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At least 109 records · Page 6

A numerical method for integrating the kinetic equations of droplet spectra evolution by condensation/evaporation and by coalescence/breakup processes

An extension of the method of moments is developed for the numerical integration of the kinetic equations of droplet spectra evolution by condensation/evaporation and by coalescence/breakup processes. The number density function n sub k (x,t) in each separate droplet packet between droplet mass grid points (x sub k, x sub k+1) is represented by an expansion in orthogonal polynomials with a given weighting function. In this way droplet number concentrations, liquid water contents and other moments in each droplet packet are conserved and the problem of solving the kinetic equations is replaced by one of solving a set of coupled differential equations for the number density function moments. The method is tested against analytic solutions of the corresponding kinetic equations. Numerical results are obtained for different coalescence/breakup and condensation/evaporation kernels and for different initial droplet spectra. Also droplet mass grid intervals, weighting functions, and time steps are varied.

Emukashvily, I. M.↗

Plates and shells containing a surface crack under general loading conditions

The severity of the underlying assumptions of the line-spring model (LSM) are such that verification with three-dimensional solutions is necessary. Such comparisons show that the model is quite accurate, and therefore, its use in extensive parameter studies is justified. Investigations into the endpoint behavior of the line-spring model have led to important conclusions about the ability of the model to predict stresses in front of the crack tip. An important application of the LSM was to solve the contact plate bending problem. Here the flexibility of the model to allow for any crack shape is exploited. The use of displacement quantities as unknowns in the formulation of the problem leads to strongly singular integral equations, rather than singular integral equations which result from using displacement derivatives. The collocation method of solving the integral equations was found to be better and more convenient than the quadrature technique. Orthogonal polynomials should be used as fitting functions when using the LSM as opposed to simpler functions such as power series.

Joseph, Paul F.↗

Unitary-matrix models as exactly solvable string theories

Exact differential equations are presently found for the scaling functions of models of unitary matrices which are solved in a double-scaling limit, using orthogonal polynomials on a circle. For the case of the simplest, k = 1 model, the Painleve II equation with constant 0 is obtained; possible nonperturbative phase transitions exist for these models. Equations are presented for k = 2 and 3, and discussed with a view to asymptotic behavior.

Periwal, Vipul↗

Geodetic constraints on the composition of Mars

The mean density and mean moment of inertia are remotely accessible geodetic parameters which provide two integral constraints on the radial density profile of Mars. The mean density is presently well known, but until the axial precession rate is better determined, the moment of inertia will remain uncertain. Even if the moment were accurately known, a considerable degree of nonuniqueness would still remain concerning the density and composition. This nonuniqueness is illustrated by construction of a family of orthogonal polynomials in the normalized radius which make no contribution to either the mean density or the mean inertial moment. If the mean moment is near to the lower end of its plausible range, the nonuniqueness in density and composition is considerably diminished. In order to avoid unrealistically high densities in the deep interior, the Martian mantle must have a density appreciably lower than the terrestrial mantle and must consequently be significantly depleted in iron.

Bills, Bruce G.↗

Quantum statistics of Raman scattering model with Stokes mode generation

The model describing three coupled quantum oscillators with decay of Rayleigh mode into the Stokes and vibration (phonon) modes is examined. Due to the Manley-Rowe relations the problem of exact eigenvalues and eigenstates is reduced to the calculation of new orthogonal polynomials defined both by the difference and differential equations. The quantum statistical properties are examined in the case when initially: the Stokes mode is in the vacuum state; the Rayleigh mode is in the number state; and the vibration mode is in the number of or squeezed states. The collapses and revivals are obtained for different initial conditions as well as the change in time the sub-Poisson distribution by the super-Poisson distribution and vice versa.

