Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Approach Plate”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7

An Experimental Study at a Mach Number of 3 of the Effect of Turbulence Level and Sandpaper Type Roughness on Transition on a Flat Plate

An investigation has been conducted at a Mach number of 3 of the effect of turbulence level and sandpaper-type roughness on transition for a flat plate. The Reynolds number varied from 0.8 x 10(exp 6) to 1.8 x 10(exp 6) per inch; the settling-chamber turbulence level varied from 0.7 percent to 35 percent; and the heat transfer between the plate and the stream was negligible. Transition locations were determined by an optical method. This method was indicative of a permanent change in the boundary-layer density distribution rather than the onset of turbulent bursts. Results showed that, when transition was influenced by roughness, it moved in a way similar to its movement on a smooth plate. That is, it gradually approached the roughness location with either an increase in unit Reynolds number or an increase in turbulence level. For roughness submerged in the linear portion of the boundary-layer velocity profile, the square root of the roughness Reynolds number and the ratio of roughness height to boundary-layer displacement thickness gave similar results as parameters for predicting the effects of roughness. A range of each of these parameters which moved transition less than 10 percent was found and this range was a function of turbulence level.

Jones, Robert A.↗

Propagating plane harmonic waves through finite length plates of variable thickness using finite element techniques

An analysis is given using finite element techniques which addresses the propagaton of a uniform incident pressure wave through a finite diameter axisymmetric tapered plate immersed in a fluid. The approach utilized in developing a finite element solution to this problem is based upon a technique for axisymmetric fluid structure interaction problems. The problem addressed is that of a 10 inch diameter axisymmetric fixed plate totally immersed in a fluid. The plate increases in thickness from approximately 0.01 inches thick at the center to 0.421 inches thick at a radius of 5 inches. Against each face of the tapered plate a cylindrical fluid volume was represented extending five wavelengths off the plate in the axial direction. The outer boundary of the fluid and plate regions were represented as a rigid encasement cylinder as was nearly the case in the physical problem. The primary objective of the analysis is to determine the form of the transmitted pressure distribution on the downstream side of the plate.

Clark, J. H.↗

Noise Transmission Loss of a Rectangular Plate in an Infinite Baffle

An improved analytical procedure was developed that allows for the efficient calculation of the noise transmission characteristics of a finite rectangular plate. Both isotropic and symmetrically laminated composite plates are considered. The plate is modeled with classic thin-plate theory and is assumed to be simply supported on all four sides. The incident acoustic pressure is assumed to be a plane wave impinging on the plate at an arbitrary angle. The reradiated pressure is assumed to be negligible compared with the blocked pressure, and the plate vibrations are calculated by a normal-mode approach. A Green's function integral equation is used to link the plate vibrations to be transmitted far-field sound waves, and transmission loss is calculated from the ratio of incident to transmitted acoustic powers. The result is a versatile research and engineering analysis tool that predicts noise transmission loss and enables the determination of the modal behavior of the plate.

Roussos, Louis A.↗

Unified nonlinear approach to both weak and strong-interaction problems

The numerical results are obtained for heat transfer, skin-friction, and viscous interaction induced pressure for a step-wise accelerated flat plate in hypersonic flow. In the unified approach here the results are presented for both weak and strong-interaction problems without employing any linearization scheme. With the help of the numerical method used in this work an accurate prediction of wall shear can be made for the problems with plate velocity changes of 1% or larger. The obtained results indicate that the transient contribution to the induced pressure for helium is greater than that for air.

Gupta, R. N.↗

Dynamic response of laminated composite plates using a three-dimensional hybrid-stress finite-element formulation

A method of analysis of dynamic response of laminated composite plates is presented. The analysis is carried by using a hybrid-stress finite element numerical technique. By using this approach, the response of simply supported laminated plates subjected to sinusoidal loading are investigated. For the solution of the finite element equations of motion of free vibrations and dynamic response problems, two effective methods of solution, the space iteration method and the Newmark direct integration method are used. These two methods are discussed here.

