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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

Variations in stratospheric aerosol optical depth during northern warmings

In this paper, the properties of the stratospheric aerosol optical depth (above 50 mbar) have been studied by using aerosol extinction profiles (at 1 micron) derived from the Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) during warming periods in the Northern Hemisphere. It is shown that, during the disturbed periods in winter, low values of aerosol optical depth (less than 0.0002) are found within the low-pressure system(s) (at the 30-mbar pressure surface), while high values are found outside. Similar characteristics are found to exist for the simultaneously observed SAGE O3 and NO2 columnar density distributions. Strong longitudinal gradients are shown with the low values within and wherever the vortex exists. This characteristic is maintained during and after the circumpolar vortex is disturbed, even after breakdown, indicating an isolation of the material within the vortex.

Wang, P.-H.↗

Analysis of Technology for Compact Coherent Lidar

In view of the recent advances in the area of solid state and semiconductor lasers has created new possibilities for the development of compact and reliable coherent lidars for a wide range of applications. These applications include: Automated Rendezvous and Capture, wind shear and clear air turbulence detection, aircraft wake vortex detection, and automobile collision avoidance. The work performed by the UAH personnel under this Delivery Order, concentrated on design and analyses of a compact coherent lidar system capable of measuring range and velocity of hard targets, and providing air mass velocity data. The following is the scope of this work. a. Investigate various laser sources and optical signal detection configurations in support of a compact and lightweight coherent laser radar to be developed for precision range and velocity measurements of hard and fuzzy targets. Through interaction with MSFC engineers, the most suitable laser source and signal detection technique that can provide a reliable compact and lightweight laser radar design will be selected. b. Analyze and specify the coherent laser radar system configuration and assist with its optical and electronic design efforts. Develop a system design including its optical layout design. Specify all optical components and provide the general requirements of the electronic subsystems including laser beam modulator and demodulator drivers, detector electronic interface, and the signal processor. c. Perform a thorough performance analysis to predict the system measurement range and accuracy. This analysis will utilize various coherent laser radar sensitivity formulations and different target models.

Amzajerdian, Farzin↗

Extinction and backscatter measurements of Antarctic PSC's, 1987: Implications for particle and vapor removal

The temperature dependence is examined of optical properties measured in the Antarctic during 1987 at the 70 mb level (near 18 km), a level chosen to correlate the results with in situ measurements made from the NASA-Ames ER-2 aircraft during the 1987 Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment (AAOE). The data set consists of extinction measurements by Sam 2 inside the Antarctic polar vortex from May to October 1987; and backscatter measurements by the UV-DIAL (Ultraviolet Differential Absorption Lidar) system aboard the Ames DC-8 aircraft during selected AAOE flights. Observed trends are compared with results from a revised version of Pole and McCormick's model to classify the PSC observations by Type (1 or 2) and infer the temporal behavior of the ambient aerosol and ambient vapor mixing ratios. The sample figures show monthly ensembles of the 70-mb Sam 2 extinction ratio (the ratio of aerosol or PSC extinction to molecule extinction) as a function of NMC temperature at the beginning (June) and (October) of the 1987 Antarctic winter. Both ensembles show two rather distinct clusters of points: one oriented in the near vertical direction which depicts the change with temperature of the ambient aerosol extinction ratio; and a second cluster oriented in the near horizontal direction whose position on the vertical scale marks a change in particle phase (i.e., PSC formation) and whose length (the extinction enhancement related to that of the ambient aerosol) is an indicator of PSC type.

