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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1981

Holographic flow visualization at the Langley Expansion Tube

A holographic system used for flow visualization at the Langley Expansion Tube is described. A ruby laser which can be singly or doubly pulsed during the short run time of less than 300 microns is used as the light source. With holography, sensitivity adjustments can be optimized after a run instead of before a run as with conventional flow visualization techniques. This results in an increased reliability of the flow visualization available for the study of real-gas effects on flow about models. Holographic techniques such as single-plate schlieren and shadowgraph, two plate interferometry, double pulse interferometry for perfect infinite-fringe interferograms, and double-pulse interferometry used to examine changes in the flow over a short time period are described and examples presented.

Goad, W. K.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Rapid Response Data Science for COVID-19

This report describes the results of a seven day effort to assist subject matter experts address a problem related to COVID-19. In the course of this effort, we analyzed the 29K documents provided as part of the White House's call to action. This involved applying a variety of natural language processing techniques and compression-based analytics in combination with visualization techniques and assessment with subject matter experts to pursue answers to a specific question. In this paper, we will describe the algorithms, the software, the study performed, and availability of the software developed during the effort.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1987

Typical testing experience in cryogenic wind tunnels

Airfoil testing as a major activity of many wind tunnels is considered, and emphasis is placed on airfoil testing with sidewall boundary-layer removal, oscillating airfoil testing, and three-dimensional wake topology. Buffeting as the structural response of an aircraft or test model to the aerodynamic excitation produced by separated flows is analyzed, as well as flutter problems and testing techniques. Strain-gage balance studies, optical methods and visualization techniques, and fluid mechanics are examined. Focus is placed on a two-spot laser as a boundary-layer probe, hot-film gages, fluctuating-pressure measurements, skin-friction balance, and nonadiabatic airfoil testing. Boattail afterbody pressure tests are covered, and Space Shuttle Orbiter base drag and launch configuration are discussed.

Kilgore, Robert A.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Visualizing the mass transfer flow in direct-impact accretion

We use a variety of visualization techniques to display the interior and surface flows in a double white dwarf binary undergoing direct-impact mass transfer and evolving dynamically to a merger. The structure of the flow can be interpreted in terms of standard dynamical, cyclostrophic, and geostrophic arguments. We describe and showcase some visualization and analysis techniques of potential interest for astrophysical hydrodynamics. In the context of R Coronae Borealis stars, we find that mixing of accretor material with donor material at the shear layer between the fast accretion belt and the slower rotating accretor body will always result in some dredge-up. We also discuss briefly some potential applications to other types of binaries.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Continuous Emulation and Multiscale Visualization of Traffic Flow Using Stationary Roadside Sensor Data

With the advent of the next-generation traffic monitoring systems, there has been a significant increase in the spatial-temporal resolution of vehicle mobility data in many cities. Effective analysis and visualization of such data can provide transportation planners with data-driven insights, which can facilitate the understanding of multiscale traffic dynamics. In this paper, we present a web-based traffic emulator for emulating and visualizing near-real-time and historical traffic flows on highways using data from road-side sensors. To construct a continuous traffic flow, the emulator adopts an analytical pipeline that can (a) integrate traffic data collected from discrete road-side radar detection sensors, (b) interpolate traffic conditions (vehicle speed and volume) on unmeasured road segments based on traffic flow theory, and (c) generate lane-specific vehicle trajectories and movements using a mathematically optimized representation of the road network. Our app also provides an integrated visual workflow that allows users to explore the interconnected traffic dynamics using an appropriate traffic flow visualization selected based on the level of detail. We devise two innovative geo-visualization techniques that utilize an animated strips-network representation and a lane usage matrix to visualize lane performances. To ensure a smooth emulation of large-scale traffic flow in an easy-to-access web environment, we implement the emulator using client-side GPU-accelerated techniques. Lastly, we close with a case study that visualizes traffic dynamics of two scenarios - an afternoon peak hour and a traffic accident - in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Our app visualizes the responses of traffic dynamics during different traffic conditions, and to the presence of the traffic accident at different spatial scales.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1983

Mass and Momentum Turbulent Transport Experiments

The downstream mixing of coaxial jets discharging in an expanded duct was studied to improve turbulent transport models which are used in computational procedures throughout the propulsion community for combustor flow modeling. Laser velocimeter (LV) and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) techniques were used to measure velocities and concentration and flow visualization techniques to determine the time dependent characteristics of the flow and the scale of the turbulent structure.

Johnson, B. V.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Flow visualization of CFD using graphics workstations

High performance graphics workstations are used to visualize the fluid flow dynamics obtained from supercomputer solutions of computational fluid dynamic programs. The visualizations can be done independently on the workstation or while the workstation is connected to the supercomputer in a distributed computing mode. In the distributed mode, the supercomputer interactively performs the computationally intensive graphics rendering tasks while the workstation performs the viewing tasks. A major advantage of the workstations is that the viewers can interactively change their viewing position while watching the dynamics of the flow fields. An overview of the computer hardware and software required to create these displays is presented. For complex scenes the workstation cannot create the displays fast enough for good motion analysis. For these cases, the animation sequences are recorded on video tape or 16 mm film a frame at a time and played back at the desired speed. The additional software and hardware required to create these video tapes or 16 mm movies are also described. Photographs illustrating current visualization techniques are discussed. Examples of the use of the workstations for flow visualization through animation are available on video tape.

