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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

A stable partitioned FSI algorithm for incompressible flow and deforming beams

An added-mass partitioned (AMP) algorithm is described for solving fluid–structure interaction (FSI) problems coupling incompressible flows with thin elastic structures undergoing finite deformations. The new AMP scheme is fully second-order accurate and stable, without sub-time-step iterations, even for very light structures when added-mass effects are strong. The fluid, governed by the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, is solved in velocity-pressure form using a fractional-step method; large deformations are treated with a mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian approach on deforming composite grids. The motion of the thin structure is governed by a generalized Euler–Bernoulli beam model, and these equations are solved in a Lagrangian frame using two approaches, one based on finite differences and the other on finite elements. The key AMP interface condition is a generalized Robin (mixed) condition on the fluid pressure. This condition, which is derived at a continuous level, has no adjustable parameters and is applied at the discrete level to couple the partitioned domain solvers. Special treatment of the AMP condition is required to couple the finite-element beam solver with the finite-difference-based fluid solver, and two coupling approaches are described. A normal-mode stability analysis is performed for a linearized model problem involving a beam separating two fluid domains, and it is shown that the AMP scheme is stable independent of the ratio of the mass of the fluid to that of the structure. A traditional partitioned (TP) scheme using a Dirichlet–Neumann coupling for the same model problem is shown to be unconditionally unstable if the added mass of the fluid is too large. A series of benchmark problems of increasing complexity are considered to illustrate the behavior of the AMP algorithm, and to compare the behavior with that of the TP scheme. The results of all these benchmark problems verify the stability and accuracy of the AMP scheme. Results for one benchmark problem modeling blood flow in a deforming artery are also compared with corresponding results available in the literature.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1976

Polynominal Interpolation Methods for Viscous Flow Calculations

Higher-order collocation procedures resulting in tridiagonal matrix systems are derived from polynomial spline interpolation and by Hermitian (Taylor series) finite-difference discretization. The similarities and special features of these different developments are discussed. The governing systems apply for both uniform and variable meshes. Hybrid schemes resulting from two different polynomial approximations for the first and second derivatives lead to a nonuniform mesh extension of the so-called compact or Pad? difference technique (Hermite 4). A variety of fourth-order methods are described and the Hermitian approach is extended to sixth-order (Hermite 6). The appropriate spline boundary conditions are derived for all procedures. For central finite differences, this leads to a two-point, second-order accurate generalization of the commonly used three-point end-difference formula. Solutions with several spline and Hermite procedures are presented for the boundary layer equations, with and without mass transfer, and for the incompressible viscous flow in a driven cavity. Divergence and nondivergence equations are considered for the cavity. Among the fourth-order techniques, it is shown that spline 4 has the smallest truncation error. The spline 4 procedure generally requires one-quarter the number of mesh points in a given coordinate direction as a central finite-difference calculation of equal accuracy. The Hermite 6 procedure leads to remarkably accurate boundary layer solutions.

Rubin, S. G.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Paraniso 1.0: 3-D Full Waveform Seismic Simulation in General Anisotropic Media

Many geologic materials and minerals are seismically anisotropic, with the most general anisotropic material having up to 21 independent elastic coefficients. This report outlines the development of a 3-D, generally anisotropic, linear elastic full waveform finite-difference solver. First, a mathematical description of the solution equations will be described. The finite-difference implementation of these equations will then be shown. Finally, a comparison of results from this new solver to other solutions will be provided as verification that the new algorithm can accurately replicate these solutions.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1983

Annual Conference on Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects, Gatlinburg, TN, July 18-21, 1983, Proceedings

Topics discussed include radiation effects in devices; the basic mechanisms of radiation effects in structures and materials; radiation effects in integrated circuits; spacecraft charging and space radiation effects; hardness assurance for devices and systems; and radiation transport, energy deposition and charge collection. Papers are presented on the mechanisms of small instabilities in irradiated MOS transistors, on the radiation effects on oxynitride gate dielectrics, on the discharge characteristics of a simulated solar cell array, and on latchup in CMOS devices from heavy ions. Attention is also given to proton upsets in orbit, to the modeling of single-event upset in bipolar integrated circuits, to high-resolution studies of the electrical breakdown of soil, and to a finite-difference solution of Maxwell's equations in generalized nonorthogonal coordinates.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1992

