SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “driven”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

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

At least 127 records · Page 7

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1985

The HEAO-2 Guest Investigator Program: Non-linear growth of instabilities in line-driven stellar winds

The linear instability of line-driven stellar winds to take proper account of the dynamical effect of scattered radiation were analyzed. It is found that: (1) the drag effect of the mean scattered radiation does greatly reduce the contribution of scattering lines to the instability at the very base of the wind, but the instability growth rate associated with such lines rapidly increases as the flow moves outward from the base, reaching more than 50% of the growth rate for pure absorption lines within a stellar radius of the surface, and eventually reaching 80% of that rate at large radii; (2) perturbations in the scattered radiation field may be important for the propagation of wind disturbances, but they have little effect on the wind instability; and (3) the contribution of strongly shadowed lines to the wind instability is often reduced compared to that of unshadowed lines, but their overall effect is not one of damping in the outer parts of the wind. It is concluded that, even when all scattering effects are taken into account, the bulk of the flow in a line-driven stellar wind is still highly unstable.

Rybicki, G. B.↗

NASA NTRS1985

New quantum oscillations in current driven small junctions

The response of current-biased Josephson and normal tunnel junctions (JJs and NTJs) such as those fabricated by Voss and Webb (1981) is predicted from a quantum-mechanical description based on the observation that the response of a current-driven open system is equivalent to that of a closed system subject to an external time-dependent voltage bias. Phenomena expected include voltage oscillations with no dc voltage applied, inverse Shapiro steps of dc voltage in the presence of microwave radiation, voltage oscillation in a JJ and an NTJ coupled by a capacitance to a current-biased junction, JJ voltage oscillation frequency = I/e rather than I/2e, and different NTJ resistance than in the voltage-driven case. The effects require approximate experimental parameter values Ic = 15 nA, C = 1 fF, and T much less than 0.4 K for JJs and Ic = a few nA, C = 1 fF, and R = 3 kiloohms for 100-microV inverse Shapiro steps at 10 GHz in NTJs.

Ben-Jacob, E.↗

NASA NTRS1985

CO2 impact ionization-driven plasma instability observed by Pioneer Venus Orbiter at Periapsis

Observations of enhanced ac electric field noise about Pioneer Venus periapsis are shown to be related to spacecraft-generated impact ionization of the ambient CO2. The frequency of the electric field noise is found to peak in the vicinity of the CO2(+) ion plasma frequency and to closely follow the form of the neutral CO2 density profile. When the electric field noise in all channels is normalized by the square root of the CO2 number density, the ratio is constant. Since the impact electron density measured by the Pioneer Venus Langmuir probe, is observed to scale directly with the neutral CO2, the growth of the electric field amplitude is found to be linear in time with a growth rate proportional to the CO2(+) ion plasma frequency. On the basis of these results the impact ionization-driven instability is shown to be the ion acoustic instability. Implications for the lack of observations by Pioneer Venus of reflected-O(+)-driven instabilities, as have been proposed for the space shuttle, are discussed.

Curtis, S. A.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Instabilities in line-driven stellar winds. II - Effect of scattering

An earlier analysis (Owocki and Rybicki) of the linear instability of line-driven stellar winds is extended to take proper account of the dynamical effect of scattered radiation. The principal findings are as follows: (1) the drag effect of the mean scattered radiation does indeed greatly reduce the contribution of scattering lines to the instability at the very base of the wind, but the instability growth rate associated with such lines rapidly increases as the flow moves outward from the base, reaching more than 50 percent of the growth rate for pure absorption lines within a stellar radius of the surface, and eventually reaching 80 percent of that rate at large radii; (2) perturbations in the scattered radiation field may be important for the propagation of wind disturbances, but they have little effect on the wind instability; (3) the contribution of a strongly shadowed line to the wind instability is often reduced compared to that of an unshadowed line, but its effect is not one of damping in the outer parts of the wind. The primary conclusion derived from these results is thus that, even when all scattering effects are taken into account, the bulk of the flow in a line-driven stellar wind is still highly unstable.

