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At least 1,009 records · Page 56

Heart Rate Variability During Early Adaptation to Space

A recent report hypothesized that episodes of space motion sickness (SMS) were reliably associated with low frequency oscillations (less than 0.03 to less than 0.01 Hz) in heart rate variability. This paper archives a large data set for review of investigators in this field which may facilitate the evaluation of this hypothesis. Continuous recording of Electro-cardiography (ECG) and other measures were made for 6 to 12 hours per day (waking hours) of six Shuttle crewmembers for the first 3 mission days of two separate Shuttle flights. Spectral analyses of heart rate variability during approximately 200 hours of inflight is presented. In addition, nearly 200 hours of data collected on these same individuals during ground tests prior to the mission are presented. The Purpose of this Publication is to document the incidence of low frequency oscillations of heart rate in 4 people exposed to microgravity over a period of five days. In addition, this report contains spectral analyses of heart rate data collected on these same individuals during ground-based mission simulations. By archiving these data in this manner, it is our intention to make this information available to other investigators interested in studying this phenomena.

Toscano, W. B.↗

Wall-Pressure-Array Measurements Beneath a Separating/Reattaching Flow Region

A database of wall-pressure array measurements was compiled for studying the space-time character of the surface-pressure field within a separating/reattaching flow region. The experimental setup consisted of a long splitter plate instrumented with an array of 80 flush-mounted microphones located within the wake of a fence. Data were acquired for a Reynolds number of 7885, based on the fence height. Two distinctive regions, defined based on their location relative to the position of the mean reattachment point (x(sub r)) of the shear layer, emerged from this investigation. Upstream, from the fence to 1/4x(sub r), the surface-pressure signature was dominated by large time scale disturbances and an upstream convecting velocity of 0.21U(sub infinity). Beyond 1/4x(sub r), turbulent structures with small time scales and a downstream convection velocity of 0.57U(sub infinity) generated most of the pressure fluctuations. There was evidence that these structures began to form around 1/4x(sub r) and grew in strength and size with downstream distance before reattaching on the plate. Only the time-averaged results from the microphones have been examined hitherto and will be presented.

Hudy, Laura M.↗

Investigation of onshore wind farm wake recovery with in situ aircraft measurements during AWAKEN

The share of wind power for electricity supply is increasing worldwide. This highly variable resource requires the improved prediction of power output for network stability. The interaction between wind farm wakes and the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) introduces uncertainties in power production that warrant detailed investigation. The flow downwind of wind farms is characterized by a reduction in wind speed and an increase in turbulence, which both vary with atmospheric conditions. During the American WAKE experimeNt (AWAKEN), the Technische Universität Braunschweig conducted measurement flights with a research aircraft upwind and downwind of onshore wind farms in the southern Great Plains in Oklahoma in the USA. This study utilizes data from 20 flights conducted at approximately hub height in September 2023 to investigate the wind field variability downwind of the wind farms and vertical profiles to observe atmospheric stratification. The flights were aligned perpendicular to the main wind direction downwind of the King Plains and Armadillo Flats wind farms. Additionally, lidar data from both upwind and downwind ground-based measurement sites and sonic anemometer data were used for comprehensive analysis. Results indicate that under stable ABL conditions, the wake persists at greater downwind distances with a higher velocity deficit in the wake relative to the undisturbed flow compared to unstable stratification. In homogeneous terrain under stable conditions, wake recovery to 95 % occurs between a distance of 4.5 and 9 km downwind of the wind farm. In the semi-complex terrain characterized by shallow hills, slopes, and valleys, the wake exhibits a higher velocity deficit compared to homogeneous terrain, while in some cases the wake was amplified by the terrain resulting in higher velocity deficit 10 km downwind of the wind farm compared to the measurements closer to the wind farm. The turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and “TKE difference” was found to be a valuable measure in understanding wakes in a semi-complex terrain, showing a clear wake recovery and formation depending on the stratification of the ABL.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Viscous vortex flows