Lasinski, Thomas↗
NASA NTRS1989

Direct simulation of compressible turbulence

Several direct simulations of 3-D homogeneous, compressible turbulence are presented with emphasis on the differences with incompressible turbulent simulations. A fully spectral collocation algorithm, periodic in all directions coupled with a 3rd order Runge-Kutta time discretization scheme is sufficient to produce well-resolved flows at Taylor Reynolds numbers below 40 on grids of 128x128x128. A Helmholtz decomposition of velocity is useful to differentiate between the purely compressible effects and those effects solely due to vorticity production. In the context of homogeneous flows, this decomposition in unique. Time-dependent energy and dissipation spectra of the compressible and solenoidal velocity components indicate the presence of localized small scale structures. These structures are strongly a function of the initial conditions. Researchers concentrate on a regime characterized by very small fluctuating Mach numbers Ma (on the order of 0.03) and density and temperature fluctuations much greater than sq Ma. This leads to a state in which more than 70 percent of the kinetic energy is contained in the so-called compressible component of the velocity. Furthermore, these conditions lead to the formation of curved weak shocks (or shocklets) which travel at approximately the sound speed across the physical domain. Various terms in the vorticity and divergence of velocity production equations are plotted versus time to gain some understanding of how small scales are actually formed. Possible links with Burger turbulence are examined. To visualize better the dynamics of the flow, new graphic visualization techniques have been developed. The 3-D structure of the shocks are visualized with the help of volume rendering algorithms developed in-house. A combination of stereographic projection and animation greatly increase the number of visual cues necessary to properly interpret the complex flow.

Zang, T. A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Three-dimensional temporal reconstruction and analysis of plume images

An experiment with two subsonic jets generating a cross-flow was conducted as part of a study of the structural features of temporal reconstruction of plume images. The flow field structure was made visible using a direct injection flow visualization technique. It is shown that image analysis and temporal three-dimensional visualization can provide new information on the vortical structural dynamics of multiple jets in a cross-flow. It is expected that future developments in image analysis, quantification and interpretation, and flow visualization of rocket engine plume images may provide a tool for correlating the engine diagnostic features by interpreting the evolution of the structures in the plume.

Dhawan, Atam P.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Graphics Processing Unit Assisted Thermographic Compositing

Objective Develop a software application utilizing high performance computing techniques, including general purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs), for the analysis and visualization of large thermographic data sets. Over the past several years, an increasing effort among scientists and engineers to utilize graphics processing units (GPUs) in a more general purpose fashion is allowing for previously unobtainable levels of computation by individual workstations. As data sets grow, the methods to work them grow at an equal, and often greater, pace. Certain common computations can take advantage of the massively parallel and optimized hardware constructs of the GPU which yield significant increases in performance. These common computations have high degrees of data parallelism, that is, they are the same computation applied to a large set of data where the result does not depend on other data elements. Image processing is one area were GPUs are being used to greatly increase the performance of certain analysis and visualization techniques.

Ragasa, Scott↗
NASA NTRS1995

Scientific Visualization and Computational Science: Natural Partners

Scientific visualization is developing rapidly, stimulated by computational science, which is gaining acceptance as a third alternative to theory and experiment. Computational science is based on numerical simulations of mathematical models derived from theory. But each individual simulation is like a hypothetical experiment; initial conditions are specified, and the result is a record of the observed conditions. Experiments can be simulated for situations that can not really be created or controlled. Results impossible to measure can be computed.. Even for observable values, computed samples are typically much denser. Numerical simulations also extend scientific exploration where the mathematics is analytically intractable. Numerical simulations are used to study phenomena from subatomic to intergalactic scales and from abstract mathematical structures to pragmatic engineering of everyday objects. But computational science methods would be almost useless without visualization. The obvious reason is that the huge amounts of data produced require the high bandwidth of the human visual system, and interactivity adds to the power. Visualization systems also provide a single context for all the activities involved from debugging the simulations, to exploring the data, to communicating the results. Most of the presentations today have their roots in image processing, where the fundamental task is: Given an image, extract information about the scene. Visualization has developed from computer graphics, and the inverse task: Given a scene description, make an image. Visualization extends the graphics paradigm by expanding the possible input. The goal is still to produce images; the difficulty is that the input is not a scene description displayable by standard graphics methods. Visualization techniques must either transform the data into a scene description or extend graphics techniques to display this odd input. Computational science is a fertile field for visualization research because the results vary so widely and include things that have no known appearance. The amount of data creates additional challenges for both hardware and software systems. Evaluations of visualization should ultimately reflect the insight gained into the scientific phenomena. So making good visualizations requires consideration of characteristics of the user and the purpose of the visualization. Knowledge about human perception and graphic design is also relevant. It is this breadth of knowledge that stimulates proposals for multidisciplinary visualization teams and intelligent visualization assistant software. Visualization is an immature field, but computational science is stimulating research on a broad front.

