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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 1,117 records · Page 62
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Numerical solution of differential equations by artificial neural networks

Conventionally programmed digital computers can process numbers with great speed and precision, but do not easily recognize patterns or imprecise or contradictory data. Instead of being programmed in the conventional sense, artificial neural networks (ANN's) are capable of self-learning through exposure to repeated examples. However, the training of an ANN can be a time consuming and unpredictable process. A general method is being developed by the author to mate the adaptability of the ANN with the speed and precision of the digital computer. This method has been successful in building feedforward networks that can approximate functions and their partial derivatives from examples in a single iteration. The general method also allows the formation of feedforward networks that can approximate the solution to nonlinear ordinary and partial differential equations to desired accuracy without the need of examples. It is believed that continued research will produce artificial neural networks that can be used with confidence in practical scientific computing and engineering applications.

Meade, Andrew J., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1974

The passage of an infinite swept airfoil through an oblique gust

An approximate solution is reported for the unsteady aerodynamic response of an infinite swept wing encountering a vertical oblique gust in a compressible stream. The approximate expressions are of closed form and do not require excessive computer storage or computation time, and further, they are in good agreement with the results of exact theory. This analysis is used to predict the unsteady aerodynamic response of a helicopter rotor blade encountering the trailing vortex from a previous blade. Significant effects of three dimensionality and compressibility are evident in the results obtained. In addition, an approximate solution for the unsteady aerodynamic forces associated with the pitching or plunging motion of a two dimensional airfoil in a subsonic stream is presented. The mathematical form of this solution approaches the incompressible solution as the Mach number vanishes, the linear transonic solution as the Mach number approaches one, and the solution predicted by piston theory as the reduced frequency becomes large.

Adamczyk, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Parameterizing Grid-Averaged Longwave Fluxes for Inhomogeneous Marine Boundary Layer Clouds

This paper examines the relative impacts on grid-averaged longwave flux transmittance (emittance) for Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) cloud fields arising from horizontal variability of optical depth tau and cloud sides, First, using fields of Landsat-inferred tau and a Monte Carlo photon transport algorithm, it is demonstrated that mean all-sky transmittances for 3D variable MBL clouds can be computed accurately by the conventional method of linearly weighting clear and cloudy transmittances by their respective sky fractions. Then, the approximations of decoupling cloud and radiative properties and assuming independent columns are shown to be adequate for computation of mean flux transmittance. Since real clouds have nonzero geometric thicknesses, cloud fractions A'(sub c) presented to isotropic beams usually exceed the more familiar vertically projected cloud fractions A(sub c). It is shown, however, that when A(sub c)less than or equal to 0.9, biases for all-sky transmittance stemming from use of A(sub c) as opposed to A'(sub c) are roughly 2-5 times smaller than, and opposite in sign to, biases due to neglect of horizontal variability of tau. By neglecting variable tau, all-sky transmittances are underestimated often by more than 0.1 for A(sub c) near 0.75 and this translates into relative errors that can exceed 40% (corresponding errors for all-sky emittance are about 20% for most values of A(sub c). Thus, priority should be given to development of General Circulation Model (GCM) parameterizations that account for the effects of horizontal variations in unresolved tau, effects of cloud sides are of secondary importance. On this note, an efficient stochastic model for computing grid-averaged cloudy-sky flux transmittances is furnished that assumes that distributions of tau, for regions comparable in size to GCM grid cells, can be described adequately by gamma distribution functions. While the plane-parallel, homogeneous model underestimates cloud transmittance by about an order of magnitude when 3D variable cloud transmittances are less than or equal to 0.2 and by approx. 20% to 100% otherwise, the stochastic model reduces these biases often by more than 80%.

Barker, Howard W.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Best Merge Region Growing Segmentation with Integrated Non-Adjacent Region Object Aggregation

Best merge region growing normally produces segmentations with closed connected region objects. Recognizing that spectrally similar objects often appear in spatially separate locations, we present an approach for tightly integrating best merge region growing with non-adjacent region object aggregation, which we call Hierarchical Segmentation or HSeg. However, the original implementation of non-adjacent region object aggregation in HSeg required excessive computing time even for moderately sized images because of the required intercomparison of each region with all other regions. This problem was previously addressed by a recursive approximation of HSeg, called RHSeg. In this paper we introduce a refined implementation of non-adjacent region object aggregation in HSeg that reduces the computational requirements of HSeg without resorting to the recursive approximation. In this refinement, HSeg s region inter-comparisons among non-adjacent regions are limited to regions of a dynamically determined minimum size. We show that this refined version of HSeg can process moderately sized images in about the same amount of time as RHSeg incorporating the original HSeg. Nonetheless, RHSeg is still required for processing very large images due to its lower computer memory requirements and amenability to parallel processing. We then note a limitation of RHSeg with the original HSeg for high spatial resolution images, and show how incorporating the refined HSeg into RHSeg overcomes this limitation. The quality of the image segmentations produced by the refined HSeg is then compared with other available best merge segmentation approaches. Finally, we comment on the unique nature of the hierarchical segmentations produced by HSeg.