Owocki, S. P.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Noise propagation from a four-engine, propeller-driven airplane

A flight experiment was conducted to investigate the propagation of periodic low-frequency noise from a propeller-driven airplane. The test airplane was a large four-engine, propeller-driven airplane flown at altitudes from 15 to 500 m over the end of an 1800-m-long, 22-element microphone array. The acoustic data were reduced by a one-third octave-band analysis. The primary propagation quantities computed were lateral attenuation and ground effects, both of which become significant at shallow elevation angles. Scatter in the measured results largely obscured the physics of the low-frequency noise propagation. Variability of the noise source, up to 9.5 dB over a 2-sec interval, was the major contributor to the data scatter. The microphones mounted at ground level produced more consistent results with less scatter than those mounted 1.2 m above ground. The ground noise levels were found to be greater on the port side than on the starboard side.

Willshire, William L., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Particle and fluid simulations of resistive current-driven electrostatic ion cyclotron waves

The results from 1-D numerical simulations of electrostatic ion cyclotron waves (EIC) are presented for a model in which the electrons are a resistive (collisional) fluid. Simulations of both the kinetic and fluid descriptions are performed and compared in order to assess the fundamental limitations of fluid theory for EIC waves. The effect of ion-neutral collisions is also included using a simple Monte Carlo technique. It is found that a small ion-neutral collision frequency destroys the frequency harmonic coupling of kinetic EIC waves and tends to validate the fluid description. The saturation amplitude of the current-driven EIC instability is in agreement with recent laboratory experiments. The coherent nature (extremely narrow spectral width) and phase velocity agree with ground based (coherent backscatter radars) and in situ observations of current-driven EIC waves in the high latitude ionosphere.

Seyler, Charles E.↗

NASA NTRS1987

A comparison of analytical and numerical models for steadily driven magnetic reconnection

The effect of boundary conditions in both analytical and numerical solutions of steadily driven reconnection on the reconnection of antiparallel magnetic fields is considered, with special attention given to the mathematical problem of properly specifying boundary conditions for the MHD equation. A unified formulation developed by Priest and Forbes (1986) for steady state reconnection, which includes the Petschek solution and the Sonnerup (1970) solution as special cases, is used to reinterpret the previous numerical experiments of steadily driven reconnection. It is shown that many contradictory features of these experiments were caused by the use of boundary conditions which are different from those required by Petschek's (1964) theory.

Forbes, T. G.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Operating characteristics of a 60 cm and a 10 cm electric arc-driven shock-tube

This paper describes the current status of the operating characteristics of the electric arc-driven shock-tube facility at Ames Research Center, focusing on its potential usefulness in the current and anticipated future applications. The paper specifically addresses the questions as to: (1) how well the behavior of the arc driver is understood and controlled, (2) how well the facility is equipped to test low-density, very-high-velocity nonequilibrium flow regimes, and (3) how closely the facility is expected to produce an equilibrium hypersonic flow when operated in shock-tunnel modes. For these issues, it is shown that: (1) a plasma kinetics model of the exploding wire closely describes the arc behavior in the driver, (2) the facility can produce a spectroscopically-clean flow in a low density regime with a shock velocity of 13 km/sec in air when used with an aluminum driven tube, and (3) when operated as a shock-tunnel, the high enthalpy flow in the test section is expected to deviate only slightly from the perfect equilibrium flow conditions at enthalpies corresponding to flight speeds of 5 km/sec or less.

Sharma, Surendra P.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Impact-driven supply of sodium and potassium to the atmosphere of Mercury

The Mercury atmosphere is supplied with sodium atoms from both impacting meteoroids and the impacted regolith; the production of vaporized sodium due to such impact varies with the instantaneous distance of Mercury from the sun, in a way that differs from the distance-dependence of those source-and-sink processes driven by solar radiation. Such impact-driven vaporization will yield the Na/K ratio noted in the Mercury atmosphere only if both the meteoroids and the regolith of the planet are deficient in K relative to other solar system objects sampled, other than comets.

