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NASA NTRS2017

Validation of a Solid Rocket Motor Internal Environment Model

In a prior effort, a thermal/fluid model of the interior of Penn State University's laboratory-scale Insulation Test Motor (ITM) was constructed to predict both the convective and radiative heat transfer to the interior walls of the ITM with a minimum of empiricism. These predictions were then compared to values of total and radiative heat flux measured in a previous series of ITM test firings to assess the capabilities and shortcomings of the chosen modeling approach. Though the calculated fluxes reasonably agreed with those measured during testing, this exercise revealed means of improving the fidelity of the model to, in the case of the thermal radiation, enable direct comparison of the measured and calculated fluxes and, for the total heat flux, compute a value indicative of the average measured condition. By replacing the P1-Approximation with the discrete ordinates (DO) model for the solution of the gray radiative transfer equation, the radiation intensity field in the optically thin region near the radiometer is accurately estimated, allowing the thermal radiation flux to be calculated on the heat-flux sensor itself, which was then compared directly to the measured values. Though the fully coupling the wall thermal response with the flow model was not attempted due to the excessive computational time required, a separate wall thermal response model was used to better estimate the average temperature of the graphite surfaces upstream of the heat flux gauges and improve the accuracy of both the total and radiative heat flux computations. The success of this modeling approach increases confidence in the ability of state-of-the-art thermal and fluid modeling to accurately predict SRM internal environments, offers corrections to older methods, and supplies a tool for further studies of the dynamics of SRM interiors.

Martin, Heath T.↗

NASA NTRS1989

The convective liquidus in a solidifying magma chamber - A fluid dynamic investigation

An experimental study of the solidification of a layer of paraffin cooled from above is reported. When the fluid is superheated, convection sets in at the beginning of cooling but rapidly decreases in intensity. Once the layer has lost its superheat, convection ceases and further cooling is by conduction. The interior temperature then remains constant until encountered by the upper crust. The convective liquidus is defined as the temperature threshold below which convection is very weak or nonexistent. In natural basaltic systems the convective liquidus, although strictly unknown, may be very close to the true liquidus. Rapid convection may therefore not be a dominant process during the crystallization of many magmna chambers; instead, convection is part of an overall intimate balance between phase equilibria, crystal growth, and heat transfer.

Brandeis, Genevieve↗

NASA NTRS1986

Laboratory experiments in a baroclinic annulus with heating and cooling on the horizontal boundaries

Experiments have been performed in a cylindrical annulus with horizontal temperature gradients imposed upon the horizontal boundaries and in which the vertical depth was smaller than the width of the annulus. Qualitative observations were made by the use of small, suspended, reflective flakes in the liquid (water). Four basic regimes of flow were observed: (1) axisymmetric flow, (2) deep cellular convection, (3) boundary layer convective rolls, and (4) baroclinic waves. In some cases there was a mix of baroclinic and convective instabilities present. As a 'mean' interior Richardson number was decreased from a value greater than unity to one less than zero, axisymmetric baroclinic instability of the Solberg type was never observed. Rather, the transition was from non-axisymmetric baroclinic waves, to a mix of baroclinic and convective instability, to irregular cellular convection.

Miller, T. L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Episodic plate tectonics on Venus

Studies of impact craters on Venus from the Magellan images have placed important constraints on surface volcanism. Some 840 impact craters have been identified with diameters ranging from 2 to 280 km. Correlations of this impact flux with craters on the Moon, Earth, and Mars indicate a mean surface age of 0.5 +/- 0.3 Ga. Another important observation is that 52 percent of the craters are slightly fractured and only 4.5 percent are embayed by lava flows. These observations led researchers to hypothesize that a pervasive resurfacing event occurred about 500 m.y. ago and that relatively little surface volcanism has occurred since. Other researchers have pointed out that a global resurfacing event that ceased about 500 MYBP is consistent with the results given by a recent study. These authors carried out a series of numerical calculations of mantle convection in Venus yielding thermal evolution results. Their model considered crustal recycling and gave rapid planetary cooling. They, in fact, suggested that prior to 500 MYBP plate tectonics was active in Venus and since 500 MYBP the lithosphere has stabilized and only hot-spot volcanism has reached the surface. We propose an alternative hypothesis for the inferred cessation of surface volcanism on Venus. We hypothesize that plate tectonics on Venus is episodic. Periods of rapid plate tectonics result in high rates of subduction that cool the interior resulting in more sluggish mantle convection.