Poole, L. R.↗

Full Field Scalar Measurements in a Pulsating Helium Jet using Rainbow Schlieren Deflectometry

The flow structure of a pulsating helium jet was investigated using quantitative rainbow schlieren deflectometry. The operating parameters included the tube inside diameter, the jet Reynolds number and the jet Richardson number. The jet structure was characterized by the frequency spectrum, temporal evolution of the oscillations and mean and root-mean-square profiles of the species mole fraction, which in this case, was helium. Experiments were conducted using a variable nozzle facility. Angular deflection data were obtained using rainbow schlieren deflectometry across full field of color images taken at a temporal resolution of 60Hz. The flicker cycle was analyzed by instantaneous rainbow schlieren images, contour plots of deflection angle and helium mole fraction placed sequentially in time. Two observe the flow downstream, the tube was lowered with respect to the optical setup and images were taken at different axial planes. In this way, the laminar, transition and turbulent regions of the jet flow were observed. Abel inversion algorithm was utilized to reconstruct the refractive index field from the measurements of the beam deflection angle. The concentration field was then generated from the refractive index field. The phenomenon of vortex initiation and propagation in the flicker cycle was described by correlating the ray deflection angle and concentration contour plots. Experiments in the flickering jet reveal global oscillation in the flow field. The effect of jet exit Reynolds number and jet Richardson number on the flickering frequency was analyzed. The effect of jet Richardson number was more pronounced than that of the jet exit Reynolds number. The flow field was studies quantitatively in terms of temporal evolution and statistical description of helium mole fraction.

Pasumarthi, Kasyap S.↗

Asymmetric crossing of the attractive and repulsive magnetic potential by Abrikosov vortices

Here, we present studies of Abrikosov vortex motion across the magnetically charged edges of long thin ferromagnetic stripes placed above or under a thin superconducting film. The magnetic charges at the stripe edges form attractive or repulsive potential wells for vortices. Using a relatively small in-plane magnetic field to polarize the stripe edges and normal-to-plane magnetic field to induce up or down polarized vortices, we tune the attractive or repulsive stripe-vortex interactions. Imaging of the vortex dynamics reveals that the repulsive magnetic potential U m + acts as a robust vortex pinning barrier, while the attractive U m - has practically no effect on the vortex motion irrespective of the position of the stripes located above or underneath the superconducting film. We analyze the observed asymmetry using equations of the overdamped vortex motion. The formal analytical solution yields an asymmetry, but the numerical modeling with and without noise terms does not confirm it. Instead, we find that the asymmetry is caused by the creation of spontaneous vortices at the maxima of U m , which depends on the edge polarity and suppress U m - . Furthermore, our experiment and time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations demonstrate that magnetic pinning dominates over vortex pinning due to corrugations of the superconducting layer deposited on top of the ferromagnetic stripes.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Compressibility effects on dynamic stall of airfoils undergoing rapid transient pitching motion

The research was carried out in the Compressible Dynamic Stall Facility, CDSF, at the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory (FML) of NASA Ames Research Center. The facility can produce realistic nondimensional pitch rates experienced by fighter aircraft, which on model scale could be as high as 3600/sec. Nonintrusive optical techniques were used for the measurements. The highlight of the effort was the development of a new real time interferometry method known as Point Diffraction Interferometry - PDI, for use in unsteady separated flows. This can yield instantaneous flow density information (and hence pressure distributions in isentropic flows) over the airfoil. A key finding is that the dynamic stall vortex forms just as the airfoil leading edge separation bubble opens-up. A major result is the observation and quantification of multiple shocks over the airfoil near the leading edge. A quantitative analysis of the PDI images shows that pitching airfoils produce larger suction peaks than steady airfoils at the same Mach number prior to stall. The peak suction level reached just before stall develops is the same at all unsteady rates and decreases with increase in Mach number. The suction is lost once the dynamic stall vortex or vortical structure begins to convect. Based on the knowledge gained from this preliminary analysis of the data, efforts to control dynamic stall were initiated. The focus of this work was to arrive at a dynamically changing leading edge shape that produces only 'acceptable' airfoil pressure distributions over a large angle of attack range.