Morgan, T. H.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Theory Of A Pyrotechnically Driven Device

Report presents relations that predict behavior of pyrolytically operated device. Mathematical analysis motivated by need to evaluate performances of squib-driven release nuts. Analysis takes into account most significant of complicated interrelated processes involved in operation of pyrotechnically driven devices and aids in their design and evaluation of test data.

Richter, Robert↗

NASA NTRS1988

Surface tension driven convection experiment

Thermocapillary flow is driven by a thermally induced surface tension variation along a liquid free surface. In the Earth-gravity environment such flows are usually overshadowed by buoyancy driven flows, but at reduced gravity conditions their influence could be significant. A comprehensive theoretical and experimental research program was stated 12 years ago and is still being continued. Past work done at Case Western Reserve University as well as work done by others is reviewed. The justification for low-gravity experiments is presented.

Ostrach, Simon↗

NASA NTRS1988

Current driven instabilities of an electromagnetically accelerated plasma

A plasma instability that strongly influences the efficiency and lifetime of electromagnetic plasma accelerators was quantitatively measured. Experimental measurements of dispersion relations (wave phase velocities), spatial growth rates, and stability boundaries are reported. The measured critical wave parameters are in excellent agreement with theoretical instability boundary predictions. The instability is current driven and affects a wide spectrum of longitudinal (electrostatic) oscillations. Current driven instabilities, which are intrinsic to the high-current-carrying magnetized plasma of the magnetoplasmadynmic (MPD) accelerator, were investigated with a kinetic theoretical model based on first principles. Analytical limits of the appropriate dispersion relation yield unstable ion acoustic waves for T(i)/T(e) much less than 1 and electron acoustic waves for T(i)/T(e) much greater than 1. The resulting set of nonlinear equations for the case of T(i)/T(e) = 1, of most interest to the MPD thruster Plasma Wave Experiment, was numerically solved to yield a multiparameter set of stability boundaries. Under certain conditions, marginally stable waves traveling almost perpendicular to the magnetic field would travel at a velocity equal to that of the electron current. Such waves were termed current waves. Unstable current waves near the upper stability boundary were observed experimentally and are in accordance with theoretical predictions. This provides unambiguous proof of the existence of such instabilites in electromagnetic plasma accelerators.

Chouetri, E. Y.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Shocks produced by impulsively driven reconnection

Shock waves produced by impulsively driven reconnection are investigated by carrying out numerical experiments using two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics. The results of the numerical experiments imply that there are three different categories of shocks associated with impulsively driven reconnection: (1) fast-mode, blast waves which rapidly propagate away from the reconnection site; (2) slow-mode, Petschek shocks which are attached to the reconnection site; and (3) fast-mode, termination shocks which terminate the plasma jets flowing out from the reconnection site.

Forbes, T. G.↗

NASA NTRS1989

A user-friendly, menu-driven, language-free laser characteristics curves graphing program for desk-top IBM PC compatible computers

A facility was established that uses collected data and feeds it into mathematical models that generate improved data arrays by correcting for various losses, base line drift, and conversion to unity scaling. These developed data arrays have headers and other identifying information affixed and are subsequently stored in a Laser Materials and Characteristics data base which is accessible to various users. The two part data base: absorption - emission spectra and tabulated data, is developed around twelve laser models. The tabulated section of the data base is divided into several parts: crystalline, optical, mechanical, and thermal properties; aborption and emission spectra information; chemical name and formulas; and miscellaneous. A menu-driven, language-free graphing program will reduce and/or remove the requirement that users become competent FORTRAN programmers and the concomitant requirement that they also spend several days to a few weeks becoming conversant with the GEOGRAF library and sequence of calls and the continual refreshers of both. The work included becoming thoroughly conversant with or at least very familiar with GEOGRAF by GEOCOMP Corp. The development of the graphing program involved trial runs of the various callable library routines on dummy data in order to become familiar with actual implementation and sequencing. This was followed by trial runs with actual data base files and some additional data from current research that was not in the data base but currently needed graphs. After successful runs, with dummy and real data, using actual FORTRAN instructions steps were undertaken to develop the menu-driven language-free implementation of a program which would require the user only know how to use microcomputers. The user would simply be responding to items displayed on the video screen. To assist the user in arriving at the optimum values needed for a specific graph, a paper, and pencil check list was made available to use on the trial runs.