Turcotte, Donald↗

NASA NTRS1979

On the effects of higher convection modes on the thermal evolution of small planetary bodies

The effects of higher modes of convection on the thermal evolution of a small planetary body is investigated. Three sets of models are designed to specify an initially cold and differentiated, an initially hot and differentiated, and an initially cold and undifferentiated Moon-type body. The strong temperature dependence of viscosity enhances the thickening of lithosphere so that a lithosphere of about 400 km thickness is developed within the first billion years of the evolution of a Moon-type body. The thermally isolating effect of such a lithosphere hampers the heat flux out of the body and increases the temperature of the interior, causing the solid-state convection to occur with high velocity so that even the lower modes of convection can maintain an adiabatic temperature gradient there. It is demonstrated that the effect of solid-state convection on the thermal evolution of the models may be adequately determined by a combination of convection modes up to the third or the fourth order harmonic. The inclusion of higher modes does not affect the results significantly.

Arkani-Hamed, J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Cooling of the magma ocean due to accretional disruption of the surface insulating layer

Planetary accretion has been considered as a process to heat planets. Some fraction of the kinetic energy of incoming planetesimals is trapped to heat the planetary interior (Kaula, 1979; Davies, 1984). Moreover, blanketing effect of a primary atmosphere (Hayashi et al., 1979; Sasaki, 1990) or a degassed atmosphere (Abe and Matsui, 1986; Zahnle et al., 1988) would raise the surface temperature of the Earth-size planets to be higher than the melting temperature. The primordial magma ocean was likely to be formed during accretion of terrestrial planets. In the magma ocean, if crystallized fractions were heavier than melt, they would sink. But if solidified materials were lighter than the melt (like anorthosite of the lunar early crust) they would float to form a solid shell surrounding the planet. (In an icy satellite, solidified water ice should easily float on liquid water because of its small density.) The surface solid lid would prevent efficient convective heat transfer and slow the interior cooling. Consider that the accretion of planetesimals still continues in this cooling stage. Shock disruption at planetesimal impact events may destroy the solid insulating layer. Even if the layer survives impacts, the surface layer is finally overturned by Rayleigh-Taylor instability, since accreting materials containing metals are heavier than the surface solidified lid of silicates.

Sasaki, Sho↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Impact Of Rotation on the Sun’s Subsurface Structure

It is well known that the dynamical evolution of subsurface flows of the Sun and magnetic fields is strongly linked to rotation. Observational investigation of sub surface structuring and dynamics can be performed only with relatively low resolution using helioseismic inversion techniques. To confidently model the coupling of turbulent convection, magnetic fields, and rotation in the solar interior, we perform advanced radiative hydrodynamic and MHD modeling of local scales. To explore the coupling effects in the upper layers of the convection zone, we present results of analysis from a series of hydrodynamic simulations performed for a 25-Mm-deep computational domain at different latitudes obtained for 1) the Carrington rotation rate at all latitudes and 2) the realistic rotation rate from the global helioseismic inversions during the solar minimum. Using additional 3D radiative hydrodynamic models, we reveal how physical properties of the solar convection are affected by rotation.

Heliophysics↗

NASA NTRS1993

Constraints on the thermal evolution of Venus inferred from Magellan data

One interpretation of the Magellan data suggests that the cratering record on Venus was erased by a global resurfacing event, or events, the latest ending about 500 m.y. ago. In this global-resurfacing model the resurfacing was followed by minor volcanism and tectonism that has been concentrated primarily in the equatorial highland regions characterized by extensive fracture belts and rifts. A thermal evolution model of Venus that can explain these observations is one in which a deformable lithosphere, capable of being incorporated in mantle circulations, provides an almost stress-free condition at the surface. Mantle convection with an almost stress-free boundary at the surface cools the interior more efficiently. Rapid cooling decreases the Rayleigh number of mantle convection below a transition value required for oscillatory convection, and the vigor of convection diminishes as the mantle changes to a quasi-steady circulation after about 500 m.y. ago.