Several computational studies are currently being pursued that focus on various aspects of representing the entire lifetime of the viscous trailing vortex wakes generated by an aircraft. The formulation and subsequent near-wing development of the leading-edge vortices formed by a delta wing are being calculated at modest Reynolds numbers using a three-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes code. Another computational code was developed to focus on the roll-up, trajectory, and mutual interaction of trailing vortices further downstream from the wing using a two-dimensional, time-dependent, Navier-Stokes algorithm. To investigate the effect of a cross-wind ground shear flow on the drift and decay of the far-field trailing vortices, a code was developed that employs Euler equations along with matched asymptotic solutions for the decaying vortex filaments. And finally, to simulate the conditions far down stream after the onset of the Crow instability in the vortex wake, a full three-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes code was developed to study the behavior of interacting vortex rings.

Weston, R. P.↗

Investigation of Some Wake Vortex Characteristics of an Inclined Ogive-Cylinder Body at Mach Number 2

For a body consisting of a fineness-ratio-3 ogival nose tangent to a cylindrical afterbody 7.3 diameters long, pitot-pressure distributions in the flow field, pressure distributions over the body, and downwash distributions along a line through the vortex centers have been measured for angles of attack to 20 degrees. The Reynolds numbers, based on body diameter, were 0.15 x 10 to the 6th power and 0.44 x 10 to the 6th power. Comparisons of computed and measured vortex paths and downwash distributions are made. (author)

Jorgensen, Leland H↗

Hypersonic Wake Diagnostics Using Laser Induced Fluorescence Techniques

A review of recent research performed in iodine that involves a two photon absorption of light at 193 nm will be discussed, and it's potential application to velocimetry measurements in a hypersonic flow field will be described. An alternative seed atom, Krypton, will be presented as a good candidate for performing nonintrusive hypersonic flow diagnostics. Krypton has a metastable state with a lifetime of approximately 43 s which would prove useful for time of flight measurement (TOF) and a sensitivity to collisions that can be utilized for density measurements. Calculations using modest laser energies and experimental values show an efficiency of excited state production to be on the order of 10(exp -6) for a two photon absorption at 193 nm.

Mills, Jack L.↗

An Analysis of Closure Mechanisms in the Plasma Wake of the TSS-1R Satellite

Collisionless Plasma Expansion (CPE), also known as "plasma expansion into a vacuum," in its most fundamental form, is the process by which a plasma expands into a void, or region highly depleted of particles. In CPE, the expansion is driven by the highly mobile electron constituent of the plasma as it moves across the density gradient and into the void region. A bi-polar electric field is set up between this rapidly expanding electron front and the massive ions, which have a low thermal speed and lag behind in the region of the plasma-void interface. These ions are quickly accelerated by the expansion electric field and can, theoretically, approach the thermal speed of the electrons. CPE is a fundamental and a very robust process in that it only requires that a sharp density gradient exist in a plasma. It has already been observed to exist in various plasmas ranging over five orders of magnitude in density. The range of phenomena in which CPE has been observed includes the closure of plasma wakes created in simulated space plasmas in the laboratory; it was found to be the process controlling the refilling of the wake created by the Space Shuttle in the ionospheric plasma; and recent in situ data, obtained by the WIND spacecraft as it passed through the wake of the earth's moon last year, have shown CPE to be involved in the closure of the Lunar wake. CPE is also expected to influence the morphology and physics of the solar wind interactions with Mercury and Mars, and has been suggested as a potential factor in such wide ranging phenomena as the acceleration of plasma away from the coma of comets and the energization of ions that underlies the upward expansion of the polar wind into the earth's magnetosphere. The Tethered Satellite System (TSS)-1R data provides an opportunity to test this process in situ under semi-controlled conditions. The available data shows the intensity, drift energy and angle of inclination to the wake of the converging ion streams at a down stream distance of one satellite radius (80 CM).