Chandrasekhara, M. S.↗

Investigation of Unsteady Flow Field in a Low-Speed One and a Half Stage Axial Compressor: Effects of Tip Gap Size On the Tip Clearance Flow Structure at Near Stall Operation - Part 2

The primary focus of this paper is to investigate the effect of rotor tip gap size on how the rotor unsteady tip clearance flow structure changes in a low speed one and half stage axial compressor at near stall operation (for example, where maximum pressure rise is obtained). A Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is applied to calculate the unsteady flow field at this flow condition with both a small and a large tip gaps. The numerically obtained flow fields at the small clearance matches fairly well with the available initial measurements obtained at the Johns Hopkins University with 3-D unsteady PIV in an index-matched test facility which renders the compressor blades and casing optically transparent. With this setup, the unsteady velocity field in the entire flow domain, including the flow inside the tip gap, can be measured. The numerical results are also compared with previously published measurements in a low speed single stage compressor (Maerz et al. [2002]). The current study shows that, with the smaller rotor tip gap, the tip clearance vortex moves to the leading edge plane at near stall operating condition, creating a nearly circumferentially aligned vortex that persists around the entire rotor. On the other hand, with a large tip gap, the clearance vortex stays inside the blade passage at near stall operation. With the large tip gap, flow instability and related large pressure fluctuation at the leading edge are observed in this one and a half stage compressor. Detailed examination of the unsteady flow structure in this compressor stage reveals that the flow instability is due to shed vortices near the leading edge, and not due to a three-dimensional separation vortex originating from the suction side of the blade, which is commonly referred to during a spike-type stall inception. The entire tip clearance flow is highly unsteady. Many vortex structures in the tip clearance flow, including the sheet vortex system near the casing, interact with each other. The core tip clearance vortex, which is formed with the rotor tip gap flows near the leading edge, is also highly unsteady or intermittent due to pressure oscillations near the leading edge and varies from passage to passage. For the current compressor stage, the evidence does not seem to support that a classical vortex breakup occurs in any organized way, even with the large tip gap. Although wakes from the IGV influence the tip clearance flow in the rotor, the major characteristics of rotor tip clearance flows in isolated or single stage rotors are observed in this one and a half stage axial compressor.

Unsteady↗

WIND MEASUREMENTS WITH HIGH-ENERGY DOPPLER LIDAR

Coherent lidars at 2-micron wavelengths from holmium or thulium solid-state lasers have been in use to measure wind for applications in meteorology, aircraft wake vortex tracking, and turbulence detection [1,2,3] These field-deployed lidars, however, have generally been of a pulse energy of a few millijoules, limiting their range capability or restricting operation to regions of high aerosol concentration such as the atmospheric boundary layer. Technology improvements in the form of high-energy pulsed lasers, low noise detectors, and high optical quality telescopes are being evaluated to make wind measurements to long ranges or low aerosol concentrations. This research is aimed at developing lidar technology for satellite-based observation of wind on a global scale. The VALIDAR project was initiated to demonstrate a high pulse energy coherent Doppler lidar. VALIDAR gets its name from the concept of validation lidar, in that it can serve as a calibration and validation source for future airborne and spaceborne lidar missions. VALIDAR is housed within a mobile trailer for field measurements.

Koch, Grady J.↗

Time-Sequenced Flow Field Prediction in an Optima Spark-Ignition Direct-Injection Engine Using Bidirectional Recurrent Neural Network (bi-RNN) with Long Short-Term Memory

To further improve the energy conversion efficiency of internal combustion engine, the transient and complex air flow movement inside the cylinder needs to be better understood and controlled. Although the in-cylinder flow fields are highly stochastic with strong cycle-to-cycle fluctuations, machine learning can still provide an efficient way to learn and regress the complex flow movement process inside the cylinder. In this work, a bidirectional recurrent neural network (bi-RNN) model with long short-term memory was applied to predict the in-cylinder flow fields at different time steps using training data from mull-cycle particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. To evaluate the agreement between the true and predicted flow fields, structure and magnitude comparison indices are calculated both globally and locally. The comparison results show that the bi-RNN model can accurately predict the bulk flow and vortex motions from early intake stroke to compression stroke. This work demonstrates that the machine learning model has the potential to predict the underlying dynamics of the interaction between in-cylinder flows and provides a reliable way to improve temporal resolution in PIV flow data to better reveal transient in-cylinder flow features.

