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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

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NASA NTRS2017

Control Design for an Advanced Geared Turbofan Engine

This paper describes the design process for the control system of an advanced geared turbofan engine. This process is applied to a simulation that is representative of a 30,000 lbf thrust class concept engine with two main spools, ultra-high bypass ratio, and a variable area fan nozzle. Control system requirements constrain the non-linear engine model as it operates throughout its flight envelope of sea level to 40,000 ft and from 0 to 0.8 Mach. The control architecture selected for this project was developed from literature and reflects a configuration that utilizes a proportional integral controller integrated with sets of limiters that enable the engine to operate safely throughout its flight envelope. Simulation results show the overall system meets performance requirements without exceeding system operational limits.

aerothermodynamics↗

NASA NTRS2017

Control Design for an Advanced Geared Turbofan Engine

This paper describes the design process for the control system of an advanced geared turbofan engine. This process is applied to a simulation that is representative of a 30,000 pound-force thrust class concept engine with two main spools, ultra-high bypass ratio, and a variable area fan nozzle. Control system requirements constrain the non-linear engine model as it operates throughout its flight envelope of sea level to 40,000 feet and from 0 to 0.8 Mach. The purpose of this paper is to review the engine control design process for an advanced turbofan engine configuration. The control architecture selected for this project was developed from literature and reflects a configuration that utilizes a proportional integral controller with sets of limiters that enable the engine to operate safely throughout its flight envelope. Simulation results show the overall system meets performance requirements without exceeding operational limits.

system modeling↗

NASA NTRS2017

Control Design for an Advanced Geared Turbofan Engine

gas path dynamics↗

NASA NTRS1974

Instrumentation and control system for an F-15 stall/spin

An instrumentation and control system is described that was used for radio-controlled F-15 airplane model stall/spin research at the NASA-Langley Research Center. This stall/spin research technique, using scale model aircraft, provides information on the post-stall and spin-entry characteristics of full-scale aircraft. The instrumentation described provides measurements of flight parameters such as angle of attack and sideslip, airspeed, control-surface position, and three-axis rotation rates; these data are recorded on an onboard magnetic tape recorder. The proportional radio control system, which utilizes analog potentiometric signals generated from ground-based pilot inputs, and the ground-based system used in the flight operation are also described.

Pitts, F. L.↗

NASA NTRS1983

A rate-controlled teleoperator task with simulated transport delays

A teleoperator-system simulation was used to examine the effects of two control modes (joint-by-joint and resolved-rate), a proximity-display method, and time delays (up to 2 sec) on the control of a five-degree-of-freedom manipulator performing a probe-in-hole alignment task. Four subjects used proportional rotational control and discrete (on-off) translation control with computer-generated visual displays. The proximity display enabled subjects to separate rotational errors from displacement (translation) errors; thus, when the proximity display was used with resolved-rate control, the simulated task was trivial. The time required to perform the simulated task increased linearly with time delay, but time delays had no effect on alignment accuracy. Based on the results of this simulation, several future studies are recommended.

Pennington, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Proportional proximity sensing for telerobots using Coherent Laser Radar

The ability of a telerobotic manipulator to operate in confined spaces while avoiding unwanted collisions is enhanced by the accurate sensing of its proximate environment. To achieve the fidelity required for precise manipulator control, a proportional proximity sensor system with a sufficiently large measurement envelope is required. Current proximity sensors provide a binary indication of the presence of obstacles within a small envelope with coarse or no proportional measurement of their location. A proportional proximity sensor system configured as a Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) Coherent Laser Radar (CLR) using a semiconductor laser as the energy source is described and analyzed. The source and reflected energies mix coherently to generate a radio frequency (RF) signal whose frequency is proportional to the range. The system is tested for accuracy, range, depth of range, speed, and sensitivity and the results are presented. Techniques to derive orientation information and an application to telerobotic control are also described.