Tanatar, Bilal↗

Spectral Methods for Computational Fluid Dynamics

As a tool for large-scale computations in fluid dynamics, spectral methods were prophesized in 1944, born in 1954, virtually buried in the mid-1960's, resurrected in 1969, evangalized in the 1970's, and catholicized in the 1980's. The use of spectral methods for meteorological problems was proposed by Blinova in 1944 and the first numerical computations were conducted by Silberman (1954). By the early 1960's computers had achieved sufficient power to permit calculations with hundreds of degrees of freedom. For problems of this size the traditional way of computing the nonlinear terms in spectral methods was expensive compared with finite-difference methods. Consequently, spectral methods fell out of favor. The expense of computing nonlinear terms remained a severe drawback until Orszag (1969) and Eliasen, Machenauer, and Rasmussen (1970) developed the transform methods that still form the backbone of many large-scale spectral computations. The original proselytes of spectral methods were meteorologists involved in global weather modeling and fluid dynamicists investigating isotropic turbulence. The converts who were inspired by the successes of these pioneers remained, for the most part, confined to these and closely related fields throughout the 1970's. During that decade spectral methods appeared to be well-suited only for problems governed by ordinary diSerential eqllations or by partial differential equations with periodic boundary conditions. And, of course, the solution itself needed to be smooth. Some of the obstacles to wider application of spectral methods were: (1) poor resolution of discontinuous solutions; (2) inefficient implementation of implicit methods; and (3) drastic geometric constraints. All of these barriers have undergone some erosion during the 1980's, particularly the latter two. As a result, the applicability and appeal of spectral methods for computational fluid dynamics has broadened considerably. The motivation for the use of spectral methods in numerical calculations stems from the attractive approximation properties of orthogonal polynomial expansions.

Zang, T. A.↗

Frictionless Contact of Multilayered Composite Half Planes Containing Layers With Complex Eigenvalues

A previously developed local-global stiffness matrix methodology for the response of a composite half plane, arbitrarily layered with isotropic, orthotropic or monoclinic plies, to indentation by a rigid parabolic punch is further extended to accommodate the presence of layers with complex eigenvalues (e.g., honeycomb or piezoelectric layers). First, a generalized plane deformation solution for the displacement field in an orthotropic layer or half plane characterized by complex eigenvalues is obtained using Fourier transforms. A local stiffness matrix in the transform domain is subsequently constructed for this class of layers and half planes, which is then assembled into a global stiffness matrix for the entire multilayered half plane by enforcing continuity conditions along the interfaces. Application of the mixed boundary condition on the top surface of the half plane indented by a rigid punch results in an integral equation for the unknown pressure in the contact region. The integral possesses a divergent kernel which is decomposed into Cauchy-type and regular parts using the asymptotic properties of the local stiffness matrix and a relationship between Fourier and finite Hilbert transform of the contact pressure. The solution of the resulting singular integral equation is obtained using a collocation technique based on the properties of orthogonal polynomials developed by Erdogan and Gupta. Examples are presented that illustrate the important influence of low transverse properties of layers with complex eigenvalues, such as those exhibited by honeycomb, on the load versus contact length response and contact pressure distributions for half planes containing typical composite materials.

