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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 109 records · Page 6

Emission Line Spectra from Low-Density Laboratory Plasmas

Using spectroscopic equipment optimized for laboratory astrophysics, we are performing systematic measurements of the line emission from astrophysically relevant ions in the wavelength band between 1 and 400 Angstroms important to X-ray missions such as Chandra, XMM, Astro-E, and EUVE. Obtained in a controlled laboratory setting at electron densities similar to those found in stellar coronae, the data are used to test spectral modeling codes for accuracy and completeness. Our effort includes the compilation of the iron L-shell emission lines from 6-18 Angstroms and the iron M-shell emission lines from 50-200 Angstroms. Many lines have been identified for the first time, and the fluxes from lines missing in the spectral modeling codes are assessed. Our measurements also assess the accuracy of line excitation calculations, including direct electron-impact excitation, dielectronic recombination, and resonance excitation. These measurements yield a calibration of specific diagnostic line ratios. Examples of our current measurements are given.

Beiersdorfer, P.↗

Effects of Liner Geometry on Acoustic Impedance

Current aircraft engine nacelles typically contain acoustic liners consisting of perforated sheets bonded onto honeycomb cavities. Numerous models have been developed to predict the acoustic impedance of these liners in the presence of grazing flow, and to use that information with aeroacoustic propagation codes to assess nacelle liner noise suppression. Recent efforts have provided advances in impedance education methodologies that offer more accurate determinations of acoustic liner properties in the presence of grazing flow. The current report provides the results of a parametric study, in which a finite element method was used to assess the effects of variations of the following geometric parameters on liner impedance, with and without the presence of grazing flow: percent open area, sheet thickness, sheet thickness-to-hole diameter ratio and cavity depth. Normal incidence acoustic impedances were determined for eight acoustic liners, consisting of punched aluminum facesheets bonded to hexcell honeycomb cavities. Similar liners were tested in the NASA Langley Research Center grazing incidence tube to determine their response in the presence of grazing flow. The resultant data provide a quantitative assessment of the effects of these perforate, single-layer liner parameters on the acoustic impedance of the liner.

Jones, Michael G.↗

Comparison of Acoustic Impedance Eduction Techniques for Locally-Reacting Liners

Typical acoustic liners used in current aircraft inlets and aft-fan ducts consist of some type of perforated facesheet bonded to a honeycomb core. A number of techniques for determining the acoustic impedance of these locallyreacting liners have been developed over the last five decades. In addition, a number of models have been developed to predict the acoustic impedance of locallyreacting liners in the presence of grazing flow, and to use that information together with aeroacoustic propagation codes to assess the noise absorption provided by these liners. These prediction models have incorporated the results from databases acquired with specific impedance eduction techniques. Thus, while these prediction models are acceptable for liners that are similar to those tested in these databases, their application to new liner configurations must be viewed with caution. The primary purpose of this paper is to provide a comparison of impedance eduction techniques that have been implemented at various aerospace research laboratories in the United States (NASA Langley Research Center, General Electric Aircraft Engines, B. F. Goodrich and Boeing). A secondary purpose is to provide data for liner configurations that extend the porosity range beyond that which has been previously used in common aircraft engine nacelles. Two sets of liners were designed to study the effects of three parameters: perforate hole diameter, facesheet thickness and porosity. These two sets of liners were constructed for testing in each of the laboratories listed above. The first set of liners was designed to fit into the NASA Langley and Boeing test facilities. The second set was designed to fit into the General Electric Aircraft Engines and B. F. Goodrich test facilities. By using the same parent material, both sets of liners were identical to within the limits of material and fabrication variability. Baseline data were obtained in the normal incidence impedance tubes at NASA Langley and B. F. Goodrich. The results were found to compare extremely well. The samples were then tested in the grazing flow ducts of each of the four laboratories. Perhaps the most significant result of these comparisons is that the educed acoustic resistances for the liners used in this study increase as the mean flow profile is modified from uniform to 3-D shear. This realization has demonstrated the need for an frequency-dependent impedance eduction technique that incorporates 3-D shear flow and is efficient.

