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A high modulus polymeric fiber was evaluated as a reinforcement for filament wound pressure vessels. Winding parameters and design data were established for the fiber with two different epoxy resin systems. Comparison was made between the performance factors of the polymeric fiber and those of S-glass and high modulus graphite vessels.
An assessment is undertaken of recent approaches to the prediction of the interplanetary consequences of coronal disturbances, with attention to the relationships of shocks and energetic particles to coronal transients, of proton events to gamma-ray and microwave bursts, of geomagnetic storms to filament eruptions, and of solar wind increases to the flare site magnetic field direction. A discussion is given concerning the novel phenomenon of transient coronal holes, which appear astride the long decay enhancements of 2-50 A X-ray emission following H-alpha filament eruptions. These voids in the corona are similar to long-lived coronal holes, which are the sources of high speed solar wind streams. The transient coronal holes may also be associated with transient solar wind speed increases.
It has been suggested by a number of authors that the solar wind electron halo can be formed by the scattering of the strahl. On frequent occasions we have observed in electron angular skymaps (Phi/Theta-plots) of the electron 3D velocity distribution functions) a bursty-filament of particles connecting the strahl to the solar wind core-halo. These are seen over a very limited energy range. When the magnetic field is well off the nominal solar wind flow direction such filaments are inconsistent with any local forces and are probably the result of strong scattering. Furthermore, observations indicates that the strahl component is frequently and significantly anisotropic (Tper/Tpal approx.2). This provides a possible free energy source for the excitation of whistler waves as a possible scattering mechanism. The empirical observational evidence between the halo and the strahl suggests that the strahl population may be, at least in part, the source of the halo component.
Lightweight composite-material tanks with chemically resistant liners have been developed for storage of chemically reactive and/or unstable fluids . especially hydrogen peroxide. These tanks are similar, in some respects, to the ones described in gLightweight Composite-Material Tanks for Cryogenic Liquids h (MFS-31379), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 25, No. 1 (January, 2001), page 58; however, the present tanks are fabricated by a different procedure and they do not incorporate insulation that would be needed to prevent boil-off of cryogenic fluids. The manufacture of a tank of this type begins with the fabrication of a reusable multisegmented aluminum mandrel in the shape and size of the desired interior volume. One or more segments of the mandrel can be aluminum bosses that will be incorporated into the tank as end fittings. The mandrel is coated with a mold-release material. The mandrel is then heated to a temperature of about 400 F (approximately equal to 200 C) and coated with a thermoplastic liner material to the desired thickness [typically approxiamtely equal to 15 mils (approximately equal to 0.38 mm)] by thermal spraying. In the thermal-spraying process, the liner material in powder form is sprayed and heated to the melting temperature by a propane torch and the molten particles land on the mandrel. The sprayed liner and mandrel are allowed to cool, then the outer surface of the liner is chemically and/or mechanically etched to enhance bonding of a composite overwrap. The etched liner is wrapped with multiple layers of an epoxy resin reinforced with graphite fibers; the wrapping can be done either by manual application of epoxy-impregnated graphite cloth or by winding of epoxy-impregnated filaments. The entire assembly is heated in an autoclave to cure the epoxy. After the curing process, the multisegmented mandrel is disassembled and removed from inside, leaving the finished tank. If the tank is to be used for storing hydrogen peroxide, then the liner material should be fluorinated ethylene/propylene (FEP), and one or more FEP O ring(s) should be used in the aluminum end fitting(s). This choice of materials is dictated by experimental observations that pure aluminum and FEP are the only materials suitable for long-term storage of hydrogen peroxide and that other materials tend to catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to oxygen and water. Other thermoplastic liner materials that are suitable for some applications include nylon 6 and polyethylene. The processing temperatures for nylon 6 are lower than those for FEP. Nylon 6 is compatible with propane, natural gas, and other petroleum-based fuels. Polyethylene is compatible with petroleum- based products and can be used for short-term storage of hydrogen peroxide.
A winding process utilizing a low-cost E-glass fabric called transverse-filament tape for low-cost production of wind turbine generators (WTG) is described. The process can be carried out continuously at high speed to produce large one-piece parts with tapered wall thicknesses on a tapered mandrel. It is being used to manufacture blades for the NASA/DOE 200-ft-diameter MOD-1 WTG and Rockwell/DOE 40-kW small wind energy conversion system (SWECS).