Uselton, Samuel P.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Boundary layer flow visualization for flight testing

Flow visualization is used extensively in flight testing to determine aerodynamic characteristics such as surface flow direction and boundary layer state. Several visualization techniques are available to the aerodynamicist. Two of the most popular are oil flows and sublimating chemicals. Oil is used to visualize boundary layer transition, shock wave location, regions of separated flow, and surface flow direction. Boundary layer transition can also be visualized with sublimating chemicals. A summary of these two techniques is discussed, and the use of sublimating chemicals is examined in some detail. The different modes of boundary layer transition are characterized by different patterns in the sublimating chemical coating. The discussion includes interpretation of these chemical patterns and the temperature and velocity operating limitations of the chemical substances. Information for selection of appropriate chemicals for a desired set of flight conditions is provided.

Obara, Clifford J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Physical interpretation and application of principles of ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation of high-performance materials

An ultrasonic measurement system employed in the experimental interrogation of the anisotropic properties (through the measurement of the elastic stiffness constants) of the uniaxial graphite-epoxy composites is presented. The continuing effort for the development of improved visualization techniques for physical parameters is discussed. The background is set for the understanding and visualization of the relationship between the phase and energy/group velocity for propagation in high-performance anisotropic materials by investigating the general requirements imposed by the classical wave equation. The consequences are considered when the physical parameters of the anisotropic material are inserted into the classical wave equation by a linear elastic model. The relationship is described between the phase velocity and the energy/group velocity three dimensional surfaces through graphical techniques.

Miller, James G.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Applications of Phase-Based Motion Processing

Image pyramids provide useful information in determining structural response at low cost using commercially available cameras. The current effort applies previous work on the complex steerable pyramid to analyze and identify imperceptible linear motions in video. Instead of implicitly computing motion spectra through phase analysis of the complex steerable pyramid and magnifying the associated motions, instead present a visual technique and the necessary software to display the phase changes of high frequency signals within video. The present technique quickly identifies regions of largest motion within a video with a single phase visualization and without the artifacts of motion magnification, but requires use of the computationally intensive Fourier transform. While Riesz pyramids present an alternative to the computationally intensive complex steerable pyramid for motion magnification, the Riesz formulation contains significant noise, and motion magnification still presents large amounts of data that cannot be quickly assessed by the human eye. Thus, user-friendly software is presented for quickly identifying structural response through optical flow and phase visualization in both Python and MATLAB.

Branch, Nicholas A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Automated eddy current inspection of Space Shuttle APU turbine wheel blades

An automated inspection system based on eddy current testing (ET) techniques has been developed to inspect turbine wheel blades on the APU used in NASA's Space Transportation system. The APU is a hydrazine-powered gas turbine with a 15-cm diameter Rene 41 turbine wheel, which has 123 first-stage blades and 123 second-stage blades. The flaw detection capability of the ET system is verified through comparison with fluorescent penetrant test results. Results of the comparison indicate that ET is capable of inspecting surfaces with very restrictive geometries. The ET capability requires development of probes with extremely small coils to allow inspection within 0.4 mm of the blade root and the leading and trailing edges of the blade and within a height restriction of less than 1 mm. The color 2D presentation of the ET data provided crack-growth pattern and length information similar to those found with visual techniques. It also provided visual clues to minimize geometry effects such as generated from blade edges, a neighoring blade, and changes in the blade thickness.

Fisher, Jay L.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Wave Propagation Through Inhomogeneities With Applications to Novel Sensing Techniques

The paper describes phenomena observed as a result of laser pencil beam interactions with abrupt interfaces including aerodynamic shocks. Based on these phenomena, a novel flow visualization technique based on a laser scanning pencil beam is introduced. The technique reveals properties of light interaction with interfaces including aerodynamic shocks that are not seen using conventional visualization. Various configurations of scanning beam devices including those with no moving parts, as well as results of "proof-of-concept" tests, are included.

Adamovsky, G.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Immersive Analytics in Critical Spatial Domains: From Materials to Energy Systems

Immersive analytics (IA) leverages virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality to transform how users interact with complex datasets across domains such as science, industry, and education. These immersive technologies offer spatial and multimodal environments that foster intuitive exploration, but they also introduce challenges related to cognitive load, interface design, and system performance. Here, this article presents a comprehensive review of visualization techniques, interaction models, and multimodal inputs utilized in IA. Drawing on case studies in scientific visualization, industrial training, and educational communication, we examine both the potential and limitations of current systems. Finally, we propose future research directions, focusing on real‐time collaboration, adaptive user interfaces, and scalable data exploration strategies to advance the field.

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