Liou, W. J.↗

An Integrated Optimal Estimation Approach to Spitzer Space Telescope Focal Plane Survey

This paper discusses an accurate and efficient method for focal plane survey that was used for the Spitzer Space Telescope. The approach is based on using a high-order 37-state Instrument Pointing Frame (IPF) Kalman filter that combines both engineering parameters and science parameters into a single filter formulation. In this approach, engineering parameters such as pointing alignments, thermomechanical drift and gyro drifts are estimated along with science parameters such as plate scales and optical distortions. This integrated approach has many advantages compared to estimating the engineering and science parameters separately. The resulting focal plane survey approach is applicable to a diverse range of science instruments such as imaging cameras, spectroscopy slits, and scanning-type arrays alike. The paper will summarize results from applying the IPF Kalman Filter to calibrating the Spitzer Space Telescope focal plane, containing the MIPS, IRAC, and the IRS science Instrument arrays.

optimal estimations↗

Numerical simulation of involute-plate research reactor flow behavior using RANS, LES and DNS

This paper investigates the flow behavior of involute-plate research reactors by performing Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes simulation (RANS), Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of the channel flow between fuel plates. By modeling turbulence with different numerical approaches, this study provides data with three levels of fidelity. For the RANS simulation, three widely used turbulence models, i.e., k-ε, k-ω, Reynolds Stress Turbulence model (RST) are applied by using the commercial CFD code STAR-CCM +. For LES and DNS, the open-source CFD code, Nek5000, is used given its outstanding scalability on High Performance Computer (HPC) and high-order technique. The results from RANS simulations are compared with that from LES and DNS for benchmarking. Both macroscale parameters and turbulence statistics, such as velocity magnitude, lateral velocity and turbulence kinetic energy, are presented and analyzed. The results from RANS simulation achieve good agreement with LES and DNS on velocity and turbulence kinetic energy prediction. The RST turbulence model predicts the most similar flow pattern of lateral velocity as compared to LES and DNS. The Lambda-2 (λ2) criterion with a reasonable threshold is used to demonstrate the instantaneous vortices distribution in the involute channel from both LES and DNS calculation. The DNS simulation captures more detailed turbulence especially near the corner, which explains the discrepancy between LES and DNS results near the corner. The normalized RMS error are defined and calculated to assess the performance of those turbulence models. The RST model captures the anisotropic feature of turbulence, which enable it to outperform other turbulence models for predicting the flow behavior in an involute channel. Although some discrepancies are found between LES and DNS results in the corner, the overall deviations between LES and DNS are found to be small. In conclusion, given that the computational cost of DNS calculation is an order of magnitude higher, using LES data for benchmarking RANS model is a cost-effective approach.

DNS↗

Experimental study of laminar boundary layer receptivity to a traveling pressure field

Study is made of the production of Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) waves within a Blasius boundary layer by an externally-imposed, two-dimensional, pressure field of a particular type. The field is that due to flow past a relatively small cylinder aligned parallel to the test plate and normal to the flow. The cylinder was carried on a circular path about an axis located well above the plate and such that the closest approach of the cylinder to the layer was several times the layer thickness or cylinder diameter. The turbulent wake did not, therefore, directly perturb the layer. Through adjustment of the circumferential velocity, the pressure field was swept along a certain region of the plate with controllable speed. Both the pressure field and the layer response are described in detail. It is shown that the production of T-S waves was sharply maximal for the case of circumferential speed near that of freely-propagating T-S waves, and that the coupling efficiency was extremely high for this case of resonance. The relevance of this energy transfer process to T-S wave production by the unsteady pressure fields resulting from wind tunnel wall turbulent boundary layers for both subsonic and supersonic flow is mentioned.

Kendall, James M.↗

Statistical tests of additional plate boundaries from plate motion inversions

The application of the F-ratio test, a standard statistical technique, to the results of relative plate motion inversions has been investigated. The method tests whether the improvement in fit of the model to the data resulting from the addition of another plate to the model is greater than that expected purely by chance. This approach appears to be useful in determining whether additional plate boundaries are justified. Previous results have been confirmed favoring separate North American and South American plates with a boundary located beween 30 N and the equator. Using Chase's global relative motion data, it is shown that in addition to separate West African and Somalian plates, separate West Indian and Australian plates, with a best-fitting boundary between 70 E and 90 E, can be resolved. These results are generally consistent with the observation that the Indian plate's internal deformation extends somewhat westward of the Ninetyeast Ridge. The relative motion pole is similar to Minster and Jordan's and predicts the NW-SE compression observed in earthquake mechanisms near the Ninetyeast Ridge.

Stein, S.↗

A new approach to flow problems past a screen

A new method to simulate flows past a two-dimensional porous plate is proposed. The method is a simple application of a discrete vortex method which has been well established for flows past an inclined flat plate. In this method, a flow past a porous plate is described as superposition of the velocity potential of a uniform flow on that of a flow past a flat plate. The effect of porosity is replaced by that of a mass flow rate of the approaching freestream passing through the plate. Calculated flow features are compared with experiments. It is shown that the present method is effective in the simulation of the flow past a porous plate.