Klutz, Glenn↗

NASA NTRS1989

Ionization and thermal equilibrium models for O star winds based on time-independent radiation-driven wind theory

Ab initio ionization and thermal equilibrium models are calculated for the winds of O stars using the results of steady state radiation-driven wind theory to determine the input parameters. Self-consistent methods are used for the roles of H, He, and the most abundant heavy elements in both the statistical and the thermal equilibrium. The model grid was chosen to encompass all O spectral subtypes and the full range of luminosity classes. Results of earlier modeling of O star winds by Klein and Castor (1978) are reproduced and used to motivate improvements in the treatment of the hydrogen equilibrium. The wind temperature profile is revealed to be sensitive to gross changes in the heavy element abundances, but insensitive to other factors considered such as the mass-loss rate and velocity law. The reduced wind temperatures obtained in observing the luminosity dependence of the Si IV lambda 1397 wind absorption profile are shown to eliminate any prospect of explaining the observed O VI lambda 1036 line profiles in terms of time-independent radiation-driven wind theory.

Drew, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Investigations of a turbulence-driven solar wind model

This work presents an investigation of the properties of the one-dimensional, two-fluid turbulence-driven solar wind model introduced by Hollweg and Johnson (1988). It is found that the model has serious difficulties in reproducing the observed high-speed wind at 1 AU. In particular, the model proton temperatures are lower than those observed by a factor of 2 or more, and the highest temperature models yield excessive wave intensities at 1 AU. It appears that the problem stems from the specific spatial distribution of heat deposition in the model. Thus this study does not rule out a turbulence-driven fast solar wind, since other forms of the turbulent evolution could probably achieve better results. A three-fluid version of the model is also presented to show that the addition of alpha particles does not significantly reduce the extreme proton temperatures displayed near the sun by the Hollweg and Johnson work. Finally, it is suggested that the additional heating needs to be located well beyond the critical point, implying that the heating mechanism for the fast solar wind is likely not the same as that heating the solar corona.

Isenberg, Philip A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Plasma structuring by the gradient drift instability at high latitudes and comparison with velocity shear driven processes

Using results of the in situ measurements made by the DE 2 satellite, the nature of plasma structuring at high latitudes, caused by the gradient drift instability process, is described. Using noon-midnight and dawn-dusk orbits of the DE 2 satellite, it was possible to examine the simultaneous density and electric field spectra of convecting large-scale plasma density enhancements in the polar cap known as 'patches', in directions parallel and perpendicular to their antisunward convection. The results provide evidence for the existence of at least two generic classes of instabilities operating in the high-latitude ionosphere: one driven by large-scale density gradients in a homogeneous convection field with respect to the neutrals, and the other driven by the structured convection field itself in an ambient ionosphere where density fluctuations are ubiquitous.

Basu, Sunanda↗

NASA NTRS1990

A user-friendly menu-driven language-free laser characteristics curves graphing program

In the selection of laser materials to be used as active sensors, it is essential to know how various factors of the specific material composition interact. Questions such as how does the rod size and frequency or absorption relate and how might this be affected by temperature variations must be answered before the materials are selected. A menu-driven language-free program was developed that would graph the interrelationship of many physical parameters of laser materials. This program reduced or removed the requirement that all users be competent in FORTRAN. A menu-driven language-free program was then developed that requires the use of a microcomputer to graph a two-dimensional display of data. The ability to graph more than one graph-line on the same chart was accomplished. The program is now generic in that it will take any data file whether in the data base or not. The program generates the format for the data read statement if it is not contained in the file header and the user does not know how to write them.

Klutz, Glenn↗