Divergence preserving discrete surface integral methods for Maxwell's curl equations using non-orthogonal unstructured grids

Several new discrete surface integral (DSI) methods for solving Maxwell's equations in the time-domain are presented. These methods, which allow the use of general nonorthogonal mixed-polyhedral unstructured grids, are direct generalizations of the canonical staggered-grid finite difference method. These methods are conservative in that they locally preserve divergence or charge. Employing mixed polyhedral cells, (hexahedral, tetrahedral, etc.) these methods allow more accurate modeling of non-rectangular structures and objects because the traditional stair-stepped boundary approximations associated with the orthogonal grid based finite difference methods can be avoided. Numerical results demonstrating the accuracy of these new methods are presented.

Madsen, Niel K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Numerical study of 3-D inducer and impeller for pump model development

Current design of high-performance turbopumps for rocket engines requires effective and robust analytical tools to provide design information in a productive manner. The main goal of this study is to develop a robust and effective CFD pump model for general turbopump design and analysis applications. A finite difference Navier-Stokes flow solver, FDNS, which includes an extended k-epsilon turbulence model and appropriate moving zonal interface boundary conditions, was developed to analyze turbulent flows in turbomachinery devices. In the present study, two key components of the turbopump, the inducer and impeller, were investigated by the proposed pump model, and the numerical results were benchmarked by the experimental data provided by Rocketdyne.

Cheng, G. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Analysis of microstrip dipoles and slots transversely coupled to a microstrip line using the FDTD method

Printed dipole elements and their complement, linear slots, are elementary radiators that have found use in low-profile antenna arrays. Low-profile antenna arrays, in addition to their small size and low weight characteristics, offer the potential advantage of low-cost, high-volume production with easy integration with active integrated circuit components. The design of such arrays requires that the radiation and impedance characteristics of the radiating elements be known. The FDTD (Finite-Difference Time-Domain) method is a general, straight-forward implementation of Maxwell's equations and offers a relatively simple way of analyzing both printed dipole and slot elements. Investigated in this work is the application of the FDTD method to the analysis of printed dipole and slot elements transversely coupled to an infinite transmission line in a multilayered configuration. Such dipole and slot elements may be used in dipole and slot series-fed-type linear arrays, where element offsets and interelement line lengths are used to obtain the desired amplitude distribution and beam direction, respectively. The design of such arrays is achieved using transmission line theory with equivalent circuit models for the radiating elements. In an equivalent circuit model, the dipole represents a shunt impedance to the transmission line, where the impedance is a function of dipole offset, length, and width. Similarly, the slot represents a series impedance to the transmission line. The FDTD method is applied to single dipole and slot elements transversely coupled to an infinite microstrip line using a fixed rectangular grid with Mur's second order absorbing boundary conditions. Frequency-dependent circuit and scattering parameters are obtained by saving desired time-domain quantities and using the Fourier transform. A Gaussian pulse excitation is applied to the microstrip transmission line, where the resulting reflected signal due to the presence of the radiating element is used to determine the equivalent element impedance.

Tulintseff, A. N.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Inducer analysis/pump model development

Current design of high performance turbopumps for rocket engines requires effective and robust analytical tools to provide design information in a productive manner. The main goal of this study was to develop a robust and effective computational fluid dynamics (CFD) pump model for general turbopump design and analysis applications. A finite difference Navier-Stokes flow solver, FDNS, which includes an extended k-epsilon turbulence model and appropriate moving zonal interface boundary conditions, was developed to analyze turbulent flows in turbomachinery devices. In the present study, three key components of the turbopump, the inducer, impeller, and diffuser, were investigated by the proposed pump model, and the numerical results were benchmarked by the experimental data provided by Rocketdyne. For the numerical calculation of inducer flows with tip clearance, the turbulence model and grid spacing are very important. Meanwhile, the development of the cross-stream secondary flow, generated by curved blade passage and the flow through tip leakage, has a strong effect on the inducer flow. Hence, the prediction of the inducer performance critically depends on whether the numerical scheme of the pump model can simulate the secondary flow pattern accurately or not. The impeller and diffuser, however, are dominated by pressure-driven flows such that the effects of turbulence model and grid spacing (except near leading and trailing edges of blades) are less sensitive. The present CFD pump model has been proved to be an efficient and robust analytical tool for pump design due to its very compact numerical structure (requiring small memory), fast turnaround computing time, and versatility for different geometries.

