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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

Spectral Method For Simulation Of Vortex Rings

Method of computation relying on spectral basis functions developed especially for simulation of axisymmetric vortex rings in incompressible, viscous fluid with quiescent far field. Contributes to understanding of flows in and around vortex rings during long propagation times, including such theoretically and practically important phenomena as drift and expansion of ring, "leapfrogging" and coalescence of two rings, and shedding of vorticity into wake of propagating ring.

Stanaway, S. K.↗

Simulation of Foam Divot Weight on External Tank Utilizing Least Squares and Neural Network Methods

Simulation of divot weight in the insulating foam, associated with the external tank of the U.S. space shuttle, has been evaluated using least squares and neural network concepts. The simulation required models based on fundamental considerations that can be used to predict under what conditions voids form, the size of the voids, and subsequent divot ejection mechanisms. The quadratic neural networks were found to be satisfactory for the simulation of foam divot weight in various tests associated with the external tank. Both linear least squares method and the nonlinear neural network predicted identical results.

Chamis, Christos C.↗

A simple method for simulating gasdynamic systems

A simple method for performing digital simulation of gasdynamic systems is presented. The approach is somewhat intuitive, and requires some knowledge of the physics of the problem as well as an understanding of the finite difference theory. The method is explicitly shown in appendix A which is taken from the book by P.J. Roache, 'Computational Fluid Dynamics,' Hermosa Publishers, 1982. The resulting method is relatively fast while it sacrifices some accuracy.

Hartley, Tom T.↗

Comparing the Expense and Accuracy of Methods to Simulate Atomic Vibrations in Rubrene

Atomic vibrations can inform about materials properties from hole transport in organic semiconductors to correlated disorder in metal–organic frameworks. Currently, there are several methods for predicting these vibrations using simulations, but the accuracy–efficiency tradeoffs have not been examined in depth. In this work, rubrene is used as a model system to predict atomic vibrational properties using six different simulation methods: density functional theory, density functional tight binding, density functional tight binding with a Chebyshev polynomial-based correction, a trained machine learning model, a pretrained machine learning model called ANI-1, and a classical forcefield model. The accuracy of each method is evaluated by comparison to the experimental inelastic neutron scattering spectrum. All methods discussed here show some accuracy across a wide energy region, though the Chebyshev-corrected tight-binding method showed the optimal combination of high accuracy with low expense. We then offer broad simulation guidelines to yield efficient, accurate results for inelastic neutron scattering spectrum prediction.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A simple method for simulating wind profiles in the boundary layer of tropical cyclones

A method to simulate characteristics of wind speed in the boundary layer of tropical cyclones in an idealized manner is developed and evaluated. The method can be used in a single-column modelling set-up with a planetary boundary-layer parametrization, or within large-eddy simulations (LES). The key step is to include terms in the horizontal velocity equations representing advection and centrifugal acceleration in tropical cyclones that occurs on scales larger than the domain size. Compared to other recently developed methods, which require two input parameters (a reference wind speed, and radius from the centre of a tropical cyclone) this new method also requires a third input parameter: the radial gradient of reference wind speed. With the new method, simulated wind profiles are similar to composite profiles from dropsonde observations; in contrast, a classic Ekman-type method tends to overpredict inflow-layer depth and magnitude, and two recently developed methods for tropical cyclone environments tend to overpredict near-surface wind speed. When used in LES, the new technique produces vertical profiles of total turbulent stress and estimated eddy viscosity that are similar to values determined from low-level aircraft flights in tropical cyclones. Lastly, temporal spectra from LES produce an inertial subrange for frequencies ≳0.1 Hz, but only when the horizontal grid spacing ≲20 m.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Methods Of Simulation Of Incompressible Flow

Report discusses methods for numerical simulation of Navier-Stokes equations of viscous, incompressible flow, with emphasis on pseudocompressibility method. Advanced computational techniques reviewed contribute to improved designs by rapidly providing detailed information about conditions at all points in flow fields of proposed designs.

Dwak, D.↗

Physical Principle for Generation of Randomness

A physical principle (more precisely, a principle that incorporates mathematical models used in physics) has been conceived as the basis of a method of generating randomness in Monte Carlo simulations. The principle eliminates the need for conventional random-number generators. The Monte Carlo simulation method is among the most powerful computational methods for solving high-dimensional problems in physics, chemistry, economics, and information processing. The Monte Carlo simulation method is especially effective for solving problems in which computational complexity increases exponentially with dimensionality. The main advantage of the Monte Carlo simulation method over other methods is that the demand on computational resources becomes independent of dimensionality. As augmented by the present principle, the Monte Carlo simulation method becomes an even more powerful computational method that is especially useful for solving problems associated with dynamics of fluids, planning, scheduling, and combinatorial optimization. The present principle is based on coupling of dynamical equations with the corresponding Liouville equation. The randomness is generated by non-Lipschitz instability of dynamics triggered and controlled by feedback from the Liouville equation. (In non-Lipschitz dynamics, the derivatives of solutions of the dynamical equations are not required to be bounded.)