Arkani-Hamed, J.↗

NASA NTRS1972

An evolutionary calculation of Jupiter

A preliminary evolutionary calculation was made for a stellar object of 0.001 solar mass composed of pure hydrogen. The star undergoes the gravitational contraction from an initial radius of 35 times the present radius of Jupiter (R sub Jup). The interior is assumed to be in convective equilibrium throughout the evolution. The evolution has been followed for 10 to the ninth power y at which time R = 2.8 R sub Jup and the central temperature is 18000 K. The log of the luminosity (in units of solar luminosity) and effective temperature due to the internal energy sources are log L/solar luminosity = -9.0 and log T sub e = 1.77.

Grossman, A. S.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Does Venus wobble

The free wobble damping time for Venus due to solar tides and rotational flexing is found to be approximately 700,000 times Q sub omega years, where Q sub omega is the dissipation function associated with the wobble frequency. The slow spin and expected small (nonhydrostatic) J2 predict a very long wobble period of about 100,000 years. As a result, a simple scaling of the earth's Chandler wobble excitation rate to that of Venus suggests that an appreciable wobble could exist. Detection (or lack thereof) of a free wobble may thus place constraints on the dynamic activity (e.g., mantle convection, Venusquakes, etc.) of the Venus interior.

Yoder, C. F.↗

NASA NTRS1989

A seven-month solar cycle observed with the Langmuir probe on Pioneer Venus Orbiter

Data collected by the Langmuir probe aboard the Pioneer Venus orbiter (PVO) over the years 1979 though 1987 were normalized to remove the long-period 11-year solar maximum to minimum trend and were analyzed for periodicity. Results yield evidence for the existence of an approximately 7-month solar cycle, which was also observed from SME Lyman alpha and 2800-MHz radio flux measurements carried out from an earth-based platform. This coincidence suggests that the cycle is an intrinsic periodicity in the solar output. The cycle has a frequency independent of the orbital frequency of the PVO and is distinct from a 'rotating beacon' cycle whose period depends on the orbital motion of the PVO about the sun. The second most dominant cycle discovered was a 5-month period. Results of an oscillation model of solar periodicity indicate that the 7-month and 5-month cycles are caused by long-lived flux enhancements from nonlinear interactions of global oscillation modes in the sun's convective envelope (r modes) and radiative interior (g modes).

Hoegy, W. R.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Periodic solar EUV flux monitored near Venus

A detector sharing the orbital rate of Venus has a unique perspective on solar periodicities. Fourier analysis of the 8.6 year record of solar EUV output gathered by the Langmuir probe on Pioneer Venus Orbiter shows the influences of global oscillation modes located in the convective envelope and in the radiative interior. Seven of the eight lowest angular harmonic r-mode familes are detected by their rotation rates which differ almost unmeasurably from ideal theoretical values. This determines a mean sidereal rotation rate for the envelope of 457.9 + or - 2.0 nHz which corresponds to a period of 25.3 days. Many frequencies are aliased at + or - 106 nHz by modulation from the lowest angular harmonic r-mode in the envelope.

Wolff, Charles L.↗

NASA NTRS2000

The Storm-Time Plasmasphere as Seen by the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imager on the IMAGE Spacecraft

Many years of ground and space observations of the plasmasphere have established a basic understanding of the physics of these plasmas in the inner magnetosphere. However, many questions remain. The EUV Instrument on the IMAGE spacecraft is now providing the first ever global pictures of thermal helium in the plasmasphere. Detached plasma, the sunward extending convection tail, a night-time interior plasmaspheric density cavity, and strong azimuthal plasmaspheric structures are all being revealed. What are the properties of these structures? How do they evolve? What is their relationship to magnetic storms and other plasma populations? These are some of the questions that define the state of plasmaspheric physics, to which IMAGE is now contributing answers. The graphic evidence and preliminary analysis of these features will be presented and discussed.

