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At least 1,045 records · Page 58

Validation of High-Speed Turbulent Boundary Layer and Shock-Boundary Layer Interaction Computations with the OVERFLOW Code

The capability of the OVERFLOW code to accurately compute high-speed turbulent boundary layers and turbulent shock-boundary layer interactions is being evaluated. Configurations being investigated include a Mach 2.87 flat plate to compare experimental velocity profiles and boundary layer growth, a Mach 6 flat plate to compare experimental surface heat transfer,a direct numerical simulation (DNS) at Mach 2.25 for turbulent quantities, and several Mach 3 compression ramps to compare computations of shock-boundary layer interactions to experimental laser doppler velocimetry (LDV) data and hot-wire data. The present paper describes outlines the study and presents preliminary results for two of the flat plate cases and two small-angle compression corner test cases.

Oliver, A. B.↗

Dislocation-graphene interactions in Cu/graphene composites and the effect of boundary conditions: a molecular dynamics study

Here, in this paper, systematic molecular dynamics simulations were employed to study dislocation-graphene interactions in Cu/graphene systems using two carefully selected configurations: (i) edge dislocations in the pileup interacting with graphene during nanoindentation and (ii) complex dislocations interacting with graphene in compression of layered nanopillars. The intrinsic and extrinsic size effects were investigated with respect to varying the Cu lamella thickness and pillar sizes, revealing an anomalous extrinsic size effect: the smaller, the weaker. To understand which boundary conditions are physically consistent, both free and periodic graphene were considered. It was seen that edge dislocations in the pileup continuously transmitted across the free graphene through Cu/graphene interfacial sliding and graphene reorientation, whereas transmission was very difficult for periodic graphene as its in-plane deformation was required. In compression of Cu/graphene nanopillars, the strengthening effect of free graphene was found to be less obvious than that of the periodic case, which could be attributed to free graphene edges acting as dislocation sources after the compressed Cu overflowed the graphene sheet from all directions. We therefore conclude that the strengthening effect of periodic graphene inclusions appears to be overestimated, such that free graphene should be more appropriate.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Instabilities in the Early Solar System Due to a Self-gravitating Disk

Modern studies of the early solar system routinely invoke the possibility of an orbital instability among the giant planets triggered by gravitational interactions between the planets and a massive exterior disk of planetesimals. Previous works have suggested that this instability can be substantially delayed (about hundreds of megayears) after the formation of the giant planets. Bodies in the disk are typically treated in a semi-active manner, wherein their gravitational force on the planets is included, but interactions between the planetesimals are ignored. We perform N-body numerical simulations using GENGA, which makes use of GPUs to allow for the inclusion of all gravitational interactions between bodies. Although our simulated Kuiper Belt particles are more massive than the probable masses of real primordial Kuiper Belt objects, our simulations indicate that the self-stirring of the primordial Kuiper Belt is very important to the dynamics of the giant planet instability. We find that interactions between planetesimals dynamically heat the disk and typically prevent the outer solar system’s instability from being delayed by more than a few tens of megayears after giant planet formation. Longer delays occur in a small fraction of systems that have at least 3.5 au gaps between the planets and planetesimal disk. Our final planetary configurations match the solar system at a rate consistent with other previous works in most regards. Pre-instability heating of the disk typically yields final Jovian eccentricities comparable to the modern solar system’s value, which has been a difficult constraint to match in past works.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Mesoscopic Adaptive Resolution Scheme toward Understanding of Interactions between Sickle Cell Fibers

Understanding of intracellular polymerization of sickle hemoglobin (HbS) and subsequent interaction with the membrane of a red blood cell (RBC) is important to predict the altered morphologies and mechanical properties of sickle RBCs in sickle cell anemia. However, modeling the integrated processes of HbS nucleation, polymerization, HbS fiber interaction, and subsequent distortion of RBCs is challenging as they occur at multispatial scales, ranging from nanometers to micrometers. To make progress toward simulating the integrated processes, we propose a hybrid HbS fiber model, which couples fine-grained and coarse-grained HbS fiber models through a mesoscopic adaptive resolution scheme (MARS). To this end, we apply a microscopic model to capture the dynamic process of polymerization of HbS fibers, while maintaining the mechanical properties of polymerized HbS fibers by the mesoscopic model, thus providing a means of bridging the subcellular and cellular phenomena in sickle cell disease. At the subcellular level, this model can simulate HbS polymerization with preexisting HbS nuclei. At the cellular level, if combined with RBC models, the generated HbS fibers could be applied to study the morphologies and membrane stiffening of sickle RBCs. One important feature of the MARS is that it can be easily employed in other particle-based multiscale simulations where a dynamic coarse-graining and force-blending method is required. As demonstrations, we first apply the hybrid HbS fiber model to simulate the interactions of two growing fibers and find that their final configurations depend on the orientation and interaction distance between two fibers, in good agreement with experimental observations. We also model the formation of fiber bundles and domains so that we explore the mechanism that causes fiber branching.