Zak, Michail↗

Unitary Selective Coupled-Cluster Method

Simulating molecules using the Variational Quantum Eigensolver method is one of the promising applications for NISQ-era quantum computers. Designing an efficient ansatz to represent the electronic wave function is crucial in such simulations. Standard unitary coupled-cluster with singles and doubles (UCCSD) ansatz tends to have a large number of insignificant terms that do not lower the energy of the system. In this work, we present a unitary selective coupled-cluster method, a way to construct a unitary coupled-cluster ansatz iteratively using a selection procedure with excitations up to fourth order. This approach uses the electronic Hamiltonian matrix elements and the amplitudes for excitations already present in the ansatz to find the important excitations of higher order and to add them to the ansatz. The important feature of the method is that it systematically reduces the energy error with increasing ansatz size for a set of test molecules. {The main advantage of the proposed method is that the effort to increase the ansatz does not require any additional measurements on a quantum computer.}

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Degradation of learned skills. Effectiveness of practice methods on simulated space flight skill retention

Manual flight control and emergency procedure task skill degradation was evaluated after time intervals of from 1 to 6 months. The tasks were associated with a simulated launch through the orbit insertion flight phase of a space vehicle. The results showed that acceptable flight control performance was retained for 2 months, rapidly deteriorating thereafter by a factor of 1.7 to 3.1 depending on the performance measure used. Procedural task performance showed unacceptable degradation after only 1 month, and exceeded an order of magnitude after 4 months. The effectiveness of static rehearsal (checklists and briefings) and dynamic warmup (simulator practice) retraining methods were compared for the two tasks. Static rehearsal effectively countered procedural skill degradation, while some combination of dynamic warmup appeared necessary for flight control skill retention. It was apparent that these differences between methods were not solely a function of task type or retraining method, but were a function of the performance measures used for each task.

Sitterley, T. E.↗

A new method for simulating atmospheric turbulence for rotorcraft applications

Simulation of atmospheric turbulence as seen by a rotating blade element involves treatment of cyclostationary processes. Conventional filtering techniques do not lend themselves well to the generation of such turbulence sample functions as are required in rotorcraft flight dynamics simulation codes. A method to generate sample functions containing second order statistics of mean and covariance is presented. Compared to ensemble averaging involving excessive computer time, the novelty is to exploit cycloergodicity and thereby, replace ensemble averaging by averaging over a single path sample function of long duration. The method is validated by comparing its covariance results with the analytical and ensemble averaged results for a widely used 1-D turbulence approximation.

J. Riaz↗

A new method for simulating atmospheric turbulence for rotorcraft applications

Simulation of atmospheric turbulence as seen by a rotating blade element involves treatment of cyclostationary processes. Conventional filtering techniques do not lend themselves well to the generation of such turbulence sample functions as are required in rotorcraft flight dynamics simulation codes. A method to generate sample functions containing second-order statistics of mean and covariance is presented. Compared to ensemble averaging involving excessive computer time, the novelty is to exploit cycloergodicity and thereby, replace ensemble averaging by averaging over a single-path sample function of long duration. The method is validated by comparing its covariance results with the analytical and ensemble-averaged results for a widely used one-dimensional turbulence approximation.

Prasad, J. V. R.↗

A Comparison of Two Balance Calibration Model Building Methods

Simulated strain-gage balance calibration data is used to compare the accuracy of two balance calibration model building methods for different noise environments and calibration experiment designs. The first building method obtains a math model for the analysis of balance calibration data after applying a candidate math model search algorithm to the calibration data set. The second building method uses stepwise regression analysis in order to construct a model for the analysis. Four balance calibration data sets were simulated in order to compare the accuracy of the two math model building methods. The simulated data sets were prepared using the traditional One Factor At a Time (OFAT) technique and the Modern Design of Experiments (MDOE) approach. Random and systematic errors were introduced in the simulated calibration data sets in order to study their influence on the math model building methods. Residuals of the fitted calibration responses and other statistical metrics were compared in order to evaluate the calibration models developed with different combinations of noise environment, experiment design, and model building method. Overall, predicted math models and residuals of both math model building methods show very good agreement. Significant differences in model quality were attributable to noise environment, experiment design, and their interaction. Generally, the addition of systematic error significantly degraded the quality of calibration models developed from OFAT data by either method, but MDOE experiment designs were more robust with respect to the introduction of a systematic component of the unexplained variance.