Cheng, Gary C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

CFD Parametric Study of Consortium Impeller

Current design of high performance turbopumps for rocket engines requires effective and robust analytical tools to provide design impact in a productive manner. The main goal of this study is to develop a robust and effective computational fluid dynamics (CFD) pump model for general turbopump design and analysis applications. A Finite Difference Navier-Stokes flow solver, FDNS, which includes the extended k-epsilon turbulence model and appropriate moving interface boundary conditions, was developed to analyze turbulent flows in turbomachinery devices. A second-order central difference scheme plus adaptive dissipation terms was employed in the FDNS code, along with a predictor plus multi-corrector pressure-based solution procedure. The multi-zone, multi-block capability allows the FDNS code to efficiently solve flow fields with complicated geometry. The FDNS code has been benchmarked by analyzing the pump consortium inducer, and it provided satisfactory results. In the present study, a CFD parametric study of the pump consortium impeller was conducted using the FDNS code. The pump consortium impeller, with partial blades, is a new design concept of the advanced rocket engines. The parametric study was to analyze the baseline design of the consortium impeller and its modification which utilizes TANDEM blades. In the present study, the TANDEM blade configuration of the consortium impeller considers cut full blades for about one quarter chord length from the leading edge and clocks the leading edge portion with an angle of 7.5 or 22.5 degrees. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect and trend of the TANDEM blade modification and provide the result as a design guideline. A 3-D flow analysis, with a 103 x 23 x 30 mesh grid system and with the inlet flow conditions measured by Rocketdyne, was performed for the baseline consortium impeller. The numerical result shows that the mass flow rate splits through various blade passages are relatively uniform. Due to the complexity of blade geometries, the TANDEM blade configurations were analyzed with the multi-zone grid structure. Both the 7.5 deg- and the 22.5 deg-clocking TANDEM blade cases utilized a 80K mesh system. The numerical result of two TANDEM blade modifications indicates the efficiency and the head are worse than those of the baseline case due to larger flow distortion. The gap between the TANDEM blade and the full blade allows the flow passes through and heavily loads the pressure side of the partial blade such that flow reversal occurs near the suction side of the splitter. The flow split at the exit of impeller blades is very non-uniform for TANDEM blade cases, and this will greatly induce the side load on the diffuser. Therefore, the TANDEM blade modification in the present CFD analysis does not improve the performance of the consortium impeller.

Cheng, Gary C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Technical report series on global modeling and data assimilation. Volume 5: Documentation of the AIRES/GEOS dynamical core, version 2

A detailed description of the numerical formulation of Version 2 of the ARIES/GEOS 'dynamical core' is presented. This code is a nearly 'plug-compatible' dynamics for use in atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs). It is a finite difference model on a staggered latitude-longitude C-grid. It uses second-order differences for all terms except the advection of vorticity by the rotation part of the flow, which is done at fourth-order accuracy. This dynamical core is currently being used in the climate (ARIES) and data assimilation (GEOS) GCMs at Goddard.