Biophysics↗

Two- and three-nucleon contact interactions and ground-state energies of light- and medium-mass nuclei

Classes of two-nucleon (2N) contact interactions are developed in configuration space at leading order (LO), next-to-leading order (NLO), and next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO) by fitting the experimental singlet np scattering length and deuteron binding energy at LO, and np and pp scattering data in the laboratory-energy ranges 0–15 MeV at NLO and 0–25 MeV at N3LO. These interactions are regularized by including two Gaussian cutoffs, one for T = 0 and the other for T = 1 channels. The cutoffs are taken to vary in the ranges R 0 = (1.5 –2.3) fm and R 1 = (1.5 –3.0) fm. The 780 (1100) data points up to 15 (25) MeV energy, primarily differential cross sections, are fitted by the NLO (N3LO) models with a χ 2 / datum about 1.7 or less (well below 1.5), when harder cutoff values are adopted. As a first application, we report results for the binding energies of nuclei with mass numbers A = 3 –6 and 16 obtained with selected LO and NLO 2N models both by themselves as well as in combination with a LO three-nucleon (3N) contact interaction. The latter is characterized by a single low-energy constant that is fixed to reproduce the experimental 3 H binding energy. The inclusion of the 3N interaction largely removes the sensitivity to cutoff variations in the few-nucleon systems and leads to predictions for the 3 He and 4 He binding energies that cluster around 7.8 and 30 MeV, respectively. However, in 16 O this cutoff sensitivity remains rather strong. Finally, predictions at LO only are also reported for medium-mass nuclei with A = 40 , 48, and 90.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Vortical flow management for improved configuration aerodynamics: Recent experiences

Recent progress in vortex-control applications for alleviating the adverse consequences of three dimensional separation and vortical interactions on slender body/swept wing configurations is reported. Examples include helical separation trip to alleviate the side force due to forebody vortex asymmetry; hinged strakes to avoid vortex breakdown effects; compartmentation of swept leading edge separation to delay the pitch-up instability; under wing vortex trip and vortex trip and vortex flaps for drag reduction at high lift; and an apex-flap trimmer to fully utilize the lift capability of trailing-edge flaps for take off and landing of delta wings. Experimental results on generic wind-tunnel models are presented to illustrate the vortex-management concepts involved and to indicate their potential for enhancing the subsonic aerodynamics of supersonic-cruise type vehicles.

Rao, D. M.↗

Application of advanced grid generation techniques for flow field computations about complex configurations

In the computation of flowfields about complex configurations, it is very difficult to construct a boundary-fitted coordinate system. An alternative approach is to use several grids at once, each of which is generated independently. This procedure is called the multiple grids or zonal grids approach; its applications are investigated. The method conservative providing conservation of fluxes at grid interfaces. The Euler equations are solved numerically on such grids for various configurations. The numerical scheme used is the finite-volume technique with a three-stage Runge-Kutta time integration. The code is vectorized and programmed to run on the CDC VPS-32 computer. Steady state solutions of the Euler equations are presented and discussed. The solutions include: low speed flow over a sphere, high speed flow over a slender body, supersonic flow through a duct, and supersonic internal/external flow interaction for an aircraft configuration at various angles of attack. The results demonstrate that the multiple grids approach along with the conservative interfacing is capable of computing the flows about the complex configurations where the use of a single grid system is not possible.

