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Nonlinear viscoelastic and thermoelastic characterization procedures were applied to a rubber toughened adhesive that is commercially available as FM-300. Long time (accelerated testing) predictions on the basis of stress-time-superposition and time-temperature-superposition were compared with actual long term data. Good verification was obtained.
The nonlinear evolution of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) parametric instability of wave fluctuations propagating along an unperturbed magnetic field is investigated. Both a magnetohydrodynamic perturbation-theoretical approach and a nonlinear MHD simulation are used. It is shown that high harmonic waves are rapidly excited by wave-wave coupling, and that the wave spectrum evolves from a state containing a small number of degrees of freedom in k space to one which contains a large number of degrees of freedom. It is found that the spectral evolution prior to nonlinear saturation is well described by the prturbation theory. During this stage, the ratio of the growth rate of the nth harmonic wave to the linear growth rate of the fundamental wave is n. The nonlinear saturation stage is characterized by a frequency shift of the fundamental wave that destroys the wave-wave resonance condition which, in turn, causes the wave amplitude to cease its growth.
NASA has developed a new class of Ka-band TWT amplifiers (TWTAs) which achieve their high efficiency/low power performance goals by means of an advanced dynamic velocity taper (DVT). The DVT is characterized by a continuous, nonlinear reduction in helix pitch from its initial synchronous value in the output section of the TWT to near the end of the helix. Another efficiency-maximizing feature is the inclusion of a multistage depressed collector employing oxygen-free, high-conductivity Cu electrodes treated for secondary electron emission suppression by means of ion bombardment. An efficiency of 43 percent is expected to be reached.
The class of hypersonic vehicle configurations with single stage-to-orbit (SSTO) capability reflect highly integrated airframe and propulsion systems. These designs are also known to exhibit a large degree of interaction between the airframe and engine dynamics. Consequently, even simplified hypersonic models are characterized by tightly coupled nonlinear equations of motion. It is to be determined how these features, along with the stringent mission requirements placed on the vehicle, affect its trajectory performance. In this paper, a trajectory optimization problem for a generic hypersonic lifting body will be formulated, a solution method outlined, and results presented. The solution sought is a minimum-fuel trajectorv for orbit injection. It is also desired to study the effect of heating constraints on the vehicle.
The class of hypersonic vehicle configurations with single stage-to-orbit (SSTO) capability reflect highly integrated airframe and propulsion systems. These designs are also known to exhibit a large degree of interaction between the airframe and engine dynamics. Consequently, even simplified hypersonic models are characterized by tightly coupled nonlinear equations of motion. In addition, hypersonic SSTO vehicles present a major system design challenge; the vehicle's overall mission performance is a function of its subsystem efficiencies including structural, aerodynamic, propulsive, and operational. Further, all subsystem efficiencies are interrelated, hence, independent optimization of the subsystems is not likely to lead to an optimum design. Thus, it is desired to know the effect of various subsystem efficiencies on overall mission performance. For the purposes of this analysis, mission performance will be measured in terms of the payload weight inserted into orbit. In this report, a trajectory optimization problem is formulated for a generic hypersonic lifting body for a specified orbit-injection mission. A solution method is outlined, and results are detailed for the generic vehicle, referred to as the baseline model. After evaluating the performance of the baseline model, a sensitivity study is presented to determine the effect of various subsystem efficiencies on mission performance. This consists of performing a parametric analysis of the basic design parameters, generating a matrix of configurations, and determining the mission performance of each configuration. Also, the performance loss due to constraining the total head load experienced by the vehicle is evaluated. The key results from this analysis include the formulation of the sizing problem for this vehicle class using trajectory optimization, characteristics of the optimal trajectories, and the subsystem design sensitivities.