Vazquez, Sixto L.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Development of a Flow Stabilization Algorithm Enabling Measurement of Low Oxygen Concentrations in Liquid Sodium

To enhance the automated control of the plugging meter (PM) and thereby enhance detection fidelity in ultralow oxygen environments [≤1 parts per million by weight (wppm)], a novel proportional derivative controller has been implemented with conventional PM hardware. This ramp sign stabilized flow (RSSF) controller manipulates the sign (heating or cooling direction) at a fixed rate, enabling precise temperature adjustment around the saturation temperature of the bulk sodium. This adjustment helps maintain flow stability in a partially formed sodium oxide plug, thus greatly reducing the temperature amplitude in the plugging cycle and promoting simple and accurate oxygen determinations in addition to an increased sampling rate. Rather than relying on the subjective nature of indexing the time when the flow rate changes due to the plugging or unplugging onset to the PM temperature, a running average of the correlated oxygen concentration with time over multiple plugging events can provide oxygen readings ranging from an absolute uncertainty of 500 wppb in real time to less than 50 wppb for a 24-h sampling window. Finally, the RSSF controller was tested at 508 ± 7 wppb with measured oxygen of 542 ± 179 wppb, further reducing the variance between the saturation temperature and the plugging temperature.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2025

Closed-Loop Control of Active Nematic Flows

Stabilizing and shaping autonomous flows of active fluids is a fundamental challenge and a prerequisite for applications. We embed a light-responsive microtubule-based nematic in a proportional-integral control loop that adjusts the applied light intensity in response to real-time measurements of the spatially averaged flow speed. The self-regulating hardware-software-wetware system maintains a target flow speed against external or internal perturbations, including protein aging and aggregation, sample-to-sample variability, and temperature variation. Varying the controller’s gains reveals antagonistic roles between feedback and intrinsic processes, leading to nontrivial dynamics observed in fluctuation spectra. In particular, oscillations emerge from the interplay between the controller, motor binding kinetics, and active hydrodynamic relaxation. Accounting for the underlying binding timescale, our coarse-grained model and nematohydrodynamics simulations corroborate these observations. This work provides insight into the coupled dynamics of controlled active matter, laying the foundation for spatiotemporal patterning of active stress to generate and stabilize new dynamical configurations.

Active nematics↗

DOE OSTI2025

Closed-loop control of active nematic flows

Stabilizing and shaping autonomous flows of active fluids is a fundamental challenge and a prerequisite for applications. We embed a light-responsive microtubule-based nematic in a proportional-integral control loop that adjusts the applied light intensity in response to real-time measurements of the spatially averaged flow speed. The self-regulating hardware/software/wetware system maintains a target flow speed against external or internal perturbations, including protein aging and aggregation, sample-to-sample variability, and temperature variation. Varying the controller’s gains reveals antagonistic roles between feedback and intrinsic processes, leading to nontrivial dynamics observed in fluctuation spectra. In particular, oscillations emerge from the interplay between the controller, motor binding kinetics, and active hydrodynamic relaxation. Accounting for the underlying binding timescale, our coarse-grained model and nematohydrodynamics simulations corroborate these observations. This work provides insight into the coupled dynamics of controlled active matter, laying the foundation for spatiotemporal patterning of active stress to generate and stabilize new dynamical configurations.

Nishiyama, Katsu [Brandeis Univ., Waltham, MA (Uni↗

DOE OSTI2024

Analysis of Power-Maximizing Region 2 Controllers for Wind and Marine Turbines

Wind and marine energy are rapidly growing and complementary technologies that share some techniques for simplified modeling and control, particularly in below-rated flow speeds. A turbine operator has several choices of controller for maximizing power in Region 2. The simple and ubiquitous KΩ 2 control law is often effective but limited in its flexibility. Alternative controllers use reference tracking to split the control objectives into a low-bandwidth optimal tip-speed ratio tracking loop to maximize steady-state power and a higher-bandwidth proportional-integral control loop to reject inflow turbulence. Several options exist for identifying the slowly varying optimal set point during operation, based on estimating the inflow velocity or filtering the power or torque signals. This study compares the trade-offs between performance and other design priorities for a few choices of reference-tracking controller in the literature for reference wind and marine turbines. Analysis is performed in the frequency domain using the linearization of each controller, and the impact of turbulent disturbances on the closed-loop system is described. The controllers are simulated in OpenFAST to analyze their performance with higher-order nonlinear turbine dynamics.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS1991

Tuning maps for setpoint changes and load disturbance upsets in a three capacity process under multivariable control

Tuning maps are an aid in the controller tuning process because they provide a convenient way for the plant operator to determine the consequences of adjusting different controller parameters. In this application the maps provide a graphical representation of the effect of varying the gains in the state feedback matrix on startup and load disturbance transients for a three capacity process. Nominally, the three tank system, represented in diagonal form, has a Proportional-Integral control on each loop. Cross coupling is then introduced between the loops by using non-zero off-diagonal proportional parameters. Changes in transient behavior due to setpoint and load changes are examined by varying the gains of the cross coupling terms.