Suarez, Max J.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Advances in Application of Fast Semidirect Computational Methods in Transonic Flow

This paper is intended as a review and summary of the advances made in a recently developed approach for rapid numerical solution of the equations of inviscid transonic aerodynamics. The investigation has been limited to two-dimensional, steady, inviscid flow over airfoils in a subsonic free stream, with emphasis on development of a rapid computational technique, rather than on generality of application. The approach uses finite-difference algorithms called "fast direct elliptic solvers" within an iteration scheme. "Direct" means that the entire computation field is solved at once, rather than in successive traverses over the field as in a point- or line-relaxation method. Such an iterative method is referred to as "semidirect." The iterative convergence can be faster than in other relaxation methods because changes are felt simultaneously at all points in each succeeding iteration. Direct elliptic solvers and semidirect methods have restrictions, but these are gradually being removed. Direct solvers were first developed for solving Poisson's equation on a rectangle without interior boundaries. A method to treat first-order systems, a direct Cauchy-Riemann solver has also been developed. Numerical treatment of part of a system of nonlinear equations by a Poisson solver has been reported. Also Poisson solvers in semidirect methods were used for nonseparable elliptic equations. The semidirect method was extended to the solution of a problem of mixed type, where the improved Murman-Cole transonic small-disturbance difference equations were solved. A slightly supercritical flow over a biconvex airfoil was treated successfully, but the iterations did not converge for more strongly supercritical conditions In another work the addition of terms ot both sides of the difference equations stabilized the iteration for supercritical conditions with large supersonic zones. For this, the Cauchy-Riemann solver was revised to incl,ude the needed terms. Most recently, the evaluation of parameters for rapid convergence and comparisons, with Murman's line-relaxation method was described. The method was extended to full second order accuracy in a fully conservative formulation in another work.

Martin, E. Dale↗
DOE OSTI2022

Finite-Difference Simulation for Infrasound Generated by Finite-Extent Ground Motions

Underground explosions can produce infrasound in the atmosphere, and the wavefield characteristics are often governed by the ground surface motions. Finite-difference methods are popular for infrasound simulation as their generality and robustness allow for complex atmospheric structures and surface topography. A simple point-source approximation is often used because infrasound wavelengths tend to be large relative to the source dimensions. However, this assumption may not be able to capture the complexity of explosion-induced ground motions if the surface area is not compact, and appropriate source models must be incorporated into the finite-difference simulations for accurate infrasound prediction. In this study, we develop a point source representation of the complex ground motions for infrasound sources. Instead of a single point source, we use a series of point sources distributed over the source area. These distributed point sources can be equivalent to air volume changes produced by the ground motions in the atmosphere. Further, we apply the distributed point-source method to a series of buried chemical explosions conducted during the Source Physics Experiment Phase I. Epicentral ground-motion measurements during the experiments provide a way to calculate accurate distributed point sources. We validate and evaluate the accuracy of distributed point source approach for infrasound simulations by direct comparison with acoustic observations in the field experiment.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Interaction between two conducting spheres in weakly ionized collisional plasma

Charging of two conducting spheres in a weakly ionized collisional plasma flow is considered. The spheres are arranged along the flow, and the plasma is assumed to consist of two ion species with the charges equal in magnitude but opposite in sign. The problem is analyzed with allowance for the external electric field, charging of the spheres due to the sedimentation of plasma ions on them, the fields of the sphere charges, the space charge field, and the processes of recombination and molecular diffusion. The interaction between the spheres and plasma is studied by numerically solving a time-dependent problem in a bispherical coordinate system by the finite difference method. The steady-state values of the sphere charges and the distributions of the space charge and ion densities in the ambient plasma are found as functions of the plasma parameters and the distance between the spheres. The electrostatic forces acting on the spheres are determined, and the effects of the external field, the space charge fields, and the fields of the sphere charges are comparatively analyzed. It is shown that, for the considered plasma parameters, the main electrostatic effect in the interaction between two spheres is their mutual approach in the external field due to the difference in their charges (one sphere catches up with the other). Due to the friction force with the neutral gas, this mutual approach is much slower than all other processes in the system. For widely spaced spheres, the results coincide with the solution obtained previously for a solitary sphere.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1972

Eigenvalues of singular differential operators by finite difference methods. I.

Approximation of the eigenvalues of certain self-adjoint operators defined by a formal differential operator in a Hilbert space. In general, two problems are studied. The first is the problem of defining a suitable Hilbert space operator that has eigenvalues. The second problem concerns the finite difference operators to be used.

