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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 1,405 records · Page 78
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Extending substructure based iterative solvers to multiple load and repeated analyses

Direct solvers currently dominate commercial finite element structural software, but do not scale well in the fine granularity regime targeted by emerging parallel processors. Substructure based iterative solvers--often called also domain decomposition algorithms--lend themselves better to parallel processing, but must overcome several obstacles before earning their place in general purpose structural analysis programs. One such obstacle is the solution of systems with many or repeated right hand sides. Such systems arise, for example, in multiple load static analyses and in implicit linear dynamics computations. Direct solvers are well-suited for these problems because after the system matrix has been factored, the multiple or repeated solutions can be obtained through relatively inexpensive forward and backward substitutions. On the other hand, iterative solvers in general are ill-suited for these problems because they often must restart from scratch for every different right hand side. In this paper, we present a methodology for extending the range of applications of domain decomposition methods to problems with multiple or repeated right hand sides. Basically, we formulate the overall problem as a series of minimization problems over K-orthogonal and supplementary subspaces, and tailor the preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm to solve them efficiently. The resulting solution method is scalable, whereas direct factorization schemes and forward and backward substitution algorithms are not. We illustrate the proposed methodology with the solution of static and dynamic structural problems, and highlight its potential to outperform forward and backward substitutions on parallel computers. As an example, we show that for a linear structural dynamics problem with 11640 degrees of freedom, every time-step beyond time-step 15 is solved in a single iteration and consumes 1.0 second on a 32 processor iPSC-860 system; for the same problem and the same parallel processor, a pair of forward/backward substitutions at each step consumes 15.0 seconds.

Farhat, Charbel↗
NASA NTRS1990

Constraint treatment techniques and parallel algorithms for multibody dynamic analysis

Computational procedures for kinematic and dynamic analysis of three-dimensional multibody dynamic (MBD) systems are developed from the differential-algebraic equations (DAE's) viewpoint. Constraint violations during the time integration process are minimized and penalty constraint stabilization techniques and partitioning schemes are developed. The governing equations of motion, a two-stage staggered explicit-implicit numerical algorithm, are treated which takes advantage of a partitioned solution procedure. A robust and parallelizable integration algorithm is developed. This algorithm uses a two-stage staggered central difference algorithm to integrate the translational coordinates and the angular velocities. The angular orientations of bodies in MBD systems are then obtained by using an implicit algorithm via the kinematic relationship between Euler parameters and angular velocities. It is shown that the combination of the present solution procedures yields a computationally more accurate solution. To speed up the computational procedures, parallel implementation of the present constraint treatment techniques, the two-stage staggered explicit-implicit numerical algorithm was efficiently carried out. The DAE's and the constraint treatment techniques were transformed into arrowhead matrices to which Schur complement form was derived. By fully exploiting the sparse matrix structural analysis techniques, a parallel preconditioned conjugate gradient numerical algorithm is used to solve the systems equations written in Schur complement form. A software testbed was designed and implemented in both sequential and parallel computers. This testbed was used to demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of the constraint treatment techniques, the accuracy of the two-stage staggered explicit-implicit numerical algorithm, and the speed up of the Schur-complement-based parallel preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm on a parallel computer.

Chiou, Jin-Chern↗
NASA NTRS1984

Development of numerical procedures for analysis of complex structures

The paper is concerned with the development of novel numerical procedures for the solution of static, stability, free vibration and dynamic response analysis of large, complex practical structures. Thus, details of numerical algorithms evolved for dynamic analysis of usual non-rotating and also rotating structures as well as finite dynamic elements are presented in the paper. Furthermore, the article provides some description of a general-purpose computer program STARS specifically developed for efficient analysis of complex practical structures.

Gupta, K. K.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Evolving Design Criteria for Very Large Aperture Space Based Telescopes and Their Influence on the Need for Integrated Tools in the Optimization Process

NASA's Advanced Mirror Technology Development (AMTD) program has been developing the means to design and build the future generations of space based telescopes. With the nearing completion of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astrophysics community is already starting to define the requirements for follow-on observatories. The restrictions of available launch vehicles and the possibilities of planned future vehicles have fueled the competition between monolithic primaries (with better optical quality) and segmented primaries (with larger apertures, but with diffraction, costs and figure control issues). Regardless of the current shroud sizes and lift capacities, these competing architectures share the need for rapid design tools. As part of the AMTD program a number of tools have been developed and tested to speed up the design process. Starting with the Arnold Mirror Modeler (which creates Finite Element Models (FEM) for structural analysis) and now also feeds these models into thermal stability analyses. They share common file formats and interchangeable results. During the development of the program, numerous trade studies were created for 4-meter and 8-meter monolithic primaries, complete with support systems. Evaluation of these results has led to a better understanding of how the specification drives the results. This paper will show some of the early trade studies for typical specification requirements such as lowest mirror bending frequency and suspension system lowest frequency. The results use representative allowable stress values for each mirror substrate material and construction method and generic material properties. These studies lead to some interesting relationships between feasible designs and the realities of actually trying to build these mirrors. Much of the traditional specifications were developed for much smaller systems, where the mass and volume of the primary where a small portion of the overall satellite. JWST shows us that as the aperture grows, the primary takes up the majority of the mass and volume and the established rules need to be adjusted. For example, a small change in lowest frequency requirement can change the cost by millions of dollars. The paper uses numerous trade studies created during the software development phase of the Arnold Mirror Modeler to illustrate the influences of system specifications on the design space. The future telescopes will require better performance, stability and documented feasibility to meet the hurdles of today's budget and schedules realities. AMTD is developing the tools, but the basic system planning mentality also has to adopt to the requirements of these very large and complex physical structures.

Arnold, William R., Sr.↗
NASA NTRS1967

STAIR program

Structural Analysis Interpretative Routine /STAIR/ 7094 program for advanced antenna system reflector assembly

REFLECTOR↗