A numerical and experimental investigation of the bending behavior of six eight-ply graphite-epoxy circular cylinders is presented. Bending is induced by applying a known end-rotation to each end of the cylinders, analogous to a beam in bending. The cylinders have a nominal radius of 6 inches, a length-to-radius ratio of 2 and 5, and a radius-to-thickness ratio of approximately 160. A (+/- 45/0/90)S quasi-isotropic layup and two orthotropic layups, (+/- 45/0 sub 2)S and (+/- 45/90 sub 2)S, are studied. A geometrically nonlinear special-purpose analysis, based on Donnell's nonlinear shell equations, is developed to study the prebuckling responses and gain insight into the effects of non-ideal boundary conditions and initial geometric imperfections. A geometrically nonlinear finite element analysis is utilized to compare with the prebuckling solutions of the special-purpose analysis and to study the buckling and post buckling responses of both geometrically perfect and imperfect cylinders. The imperfect cylinder geometries are represented by an analytical approximation of the measured shape imperfections. Extensive experimental data are obtained from quasi-static tests of the cylinders using a test fixture specifically designed for the present investigation. A description of the test fixture is included. The experimental data are compared to predictions for both perfect and imperfect cylinder geometries. Prebuckling results are presented in the form of displacement and strain profiles. Buckling end-rotations, moments, and strains are reported, and predicted mode shapes are presented. Observed and predicted moment vs. end-rotation relations, deflection patterns, and strain profiles are illustrated for the post buckling responses. It is found that a geometrically nonlinear boundary layer behavior characterizes the prebuckling responses. The boundary layer behavior is sensitive to laminate orthotropy, cylinder geometry, initial geometric imperfections, applied end-rotation, and non-ideal boundary conditions. Buckling end-rotations, strains, and moments are influenced by laminate orthotropy and initial geometric imperfections. Measured buckling results correlate well with predictions for the geometrically imperfect specimens. The postbuckling analyses predict equilibrium paths with a number of scallop-shaped branches that correspond to unique deflection patterns. The observed postbuckling deflection patterns and measured strain profiles show striking similarities to the predictions in some cases. Ultimate failure of the cylinders is attributed to an interlaminar shear failure mode along the nodal lines of the postbuckling deflection patterns.
Ion implantation has been shown to produce a high density of metal colloids within the layer regions of glasses and crystalline materials. The high-precipitate volume fraction and small size of metal nanoclusters formed leads to values for the third-order susceptibility much greater than those for metal doped solids. This has stimulated interest in use of ion implantation to make nonlinear optical materials. On the other side, LiNbO3 has proved to be a good material for optical waveguides produced by MeV ion implantation. Light confinement in these waveguides is produced by refractive index step difference between the implanted region and the bulk material. Implantation of LiNbO3 with MeV metal ions can therefore result into nonlinear optical waveguide structures with great potential in a variety of device applications. We describe linear and nonlinear optical properties of a waveguide structure in LiNbO3-based composite material produced by silver ion implantation in connection with mechanisms of its formation.
A methodology is presented for determining the fatigue life of composite structures based on fatigue characterization data and geometric nonlinear finite element (FE) analyses. To demonstrate the approach, predicted results were compared to fatigue tests performed on specimens which represented a tapered composite flange bonded onto a composite skin. In a first step, tension tests were performed to evaluate the debonding mechanisms between the flange and the skin. In a second step, a 2D FE model was developed to analyze the tests. To predict matrix cracking onset, the relationship between the tension load and the maximum principal stresses transverse to the fiber direction was determined through FE analysis. Transverse tension fatigue life data were used to -enerate an onset fatigue life P-N curve for matrix cracking. The resulting prediction was in good agreement with data from the fatigue tests. In a third step, a fracture mechanics approach based on FE analysis was used to determine the relationship between the tension load and the critical energy release rate. Mixed mode energy release rate fatigue life data were used to create a fatigue life onset G-N curve for delamination. The resulting prediction was in good agreement with data from the fatigue tests. Further, the prediction curve for cumulative life to failure was generated from the previous onset fatigue life curves. The results showed that the methodology offers a significant potential to Predict cumulative fatigue life of composite structures.
Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability occurs when two different density fluids are impulsively accelerated in the direction normal to their nearly planar interface. The instability causes small perturbations on the interface to grow and eventually become a turbulent flow. It is closely related to Rayleigh-Taylor instability, which is the instability of a planar interface undergoing constant acceleration, such as caused by the suspension of a heavy fluid over a lighter one in the earth's gravitational field. Like the well-known Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, RM instability is a fundamental hydrodynamic instability which exhibits many of the nonlinear complexities that transform simple initial conditions into a complex turbulent flow. Furthermore, the simplicity of RM instability (in that it requires very few defining parameters), and the fact that it can be generated in a closed container, makes it an excellent test bed to study nonlinear stability theory as well as turbulent transport in a heterogeneous system. However, the fact that RM instability involves fluids of unequal densities which experience negligible gravitational force, except during the impulsive acceleration, requires RM instability experiments to be carried out under conditions of microgravity. This experimental study investigates the instability of an interface between incompressible, miscible liquids with an initial sinusoidal perturbation. The impulsive acceleration is generated by bouncing a rectangular tank containing two different density liquids off a retractable vertical spring. The initial perturbation is produced prior to release by oscillating the tank in the horizontal direction to produce a standing wave. The instability evolves in microgravity as the tank travels up and then down the vertical rails of a drop tower until hitting a shock absorber at the bottom. Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) is employed to visualize the flow. PLIF images are captured by a video camera that travels with the tank. Figure 1 is as sequence of images showing the development of the instability from the initial sinusoidal disturbance far into the nonlinear regime which is characterized by the appearance of mushroom structures resulting from the coalescence of baroclinic vorticity produced by the impulsive acceleration. At later times in this sequence the vortex cores are observed to become unstable showing the beginnings of the transition to turbulence in this flow. The amplitude of the growing disturbance after the impulsive acceleration is measured and found to agree well with theoretical predictions. The effects of Reynolds number (based on circulation) on the development of the vortices and the transition to turbulence are also determined.
A methodology is presented for determining the fatigue life of bonded composite skin/stringer structures based on delamination fatigue characterization data and geometric nonlinear finite element analyses. Results were compared to fatigue tests on stringer flange/skin specimens to verify the approach.
Results from structural analyses of three tow-placed AS4/977-3 composite panels with both geometric and material nonlinearities are presented. Two of the panels have variable stiffness layups where the fiber orientation angle varies as a continuous function of location on the panel planform. One variable stiffness panel has overlapping tow bands of varying thickness, while the other has a theoretically uniform thickness. The third panel has a conventional uniform-thickness [plus or minus 45](sub 5s) layup with straight fibers, providing a baseline for comparing the performance of the variable stiffness panels. Parametric finite element analyses including nonlinear material shear are first compared with material characterization test results for two orthotropic layups. This nonlinear material model is incorporated into structural analysis models of the variable stiffness and baseline panels with applied end shortenings. Measured geometric imperfections and mechanical prestresses, generated by forcing the variable stiffness panels from their cured anticlastic shapes into their flatter test configurations, are also modeled. Results of these structural analyses are then compared to the measured panel structural response. Good correlation is observed between the analysis results and displacement test data throughout deep postbuckling up to global failure, suggesting that nonlinear material behavior is an important component of the actual panel structural response.
Materials property information such as composition and thermophysical/mechanical properties abound in the literature. Oftentimes, however, the corresponding response curves from which these data are determined are missing or at the very least difficult to retrieve. Further, the paradigm for collecting materials property information has historically centered on (1) properties for materials comparison/selection purposes and (2) input requirements for conventional design/analysis methods. However, just as not all materials are alike or equal, neither are all constitutive models (and thus design/ analysis methods) equal; each model typically has its own specific and often unique required materials parameters, some directly measurable and others indirectly measurable. Therefore, the type and extent of materials information routinely collected is not always sufficient to meet the current, much less future, needs of the materials modeling community. Informatics has been defined as the science concerned with gathering, manipulating, storing, retrieving, and classifying recorded information. A key aspect of informatics is its focus on understanding problems and applying information technology as needed to address those problems. The primary objective of this article is to highlight the need for a paradigm shift in materials data collection, analysis, and dissemination so as to maximize the impact on both practitioners and researchers. Our hope is to identify and articulate what constitutes "sufficient" data content (i.e., quality and quantity) for developing, characterizing, and validating sophisticated nonlinear time- and history-dependent (hereditary) constitutive models. Likewise, the informatics infrastructure required for handling the potentially massive amounts of materials data will be discussed.
The General Dynamics (GD) S-Band software defined radio (SDR) in the Space Communications and Navigation (SCAN) Testbed on the International Space Station (ISS) provides experimenters an opportunity to develop and demonstrate experimental waveforms in space. The SDR has an analog and a digital automatic gain control (AGC) and the response of the AGCs to changes in SDR input power and temperature was characterized prior to the launch and installation of the SCAN Testbed on the ISS. The AGCs were used to estimate the SDR input power and SNR of the received signal and the characterization results showed a nonlinear response to SDR input power and temperature. In order to estimate the SDR input from the AGCs, three algorithms were developed and implemented on the ground software of the SCAN Testbed. The algorithms include a linear straight line estimator, which used the digital AGC and the temperature to estimate the SDR input power over a narrower section of the SDR input power range. There is a linear adaptive filter algorithm that uses both AGCs and the temperature to estimate the SDR input power over a wide input power range. Finally, an algorithm that uses neural networks was designed to estimate the input power over a wide range. This paper describes the algorithms in detail and their associated performance in estimating the SDR input power.