Baxley, J. V.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Arbitrary Order Mixed Mimetic Finite Differences Method with Nodal Degrees of Freedom

In this work we consider a modification to an arbitrary order mixed mimetic finite difference method (MFD) for a diffusion equation on general polygonal meshes [1]. The modification is based on moving some degrees of freedom (DoF) for a flux variable from edges to vertices. We showed that for a non-degenerate element this transformation is locally equivalent, i.e. there is a one-to-one map between the new and the old DoF. Globally, on the other hand, this transformation leads to a reduction of the total number of degrees of freedom (by up to 40%) and additional continuity of the discrete flux.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1978

Efficiency trade-offs of steady-state methods using FEM and FDM

The efficiency characteristics of finite element and finite difference approximations for the steady-state solution of the Navier-Stokes equations are examined. The finite element method discussed is a standard Galerkin formulation of the incompressible, steady-state Navier-Stokes equations. The finite difference formulation uses simple centered differences that are O(delta x-squared). Operation counts indicate that a rapidly converging Newton-Raphson-Kantorovitch iteration scheme is generally preferable over a Picard method. A split NOS Picard iterative algorithm for the finite difference method was most efficient.

Gartling, D. K.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Parallel diffusion operator for magnetized plasmas with improved spectral fidelity

Diffusive transport processes in magnetized plasmas are highly anisotropic, with fast parallel transport along the magnetic field lines sometimes faster than perpendicular transport by orders of magnitude. This constitutes a major challenge for describing non-grid-aligned magnetic structures in Eulerian (grid-based) simulations. Here, the present paper describes and validates a new method for parallel diffusion in magnetized plasmas based on the anti-symmetry representation [Halpern and Waltz, Phys. Plasmas 25, 060703 (2018)]. In the anti-symmetry formalism, diffusion manifests as a flow operator involving the logarithmic derivative of the transported quantity. Qualitative plane wave analysis shows that the new operator naturally yields better discrete spectral resolution compared to its conventional counterpart. Numerical simulations comparing the new method against existing finite difference methods are carried out, showing significant improvement. In particular, we find that combining anti-symmetry with finite differences in diagonally staggered grids essentially eliminates the so-called “artificial numerical diffusion” that affects conventional finite difference and finite volume methods.

Anisotropic diffusion↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Highly Accurate Technique for the Treatment of Flow Equations at the Polar Axis in Cylindrical Coordinates using Series Expansions

Numerical methods for solving the flow equations in cylindrical or spherical coordinates should be able to capture the behavior of the exact solution near the regions where the particular form of the governing equations is singular. In this work we focus on the treatment of these numerical singularities for finite-differences methods by reinterpreting the regularity conditions developed in the context of pseudo-spectral methods. A generally applicable numerical method for treating the singularities present at the polar axis, when nonaxisymmetric flows are solved in cylindrical, coordinates using highly accurate finite differences schemes (e.g., Pade schemes) on non-staggered grids, is presented. Governing equations for the flow at the polar axis are derived using series expansions near r=0. The only information needed to calculate the coefficients in these equations are the values of the flow variables and their radial derivatives at the previous iteration (or time) level. These derivatives, which are multi-valued at the polar axis, are calculated without dropping the accuracy of the numerical method using a mapping of the flow domain from (0,R)*(0,2pi) to (-R,R)*(0,pi), where R is the radius of the computational domain. This allows the radial derivatives to be evaluated using high-order differencing schemes (e.g., compact schemes) at points located on the polar axis. The proposed technique is illustrated by results from simulations of laminar-forced jets and turbulent compressible jets using large eddy simulation (LES) methods. In term of the general robustness of the numerical method and smoothness of the solution close to the polar axis, the present results compare very favorably to similar calculations in which the equations are solved in Cartesian coordinates at the polar axis, or in which the singularity is removed by employing a staggered mesh in the radial direction without a mesh point at r=0, following the method proposed recently by Mohseni and Colonius (1). Extension of the method described here for incompressible flows or for any other set of equations that are solved on a non-staggered mesh in cylindrical or spherical coordinates with finite-differences schemes of various level of accuracy is immediate.

Constantinescu, George S.↗