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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 127 records · Page 7

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NASA NTRS1991

Numerical analysis of rarefied slit flows. II - Navier-Stokes simulations

The model problem of pressure-driven flow of a rarefied monatomic gas through a two-dimensional slit is analyzed via full Navier-Stokes numerical simulation. Parametric solutions are generated for slit-height based Knudsen number ranging from continuum to transitional flow and for reservoir pressure ratios leading to subsonic and supersonic flow. The change in the structure of the flowfield near the slit as a function of pressure ratio and Knudsen number are quantified from a purely continuum standpoint. The choice of numerical domain size, boundary conditions and treatment of the slit are also discussed. As expected, comparison with a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo solution for a highly rarefied case shows large differences in the predicted mass flow. The cause of these differences can be quantified through detailed comparison of the local flowfield properties. For the larger pressure ratio cases qualitative trends with increasing rarefaction are discussed, including the change in the sonic line shape in the slit and the in total mass flow.

Wadsworth, D. C.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Numerical analysis of the hot-gas-side and coolant-side heat transfer in liquid rocket engine combustors

The objective of this paper are to develop a multidisciplinary computational methodology to predict the hot-gas-side and coolant-side heat transfer and to use it in parametric studies to recommend optimized design of the coolant channels for a regeneratively cooled liquid rocket engine combustor. An integrated numerical model which incorporates CFD for the hot-gas thermal environment, and thermal analysis for the liner and coolant channels, was developed. This integrated CFD/thermal model was validated by comparing predicted heat fluxes with those of hot-firing test and industrial design methods for a 40 k calorimeter thrust chamber and the Space Shuttle Main Engine Main Combustion Chamber. Parametric studies were performed for the Advanced Main Combustion Chamber to find a strategy for a proposed combustion chamber coolant channel design.

Wang, Ten-See↗

NASA NTRS1973

Recent advances in numerical analysis of structural eigenvalue problems

A wide range of eigenvalue problems encountered in practical structural engineering analyses is defined, in which the structures are assumed to be discretized by any suitable technique such as the finite-element method. A review of the usual numerical procedures for the solution of such eigenvalue problems is presented and is followed by an extensive account of recently developed eigenproblem solution procedures. Particular emphasis is placed on the new numerical algorithms and associated computer programs based on the Sturm sequence method. Eigenvalue algorithms developed for efficient solution of natural frequency and buckling problems of structures are presented, as well as some eigenvalue procedures formulated in connection with the solution of quadratic matrix equations associated with free vibration analysis of structures. A new algorithm is described for natural frequency analysis of damped structural systems.

Gupta, K. K.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Numerical analysis of plasma flows in an MPC duct with diverter

The two-dimensional MHD-flow of the ideal plasma in a channel of the magnetoplasma compressor (MPC) with an axial hole in the central electrode (divertor) is numerically simulated. The steady-state regime of the flow is obtained. The influence of finite and periodical density perturbation at the entry of the channel on the compressional flow properties is investigated. It is shown that the flow is stable under such perturbations.

Badin, V. V.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Numerical analysis of the hot-gas-side and coolant-side heat transfer in liquid rocket engine combustors

The objectives of this paper are to develop computational methods to predict the hot-gas-side and coolant-side heat transfer, and to use these methods in parametric studies to recommend optimized design of the coolant channels for regeneratively cooled liquid rocket engine combustors. An integrated numerical model which incorporates computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the hot-gas thermal environment, and thermal analysis for the coolant channels, was developed. The mode was validated by comparing predicted heat fluxes with those of hot-firing test and industrial design methods. Parametric studies were performed to find a strategy for optimized combustion chamber coolant channel design.

Wang, T. S.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Numerical analysis of flow non-uniformity in the hot gas manifold of the Space Shuttle main engine

Three-dimensional viscous flow in a conceptual hot gas manifold (HGM) for the Space Shuttle Main Engine High Pressure Fuel Turbopump (SSME HPFTP) was numerically analyzed. A finite difference scheme was used to solve the Navier-Stokes equations. The exact geometry of the SSME HGM was modeled using boundary fitted curvilinear coordinates and the General Interpolants Method (GIM) code. Slight compressibility of the subsonic flow was modeled using a linearized equation of state with artificial compressibility. A time relaxation method was used to obtain a steady state solution. The feasibility and potential usefulness of computational methods in assisting the design of SSME components which involves the flow of fluids within complex geometrical shapes is demonstrated.