Zhang, Wang↗

'Non-hypotensive' hypovolaemia reduces ascending aortic dimensions in humans

1. The notion that small, 'non-hypotensive' reductions of effective blood volume alter neither arterial pressure nor arterial baroreceptor activity is pervasive in the experimental literature. We tested two hypotheses: (a) that minute arterial pressure and cardiac autonomic outflow changes during hypovolaemia induced by lower body suction in humans are masked by alterations in breathing, and (b) that evidence for arterial baroreflex engagement might be obtained from measurements of thoracic aorta dimensions. 2. In two studies, responses to graded lower body suction at 0 (control), 5, 10, 15, 20 and 40 mmHg were examined in twelve and ten healthy young men, respectively. In the first, arterial pressure (photoplethysmograph), R-R interval, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia amplitude (complex demodulation) were measured during uncontrolled and controlled breathing (constant breathing frequency and tidal volume). In the second, cross-sectional areas of the ascending thoracic aorta were calculated from nuclear magnetic resonance images. 3. Lower body suction with controlled breathing resulted in an increased arterial pulse pressure at mild levels (5-20 mmHg; ANOVA, P < 0.05) and a decreased arterial pulse pressure at moderate levels (40 mmHg; ANOVA, P < 0.05). Both R-R intervals and respiratory sinus arrhythmia were negatively related to lower body suction level, whether group averages (general linear regression, r > 0.92) or individual subjects (orthogonal polynomials, 12 of 12 subjects) were assessed. 4. Aortic pulse area decreased progressively and significantly during mild lower body suction, with 47% of the total decline occurring by 5 mmHg. 5. These results suggest that small reductions of effective blood volume reduce aortic baroreceptive areas and trigger haemodynamic adjustments which are so efficient that alterations in arterial pressure escape detection by conventional means.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

RUSHMAPS: Real-Time Uploadable Spherical Harmonic Moment Analysis for Particle Spectrometers

RUSHMAPS is a new onboard data reduction scheme that gives real-time access to key science parameters (e.g. moments) of a class of heliophysics science and/or solar system exploration investigation that includes plasma particle spectrometers (PPS), but requires moments reporting (density, bulk-velocity, temperature, pressure, etc.) of higher-level quality, and tolerates a lowpass (variable quality) spectral representation of the corresponding particle velocity distributions, such that telemetry use is minimized. The proposed methodology trades access to the full-resolution velocity distribution data, saving on telemetry, for real-time access to both the moments and an adjustable-quality (increasing quality increases volume) spectral representation of distribution functions. Traditional onboard data storage and downlink bandwidth constraints severely limit PPS system functionality and drive cost, which, as a consequence, drives a limited data collection and lower angular energy and time resolution. This prototypical system exploit, using high-performance processing technology at GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center), uses a SpaceCube and/or Maestro-type platform for processing. These processing platforms are currently being used on the International Space Station as a technology demonstration, and work is currently ongoing in a new onboard computation system for the Earth Science missions, but they have never been implemented in heliospheric science or solar system exploration missions. Preliminary analysis confirms that the targeted processor platforms possess the processing resources required for realtime application of these algorithms to the spectrometer data. SpaceCube platforms demonstrate that the target architecture possesses the sort of compact, low-mass/power, radiation-tolerant characteristics needed for flight. These high-performing hybrid systems embed unprecedented amounts of onboard processing power in the CPU (central processing unit), FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), and DSP (digital signal processing) elements. The fundamental computational algorithm de constructs 3D velocity distributions in terms of spherical harmonic spectral coefficients (which are analogous to a Fourier sine-cosine decomposition), but uses instead spherical harmonics Legendre polynomial orthogonal functions as a basis for the expansion, portraying each 2D angular distribution at every energy or, geometrically, spherical speed-shell swept by the particle spectrometer. Optionally, these spherical harmonic spectral coefficients may be telemetered to the ground. These will provide a smoothed description of the velocity distribution function whose quality will depend on the number of coefficients determined. Successfully implemented on the GSFC-developed processor, the capability to integrate the proposed methodology with both heritage and anticipated future plasma particle spectrometer designs is demonstrated (with sufficiently detailed design analysis to advance TRL) to show specific science relevancy with future HSD (Heliophysics Science Division) solar-interplanetary, planetary missions, sounding rockets and/or CubeSat missions.

