Modeling of high-power-density cooling and remaining useful life is conducted to enable reliable, effectively cooled high-power electronics for fusion applications.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2020

NGC 4869 in the Coma Cluster: Twist, Wrap, Overlap, and Bend

The upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) has been used to image the head–tail radio galaxy NGC 4869 in the Coma cluster with an angular resolution of 6.″26 at 250–500 MHz and 2.″18 at the 1050–1450 MHz bands. The archival legacy GMRT data have also been used to image the source with angular resolutions from 4.″9 to 21.″8 at 610 MHz, 325 MHz, 240 MHz, and 150 MHz. We find that the ∼200 kpc scale radio morphology consists of five distinct regions with the clear presence of a pinch at ≈1.′4 (=38.8 kpc) and a ridge at ≈3.′4 (=94.2 kpc) from the head. The sharp bend by ∼70° at ∼3.′5 (=97 kpc) from the head is possibly due to projection effects. The radio spectra show progressive spectral steepening as a function of distance from the head and there is possibly re-acceleration of the synchrotron electrons and perhaps also magnetic field regeneration in the 6″–208″ (=2.8–96.1 kpc) region of the jet. We report a steep spectrum sheath layer enveloping a flat spectrum spine, hinting at a transverse velocity structure with a fast-moving spine surrounded by a slow-moving sheath layer. We also derive the lifetimes of the radiating electrons and equipartition parameters. A plausible explanation for the characteristic feature, a ridge of emission perpendicular to the direction of tail is the flaring of a straight, collimated radio jet as it crosses a surface brightness edge due to Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1984

Two new extremely hot pulsating white dwarfs

High speed photometry of the extremely hot, nearly degenerate stars PG 1707 + 427 and PG 2131 + 066 reveals that they are low-amplitude pulsating variables. Power spectral analysis shows both to be multiperiodic, with dominant periods of 7.5 and 6.4-6.9 minutes, respectively. Together with the known pulsators PG 1159 - 035 and the central star of the planetary nebula Kohoutek 1-16, these objects define a new pulsational instability strip at the hot edge of the H-R diagram. The variations of these objects closely resemble those of the much cooler pulsating ZZ Ceti DA white dwarfs; both groups are probably nonradial g-mode pulsators. Evolutionary contraction of the PG 1159 - 035 variables may lead to period changes that would be detectable in as little as 1 year. The optical and IUE spectra of the PG 1159 - 035 variables are characterized by absorption lines of C IV and other CNO ions, indicating radiative levitation of species heavier than helium. He II is also present in the spectra, but the hydrogen Balmer lines are absent. Effective temperatures near 100,000 K are required, and the He II 4686 A profiles indicate log g greater than 6. These helium-rich pulsators form the hottest known subgroup of the DO white dwarfs.

Bond, H. E.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Near field pressure fluctuations of a circular jet

The relationship between the evolution of vortices in a circular jet and the generation of fluctuating pressure was studied, using an apparatus consisting of a jet nozzle connected to a stagnation chamber with a fifth-order polynomial contraction. The data were digitized and computer-processed. The constant pressure contours near the jet shoow that the evolution of coherent structures is the source of pressure perturbations. The data obtained in the vicinity of the jet indicate that two length scales govern the decay of the fluctuating pressure. A thin hydrodynamic near-field extends about 1 instability wavelength from the jet edge, and pressure decays exponentially. A thick acoustic near-field takes about ten acoustic wavelengths to reach the far field. The pressure disturbances decay algebraically in this region.

Lafouasse, B.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Research in Natural Laminar Flow and Laminar-Flow Control, part 3

Part 3 of the Symposium proceedings contains papers addressing advanced airfoil development, flight research experiments, and supersonic transition/laminar flow control research. Specific topics include the design and testing of natural laminar flow (NLF) airfoils, NLF wing gloves, and NLF nacelles; laminar boundary-layer stability over fuselage forebodies; the design of low noise supersonic/hypersonic wind tunnels; and boundary layer instability mechanisms on swept leading edges at supersonic speeds.

Hefner, Jerry N.↗