Gallagher, Dennis L.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Thermal Field Imaging Using Ultrasound

It is often desirable to be able to determine the temperature field in the interiors of opaque fluids forced into convection by externally imposed temperature gradients. To measure the temperature at a point in an opaque fluid in the usual fashion requires insertion of a probe, and to determine the full field therefore requires either the ability to move this probe or the introduction of multiple probes. Neither of these solutions is particularly satisfactory, although they can lead to quite accurate measurements. As an alternative we have investigated the use of ultrasound as a relatively non-intrusive probe of the temperature field in convecting opaque fluids. The temperature dependence of the sound velocity can be sufficiently great to permit a determination of the temperature from timing the traversal of an ultrasound pulse across a chamber. In this paper we will present our results on convecting flows of transparent and opaque fluids. Our experimental cells consist of relatively narrow rectangular cavities made of thermally insulating materials on the sides, and metal top and bottom plates. The ultrasound transducer is powered by a pulser/receiver, the signal output of which goes to a very high speed signal averager. The average of several hundred to several thousand signals is then sent to a computer for storage and analysis. The experimental procedure is to establish a convective flow by imposing a vertical temperature gradient on the chamber, and then to measure, at several regularly spaced locations, the transit time for an ultrasound pulse to traverse the chamber horizontally (parallel to the convecting rolls) and return to the transducer. The transit time is related to the temperature of the fluid through which the sound pulse travels. Knowing the relationship between transit time and temperature (determined in a separate experiment), we can extract the average temperature across the chamber at that location. By changing the location of the transducer it is then possible to find the average temperature at different locations along the chamber, thereby determining the temperature profile along the system. (In the future we will construct an array of transducers. This will give us the capability to determine the temperature profile much more rapidly than at present, an important consideration if time-dependent phenomena are to be studied.) To validate our procedure we introduced encapsulated liquid crystal particles into glycerol. The liquid crystal particles' color varies depending on the temperature of the fluid. A photograph of the fluid through transparent sidewalls therefore gives a picture of the temperature field of the convecting fluid, independent of our ultrasound imaging. A representative result is shown in the Figure 1, which reveals a very satisfying correspondence between the two techniques. Therefore we have a great deal of confidence that the ultrasound imaging approach is indeed measuring the actual temperature profile of the fluid. The technique has also been applied to convecting liquid metal flows, and representative data will be presented from those experiments as well.

Andereck, D.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Hydrodynamic Modeling of Solar Acoustic Wave Propagation

Acoustic waves in the sun are separated into two categories: global and local. Global oscillations are excited through convection, and resonate in the solar interior. As with all resonant media, propagation of these acoustic waves is limited to specific frequencies for a given wavenumber. These modes are easily distinguished in 1-v diagrams, such as in figure 1. Global modes dominate the spectrum in the 2-5 mHz range. Local oscillations, so-called "sunquakes", are usually excited by particularly strong flares and can be observed as ring-shaped waves propagating away from the point of impact. The propagation is best displayed in a time-distance diagram, where a slit passing from the source to some distance away. Distance is displayed on the x-axis, and the time-series is plotted along the y-axis; an example is shown in figure 1, showing the sunquake induced by the Sept 2017 X-class flare.

Hydrodynamic↗

NASA NTRS2018

Solar Irradiance Variability, Influenced by r Modes

A spectrum of the four-decade solar irradiance record has a prominent cluster of power for periodicities near 1 yr. Correlating irradiance with a bandpass filter showed that periodicity values were not constant, but varied sinusoidally with each cycle lasting 14 ± 1 yr. The large modulation amplitude makes solar frequencies ≥1 yr(exp −1) hard to detect at the solar surface. After removing the modulation, a Lomb–Scargle spectrum exposed two true periodicities: 1.006 and 0.920 yr. They are interpreted as the synodic rotation periods of r modes of lowest angular degree (ℓ = 1). The first propagates in the stable interior and the second in the convective envelope perturbed by its several flow fields. The rotational beat period of the two modes is about 10.9 yr. This is close to the average length of a solar cycle and possibly controls this average. The 1.006 yr periodicity dominates most of the filtered irradiance record but an abrupt change to about 0.8 yr occurs in mid-2010. Also found was evidence for higher-degree r modes (ℓ = 2 to 8) and a curious sawtooth modulation with a recurrence period of 2.6 yr.