Kathong, Monchai↗

Electronic Excitation Energy Transfer in an Array of CdS Quantum Dots on a Quasi-Two-Dimensional Surface

The optical spectra of films composed of spherical silicon-dioxide particles coated with small-radius CdS quantum dots are recorded and analyzed. Large shifts of the absorption and photoluminescence bands are detected and studied in relation to the concentration of quantum dots and to the pumping density and wavelength. Analysis of the experimental data shows that the effects are due to electronic excitation energy transfer by particles through the mechanism of tunneling induced by a strong interaction between quantum dots. The results obtained at low pumping densities and different excitation wavelengths make it possible to describe the size distribution of CdS quantum dots. This distribution can be adequately approximated with a Gaussian function.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Unpacking the drivers of diurnal dynamics of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF): Canopy structure, plant physiology, instrument configuration and retrieval methods

Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) from spaceborne sensors is a promising tool for global carbon cycle monitoring, but its application is constrained by insufficient understanding of the drivers underlying diurnal SIF dynamics. SIF measurements from ground-based towers can reveal diurnal SIF dynamics across biomes and environmental conditions; however, meaningful interpretation of diurnal variations requires disentangling impacts from canopy structure, plant physiology, instrument configuration and retrieval methods, which often interact with and confound each other. This study aims to unpack these drivers using 1) concurrent ground and airborne canopy-scale and leaf-scale measurements at a corn field, 2) a mechanistic SIF model that explicitly considers the dynamics of photochemistry (via the fraction of open photosystem II reaction centers, qL) and photoprotection (via nonphotochemical quenching, NPQ) as well as their interactive dependence on the sub-canopy light environment, and 3) cross-comparison of SIF instrument configurations and retrieval methods. We found that crop row orientations and sun angles can introduce a distinctive midday dip in SIF in absence of stress, due to a midday drop of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR) when crop rows are north-south oriented. Canopy structure caused distinctive responses in both qL and NPQ at different positions within the vertical canopy that collectively influenced fluorescence quantum yield (Φ F ) at the leaf scale. Once integrated at the canopy scale, diurnal dynamics of both APAR and canopy escape probability (ε) are critical for accurately shaping diurnal SIF variations. While leaf-level qL and NPQ exhibited strong diurnal dynamics, their influence was attenuated at the canopy scale due to opposing effects on SIF at different canopy layers. Furthermore, different system configurations (i.e., bi-hemispherical vs. hemispherical-conical) and retrieval methods can bias the SIF magnitude and distort its diurnal shapes, therefore confounding the interpretation of inherent strength and dynamics of SIF emission. Our findings demonstrate the importance of crop row structures, interactive variations in canopy structure and plant physiology, instrument configuration, and retrieval method in shaping the measured dynamics of diurnal SIF. This study highlights the necessity to account for these factors to accurately interpret satellite SIF, and informs future synthesis work with different SIF instrumentation and retrieval methods across sites.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DFT-based mesoscopic interactions of N adatoms on Cu(100)

The first-principles density functional theory (DFT) method is used to directly calculate the interactions of N atoms of various configurations on Cu(100) surfaces. This allows us to derive a mesoscopic substratemediated interaction model. We find that, for these Cu(100)-supported two-dimensional N clusters, oscillating substrate-mediated interactions obtained from an elastic eigenvector approach including a mesoscopic interacting range (called the mesoscopic model) have reasonable agreement with the DFT results. The DFT periodic boundary conditions are properly mapped into the mesoscopic model. The model is used to analyze the energies of c(2×2) square islands independent of their sizes. Previous experimental studies have shown that, in the low coverage region, N atoms agglomerate to isolated square islands of about 5 nm × 5 nm in size with a c(2×2) structure. With increasing coverage, those islands form regular patterns but do not touch below about 0.4 monolayers. From previous experiments and calculations, the square island pattern shows significant elastic effects which are now confirmed.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Climate Models

Climate models is a very broad topic, so a single volume can only offer a small sampling of relevant research activities. This volume of 14 chapters includes descriptions of a variety of modeling studies for a variety of geographic regions by an international roster of authors. The climate research community generally uses the rubric climate models to refer to organized sets of computer instructions that produce simulations of climate evolution. The code is based on physical relationships that describe the shared variability of meteorological parameters such as temperature, humidity, precipitation rate, circulation, radiation fluxes, etc. Three-dimensional climate models are integrated over time in order to compute the temporal and spatial variations of these parameters. Model domains can be global or regional and the horizontal and vertical resolutions of the computational grid vary from model to model. Considering the entire climate system requires accounting for interactions between solar insolation, atmospheric, oceanic and continental processes, the latter including land hydrology and vegetation. Model simulations may concentrate on one or more of these components, but the most sophisticated models will estimate the mutual interactions of all of these environments. Advances in computer technology have prompted investments in more complex model configurations that consider more phenomena interactions than were possible with yesterday s computers. However, not every attempt to add to the computational layers is rewarded by better model performance. Extensive research is required to test and document any advantages gained by greater sophistication in model formulation. One purpose for publishing climate model research results is to present purported advances for evaluation by the scientific community.