Bi-RNN model↗

Investigation of Unsteady Tip Clearance Flow in a Low-Speed One and Half Stage Axial Compressor with LES And PIV

The primary focus of this paper is to investigate how a rotor's unsteady tip clearance flow structure changes in a low speed one and half stage axial compressor when the rotor tip gap size is increased from 0.5 mm (0.49% of rotor tip blade chord, 2% of blade span) to 2.4 mm (2.34% chord, 4% span) at the design condition are investigated. The changes in unsteady tip clearance flow with the 0.62 % tip gap as the flow rate is reduced to near stall condition are also investigated. A Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is applied to calculate the unsteady flow field at these three flow conditions. Detailed Stereoscopic PIV (SPIV) measurements of the current flow fields were also performed at the Johns Hopkins University in a refractive index-matched test facility which renders the compressor blades and casing optically transparent. With this setup, the unsteady velocity field in the entire flow domain, including the flow inside the tip gap, can be measured. Unsteady tip clearance flow fields from LES are compared with the PIV measurements and both LES and PIV results are used to study changes in tip clearance flow structures. The current study shows that the tip clearance vortex is not a single structure as traditionally perceived. The tip clearance vortex is formed by multiple interlaced vorticities. Therefore, the tip clearance vortex is inherently unsteady. The multiple interlaced vortices never roll up to form a single structure. When phased-averaged, the tip clearance vortex appears as a single structure. When flow rate is reduced with the same tip gap, the tip clearance vortex rolls further upstream and the tip clearance vortex moves further radially inward and away from the suction side of the blade. When the tip gap size is increased at the design flow condition, the overall tip clearance vortex becomes stronger and it stays closer to the blade suction side and the vortex core extends all the way to the exit of the blade passage. Measured and calculated unsteady flow fields inside the tip gap agree fairly well. Instantaneous velocity vectors inside the tip gap from both the PIV and LES do show flow separation and reattachment at the entrance of tip gap as some earlier studies suggested. This area at the entrance of tip gap flow (the pressure side of the blade) is confined very close to the rotor tip section. With a small tip gap (0.5mm), the gap flow looks like a simple two-dimensional channel flow with larger velocity near the casing for both flow rates. A small area with a sharp velocity gradient is observed just above the rotor tip. This strong shear layer is turned radially inward when it collides with the incoming flow and forms the core structure of the tip clearance vortex. When tip gap size is increased to 2.4 mm at the design operation, the radial profile of the tip gap flow changes drastically. With the large tip gap, the gap flow looks like a two-dimensional channel flow only near the casing. Near the rotor top section, a bigger region with very large shear and reversed flow is observed.

compressor↗

Investigation of Unsteady Tip Clearance Flow in a Low-Speed One and Half Stage Axial Compressor with LES And PIV

The primary focus of this paper is to investigate how a rotor's unsteady tip clearance flow structure changes in a low speed one and half stage axial compressor when the rotor tip gap size is increased from 0.5 mm (0.49% of rotor tip blade chord, 2% of blade span) to 2.4 mm (2.34% chord, 4% span) at the design condition are investigated. The changes in unsteady tip clearance flow with the 0.62 % tip gap as the flow rate is reduced to near stall condition are also investigated. A Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is applied to calculate the unsteady flow field at these three flow conditions. Detailed Stereoscopic PIV (SPIV) measurements of the current flow fields were also performed at the Johns Hopkins University in a refractive index-matched test facility which renders the compressor blades and casing optically transparent. With this setup, the unsteady velocity field in the entire flow domain, including the flow inside the tip gap, can be measured. Unsteady tip clearance flow fields from LES are compared with the PIV measurements and both LES and PIV results are used to study changes in tip clearance flow structures. The current study shows that the tip clearance vortex is not a single structure as traditionally perceived. The tip clearance vortex is formed by multiple interlaced vorticities. Therefore, the tip clearance vortex is inherently unsteady. The multiple interlaced vortices never roll up to form a single structure. When phased-averaged, the tip clearance vortex appears as a single structure. When flow rate is reduced with the same tip gap, the tip clearance vortex rolls further upstream and the tip clearance vortex moves further radially inward and away from the suction side of the blade. When the tip gap size is increased at the design flow condition, the overall tip clearance vortex becomes stronger and it stays closer to the blade suction side and the vortex core extends all the way to the exit of the blade passage. Measured and calculated unsteady flow fields inside the tip gap agree fairly well. Instantaneous velocity vectors inside the tip gap from both the PIV and LES do show flow separation and reattachment at the entrance of tip gap as some earlier studies suggested. This area at the entrance of tip gap flow (the pressure side of the blade) is confined very close to the rotor tip section. With a small tip gap (0.5mm), the gap flow looks like a simple two-dimensional channel flow with larger velocity near the casing for both flow rates. A small area with a sharp velocity gradient is observed just above the rotor tip. This strong shear layer is turned radially inward when it collides with the incoming flow and forms the core structure of the tip clearance vortex. When tip gap size is increased to 2.4 mm at the design operation, the radial profile of the tip gap flow changes drastically. With the large tip gap, the gap flow looks like a two-dimensional channel flow only near the casing. Near the rotor top section, a bigger region with very large shear and reversed flow is observed.