Wolff, Charles L.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Our Sun IV: The Standard Model and Helioseismology: Consequences of Uncertainties in Input Physics and in Observed Solar Parameters

Helioseismic frequency observations provide an extremely accurate window into the solar interior; frequencies from the Michaelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, enable the adiabatic sound speed and adiabatic index to be inferred with an accuracy of a few parts in 10(exp 4) and the density with an accuracy of a few parts in 10(exp 3). This has become a Serious challenge to theoretical models of the Sun. Therefore, we have undertaken a self-consistent, systematic study of the sources of uncertainties in the standard solar models. We found that the largest effect on the interior structure arises from the observational uncertainties in the photospheric abundances of the elements, which affect the sound speed profile at the level of 3 parts in 10(exp 3). The estimated 4% uncertainty in the OPAL opacities could lead to effects of 1 part in 10(exp 3); the approximately 5%, uncertainty in the basic pp nuclear reaction rate would have a similar effect, as would uncertainties of approximately 15% in the diffusion constants for the gravitational settling of helium. The approximately 50% uncertainties in diffusion constants for the heavier elements would have nearly as large an effect. Different observational methods for determining the solar radius yield results differing by as much as 7 parts in 10(exp 4); we found that this leads to uncertainties of a few parts in 10(exp 3) in the sound speed int the solar convective envelope, but has negligible effect on the interior. Our reference standard solar model yielded a convective envelope position of 0.7135 solar radius, in excellent agreement with the observed value of 0.713 +/- 0.001 solar radius and was significantly affected only by Z/X, the pp rate, and the uncertainties in helium diffusion constants. Our reference model also yielded envelope helium abundance of 0.2424, in good agreement with the approximate range of 0.24 to 0.25 inferred from helioseismic observations; only extreme Z/X values yielded envelope helium abundance outside this range. We found that other current uncertainties, namely, in the solar age and luminosity, in nuclear rates other than the pp reaction, in the low-temperature molecular opacities, and in the low-density equation of state, have no significant effect on the quantities that can be inferred from helioseismic observations. The predicted pre-main-sequence lithium depletion is uncertain by a factor of 2. The predicted neutrino capture rate is uncertain by approximately 30% for the Cl-27 experiment and by approximately 3% for Ga-71 experiments, while the B-8 neutrino flux is uncertain by approximately 30%.

Boothroyd, Arnold I.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Direct Numerical Simulations of Turbulent Convection: Variable Gravity and Uniform Rotation - Part 1

Turbulent convection may have played a major role in determining the structure and evolution of the primordial solar nebula, but current, incomplete models of convection and turbulence give very different results and remain largely untested in the absence of detailed astronomical observations. Numerical simulations provide an 'experimental' database for comparison with these models, and, to this end, direct numerical simulations of turbulent convection were performed with modifications intended to mimic some of the unique physical features of thin accretion disks, such as the primordial solar nebula: internal heating, a gravitational acceleration that is linearly proportional to the distance from midplane of the nebula, and rapid rotation. Peclet numbers in the simulations are comparable to those in solar nebula models; Rossby numbers in the simulations are an order of magnitude larger than those in solar nebula models because of the unrealistically high Prandtl and low, Reynolds numbers required to resolve all scales of the convective flow. We find that, despite the loss of buoyancy at midplane, turbulent motions easily penetrate the midplane region with little loss of intensity, providing efficient transport of heat and turbulent kinetic energy throughout the interior. A simple mixing length model modified to include rotation is found to give convective heat fluxes for the interior flow in rough agreement with the numerical simulations. We discuss these preliminary results with regard to assumptions about heating distributions and convective heat fluxes made in standard solar nebula models. More definitive comparisons with solar nebula modelling will become possible when more realistic effects of shear, density, stratification, and compression are included.

Cabot, W.↗