DeLoach, Richard↗

A novel stochastic modeling method to simulate cooling loads in residential districts

District cooling systems are widely used in urban residential communities in China. Most of such systems are oversized, which leads to wasted investment, low operational efficiency and, thus, waste of energy. The accurate prediction of district cooling loads that can support the rightsizing of cooling plant equipment remains a challenge. This study develops a novel stochastic modeling method that consists of (1) six prototype house models representing most apartments in a district, (2) occupant behavior models of residential buildings reflecting their spatial and temporal diversity as well as their complexity based on a large-scale residential survey in China, and (3) a stochastic sampling process to represent all apartments and occupants in the district. The stochastic method was applied to a case study using the Designer's Simulation Toolkit (DeST) to simulate the cooling loads of a residential district in Wuhan, China. The simulation results agreed well with the measured data based on five performance metrics representing the aggregated cooling consumption, the peak cooling loads, the spatial load distribution, the temporal load distribution and the load profiles. Two prevalent simulation methods were also employed to simulate the district cooling loads. Here, the results showed that oversimplified assumptions about occupant behavior could lead to significant overestimation of the peak cooling load and the total cooling loads in the district. Future work will aim to simplify the workflow and data requirements of the stochastic method for its application, and to explore its use in predicting district heating loads and in commercial or mixed-use districts.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

A method for simulating a flux-locked DC SQUID

The authors describe a computationally efficient and accurate method for simulating a dc SQUID's V-Phi (voltage-flux) and I-V characteristics which has proven valuable in evaluating and improving various SQUID readout methods. The simulation of the SQUID is based on fitting of previously acquired data from either a real or a modeled device using the Fourier transform of the V-Phi curve. This method does not predict SQUID behavior, but rather is a way of replicating a known behavior efficiently with portability into various simulation programs such as SPICE. The authors discuss the methods used to simulate the SQUID and the flux-locking control electronics, and present specific examples of this approach. Results include an estimate of the slew rate and linearity of a simple flux-locked loop using a characterized dc SQUID.

Gutt, G. M.↗

Applications of a fast and efficient method for simulating orbital mission safety

A fast and efficient method for simulating potential interactions between space objects is presented. The specialized hazard analysis simulation is run at the Russian Space Surveillance Center. It simulates the motion of objects in space and determines close encounters between these objects. First, ephemerides are predicted for all space objects over the time interval of concern. Second, using the predicted ephemerides, pairs of satellites that would likely collide are grouped together. Throughout the process, the pairs initially chosen are refined until all pairs of satellites are found which come within a certain miss distance of each other. In addition to the miss distance, other characteristics of the encounter including angle of incidence, relative velocity, type of approaching object, and probability of collision come out of the simulation. There are many potential applications of this simulation and its results to missing planning and mission safety. Artificial objects can be introduced to the simulation to examine potential encounters between the new objects and current objects for mission design applications. The simulation can be run many times to create data for statistical analysis of encounter parameters. These as well as many other potential applications are presented and discussed.

Huth, Jeffrey↗

Development of a phantom to validate high-dose-rate brachytherapy treatment planning systems with heterogeneous algorithms

Purpose: This work presents the development of a phantom to verify the treatment planning system (TPS) algorithms used for high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy. It is designed to measure the relative dose in a heterogeneous media. The experimental details used, simulation methods, and comparisons with a commercial TPS are also provided. Methods: To simulate heterogeneous conditions, four materials were used: Virtual Water™ (VM), BR50/50™, cork, and aluminum. The materials were arranged in 11 heterogeneity configurations. Three dosimeters were used to measure the relative response from a HDR {sup 192}Ir source: TLD-100™, Gafchromic{sup ®} EBT3 film, and an Exradin™ A1SL ionization chamber. To compare the results from the experimental measurements, the various configurations were modeled in the PENELOPE/penEasy Monte Carlo code. Images of each setup geometry were acquired from a CT scanner and imported into BrachyVision™ TPS software, which includes a grid-based Boltzmann solver Acuros™. The results of the measurements performed in the heterogeneous setups were normalized to the dose values measured in the homogeneous Virtual Water™ setup and the respective differences due to the heterogeneities were considered. Additionally, dose values calculated based on the American Association of Physicists in Medicine-Task Group 43 formalism were compared to dose values calculated with the Acuros™ algorithm in the phantom. Calculated doses were compared at the same points, where measurements have been performed. Results: Differences in the relative response as high as 11.5% were found from the homogeneous setup when the heterogeneous materials were inserted into the experimental phantom. The aluminum and cork materials produced larger differences than the plastic materials, with the BR50/50™ material producing results similar to the Virtual Water™ results. Our experimental methods agree with the PENELOPE/penEasy simulations for most setups and dosimeters. The TPS relative differences with the Acuros™ algorithm were similar in both experimental and simulated setups. The discrepancy between the BrachyVision™, Acuros™, and TG-43 dose responses in the phantom described by this work exceeded 12% for certain setups. Conclusions: The results derived from the phantom measurements show good agreement with the simulations and TPS calculations, using Acuros™ algorithm. Differences in the dose responses were evident in the experimental results when heterogeneous materials were introduced. These measurements prove the usefulness of the heterogeneous phantom for verification of HDR treatment planning systems based on model-based dose calculation algorithms.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