Druyan, Leonard M.↗

A semi-elliptic analysis for 2-D viscous flows through cascade configurations

A semielliptic formulation, termed the interacting parabolized Navier-Stokes (IPNS) formulation, is developed for the analysis of a class of subsonic viscous flows for which streamwise diffusion is negligible but which are significantly influenced by upstream interactions. A two-step alternating-direction-explicit numerical scheme is developed to solve the resulting governing equations efficiently. The quasi-linearization and discretization of the equations are carefully examined so that no artificial viscosity is added externally to the scheme. Various simple channel and cascade flow configurations are examined for several values of Re, thickness ratio and Mach number, in order to establish the applicability of the IPNS model for these flows. With this model, solutions to compressible as well as nearly incompressible flows are obtained without any modification either in the analysis or in the solution procedure.

Ramamurti, R.↗

Cooperative control theory and integrated flight and propulsion control

This report documents the activities and research results obtained under a grant (NAG3-998) from the NASA Lewis Research Center. The focus of the research was the investigation of dynamic interactions between airframe and engines for advanced ASTOVL aircraft configurations, and the analysis of the implications of these interactions on the stability and performance of the airframe and engine control systems. In addition, the need for integrated flight and propulsion control for such aircraft was addressed. The major contribution of this research was the exposition of the fact that airframe and engine interactions could be present, and their effects could include loss of stability and performance of the control systems. Also, the significance of two directional, as opposed to one-directional, coupling was identified and explained. A multi variable stability and performance analysis methodology was developed, and applied to several candidate aircraft configurations. Also exposed was the fact that with interactions present along with some integrated control approaches, the engine command/limiting logic (which represents an important non-linear component of the engine control system) can impact closed-loop airframe/engine system stability. Finally, a brief investigation of control-law synthesis techniques appropriate for the class of systems was pursued, and it was determined that multi variable techniques, included model-following formulations of LQG and/or H (infinity) methods showed promise. However, for practical reasons, decentralized control architectures are preferred, which is an architecture incompatible with these synthesis methods.

Schmidt, David K.↗

Resilient stellarator divertor characteristics in the Helically Symmetric eXperiment

Resilient divertor features connected to open chaotic edge structures in the Helically Symmetric eXperiment are investigated. For the first time, an expanded vessel wall was considered that would give space for implementation of a physical divertor target structure. The analysis was done for four different magnetic configurations with very different chaotic plasma edges. A resilient plasma wall interaction pattern was identified across all configurations. This manifests as qualitatively very similar footprint behavior across the different plasma equilibria. Overall, the resilient field lines of interest with high connection length L C lie within a helical band along the wall for all configurations. This resiliency can be used to identify the best location of a divertor. The details of the magnetic footprint’s resilient helical band is subject to specific field line structures which are linked to the penetration depth of field lines into the plasma and directly influence the heat and particle flux patterns. The differences arising from these details are characterized by introducing a new metric, the minimum radial connection min $(\delta_N)$ of a field line from the last closed flux surface. The relationship, namely the deviation from a scaling law, between min $(\delta_N)$ and L C of the field lines in the plasma edge field line behavior suggests that the field lines are associated with structures such as resonant islands, cantori, and turnstiles. This helps determine the relevant magnetic flux channels based on the radial location of these chaotic edge structures and the divertor target footprint. These details will need to be taken into account for resilient divertor design.

divertor↗

Challenges in Scaling Analysis from Coupons to Elements in 3D Woven Composites for a Launch Vehicle End-Ring Structure