Inoue, O.↗

Dual shear plate power processor packaging design

The use of solar electric propulsion (SEP) for spacecraft primary propulsion imposes an extreme range of operational and environmental design requirements associated with the diversity of missions for which solar electric primary propulsion is advantageous. One SEP element which is particularly sensitive to these environmental extremes is the power processor unit (PPU) which powers and controls the electric ion thruster. An improved power processor thermal-mechanical packaging approach, referred to as dual shear plate packaging, has been designed to accommodate these different requirements with minimum change to the power processor design. Details of this packaging design are presented together with test results obtained from thermal-vacuum and structural-vibration tests conducted with prototype hardware.

Franzon, A. O.↗

Working toward a three-dimensional fatigue closure model for surface cracks

The first reliable elastic fracture mechanics solutions for a surface crack in a plate were obtained by Newman and Raju. The authors, both from the Mechanics of Materials Branch at NASA-Langley, used a highly detailed finite element solution requiring substantial computational resources. Computers have since become more powerful and available; however, many important related problems remain computationally expensive. The problem of three-dimensional fatigue crack growth taking into account plasticity-induced crack closure is one such problem. It is the goal of this research to provide an efficient method to account for three-dimensional crack closure in fatigue. Newman developed a two-dimensional plasticity-induced crack closure model for center cracked specimens. This model requires iterations to determine both the contact solution at each growth step and the extent of the plastic zone at the crack tip. A three-dimensional version of this model would require obtaining these nonlinear variables all along the crack front. This model must be efficient so that repeated calculations can be performed during crack growth simulations. The highly versatile line spring model (LSM) with contact, fatigue, and plasticity will form the basis of the closure model. There are several required additions to past work to address the three-dimensional crack closure problem. Initially, these additions will include (1) an improved LSM to more accurately obtain the crack opening displacement, stress intensity factors, and elastic T-stress near the ends of the surface crack; (2) a method to determine the extent of the plastic zone all along the crack front; (3) a method to determine the contact zone given a perfectly plastic layer of material on the crack surfaces; (4) a method to determine the magnitude of the compressive contact stress; and (5) a way to implement the degree of constraint along the curved crack front. During the summer ASEE program an enhanced LSM was developed. A method similar to that of 'strip synthesis' first introduced by Fujimoto was used. Briefly, the crack opening displacements of 'slices' of the surface crack in a direction parallel to the plate surface are considered in addition to the standard LSM approach that makes use of springs obtained from slices perpendicular to the plate surface. This enhancement is necessary so that an accurate three-dimensional representation of quantities such as contact zone size, plastic zone size, stress intensity factors, T-stress, and crack opening displacement can be determined. By combining results of previous investigations with the LSM, the problem of three-dimensional crack closure will be addressed. In addition to a closure model, the enhanced LSM can be used for many other problems including interacting surface cracks and fatigue crack growth of a through crack with a curved crack front.

Joseph, Paul F.↗

Graphite/epoxy Composite Laminates with Co-cured Interlaminar Damping Layers

Damped composite laminates were fabricated by co-curing viscoelastic damping film with graphite/epoxy prepreg plies. The dynamic response of the damped plates was measured using an impulse response technique and compared with the response of similar undamped laminates. Modal damping was computed from the frequency response data. Micrographs of the damped laminates showed that the damping layers retained their integrity during the fabrication process. The layers significantly increased the damping in the composite laminates. The use of the constrained viscoelastic film as an integral part of composite structures appears to be a feasible approach to passive vibration control. Composite plates manufactured with co-cured damping layers may have commercial applications in cases where light weight, strength, and vibration and noise reduction are important considerations.

Pereira, J. Michael↗

Numerical Simulations of Flow Separation Control in Low-Pressure Turbines using Plasma Actuators

A recently introduced phenomenological model to simulate flow control applications using plasma actuators has been further developed and improved in order to expand its use to complicated actuator geometries. The new modeling approach eliminates the requirement of an empirical charge density distribution shape by using the embedded electrode as a source for the charge density. The resulting model is validated against a flat plate experiment with quiescent environment. The modeling approach incorporates the effect of the plasma actuators on the external flow into Navier Stokes computations as a body force vector which is obtained as a product of the net charge density and the electric field. The model solves the Maxwell equation to obtain the electric field due to the applied AC voltage at the electrodes and an additional equation for the charge density distribution representing the plasma density. The new modeling approach solves the charge density equation in the computational domain assuming the embedded electrode as a source therefore automatically generating a charge density distribution on the surface exposed to the flow similar to that observed in the experiments without explicitly specifying an empirical distribution. The model is validated against a flat plate experiment with quiescent environment.