unsteady↗

Laser-velocimeter flow-field measurements of an advanced turboprop

Non-intrusive measurements of velocity about a spinner-propeller-nacelle configuration at a Mach number of 0.8 were performed. A laser velocimeter, specifically developed for these measurements in the NASA Lewis 8-foot by 6-foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel, was used to measure the flow-field of the advanced swept SR-3 turboprop. The laser velocimeter uses an argon ion laser and a 2-color optics system to allow simultaneous measurements of 2-components of velocity. The axisymmetric nature of the propeller-nacelle flow-field permits two separate 2 dimensonal measurements to be combined into 3 dimensional velocity data. Presented are data ahead of and behind the prop blades and also a limited set in between the blades. Aspects of the observed flow-field such as the tip vortex are discussed.

Serafini, J. S.↗

Laser-velocimeter flow-field measurements of an advanced turboprop

Non-intrusive measurements of velocity about a spinner-propeller-nacelle configuration at a Mach number of 0.8 have been performed. A laser velocimeter, specifically developed for these measurements in the NASA Lewis 8- by 6-foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel, was used to measure the flow-field of the advanced swept SR-3 propeller. The laser velocimeter uses an argon ion laser and a 2-color optics system to allow simultaneous measurements of 2-components of velocity. The axisymmetric nature of the propeller-nacelle flow-field permits two separate 2-dimensional measurements to be combined into 3-dimensional velocity data. Presented are data ahead of and behind the propeller blades and also a limited set in between the blades. Aspects of the observed flow-field such as the tip vortex are discussed.

Serafini, J. S.↗

The optical analogy for vector fields

This paper develops the optical analogy for a general vector field. The optical analogy allows the examination of certain aspects of a vector field that are not otherwise readily accessible. In particular, in the cases of a stationary Eulerian flow v of an ideal fluid and a magnetostatic field B, the vectors v and B have surface loci in common with their curls. The intrinsic discontinuities around local maxima in absolute values of v and B take the form of vortex sheets and current sheets, respectively, the former playing a fundamental role in the development of hydrodyamic turbulence and the latter playing a major role in heating the X-ray coronas of stars and galaxies.

Parker, E. N.↗

Extreme-ultraviolet spatiotemporal vortices via high harmonic generation

Spatiotemporal optical vortices (STOVs) are space–time structured light pulses with a unique topology that couples spatial and temporal domains and carry transverse orbital angular momentum (OAM). Up to now, their generation has been limited to the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum. During the last decade, it was shown that through the process of high-order harmonic generation, it is possible to upconvert spatial optical vortices that carry longitudinal OAM from the near-infrared into the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV), thereby producing vortices with distinct femtosecond and attosecond structure. In this work, we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally the generation of EUV spatiotemporal and spatiospectral vortices using near-infrared STOV driving laser pulses. Here, we use analytical expressions for focused STOVs to perform macroscopic calculations of high-order harmonic generation that are directly compared to the experimental results. As STOV beams are not eigenmodes of propagation, we characterize the highly charged EUV STOVs in both the near and far fields to show that they represent conjugated spatiotemporal and spatiospectral vortex pairs. Our work provides high-frequency light beams topologically coupled at the nanometre/attosecond scales domains with transverse OAM that could be suitable to explore electronic dynamics in magnetic materials, chiral media and nanostructures.