Figueroa-Vinas, Adolfo↗

Application of the discrete generalized multigroup method to ultra-fine energy mesh in infinite medium calculations

The Discrete Generalized Multigroup (DGM) method uses discrete Legendre orthogonal polynomials to expand the energy dependence of the multigroup neutron transport equation. This allows a solution on a fine energy mesh to be approximated for a cost comparable to a solution on a coarse energy mesh. The DGM method is applied to an ultra-fine energy mesh (14,767 groups) to avoid using self-shielding methodologies without introducing the cost usually associated with such energy discretization. Results show DGM to converge to the reference ultra-fine solution after a small number of recondensation steps for multiple infinite medium compositions. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Comet whole-core solution to a stylized 3-dimensional pressurized water reactor benchmark problem with UO{sub 2}and MOX fuel

A stylized pressurized water reactor (PWR) benchmark problem with UO{sub 2} and MOX fuel was used to test the accuracy and efficiency of the coarse mesh radiation transport (COMET) code. The benchmark problem contains 125 fuel assemblies and 44,000 fuel pins. The COMET code was used to compute the core eigenvalue and assembly and pin power distributions for three core configurations. In these calculations, a set of tensor products of orthogonal polynomials were used to expand the neutron angular phase space distribution on the interfaces between coarse meshes. The COMET calculations were compared with the Monte Carlo code MCNP reference solutions using a recently published an 8-group material cross section library. The comparison showed both the core eigenvalues and assembly and pin power distributions predicated by COMET agree very well with the MCNP reference solution if the orders of the angular flux expansion in the two spatial variables and the polar and azimuth angles on the mesh boundaries are 4, 4, 2 and 2. The mean and maximum differences in the pin fission density distribution ranged from 0.28%-0.44% and 3.0%-5.5%, all within 3-sigma uncertainty of the MCNP solution. These comparisons indicate that COMET can achieve accuracy comparable to Monte Carlo. It was also found that COMET's computational speed is 450 times faster than MCNP. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

A convergence study for SPDEs using combined Polynomial Chaos and Dynamically-Orthogonal schemes

We study the convergence properties of the recently developed Dynamically Orthogonal (DO) field equations [1] in comparison with the Polynomial Chaos (PC) method. To this end, we consider a series of one-dimensional prototype SPDEs, whose solution can be expressed analytically, and which are associated with both linear (advection equation) and nonlinear (Burgers equation) problems with excitations that lead to unimodal and strongly bi-modal distributions. We also propose a hybrid approach to tackle the singular limit of the DO equations for the case of deterministic initial conditions. The results reveal that the DO method converges exponentially fast with respect to the number of modes (for the problems considered) giving same levels of computational accuracy comparable with the PC method but (in many cases) with substantially smaller computational cost compared to stochastic collocation, especially when the involved parametric space is high-dimensional.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Time and Frequency Domain Methods for Basis Selection in Random Linear Dynamical Systems

Polynomial chaos methods have been extensively used to analyze systems in uncertainty quantification. Furthermore, several approaches exist to determine a low-dimensional approximation (or sparse approximation) for some quantity of interest in a model, where just a few orthogonal basis polynomials are required. In this work, we consider linear dynamical systems consisting of ordinary differential equations with random variables. The aim of this paper is to explore methods for producing low-dimensional approximations of the quantity of interest further. We investigate two numerical techniques to compute a low-dimensional representation, which both fit the approximation to a set of samples in the time domain. On the one hand, a frequency domain analysis of a stochastic Galerkin system yields the selection of the basis polynomials. It follows a linear least squares problem. On the other hand, a sparse minimization yields the choice of the basis polynomials by information from the time domain only. An orthogonal matching pursuit produces an approximate solution of the minimization problem. Finally, we compare the two approaches using a test example from a mechanical application.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Trigonometric Polynomials For Estimation Of Spectra

Orthogonal sets of trigonometric polynomials used as suboptimal substitutes for discrete prolate-spheroidal "windows" of Thomson method of estimation of spectra. As used here, "windows" denotes weighting functions used in sampling time series to obtain their power spectra within specified frequency bands. Simplified windows designed to require less computation than do discrete prolate-spheroidal windows, albeit at price of some loss of accuracy.