Litt, Jonathan S.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Optimal disturbance suppression with application to wind shear

A novel quadratic cost function composed of stochastic and deterministic contributions is used in the design of a digital flight control system for a small commercial jet with wind shear present. The optimal output feedback control design is configured to suppress the effect of the wind shear disturbance and maintain closed loop stability. A new algorithm is presented for finding the feedback gain. A proportional-integral control design with wind shear suppression is tested in a detailed nonlinear simulation of a commercial jet during the landing approach.

Broussard, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Multidisciplinary capability for analysis of the dynamics and control of flexible space structures

The paper describes a computerized data distribution capability, IMAT, in place at the NASA Langley Research Center for the multidisciplinary analysis of the dynamics and control of large flexible space structures. The paper includes results obtained in using IMAT to investigate the influence of the structural response of the space station framework on the control of a 300kw class, solar-dynamic-powered, dual-keel space station during an orbital reboost maneuver. The method of control, using an unfiltered proportional-plus-differential control law, led to a stable control system even with local flexible response measured at the control sensor location included as a part of the control error signal. The flexible response at the outboard solar dynamic system sun-line axis was close to the maximum rotation allowed for efficient operation; thus, active local control of each solar dynamic system may be necessary to limit sun-line axis rotations effectively during a reboost maneuver.

Cooper, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Position control of redundant manipulators using an adaptive error-based control scheme

A Cartesian-space control scheme is developed to control the motion of kinematically redundant manipulators with 7 degrees of freedom (DOF). The control scheme consists mainly of proportional derivative (PD) controllers whose gains are adjusted by an adaptation law driven by the errors between the desired and actual trajectories. The adaptation law is derived using the concept of model reference adaptive control (MRAC) and Lyapunov direct method under the assumption that the manipulator performs non-compliant and slowly-varying motions. The developed control scheme is computationally efficient because its implementation does not require the computation of the manipulator dynamics. Computer simulation performed to evaluate the control scheme performance is presented and discussed.

Nguyen, Charles C.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Hardware Evolution of Analog Speed Controllers for a DC Motor

This viewgraph presentation provides information on the design of analog speed controllers for DC motors on aerospace systems. The presentation includes an overview of controller evolution, evolvable controller configuration, an emphasis on proportion integral (PI) controllers, schematic diagrams, and experimental results.

Gwaltney, David A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Analysis of the T-97 Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor test facility

The history of the analyses for the hydraulic force control systems of the T-97 test facility is presented. Two approaches that were investigated for softening the hydraulic systems for improved performance are presented. A valve modification and inclusion of a proportional-integral controller that finally stabilized the system are described. A simulated test case is shown and compared to actual test data from the QM-7 test. The simulated results are very close to the real results but indicate a slightly higher open-loop gain than for the real system.

Williamson, Marlin J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Decoupling Control For Oblique-Wing Airplane

Technical memorandum proposes procedure for mathematical synthesis of control signals proportional to commanded deflections of rudder, elevators, and ailerons of oblique-wing airplane. Procedure designed to generate signals compensating for aerodynamical and inertial cross-coupling among yawing, pitching, and rolling motions. Control interactions decoupled by feedforward and feedback.

Kempel, Robert W.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Advanced Shock Position Control for Mode Transition in a Turbine Based Combined Cycle Engine Inlet Model

A dual flow-path inlet system is being tested to evaluate methodologies for a Turbine Based Combined Cycle (TBCC) propulsion system to perform a controlled inlet mode transition. Prior to experimental testing, simulation models are used to test, debug, and validate potential control algorithms. One simulation package being used for testing is the High Mach Transient Engine Cycle Code simulation, known as HiTECC. This paper discusses the closed loop control system, which utilizes a shock location sensor to improve inlet performance and operability. Even though the shock location feedback has a coarse resolution, the feedback allows for a reduction in steady state error and, in some cases, better performance than with previous proposed pressure ratio based methods. This paper demonstrates the design and benefit with the implementation of a proportional-integral controller, an H-Infinity based controller, and a disturbance observer based controller.

Csank, Jeffrey T.↗