An instability that leads to the filamentation of large-amplitude Alfven waves and gives rise to purely growing density and magnetic field fluctuations is studied. The dispersion relation of the instability is derived, from which the threshold conditions and the growth rates of the instability are analyzed quantitatively for applications to the solar wind plasma. Their dependence on the filamentation spectrum, the plasma beta, and the pump frequency and intensity was examined for both right-hand and left-hand circularly polarized Alfven waves. The excitation of filamentation instability for certain cases of interest is discussed and compared with that of the parametric decay and modulation instability. The relevance of the proposed instability to some observations is discussed.
Pa 30—the likely remnant of the Galactic Type Iax supernova of 1181 AD—displays an unusual, firework-like morphology, consisting of radial filaments extending from a common center, where a white dwarf (WD) currently drives a very fast wind (speed ≳10 4 km s −1 ). We propose the filaments arose from the Rayleigh–Taylor-unstable nature of the interface between the circumstellar medium (CSM) and the shocked wind launched by the natal WD; the filaments then elongated intact due to the Kelvin–Helmholtz-stable nature of the large initial density contrast between the wind and CSM, supplemented by the slowly declining wind density profile (relative to homologously expanding ejecta). To support this interpretation, we present two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations and derive the filament properties, including their speed, density, and temperature, all of which are consistent with observations. We suggest the filaments elongate until the wind and CSM densities become comparable at the contact discontinuity, which occurs within 1–10 yr, and then truncate because the Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI) halts. The subsequent Kelvin–Helmholtz instability growth timescale across the current width of the filaments is longer than the age of Pa 30, so they remain intact. The filament-less central region in Pa 30 is therefore more likely a consequence of the finite timescale over which the RTI operates, rather than a wind termination shock. In general, firework-like filaments may form in other systems, provided there is a sufficiently large density contrast between the ejecta and its surroundings.
One of the most important and most puzzling features of the coronal magnetic field is that it appears to have smooth magnetic structure with little evidence for non-potentiality except at two special locations: photospheric polarity inversions lines. (non-potentiality observed as a filament channel) and coronal hole boundaries, (observed as the slow solar wind). This characteristic feature of the closed-field corona is highly unexpected given that its magnetic field is continuously tangled by photospheric motions. Although reconnection can eliminate some of the injected structure, it cannot destroy the helicity, which should build up to produce observable complexity. I propose that an inverse cascade process transports the injected helicity from the interior of closed flux regions to their boundaries inversion lines and coronal holes, creating both filament channels and the slow wind. We describe how the helicity is injected and transported and calculate the relevant rates. I argue that one process, helicity transport, can explain both the observed lack and presence of structure in the coronal magnetic field. This work has been supported by the NASA HTP, SR&T, and LWS programs.
A woven roving E-glass tape, having all of its structural fibers oriented across the tape width was used in the manufacture of the spar for a wind turbine blade. Tests of a 150 ft composite blade show that the transverse filament tape is capable of meeting structural design requirements for wind turbine blades. Composite blades can be designed for interchangeability with steel blades in the MOD-1 wind generator system. The design, analysis, fabrication, and testing of the 150 ft blade are discussed.
Using solar wind particle data from the charge, element and isotope analysis system (CELIAS) experiment on the SOHO mission, densities of the elements O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ca, and Fe are derived, and their abundance is analyzed before, during and after the 6 Janaury 1997 coronal mass ejection event (CME). In the interstream and coronal hole regions before and after this event, typical solar wind abundances for the elements investigated were found. However, during the passage of the coronal mass ejection and during the passage of the erupted filament, the elemental composition differed markedly from typical solar wind. For the passage of the CME and for the passage of the erupted filament, a mass-dependent enhancement of the elements was found, with a monotonic increase towards heavier elements. Si/O and Fe/O ratios of the order of one during these time periods were observed.
Experimentally determined axial compressive failure loads, strains and failure modes of composite flat panels and cylinders are presented. A comparison of two types of filament wound flat graphite-epoxy panels indicates that the winding pattern can influence structural response. A comparison of hand laid-up tape and filament wound composite cylinders indicates that fabrication method may not significantly influence the failure mode or average failure strain of thick-walled (radius-to-thickness ratio less than 15) graphite-epoxy cylinders. The interaction of manufacturing-induced features (fiber cross-overs) and low-speed impact damage for graphite-epoxy specimens is also presented. Filament would flat panels with many fiber cross-overs exhibited lower failure strains than filament wound panels without fiber cross-overs for all impact speeds examined. Graphite-thermoplastic cylinders exhibited a significantly different failure mode from the graphite-epoxy cylinders.