Tilton, James C.↗
NASA NTRS1999

The IRAS Galaxy Atlas (IGA)

In 1993 we proposed a project to NASA having the goal of producing a new infrared map of our Galaxy. In particular, we proposed to reprocess the IRAS data taken in the early 1980's using modern image processing algorithms and the large Intel parallel computers of the Center for Advanced Computing Research, (at that time called the Caltech Concurrent Supercomputing Facilities - CCSF). The rationale was simple: what took approximately 100 days on a typical workstation would take less than a day on the multi-processor parallel computers, thus making a high-resolution infrared atlas of the Galaxy feasible.

Prince, Thomas A.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Modeling of Non-Isothermal Cryogenic Fluid Sloshing

A computational fluid dynamic model was used to simulate the thermal destratification in an upright self-pressurized cryostat approximately half-filled with liquid nitrogen and subjected to forced sinusoidal lateral shaking. A full three-dimensional computational grid was used to model the tank dynamics, fluid flow and thermodynamics using the ANSYS Fluent code. A non-inertial grid was used which required the addition of momentum and energy source terms to account for the inertial forces, energy transfer and wall reaction forces produced by the shaken tank. The kinetics-based Schrage mass transfer model provided the interfacial mass transfer due to evaporation and condensation at the sloshing interface. The dynamic behavior of the sloshing interface, its amplitude and transition to different wave modes, provided insight into the fluid process at the interface. The tank pressure evolution and temperature profiles compared relatively well with the shaken cryostat experimental test data provided by the Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales.

Cryogenics↗
NASA NTRS2001

Grain Properties of Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) Deduced Through Computational Techniques

We present the computational analysis of the 7.6 - 13.2 micrometer infrared (IR) spectrophotometry (R approximately equal to 120) of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) in conjunction with concurrent observations which extend the spectral energy distribution from the near-infrared to far-infrared wavelengths. The observations include temporal epochs pre-perihelion, (1996 October UT and 1997 February UT), near perihelion (1997 April UT), and postperihelion (1997 June UT). Through the computational modeling of small amorphous carbon, and crystalline and amorphous silicate grains in Hale-Bopp's coma, we find that as the comet approached perihelion, the grain size distribution (the Hanner modified power law) steepened (N = 3.4 pre-perihelion, to N = 3.7 near and post-perihelion) along with an increase in the fractal porosity of larger (greater than 1 micrometer) grains. The peak of the grain size distribution remained constant (ap = 0.2 micrometer) at each epoch. We attribute the emergence of the 9.3 micrometer peak near perihelion to crystalline orthopyroxeno grains released from inside the nucleus. Crystalline silicates (olivine and orthopyroxene) make up about 30% (by mass) of the submicron sized (less than 1 micrometer) dust grains in Hale-Bopp's coma during each epoch.

Harker, David E.↗
NASA NTRS1973

High latitude proton precipitation and light-ion density profiles during the magnetic storm initial phase

Measurements of precipitating protons and light ion densities by experiments on OGO-4 indicate that widespread proton precipitation occurs in predawn hours during the magnetic storm initial phase from the latitude of the high-latitude ion trough, or plasmapause , up to Lambda 75 deg. A softening of the proton spectrum is apparent as the plasmapause is approached. The separation of the low-latitude precipitation boundaries for 7.3 kev and 23.8 kev protons is approximately 1 deg, compared with a 3.6 deg separation which has been computed using the formulas of Gendrin and Eather and Carovillano. Consideration of probable proton drift morphology leads to the conclusion that protons ase injected in predawn hours, with widespread precipitation occurring in the region outside the plasmapause. Protons less energetic than approximately 7 kev drift eastward, while the more energetic protons drift westward, producing the observed dawn-dusk asymmetry for the lower-energy protons.

Burch, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Modeling of convection phenomena in Bridgman-Stockbarger crystal growth

Thermal convection phenomena in a vertically oriented Bridgman-Stockbarger apparatus were modeled by computer simulations for different gravity conditions, ranging from earth conditions to extremely low gravity, approximate space conditions. The modeling results were obtained by the application of a state-of-the art, transient, multi-dimensional, completely densimetrically coupled, discrete-element computational model which was specifically developed for the simulation of flow, temperature, and species concentration conditions in two-phase (solid-liquid) systems. The computational model was applied to the simulation of the flow and the thermal conditions associated with the convection phenomena in a modified Germanium-Silicon charge enclosed in a stationary fused-silica ampoule. The results clearly indicated that the gravitational field strength influences the characteristics of the coherent vortical flow patterns, interface shape and position, maximum melt velocity, and interfacial normal temperature gradient.