Thoenes, J.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Numerical analysis of particle dispersion and deposition in coal combustion using large-eddy simulation

High-fidelity modeling provides a useful approach to investigate the particle dispersion and deposition mechanism in pulverized coal combustion. To be able to analyze these detailed mechanisms, this work couples detailed multiphysics models for poly-dispersed turbulent, particle-laden flow, particle and gas phase reaction chemistry, convective, conductive and radiative heat transfer, ash formation and deposition with a Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) approach to numerically simulate coal combustion in a downfired self-sustained oxy-fuel combustor (OFC). It is necessary to explicitly capture all but the highest frequency dynamics of the turbulence and its coupling with each of the other physical phenomena using LES. Effects of subgrid-scale unresolved turbulence on the particle motions are also analyzed by a novel Stokes number analysis. Due to the inherent relation ship between coal combustion and ash deposition, this study integrates the improved ash deposition model into the numerical simulation. Overall simulation results are compared with experimentally measured data from the OFC. The simulation and measured data for the averaged gas temperature and deposition rates agree with 5% and 28%. This study shows that high-fidelity LES coupled with other detailed multiphysics models running on a exascale computing facility can provide a good representation of complex coal combustion and deposition in a laboratory-scale furnace.

multiphysics model↗

NASA NTRS1988

Flow visualization and numerical analysis of a coflowing jet - A three-dimensional approach

The instabilities of an acoustically excited coflowing jet are investigated by using a time series of cross-sections of large-scale structures present in the flow and by a fully three-dimensional numerical simulation via the vortex-element method. These structures are first revealed by a flow-visualization technique based on smoke seeding the inner jet flow and observing the flow cross-sections as the structures are convected past a stationary sheet of laser light. Usage of image-processing techniques along with computer graphics allows the full three-dimensional reconstruction of the structure. The general morphology of the flow is determined from the reconstructed views and shows that the vorticity is mainly concentrated into a single large-scale vortex ring. Hypotheses regarding the nature and origin of the longitudinal instabilities observed in the flow can be drawn from the reconstructed views, and are supported by the numerical simulations. Quantitative values such as the surface-to-volume ratio and the entrainment level are also obtained from the experimental data. The onset of streamwise vorticity and its distribution are derived from the numerical calculations as well. Three-dimensional views and a holographic display of a characteristic eddy are also presented.

Agui, Juan C.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Preliminary numerical analysis of improved gas chromatograph model

A mathematical model for the gas chromatograph was developed which incorporates the heretofore neglected transport mechanisms of intraparticle diffusion and rates of adsorption. Because a closed-form analytical solution to the model does not appear realizable, techniques for the numerical solution of the model equations are being investigated. Criteria were developed for using a finite terminal boundary condition in place of an infinite boundary condition used in analytical solution techniques. The class of weighted residual methods known as orthogonal collocation is presently being investigated and appears promising.

Woodrow, P. T.↗

DOE OSTI2020

The second-generation Shifted Boundary Method and its numerical analysis

Recently, the Shifted Boundary Method (SBM) was proposed within the class of unfitted (or immersed, or embedded) finite element methods. By reformulating the original boundary value problem over a surrogate (approximate) computational domain, the SBM avoids integration over cut cells and the associated problematic issues regarding numerical stability and matrix conditioning. Accuracy is maintained by modifying the original boundary conditions using Taylor expansions. Hence the name of the method, that shifts the location and values of the boundary conditions. In this article, we present enhanced variational SBM formulations for the Poisson and Stokes problems with improved flexibility and robustness. These simplified variational forms allow to relax some of the assumptions required by the mathematical proofs of stability and convergence of earlier implementations. First, we show that these new SBM implementations can be proved asymptotically stable and convergent even without the rather restrictive assumption that the inner product between the normals to the true and surrogate boundaries is positive. Second, we show that it is not necessary to introduce a stabilization term involving the tangential derivatives of the solution at Dirichlet boundaries, therefore avoiding the calibration of an additional stabilization parameter. Finally, we prove enhanced L 2 -estimates without the cumbersome assumption – of earlier proofs – that the surrogate domain is convex. Instead we rely on a conventional assumption that the boundary of the true domain is smooth, which can also be replaced by requiring convexity of the true domain. The aforementioned improvements open the way to a more general and efficient implementation of the Shifted Boundary Method, particularly in complex three-dimensional geometries. We complement these theoretical developments with numerical experiments in two and three dimensions.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS1981