Jones, M. G.↗

CFD Code Validation of Wall HeatFluxes for a GO2/GH2 Single Combustor

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is becoming an important component of injector design in the rocket industry. Injector designers who use CFD in the design process need to understand the accuracy level of the particular code being used for certain aspects of the design. This paper represents a recent effort to demonstrate the accuracy of two CFD codes to calculate the wall heat flux for a single element injector. The FDNS and Loci- CHEM codes currently in use at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center were evaluated. The test case was a single shear coaxial element with gaseous oxygen and hydrogen in a chamber instrumented with coaxial heat flux gauges on the chamber wall down the axis. The data were taken at Penn State University. Measured wall temperatures were used as boundary conditions for the CFD calculations. Calculations were compared to experimental data at chamber pressures of 300,450 600, and 750 psia. The accuracy level of both codes was assessed.

Lin, Jeff↗

Dynamics and Adaptive Control for Stability Recovery of Damaged Aircraft

This paper presents a recent study of a damaged generic transport model as part of a NASA research project to investigate adaptive control methods for stability recovery of damaged aircraft operating in off-nominal flight conditions under damage and or failures. Aerodynamic modeling of damage effects is performed using an aerodynamic code to assess changes in the stability and control derivatives of a generic transport aircraft. Certain types of damage such as damage to one of the wings or horizontal stabilizers can cause the aircraft to become asymmetric, thus resulting in a coupling between the longitudinal and lateral motions. Flight dynamics for a general asymmetric aircraft is derived to account for changes in the center of gravity that can compromise the stability of the damaged aircraft. An iterative trim analysis for the translational motion is developed to refine the trim procedure by accounting for the effects of the control surface deflection. A hybrid direct-indirect neural network, adaptive flight control is proposed as an adaptive law for stabilizing the rotational motion of the damaged aircraft. The indirect adaptation is designed to estimate the plant dynamics of the damaged aircraft in conjunction with the direct adaptation that computes the control augmentation. Two approaches are presented 1) an adaptive law derived from the Lyapunov stability theory to ensure that the signals are bounded, and 2) a recursive least-square method for parameter identification. A hardware-in-the-loop simulation is conducted and demonstrates the effectiveness of the direct neural network adaptive flight control in the stability recovery of the damaged aircraft. A preliminary simulation of the hybrid adaptive flight control has been performed and initial data have shown the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid approach. Future work will include further investigations and high-fidelity simulations of the proposed hybrid adaptive Bight control approach.

Nguyen, Nhan↗

Status, Plans, and Initial Results for Crew Launch Vehicle Aerodynamics

Following the completion of NASA s Exploration Systems Architecture Study in August 2004 for the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), the Exploration Launch Office at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center began design and development of the first vehicle in the architecture, the Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV), which will be used to launch astronauts to low earth orbit and rendezvous with either the International Space Station or the ESMD s earth departure stage for lunar missions. The primary elements of the CLV project are the first stage, the upper stage, the upper stage engine, and vehicle integration. Within vehicle integration is an effort in integrated design and analysis which is comprised of a number of technical disciplines needed to support vehicle design and development. One of the important disciplines throughout the life of the project is aerodynamics. This paper will present the status, plans, and initial results of CLV aerodynamics as the project was preparing for the CLV Systems Requirements Review. Following a status of the current activities and a discussion of the specific interactions with other technical panels, the plans for aerodynamic support of the CLV until the initial crewed flights will be presented. The paper will conclude with a review of initial results acquired since project inception, including engineering-code vehicle assessment, computational fluid dynamics analysis, and wind tunnel test data.

Huebner, Lawrence D.↗

Assessment of the National Combustion Code

The advancements made during the last decade in the areas of combustion modeling, numerical simulation, and computing platform have greatly facilitated the use of CFD based tools in the development of combustion technology. Further development of verification, validation and uncertainty quantification will have profound impact on the reliability and utility of these CFD based tools. The objectives of the present effort are to establish baseline for the National Combustion Code (NCC) and experimental data, as well as to document current capabilities and identify gaps for further improvements.

Liu, nan-Suey↗

A Numerical Investigation of Turbine Noise Source Hierarchy and Its Acoustic Transmission Characteristics: Proof-of-Concept Progress

A CFD-based simulation of single-stage turbine was done using the TURBO code to assess its viability for determining acoustic transmission through blade rows. Temporal and spectral analysis of the unsteady pressure data from the numerical simulations showed the allowable Tyler-Sofrin modes that are consistent with expectations. This indicated that high-fidelity acoustic transmission calculations are feasible with TURBO.