Suzen, Y. B.↗

Applications of Advanced, Waveform Based AE Techniques for Testing Composite Materials

Advanced, waveform based acoustic emission (AE) techniques have been previously used to evaluate damage progression in laboratory tests of composite coupons. In these tests, broad band, high fidelity acoustic sensors were used to detect signals which were then digitized and stored for analysis. Analysis techniques were based on plate mode wave propagation characteristics. This approach, more recently referred to as Modal AE, provides an enhanced capability to discriminate and eliminate noise signals from those generated by damage mechanisms. This technique also allows much more precise source location than conventional, threshold crossing arrival time determination techniques. To apply Modal AE concepts to the interpretation of AE on larger composite structures, the effects of wave propagation over larger distances and through structural complexities must be well characterized and understood. In this research, measurements were made of the attenuation of the extensional and flexural plate mode components of broad band simulated AE signals in large composite panels. As these materials have applications in a cryogenic environment, the effects of cryogenic insulation on the attenuation of plate mode AE signals were also documented.

Prosser, William H.↗

Advanced AE Techniques in Composite Materials Research

Advanced, waveform based acoustic emission (AE) techniques have been successfully used to evaluate damage mechanisms in laboratory testing of composite coupons. An example is presented in which the initiation of transverse matrix cracking was monitored. In these tests, broad band, high fidelity acoustic sensors were used to detect signals which were then digitized and stored for analysis. Analysis techniques were based on plate mode wave propagation characteristics. This approach, more recently referred to as Modal AE, provides an enhanced capability to discriminate and eliminate noise signals from those generated by damage mechanisms. This technique also allows much more precise source location than conventional, threshold crossing arrival time determination techniques. To apply Modal AE concepts to the interpretation of AE on larger composite specimens or structures, the effects of modal wave propagation over larger distances and through structural complexities must be well characterized and understood. To demonstrate these effects, measurements of the far field, peak amplitude attenuation of the extensional and flexural plate mode components of broad band simulated AE signals in large composite panels are discussed. These measurements demonstrated that the flexural mode attenuation is dominated by dispersion effects. Thus, it is significantly affected by the thickness of the composite plate. Furthermore, the flexural mode attenuation can be significantly larger than that of the extensional mode even though its peak amplitude consists of much lower frequency components.

Prosser, William H.↗

Electrocomposite of Alumina in Nickel Matrix

Nickel/aluminum oxide composite was electroformed in a sulfamate bath with 50 g/L of 0.05-micron aluminum oxide powder. Different plating methods including direct current plating, periodic pulse plating, and periodic reverse pulse plating were used. With conventional direct current plating, the maximum particle inclusion in the nickel matrix remains about 2% (wt). However, much higher percentile particle inclusions were achieved when a specific pulse reversal plating technique was applied. The particle incorporation approaches theoretical maximum when the deposit thickness per cycle approaches the particle diameter size at lower duty cycle. The highest particle incorporation achieved is 23% (by weight). Conceptual models interpreting the dramatic differences in the results of these plating methods were also proposed.

Xiong-Skiba, Pei↗

Magnetic docking aid for orbiter to ISS docking

The present docking system for the Orbiter uses mechanical capture latches that are actuated by contact forces. The forces are generated when the two approaching masses collide at the docking mechanism. There is always a trade-off between having high enough momentum to effect capture and low enough momentum to avoid structural overload or unacceptable angular displacements. The use of the present docking system includes a contact thrusting maneuver that causes high docking loads to be included into Space Station. A magnetic docking aid has been developed to reduce the load s during docking. The magnetic docking aid is comprised of two extendible booms that are attached adjacent to the docking structure with electromagnets attached on the end of the boom. On the mating vehicle, two steel plates are attached. As the Orbiter approaches Space Station, the booms are extended, and the magnets attach to the actuated (without thrusting), by slowly driving the extendible booms to the stowed position, thus reacting the load into the booms. This results in a docking event that has lower loads induced into Space Station structure. This method also greatly simplifies the Station berthing tasks, since the Shuttle Remote Manipulation System (SRMS) arm need only place the element to be berthed on the magnets (no load required), rather than firing the Reaction Control System (RCS) jets to provide the required force for capture latch actuation. The Magnetic Docking Aid was development testing on a six degree-of-freedom (6 DOF) system at JSC.

Schneider, William C.↗