A phenomenological characterization of hysteresis in magnetostrictive materials is presented. Such hysteresis is due to both the driving magnetic fields and stress relations within the material and is significant throughout, most of the drive range of magnetostrictive transducers. An accurate characterization of the hysteresis and material nonlinearities is necessary, to fully utilize the actuator/sensor capabilities of the magnetostrictive materials. Such a characterization is made here in the context of generalized Preisach operators. This yields a framework amenable to proving the well-posedness of structural models that incorporate the magnetostrictive transducers. It also provides a natural setting in which to develop practical approximation techniques. An example illustrating this framework in the context of a Timoshenko beam model is presented.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the development of passive optical power limiters for the protection of the human eye and solid-state sensors from damage caused by energetic light pulses and also for other switching applications. One of the key issues involved is the search for appropriate materials that show effective reverse saturable absorption. Phthalocyanines seem to be good candidates for such applications because of their higher third order nonlinearity and the unique electronic absorption characteristics. A series of 1,4,8,11,15, 18,22,25-octa-alkoxy metallophthalocyanines containing various central metal atoms such as zinc, copper, palladium, cobalt and nickel were characterized for their third order nonlinearity and for their nonlinear absorptive properties to evaluate their suitability to function as reverse saturable absorbers.
Recent developments in the use of nonlinear acoustoelastic techniques for the characterization of materials are reviewed, with particular attention given to the quantitative modeling of the acoustoelastic properties of multiphase alloys in terms of material composition. Topics discussed include general theory of acoustoelasticity, models of two-phase systems, measurement techniques, acoustic nonlinearity parameters and material properties, stress-temperature dependence of sound velocity, and low field magnetoacoustics. The discussion is illustrated by results obtained for steels and aluminum alloys with second phase precipitates.
In order to deploy large flexible space structures it is necessary to develop support systems that are strong and lightweight. The most recent example of this aerospace design need is vividly evident in the space station solar array assembly. In order to accommodate both weight limitations and strength performance criteria, ABLE Engineering has developed the Folding Articulating Square Truss (FASTMast) support structure. The FASTMast is a space truss/mechanism hybrid that can provide system support while adhering to stringent packaging demands. However, due to its slender nature and anticipated loading, stability characterization is a critical part of the design process. Furthermore, the dire consequences surely to result from a catastrophic instability quickly provide the motivation for careful examination of this problem. The fundamental components of the space station solar array system are the (1) solar array blanket system, (2) FASTMast support structure, and (3) mast canister assembly. The FASTMast once fully deployed from the canister will provide support to the solar array blankets. A unique feature of this structure is that the system responds linearly within a certain range of operating loads and nonlinearly when that range is exceeded. The source of nonlinear behavior in this case is due to a changing stiffness state resulting from an inability of diagonal members to resist applied loads. The principal objective of this study was to establish the failure modes involving instability of the FASTMast structure. Also of great interest during this effort was to establish a reliable analytical approach capable of effectively predicting critical values at which the mast becomes unstable. Due to the dual nature of structural response inherent to this problem, both linear and nonlinear analyses are required to characterize the mast in terms of stability. The approach employed herein is one that can be considered systematic in nature. The analysis begins with one and two-dimensional failure models of the system and its important components. From knowledge gained through preliminary analyses a foundation is developed for three-dimensional analyses of the FASTMast structure. The three-dimensional finite element (FE) analysis presented here involves a FASTMast system one-tenth the size of the actual flight unit. Although this study does not yield failure analysis results that apply directly to the flight article, it does establish a method by which the full-scale mast can be evaluated.
This research project involves the synthesis and characterization of organic materials having powerful nonlinear optical (NLO) properties and the growth of highly ordered crystals and monomolecular films of these materials. Research in four areas is discussed: theoretical design of new materials, characterization of NLO materials, synthesis of new materials and development of coupling procedures for forming layered films, and improvement of the techniques for vapor phase and solution phase growth of high quality organic crystals. Knowledge gained from these experiments will form the basis for experiments in the growth of these crystals.