VanZante, Dale↗

Development of the Next Generation of Meteoroid and Orbital Debris Shields

The novel structure of metallic foams is of interest in the design of next-generation debris shields as it introduces physical mechanisms that are advantageous to hypervelocity impact shielding (e.g. increased fragmentation/melt/vaporization, energy dissipation, etc.). Preliminary investigations have shown improved shielding capability over traditional spacecraft primary structures. In this paper, the results of a current hypervelocity impact test program on metallic open-cell foam core sandwich panels are reported. A preliminary ballistic limit equation has been derived from the experimental results, and is presented in a form suitable for implementation in risk assessment software codes.

Ryan, S.J.↗

Analyzing Aeroelasticity in Turbomachines

ASTROP2-LE is a computer program that predicts flutter and forced responses of blades, vanes, and other components of such turbomachines as fans, compressors, and turbines. ASTROP2-LE is based on the ASTROP2 program, developed previously for analysis of stability of turbomachinery components. In developing ASTROP2- LE, ASTROP2 was modified to include a capability for modeling forced responses. The program was also modified to add a capability for analysis of aeroelasticity with mistuning and unsteady aerodynamic solutions from another program, LINFLX2D, that solves the linearized Euler equations of unsteady two-dimensional flow. Using LINFLX2D to calculate unsteady aerodynamic loads, it is possible to analyze effects of transonic flow on flutter and forced response. ASTROP2-LE can be used to analyze subsonic, transonic, and supersonic aerodynamics and structural mistuning for rotors with blades of differing structural properties. It calculates the aerodynamic damping of a blade system operating in airflow so that stability can be assessed. The code also predicts the magnitudes and frequencies of the unsteady aerodynamic forces on the airfoils of a blade row from incoming wakes. This information can be used in high-cycle fatigue analysis to predict the fatigue lives of the blades.

Reddy, T. S. R.↗

Standard Component Commodity Usage Guides (CUGs) for Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs)

Communicating risk and reliability information within NASA Goddard’s missions is crucial to continuing the development of new technology and ensuring GSFC missions achieve their science objectives. The Reliability and Risk Assessment Branch (Code 371) within the SMA directorate is one of GSFC’s leaders in communicating this information to missions, and one tool 371 engineers use to provide this information is the Commodity Usage Guides (CUGs). CUGs are helpful in compiling various critical parameters and heritage information for standard payload components, ensuring project personnel inherit the lessons learned from previous experiences. The purpose of this project was to create CUGs for CCDs used within GSFC missions. To formulate a CUG applicable data was aggregated into the CUG template for Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs)--electro-optical components used to convert photons into digital images and data. CCDs can easily be adapted to a variety of mission requirements making them widely used at GSFC, and therefore suitable for CUGs. Once the CUGs for CCDs are completed the information can be distributed to engineers, scientists and other project members to ensure the lessons learned are passed on to the next mission.

Christman, Jerika H.↗

Numerical Implementation of Source Terms to Evaluate Active Porosity Control using a Transpiration Cooled Thermal Protection System

Transpiration cooling has renewed interest of study as a renewable system of thermal protection for atmospheric entry systems. The presence of coolant within the void space of a porous material changes its effective porosity and theorized to lend the external heatshield as a potential means of porous surface control. Effective porosity is explored in two forms: saturation of void space where exiting coolant creates ‘blowing’ over the surface, and partial evacuation of the void space where withdrawal of the coolant creates ‘suction’ on the surface. Thus this study evaluates using transpiration cooling as a as means of active aerodynamic control. The feasibility of the system is evaluated numerically using Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes based computational fluid dynamics for the aerodynamic assessments by coding source terms of transpiration cooling products at a heat shield surface boundary at the wind side shoulder, creating an asymmetric scheme. Study results show induced moments about the pitch axis incurred following the source terms of a cooling fluid at a near-shoulder location on the heat shield. Lift and drag saw increasing modulation with increase in mass flux rate. Pitch moment was altered a total of 388 N-m between lowest and highest ‘suction’ rates and changed 194 N-m maximum between ‘blowing’ rates.

transpiration cooling↗

Euler technology assessment for preliminary aircraft design employing OVERFLOW code with multiblock structured-grid method

The viability of applying a state-of-the-art Euler code to calculate the aerodynamic forces and moments through maximum lift coefficient for a generic sharp-edge configuration is assessed. The OVERFLOW code, a method employing overset (Chimera) grids, was used to conduct mesh refinement studies, a wind-tunnel wall sensitivity study, and a 22-run computational matrix of flow conditions, including sideslip runs and geometry variations. The subject configuration was a generic wing-body-tail geometry with chined forebody, swept wing leading-edge, and deflected part-span leading-edge flap. The analysis showed that the Euler method is adequate for capturing some of the non-linear aerodynamic effects resulting from leading-edge and forebody vortices produced at high angle-of-attack through C(sub Lmax). Computed forces and moments, as well as surface pressures, match well enough useful preliminary design information to be extracted. Vortex burst effects and vortex interactions with the configuration are also investigated.