Stone, N. H.↗

Study of the plasma wave excited by intense femtosecond laser pulses in a dielectric capillary

Laser wakefield in a gas-filled capillary driven by a 1-TW femtosecond Ti:Sa laser pulse is studied experimentally by observing driving pulse spectrum modifications, which are caused by the combined action of the optical field ionization and the plasma density oscillations. Good agreement between the results of extensive numerical simulations and the experimental data allows us to estimate the accelerating gradients in the wake, which range from 5 to 10 MV/cm for typical experimental conditions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Simulations of the flow past a cylinder using an unsteady double wake model

In the present work, the in-house UnSteady Double Wake Model (USDWM) is used to simulate flows past a cylinder at subcritical, supercritical, and transcritical Reynolds numbers. The flow model is a two-dimensional panel method which uses the unsteady double wake technique to model flow separation and its dynamics. In the present work the separation location is obtained from experimental data and fixed in time. The highly unsteady flow field behind the cylinder is analyzed in detail, comparing the vortex shedding charactericts under the different flow conditions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Field-aligned currents in the Jovian magnetosphere - Pioneer 10 and 11

Field-aligned currents, which are known to play an important role in the dynamics of the earth's magnetosphere, would also be expected to flow in the Jovian magnetosphere during magnetically active periods. Such currents are difficult to observe largely because of their limited spatial extent and intermittent nature, but on the Pioneer 11 inbound pass to Jupiter on day 336, 1800 GRT, near the L shell of Ganymede, the helium vector magnetometer recorded a structured perturbation with the characteristic signature of a field-aligned current. No analogous structure was found on a similar Pioneer 10 inbound pass (day 337, 1200 GRT). The perturbation could have been caused by turbulence with the wake of Ganymede through which the spacecraft was moving or the perturbation could represent the first observation of a Jovian substorm. The observations are discussed in terms of both models, and difficulties are examined.

Kivelson, M. G.↗

Relaxation and approximate factorization methods for the unsteady full potential equation

The unsteady form of the full potential equation is solved in conservation form, using implicit methods based on approximate factorization and relaxation schemes. A local time linearization for density is introduced to enable solution to the equation in terms of phi, the velocity potential. A novel flux-biasing technique is applied to generate proper forms of the artificial viscosity, to treat hyperbolic regions with shocks and sonic lines present. The wake is properly modeled by accounting not only for jumps in phi, but also for jumps in higher derivatives of phi obtained from requirements of density continuity. The far field is modeled using the Riemann invariants to simulate nonreflecting boundary conditions. Results are presented for flows over airfoils, cylinders, and spheres. Comparisons are made with available Euler and full potential results.

Shankar, V.↗

A study of flow past an airfoil with a jet issuing from its lower surface

The aerodynamics of a NACA 0018 airfoil with a rectangular jet of finite aspect ratio exiting from its lower surface at 90 deg to the chord were investigated. The jet was located at 50% of the wing chord. Measurements include static pressures on the airfoil surface, total pressures in the near wake, and local velocity vectors in different planes of the wake. The effects of jet cross flow interaction on the aerodynamics of the airfoil are studied. It is indicated that at all values of momentum coefficients, the jet cross flow interaction produces a strong contra-rotating vortex structure in the near wake. The flow behind the jet forms a closed recirculation region which extends up to a chord length down stream of the trailing edge which results in the flow field to become highly three dimensional. The various aerodynamic force coefficients vary significantly along the span of the wing. The results are compared with a jet flap configuration.

Krothapalli, A.↗

Prediction of vortex shedding from forebodies with chines

An engineering prediction method to calculate vortex shedding from noncircular forebodies with sharp chine edges in subsonic flow at large incidence angles is presented. The forebody is represented by two- and three-dimensional singularities, and the lee side vortex wake is modeled by discrete vortices in crossflow planes along the body. The computational procedure is described, and comparisons of measured and predicted surface pressure distributions and predicted flow field vectors are presented to illustrate the method.