Carlson, F. M.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Optics of Water Microdroplets with Soot Inclusions: Exact Versus Approximate Results

We use the recently generalized version of the multi-sphere superposition T-matrix method (STMM) to compute the scattering and absorption properties of microscopic water droplets contaminated by black carbon. The soot material is assumed to be randomly distributed throughout the droplet interior in the form of numerous small spherical inclusions. Our numerically-exact STMM results are compared with approximate ones obtained using the Maxwell-Garnett effective-medium approximation (MGA) and the Monte Carlo ray-tracing approximation (MCRTA). We show that the popular MGA can be used to calculate the droplet optical cross sections, single-scattering albedo, and asymmetry parameter provided that the soot inclusions are quasi-uniformly distributed throughout the droplet interior, but can fail in computations of the elements of the scattering matrix depending on the volume fraction of soot inclusions. The integral radiative characteristics computed with the MCRTA can deviate more significantly from their exact STMM counterparts, while accurate MCRTA computations of the phase function require droplet size parameters substantially exceeding 60.

cloud droplets↗
NASA NTRS1991

Computational aspects of sensitivity calculations in linear transient structural analysis

The calculation of sensitivities of displacements, velocities, accelerations, and stresses in linear, structural, and transient response problems is studied. Several existing sensitivity calculation methods and two new methods are compared for three example problems. Approximation vectors such as vibration mode shapes are used to reduce the dimensionality of the finite model. To be computationally practical in large-order problems, the overall finite difference methods must use the approximation vectors from the original design in the analyses of the perturbed models. This was found to result in poor convergence of stress sensitivities in several cases. Two semianalytical techniques are developed to overcome this poor convergence. Both new methods result in very good convergence of the stress sensitivities; the computational cost is much less than would result if the vibration modes were recalculated and then used in an overall finite difference method.

Greene, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A thin-layer solution of the flow about a prolate spheroid

Computational results are presented for the transitional or turbulent flow about a prolate spheroid, at alpha = 10 deg or 30 deg, correspondingly, using an implicit, approximately factored, partially flux-split algorithm, based on the thin-layer equations. The computed flow field is in good agreement with available experimental data.

Panaras, A. G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Effects of spatial order of accuracy on the computation of vortical flowfields

The objective of the present investigation is to assess the effect of the spatial order of accuracy used for the evaluation of the inviscid fluxes on the resolution of higher order quantitites, such as velocity gradients. The viscous terms are computed as second-order accurate with central difference formulas, even though for the explicit part of the algorithm higher order approximations may be used. A viscous/inviscid method is used, and the outer part of the flowfield is computed with the inviscid flow equations. The viscous boundary-layer type flow region close to the body surface is computed with an algebraic eddy viscosity model. Results obtained with the conservative and nonconservative formulations and the viscous/inviscid approach are compared with available experimental data. The effect of grid refinement on the accuracy of the solution is also presented.

Ekaterinaris, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Approximations of distant retrograde orbits for mission design

Distant retrograde orbits (DROs) are stable periodic orbit solutions of the equations of motion in the circular restricted three body problem. Since no closed form expressions for DROs are known, we present methods for approximating a family of planar DROs for an arbitrary, fixed mass ratio. Furthermore we give methods for computing the first and second derivatives of the position and velocity with respect to the variables that parameterize the family. The approximation and derivative methods described allow a mission designer to target specific DROs or a range of DROs with no regard to phasing in contrast to the more limited case of targeting a six-state only.

Distant Retrograde Orbits (DRO)↗
NASA NTRS2010

A Test of Thick-Target Nonuniform Ionization as an Explanation for Breaks in Solar Flare Hard X-Ray Spectra

Solar nonthermal hard X-ray (HXR) flare spectra often cannot be fitted by a single power law, but rather require a downward break in the photon spectrum. A possible explanation for this spectral break is nonuniform ionization in the emission region. We have developed a computer code to calculate the photon spectrum from electrons with a power-law distribution injected into a thick-target in which the ionization decreases linearly from 100% to zero. We use the bremsstrahlung cross-section from Haug (1997), which closely approximates the full relativistic Bethe-Heitler cross-section, and compare photon spectra computed from this model with those obtained by Kontar, Brown and McArthur (2002), who used a step-function ionization model and the Kramers approximation to the cross-section. We find that for HXR spectra from a target with nonuniform ionization, the difference (Delta-gamma) between the power-law indexes above and below the break has an upper limit between approx.0.2 and 0.7 that depends on the power-law index delta of the injected electron distribution. A broken power-law spectrum with a. higher value of Delta-gamma cannot result from nonuniform ionization alone. The model is applied to spectra obtained around the peak times of 20 flares observed by the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI from 2002 to 2004 to determine whether thick-target nonuniform ionization can explain the measured spectral breaks. A Monte Carlo method is used to determine the uncertainties of the best-fit parameters, especially on Delta-gamma. We find that 15 of the 20 flare spectra require a downward spectral break and that at least 6 of these could not be explained by nonuniform ionization alone because they had values of Delta-gamma with less than a 2.5% probability of being consistent with the computed upper limits from the model. The remaining 9 flare spectra, based on this criterion, are consistent with the nonuniform ionization model.