Numerical analysis of the scramjet-inlet flow field by using two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations

A computer code was developed to solve the full two dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in a supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) inlet. In order to be able to consider a general inlet geometry with embedded bodies, a numerical coordinate transformation is used which generates a set of boundary-fitted curvilinear coordinates. The explicit finite difference algorithm of MacCormack is used to solve the governing equations. An algebraic, two-layer eddy-viscosity model is used for the turbulent flow. The code can analyze both inviscid and viscous flows with no strut, one strut, or multiple struts in the flow field. The application of the two dimensional analysis in the preliminary parametric design studies of a scramjet inlet is discussed. Detailed results are presented for one model problem and for several actual scramjet-inlet configurations.

Kumar, A.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Numerical analysis of discrete fractional integrodifferential structural dampers

This paper develops solution algorithms enabling the handling of the dynamic response of nonlinear structures contained discretely attached dampers modeled by fractional integrodifferential operators of the Grunwald-Liouville-Riemann type. The development consists of two levels of formulation, namely: (1) numerical approximations of fractional operators and, (2) the establishment of global level implicit schemes enabling the solution to nonlinear structural formulations. To generalize the overall results, error estimates are derived for the fractional operator approximation algorithm. These enable an ongoing optimization of solution efficiency for a given error tolerance. To benchmark the scheme, the results of several numerical experiments are presented. These illustrate the numerical characteristics of the overall formulation.

Padovan, Joseph↗

NASA NTRS1993

A numerical analysis of tonal acoustics in rotor-stator interactions

In this study, the unsteady, thin-layer, Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a system of patched grids for a rotor-stator configuration of an axial turbine. The study focuses on the plurality of spinning modes that are present in such an interaction. The propagation of these modes in the upstream and downstream regions is analyzed and compared with numerical results. It was found that the numerically calculated tonal acoustics could be affected by the type of numerical boundary conditions employed at the inlet and exit of the computational boundaries and the grid spacing in the upstream and downstream regions. Results in the form of surface pressure amplitudes and the spectra of turbine tones and their far field behavior are presented. Numerical results and experimental data are compared wherever possible. The 'mode-content' for different harmonics of blade-passage frequency is shown to conform with that predicted by a kinematical analysis.

Rangwalla, A. A.↗

NASA NTRS1998

On the Buckling of Imperfect Anisotropic Shells with Elastic Edge Supports Under Combined Loading Part I:: Theory and Numerical Analysis - Pt. 1

A rigorous solution is presented for the case of stiffened anisotropic cylindrical shells with general imperfections under combined loading, where the edge supports are provided by symmetrical or unsymmetrical elastic rings. The circumferential dependence is eliminated by a truncated Fourier series. The resulting nonlinear 2-point boundary value problem is solved numerically via the "Parallel Shooting Method". The changing deformation patterns resulting from the different degrees of interaction between the given initial imperfections and the specified end rings are displayed. Recommendations are made as to the minimum ring stiffnesses required for optimal load carrying configurations.

Arbocz, Johann↗

DOE OSTI2021

A Numerical Analysis of The Pool Boiling Process in Flooded Evaporators Using Different Refrigerants

The pool boiling process can be observed in several energy conversion processes including commercial and industrial refrigeration, industrial air-cooling operations, and power generation. The process becomes more involved when pool boiling in a tube bundle is considered. In the current study, a numerical model is developed to predict the key performance parameters of a flooded evaporator while considering a range of working fluids. A kettle reboiler configuration was considered, and a performance model was developed to account for boiling on individual tubes, merging of vapor bubbles, and movement under gravity. A volume of fluid (VOF) model was used to deal with the different phases in the simulation. Various fluids were considered in this study including HFE-7000, HFE-7300, and water. The trajectories of the bubbles were tracked, and the resulting information has been summarized in physical measurable quantities.