High-harmonic generation↗

Emergent Dimer-Model Topological Order and Quasiparticle Excitations in Liquid Crystals: Combinatorial Vortex Lattices

Liquid crystals have proven to provide a versatile experimental and theoretical platform for studying topological objects such as vortices, skyrmions, and hopfions. In parallel, in hard condensed matter physics, the concept of topological phases and topological order has been introduced in the context of spin liquids to investigate emergent phenomena like quantum Hall effects and high-temperature superconductivity. Here, we bridge these two seemingly disparate perspectives on topology in physics. Combining experiments and simulations, we show how topological defects in liquid crystals can be used as versatile building blocks to create complex, highly degenerate topological phases, which we refer to as “combinatorial vortex lattices” (CVLs). CVLs exhibit extensive residual entropy and support locally stable quasiparticle excitations in the form of charge-conserving topological monopoles, which can act as mobile information carriers and be linked via Dirac strings. CVLs can be rewritten and reconfigured on demand, endowed with various symmetries, and modified through laser-induced topological surgery—an essential capability for information storage and retrieval. We demonstrate experimentally the realization, stability, and precise optical manipulation of CVLs, thus opening new avenues for understanding and technologically exploiting higher-hierarchy topology in liquid crystals and other ordered media.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Experimental and computational investigation into the hydrodynamics and chemical dynamics of laser ablation aluminum plasmas

Laser ablation plasma chemistry is governed by a complex interplay between hydrodynamic plasma-gas mixing processes, thermodynamics, and rapid high-temperature chemical reactions. Here, in this work, we investigate the gas-phase oxidation chemistry of ns-laser ablation aluminum plasmas in air using optical spectroscopy combined with advanced multi-physics modeling. Experimental measurements demonstrate the formation of AlO in the plasma plume as early as 1 μs while computational results reveal that several Al x O y species are distributed in the periphery of the plume at even earlier times (<20 ns) in the presence of large temperature gradients and strong shockwaves. Interactions with the ablation crater during rapid plume expansion are shown to initiate vortex formation, followed by mixing dynamics that work to pull AlO into the vortices to react with gas-phase Al to form Al 2 O. Oxygen and several aluminum oxides are simultaneously pulled up through the stem of the fireball, encouraging further intermixing between reacting species and enhanced molecular formation. This work concludes that chemical dynamics in laser ablation plasmas is driven by diffusion processes, concentration gradients, and plume hydrodynamics while strong shockwaves generated during laser ablation do not impede chemical reactions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Phase-matching analysis in high-order harmonic generation with nonzero orbital angular momentum Laguerre-Gaussian beams

Through high-order harmonic generation driven by intense ultrashort vortex infrared or midinfrared lasers, a nonzero orbital angular momentum can be imprinted onto extreme ultraviolet (XUV) or soft-x-ray (SXR) light pulses. Here we simulate the generation of vortex XUV harmonics in the gas medium as well as their propagation in vacuum till reaching the far field. In this work, we find that the intensity and phase of generated high harmonics are very sensitive to the position of gas jet with respect to the laser focus. The topological charge of the $\textit{q}$th harmonic is found to be $\textit{q}$ times that of the driving Laguerre-Gaussian beam. Each harmonic in the far field appears as a single ring in the transverse plane with an invariant diameter which is scalable with the fundamental topological charge only when the gas jet is placed after the laser focus. The underlying phase-matching mechanism is analyzed by examining the spatial map of the coherence length and by calculating the evolution of harmonic emission in the medium. We anticipate this work to stimulate interest in generating intense vortex XUV or SXR attosecond pulses for probing dynamics of molecules where special molecular features are difficult to be detected with linear or circular XUV or SXR pulses.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