Mendenhall, Michael R.↗

High-voltage sheaths and charge neutralization in space power systems

The authors examine the electrodynamics of charged platforms in the ionosphere with a variety of analytical and numerical models. These models have been specifically designed to study the tethered satellite system (TSS-1) due to be launched in early 1992. One of the objectives of TSS-1 is to determine the potential of tethers for electrical power generation from orbital motion across the earth's magnetic field. The author identifies and explores important aspects of the interaction between the ambient ionospheric plasma and moving charged orbital platforms: (1) the formation of energetic particles in the wake of a nominally neutral satellite, (2) transient current collection by a highly charged platform, (3) the current closure paths in the ionosphere between multiple polarized platforms, and (4) the conditions for rapid neutralization by enhanced plasma formation in the presence of effluent gases.

Satyanarayana, P.↗

Calculations of condensation and chemistry in an aircraft contrail

The flow field, chemistry, and condensation nucleation behind a transport airplane are calculated in two regimes using two separate reacting flow codes: first the axisymmetric plume, then the three dimensional vortex wake. The included chemical kinetics equations follow the evolution of the NO(y) and SO(x) chemical families. In the plume regime, the chemistry is coupled with the binary homogeneous formation of sulfate condensation nuclei, where the calculated nucleation rates predict that copious quantities of H2SO4/H2O nuclei are produced in subnanometer sizes. These sulfate aerosols could play a major role in the subsequent condensation of water vapor and the formation of contrails under favorable atmospheric conditions.

Miake-Lye, Richard C.↗

Rotor-Fuselage Interaction: Analysis and Validation with Experiment

The problem of rotor-fuselage aerodynamic interaction has to be considered in industry applications from various aspects. First, in order to increase helicopter speed and reduce operational costs, rotorcraft tend to be more and more compact, with a main rotor closer to the fuselage surface. This creates significant perturbations both on the main rotor and on the fuselage, including steady and unsteady effects due to blade and wake passage and perturbed inflow at the rotor disk. Furthermore,the main rotor wake affects the tail boom, empennage and anti-torque system. This has important consequences for helicopter control and vibrations at low speeds and also on tail rotor acoustics (main rotor wake-tail rotor interactions). This report describes the US Army-France MOD cooperative work on this problem from both the theoretical and experimental aspects. Using experimental 3D velocity field and fuselage surface pressure measurements, three codes that model the interactions of a helicopter rotor with a fuselage are compared. These comparisons demonstrate some of the strengths and weaknesses of current models for the combined rotor-fuselage analysis.

Berry, John D.↗

Application of Three-Component PIV to a Hovering Rotor Wake

The key to accurate predictions of rotorcraft aerodynamics, acoustics, and dynamics lies in the accurate representation of the rotor wake. The vortical wake computed by rotorcraft CFD analyses typically suffer from numerical dissipation before the first blade passage. With some a priori knowledge of the wake trajectory, grid points can be concentrated along the trajectory to minimize the dissipation. Comprehensive rotorcraft analyses based on lifting-line theory rely on classical vortex models and/or semi-empirical information about the tip vortex structure. Until the location, size, and strength of the trailed tip vortex can be measured over a range of wake ages, the analyses will continue to be adjusted on a trial and error basis in order to correctly predict blade airloads, acoustics, dynamics, and performance. Using the laser light sheet technique, tip vortex location can be acquired in a straightforward manner. Measuring wake velocities and vortex core size, however, has been difficult and tedious using point-measurement techniques such as laser velocimetry. Recently, the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique has proven to be an efficient method for acquiring velocity measurements over relatively large areas and volumes of a rotor wake. The work reported to date, however, has been restricted to 2-component velocity measurements of the rotor wake. Three-component velocity measurements of a hovering rotor wake were acquired at NASA Ames Research Center in May 1999. This experiment represents a major step toward understanding the detailed structure of a rotor wake. This paper will focus primarily on the experimental technique used in acquiring this data. The accuracy and limitations of the current technique will also be discussed. Representative velocity field measurements will be included.

Yamauchi, Gloria K.↗