Greenhall, Charles A.↗

Lossy Data Compression Effects on Wall-bounded Turbulence: Bounds on Data Reduction

Postprocessing and storage of large data sets represent one of the main computational bottlenecks in computational fluid dynamics. We assume that the accuracy necessary for computation is higher than needed for postprocessing. Therefore, in the current work we assess thresholds for data reduction as required by the most common data analysis tools used in the study of fluid flow phenomena, specifically wall-bounded turbulence. These thresholds are imposed a priori by the user in L 2 -norm, and we assess a set of parameters to identify the minimum accuracy requirements. The method considered in the present work is the discrete Legendre transform (DLT), which we evaluate in the computation of turbulence statistics, spectral analysis and resilience for cases highly-sensitive to the initial conditions. Maximum acceptable compression ratios of the original data have been found to be around 97%, depending on the application purpose. Furthermore, the new method outperforms downsampling, as well as the previously explored data truncation method based on discrete Chebyshev transform (DCT).

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Orbital-enriched flat-top partition of unity method for the Schrödinger eigenproblem

Quantum mechanical calculations require the repeated solution of a Schrödinger equation for the wavefunctions of the system, from which materials properties follow. Recent work has shown the effectiveness of enriched finite element type Galerkin methods at significantly reducing the degrees of freedom required to obtain accurate solutions. However, time to solution has been adversely affected by the need to solve a generalized rather than standard eigenvalue problem and the ill-conditioning of associated system matrices. In this work, we address both issues by proposing a stable and efficient orbital-enriched partition of unity method to solve the Schrödinger boundary-value problem in a parallelepiped unit cell subject to Bloch-periodic boundary conditions. In the proposed partition of unity method, the three-dimensional domain is covered by overlapping patches, with a compactly-supported weight function associated with each patch. A key ingredient in our approach is the use of non-negative weight functions that possess the flat-top property, i.e., each weight function is identically equal to unity over some finite subset of its support. This flat-top property provides a pathway to devise a stable approximation over the whole domain. On each patch, we use $p$th degree orthogonal (Legendre) polynomials that ensure $p$th order completeness, and in addition include eigenfunctions of the radial Schrödinger equation. Furthermore, we adopt a variational lumping approach to construct a (block-)diagonal overlap matrix that yields a standard eigenvalue problem for which there exist efficient eigensolvers. The accuracy, stability, and efficiency of the proposed method is demonstrated for the Schrödinger equation with a harmonic potential as well as a localized Gaussian potential. In conclusion, we show that the proposed approach delivers optimal rates of convergence in the energy, and the use of orbital enrichment significantly reduces the number of degrees of freedom for a given desired accuracy in the energy eigenvalues while the stability of the enriched approach is fully maintained.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Efficient Reformulation of Linear and Nonlinear Solid-Phase Diffusion in Lithium-ion Battery Models using Symmetric Polynomials: Mass Conservation and Computational Efficiency

Lithium-ion batteries are typically modeled using porous electrode theory coupled with various transport and reaction mechanisms, along with suitable discretization or approximations for the solid-phase diffusion equation. The solid-phase diffusion equation represents the main computational burden for typical pseudo-2-dimensional (p2D) models since these equations in the pseudo r -dimension must be solved at each point in the computational grid. This substantially increases the complexity of the model as well as the computational time. Traditional approaches towards simplifying solid-phase diffusion possess certain significant limitations, especially in modeling emerging electrode materials which involve phase changes and variable diffusivities. A computationally efficient representation for solid-phase diffusion is discussed in this paper based on symmetric polynomials using Orthogonal Collocation and Galerkin formulation (weak form). A systematic approach is provided to increase the accuracy of the approximation (p form in finite element methods) to enable efficient simulation with a minimal number of semi-discretized equations, ensuring mass conservation even for non-linear diffusion problems involving variable diffusivities. These methods are then demonstrated by incorporation into the full p2D model, illustrating their advantages in simulating high C-rates and short-time dynamic operation of Lithium-ion batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