The limitations of structural design with 3D woven composites based on homogenized material models characterized using coupon test data, representative unit cell analysis, or a combination of the two are discussed in the context of a space launch system (SLS)-scale end ring. Selected building block test configurations at the coupon, element, and subcomponent scales are described in detail. Highly instrumented tests and X-ray computed tomography inspections are used to characterize the structural behavior and associated damage progression with increasing load. It is shown that a single homogenized material constitutive relationship, applied at coupon and element scale, is not sufficient to model the structural response observed in both tests. In fact, substantially different stress-strain laws are required to predict the response of the coupon and element scale specimens, despite similar loading conditions. A model with discrete representation of the binder tows and cohesive interfaces to model matrix cracking shows much better agreement with the test data at the two length scales. Thus, evidence is provided showing that predictive structural analysis of 3D woven composites requires discrete representation of the tows, matrix cracking morphology, and their interactions in the structural configuration. With accurate knowledge of the element scale behavior, engineering approximations readily enable analysis scale-up to the subcomponent level.

Andrew C Bergan↗

A DG-IMEX Method for Two-moment Neutrino Transport: Nonlinear Solvers for Neutrino–Matter Coupling

Neutrino-matter interactions play an important role in core-collapse supernova (CCSN) explosions as they contribute to both lepton number and/or four-momentum exchange between neutrinos and matter, and thus act as the agent for neutrino-driven explosions. Due to the multiscale nature of neutrino transport in CCSN simulations, an implicit treatment of neutrino-matter interactions is desired, which requires solutions of coupled nonlinear systems in each step of the time integration scheme. In this paper we design and compare nonlinear iterative solvers for implicit systems with energy coupling neutrino-matter interactions commonly used in CCSN simulations. Specifically, we consider electron neutrinos and antineutrinos, which interact with static matter configurations through the Bruenn 85 opacity set. The implicit systems arise from the discretization of a nonrelativistic two-moment model for neutrino transport, which employs the discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for phase-space discretization and an implicit-explicit (IMEX) time integration scheme. In the context of this DG-IMEX scheme, we propose two approaches to formulate the nonlinear systems — a coupled approach and a nested approach. For each approach, the resulting systems are solved with Anderson-accelerated fixedpoint iteration and Newton’s method. The performance of these four iterative solvers has been compared on relaxation problems with various degree of collisionality, as well as proto-neutron star deleptonization problems with several matter profiles adopted from spherically symmetric CCSN simulations. Here, numerical results suggest that the nested Anderson-accelerated fixed-point solver is more efficient than other tested solvers for solving implicit nonlinear systems with energy coupling neutrino-matter interactions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Interim noise correlation for some OTW configurations using external jet-flow deflectors

Jet flap interaction acoustic data obtained statically from a model-scale study of STOL-OTW configurations with a conical nozzle mounted above the wing and using various external deflectors to provide jet-flow attachment are correlated. The acoustic data are correlated in terms that consider the jet/flap interaction noise contributions associated primarily with fluctuating lift, trailing edge, and configuration wake noise sources. Variables considered include deflector geometry, flap setting and wing size. Finally, the configuration overall noise levels are related to static lift and thrust measurements in order to provide insight into possible acoustic/aerodynamic performance trade-off benefits.

Vonglahn, U. H.↗

Investigation of trimethylacetic acid adsorption on stoichiometric and oxygen-deficient CeO 2 (111) surfaces

We studied the interactions between the carboxylate anchoring group from trimethylacetic acid (TMAA) and CeO 2 (111) surfaces as a function of oxygen stoichiometry using in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The stoichiometric CeO 2 (111) surface was obtained by annealing the thin film under 2.0 × 10 –5 Torr of oxygen at ~550 °C for 30 min. In order to reduce the CeO 2 (111) surface, the thin film was annealed under ~5.0 × 10 –10 Torr vacuum conditions at 550 °C, 650 °C, 750 °C and 850 °C for 30 min to progressively increase the oxygen defect concentration on the surface. The saturated TMAA coverage on the CeO 2 (111) surface determined from XPS elemental composition is found to increase with increasing oxygen defect concentration. This is attributed to the increase of under-coordinated cerium sites on the surface with the increase in the oxygen defect concentrations. Furthermore, XPS results were in agreement with periodic density functional theory (DFT) calculations and indicate a stronger binding between the carboxylate group from TMAA and the oxygen deficient CeO 2–δ (111) surface through dissociative adsorption.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