Zhang, Mingkan↗

NASA NTRS2012

Numerical Analysis Using WRF-SBM for the Cloud Microphysical Structures in the C3VP Field Campaign: Impacts of Supercooled Droplets and Resultant Riming on Snow Microphysics

Two distinct snowfall events are observed over the region near the Great Lakes during 19-23 January 2007 under the intensive measurement campaign of the Canadian CloudSat/CALIPSO validation project (C3VP). These events are numerically investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with a spectral bin microphysics (WRF-SBM) scheme that allows a smooth calculation of riming process by predicting the rimed mass fraction on snow aggregates. The fundamental structures of the observed two snowfall systems are distinctly characterized by a localized intense lake-effect snowstorm in one case and a widely distributed moderate snowfall by the synoptic-scale system in another case. Furthermore, the observed microphysical structures are distinguished by differences in bulk density of solid-phase particles, which are probably linked to the presence or absence of supercooled droplets. The WRF-SBM coupled with Goddard Satellite Data Simulator Unit (G-SDSU) has successfully simulated these distinctive structures in the three-dimensional weather prediction run with a horizontal resolution of 1 km. In particular, riming on snow aggregates by supercooled droplets is considered to be of importance in reproducing the specialized microphysical structures in the case studies. Additional sensitivity tests for the lake-effect snowstorm case are conducted utilizing different planetary boundary layer (PBL) models or the same SBM but without the riming process. The PBL process has a large impact on determining the cloud microphysical structure of the lake-effect snowstorm as well as the surface precipitation pattern, whereas the riming process has little influence on the surface precipitation because of the small height of the system.

lake-effect↗

NASA NTRS1996

Numerical Analysis of the Sea State Bias for Satellite Altimetry

Theoretical understanding of the dependence of sea state bias (SSB) on wind wave conditions has been achieved only for the case of a unidirectional wind-driven sea. Recent analysis of Geosat and TOPEX altimeter data showed that additional factors, such as swell, ocean currents, and complex directional properties of realistic wave fields, may influence SSB behavior. Here we investigate effects of two-dimensional multimodal wave spectra using a numerical model of radar reflection from a random, non-Gaussian surface. A recently proposed ocean wave spectrum is employed to describe sea surface statistics. The following findings appear to be of particular interest: (1) Sea swell has an appreciable effect in reducing the SSB coefficient compared with the pure wind sea case but has less effect on the actual SSB owing to the corresponding increase in significant wave height. (2) Hidden multimodal structure (the two-dimensional wavenumber spectrum contains separate peaks, for swell and wind seas, while the frequency spectrum looks unimodal) results in an appreciable change of SSB. (3) For unimodal, purely wind-driven seas, the influence of the angular spectral width is relatively unimportant; that is, a unidirectional sea provides a good qualitative model for SSB if the swell is absent. (4) The pseudo wave age is generally much better fo parametrization the SSB coefficient than the actual wave age (which is ill-defined for a multimodal sea) or wind speed. (5) SSB can be as high as 5% of the significant wave height, which is significantly greater than predicted by present empirical model functions tuned on global data sets. (6) Parameterization of SSB in terms of wind speed is likely to lead to errors due to the dependence on the (in practice, unknown) fetch.

Glazman, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS1989

A numerical analysis of Stefan problems for generalized multi-dimensional phase-change structures using the enthalpy transforming model

An enthalpy transforming scheme is proposed to convert the energy equation into a nonlinear equation with the enthalpy, E, being the single dependent variable. The existing control-volume finite-difference approach is modified so it can be applied to the numerical performance of Stefan problems. The model is tested by applying it to a three-dimensional freezing problem. The numerical results are in agreement with those existing in the literature. The model and its algorithm are further applied to a three-dimensional moving heat source problem showing that the methodology is capable of handling complicated phase-change problems with fixed grids.

Cao, Yiding↗