Holman, gordon↗
NASA NTRS1972

The employment of a spoken language computer applied to an air traffic control task.

Assessment of the merits of a limited spoken language (56 words) computer in a simulated air traffic control (ATC) task. An airport zone approximately 60 miles in diameter with a traffic flow simulation ranging from single-engine to commercial jet aircraft provided the workload for the controllers. This research determined that, under the circumstances of the experiments carried out, the use of a spoken-language computer would not improve the controller performance.

Laveson, J. I.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Computing Sensitivities in Evolutionary Systems: A Real-time Reduced Order Modeling Strategy

We present a new methodology for computing sensitivities in evolutionary systems using a model-driven low-rank approximation. To this end, we formulate a variational principle that seeks to minimize the distance between the time derivative of the reduced approximation and sensitivity dynamics. The first order optimality condition of the variational principle leads to a system of closed form evolution equations for an orthonormal basis and corresponding sensitivity coefficients. This approach allows for the computation of sensitivities with respect to a large number of parameters in an accurate and tractable manner by extracting correlations between different sensitivities on the fly. The presented method requires solving forward evolution equations, sidestepping the restrictions imposed by the forward/backward workflow of adjoint sensitivities. For example, the presented method, unlike the adjoint equation, does not impose any input/output load and can be used in applications in which real-time sensitivities are of interest. We demonstrate the utility of the method for three test cases: (1) computing sensitivity with respect to model parameters in the Rössler system, (2) computing sensitivity with respect to an infinite-dimensional forcing parameter in the chaotic Kuramoto--Sivashinsky equation, and (3) computing sensitivity with respect to reaction parameters for species transport in a turbulent reacting flow.

Reduced order model↗
NASA NTRS2020

Analysis of Sample Acquisition Dynamics Using Discrete Element Method

The analysis presented in this paper is conducted in the framework of the Ocean Worlds Autonomy Testbed for Exploration Research and Simulation (OceanWATERS) project, currently under development at NASA Ames Research Center. OceanWATERS aims at designing a simulation environment which allows for testing autonomy of scientific lander missions to the icy moons of our solar system. Mainly focused on reproducing the end effector interaction with the inherent terrain, this paper introduces a novel discrete element method (DEM)-based approach to determine forces and torques acting on the lander’s scoop during the sample acquisition process. An accurate force feedback from the terrain on the scoop is required by fault-detection and autonomous decision-making algorithms to identify when the requested torque on the robotic arm’s joints exceeds the maximum available torque. Knowledge of the terrain force feedback significantly helps evaluating the arm’s links structural properties and properly selecting actuators for the joints. Models available in literature constitute a partial representation of the dynamics of the interaction. As an example, Balovnev derived an analytical expression of the vertical and horizontal force acting on a bucket while collecting a sample as a function of its geometry and velocity, soil parameters and reached depth. Although the model represents an adequate approximation of the two force components, it ignores the direction orthogonal to the scoop motion and neglects the torque. This work relies on DEM analysis to compensate for analytical models’ deficiencies and inaccuracies, i. e. provide force and torque 3D vectors, defined in the moving reference (body) frame attached to the scoop, at each instant of the sample collection process. Results from the first presented analysis relate to the specific OceanWATERS sampling strategy, which consists of collecting the sample through five consecutive passes with increasing depth, each pass following the same circularlinear- circular trajectory. Data is collected given a specific scoop design interacting with two types of bulk materials, which may characterize the surface of icy planetary bodies: snow and ice. Although specifically concerned with the OceanWATERS design, this first analysis provides the expected force trends for similar sampling strategies and allows to deduce phenomenological information about the general scooping process. In order to further instruct the community on the use of DEM tools as a solution to the sampling collection problem, two more analyses have been carried out, mainly focused on reducing the DEM computation time, which increases with a decrease in particle size. After running a set of identical simulations, where the only changing parameter is the size of the spherical particle, it is observed that the resulting force trajectories, starting from a given particle size, converge to the true trend. It is deducible that a further decrease in size yields negligible improvements in the accuracy, while it sensibly increases computation time. A final analysis aims at discussing limitations of approximating bulk material particles having a complex shape, e. g. ice fragments, with spheres, by comparing force trends resulting in the two cases for the same simulation scenario.

Catanoso, Damiana↗