Treiber, David A.↗

Development of CFD code evaluation criteria and a procedure for assessing predictive capability and performance

Careful validation of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) codes is essential if they are to be used as engineering design tools. Validation must be carried out in a systematic manner to ensure that all code aspects as they apply to the application of interest are understood and, to the greatest extent possible, quantified. A study is being conducted in which a general code validation procedure is defined and demonstrated. A four phase validation procedure is defined in which a series of validation test cases are computed and compared with available analytical solutions and test data. The procedure is demonstrated using the REACT CFD code to compute validation cases for each of the four phases. For phase four, the application of interest, the Space Shuttle Main Engine high pressure fuel turbopump impeller flow field, is computed.

Lin, S. J.↗

An experimental investigation of the subcritical and supercritical flow about a swept semispan wing

An experimental investigation of the turbulent, subcritical and supercritical flow over a swept, semispan wing in a solid wall wind tunnel is described. The program was conducted over a range of Mach numbers, Reynolds numbers, and angles of attack to provide a variety of test cases for assessment of wing computer codes and tunnel wall interference effects. Wing flows both without and with three dimensional flow separation are included. Data include mean surface pressures for both the wing and tunnel walls; surface oil flow patterns on the wing; and mean velocity, flow field surveys. The results are given in tabular form and presented graphically to illustrate some of the effects of the test parameters. Comparisons of the wing pressure data with the results from two inviscid wing codes are also shown to assess the importance of viscous flow and tunnel wall effects.

Lockman, W. K.↗

Euler Technology Assessment program for preliminary aircraft design employing SPLITFLOW code with Cartesian unstructured grid method

This report documents results from the Euler Technology Assessment program. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of Euler computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes for use in preliminary aircraft design. Both the accuracy of the predictions and the rapidity of calculations were to be assessed. This portion of the study was conducted by Lockheed Fort Worth Company, using a recently developed in-house Cartesian-grid code called SPLITFLOW. The Cartesian grid technique offers several advantages for this study, including ease of volume grid generation and reduced number of cells compared to other grid schemes. SPLITFLOW also includes grid adaptation of the volume grid during the solution convergence to resolve high-gradient flow regions. This proved beneficial in resolving the large vortical structures in the flow for several configurations examined in the present study. The SPLITFLOW code predictions of the configuration forces and moments are shown to be adequate for preliminary design analysis, including predictions of sideslip effects and the effects of geometry variations at low and high angles of attack. The time required to generate the results from initial surface definition is on the order of several hours, including grid generation, which is compatible with the needs of the design environment.

Finley, Dennis B.↗

Emerging technology for transonic wind-tunnel-wall interference assessment and corrections

Several nonlinear transonic codes and a panel method code for wind tunnel/wall interference assessment and correction (WIAC) studies are reviewed. Contrasts between two- and three-dimensional transonic testing factors which affect WIAC procedures are illustrated with airfoil data from the NASA/Langley 0.3-meter transonic cyrogenic tunnel and Pathfinder I data. Also, three-dimensional transonic WIAC results for Mach number and angle-of-attack corrections to data from a relatively large 20 deg swept semispan wing in the solid wall NASA/Ames high Reynolds number Channel I are verified by three-dimensional thin-layer Navier-Stokes free-air solutions.

Newman, P. A.↗

An assessment of a modified potential flow code for calculating the effect of small geometric change on the pressure and forces of supercritical airfoils

Wind-tunnel test data for two closely related supercritical airfoils were compared with calculations obtained from a nonconservative, potential flow code over a Mach number range from 0.20 to 0.80. The potential flow code includes an iterated, integral boundary-layer correction. The theoretical pressure distributions correlated more closely with the experimental pressure distributions when the flow was entirely subsonic or subsonic with a small supersonic zone than when the flow contained a large supersonic zone. The predicted drag level was below the experimental values at nearly all test conditions and the difference in drag level for the two airfoils was not accurately predicted.

Hicks, R. M.↗