Time-dependent MHD numerical simulations are used to study responses of the solar atmosphere and interplanetary medium to simulated solar disturbances. A number of 2D and 3D examples of coronal mass ejection (CME) simulations and some current controversies concerning the basic processes of CME initiation are discussed. Footpoint shearing motion is tested to determine whether it can provide a reasonable mechanism for CME development from arch filament configurations. Possible interplanetary consequences to CME-like disturbances are demonstrated by using 3D simulations to determine the dynamic response of the solar wind to a plasmoid injection from an eruptive filament or prominence. The possibility that a plasmoid may be generated in the interplanetary medium by a solar-generated shock that propagates through a heliospheric current sheet is discussed. Application of the 3D model for the interpretation of interplanetary scintillation observations is addressed.
Previously, from chromospheric H alpha and coronal X‐ray movies of the Sun's polar coronal holes, it was found that nearly all coronal jets (greater than 90%) are one or the other of two roughly equally common different kinds, different in how they erupt: standard jets and blowout jets (Yamauchi et al 2004, Apl, 605, 5ll: Moore et all 2010, Apj, 720, 757). Here, from inspection of SDO/AIA He II 304 A movies of 54 polar x-ray jets observed in Hinode/XRT movies, we report, as Moore et al (2010) anticipated, that (1) most standard x-ray jets (greater than 80%) show no ejected plasma that is cool enough (T is less than or approximately 10(exp 5K) to be seen in the He II 304 A movies; (2) nearly all blownout X-ray jets (greater than 90%) show obvious ejection of such cool plasma; (3) whereas when cool plasma is ejected in standard X-ray jets, it shows no lateral expansion, the cool plasma ejected in blowout X-ray jets shows strong lateral expansion; and (4) in many blowout X-ray jets, the cool plasma ejection displays the erupting-magnetic-rope form of clasic filament eruptions and is thereby seen to be a miniature filament eruption. The XRT movies also showed most blowout X-ray jets to be larger and brighter, and hence to apparently have more energy, than most standard X-ray jets. These observations (1) confirm the dichotomy of coronal jets, (2) agree with the Shibata model for standard jets, and (3) support the conclusion of Moore et al (2010) that in blowout jets the magnetic-arch base of the jet erupts in the manner of the much larger magnetic arcades in which the core field, the field rooted along the arcade's polarity inversion line, is sheared and twisted (sigmoid), often carries a cool‐plasma filament, and erupts to blowout the arcade, producing a CME. From Hinode/SOT Ca II movies of the polar limb, Sterling et al (2010, ApJ, 714, L1) found that chromospheric Type‐II spicules show a dichotomy of eruption dynamics similar to that found here for the cool‐plasma component of coronal X‐ray jets. This favors the idea that Type‐II spicules are miniature counterparts of coronal X‐ray jets. In Moore et al (2011, ApJ, 731, L18), we pointed out that if Type‐II spicules are magnetic eruptions that work like coronal X‐ray jets, they carry an area‐averaged mechanical energy flux of approximately 7x10)(exp 5) erg cm(exp -2) s(exp-1) into the corona in the form of MHD waves and jet outflow, enough to power the heating of the global corona and solar wind. On this basis, from our observations of mini‐filament eruptions in blowout X‐ray jets, we infer that magnetic explosions of the type that have erupting filaments in them are the main engines of both (1) the steady solar wind and (2) the CMEs that produce the most severe space weather by blasting out through the corona and solar wind, making solar energetic particle storms, and bashing the Earth's magnetosphere. We conclude that in focusing on prominences and filament eruptions, Einar had his eye on the main bet for understanding what powers all space weather, both the extreme and the normal.
Plumes and rays are magnetic field aligned density striations in coronal holes with different values of plasma beta. The overall plasma beta is very small in the low corona but exceeds unity beyond 15-20 solar radius. High speed solar wind reported beyond 0.3 AU is relatively smooth and uniform and known to originate from the much filamented coronal hole. Thus the obvious question is how to generate a smooth solar wind from seemingly filamentary structure. Hence one has to find a mechanism to substantiate this apparent observed (Ulysses) phenomenon. To do this we model plumes as jets (or wakes) of plasma emitted from the solar surface. The shear between a jet and its ambient is known to become unstable to the MHD Kelvin-Helmholtz ("KH") instability if the Alfven Mach number of the jet is greater than one and the uniform external magnetic field is small. Starting with a simple configuration we consider a jet of half thickness R, having uniform density and uniform internal magnetic field. The external medium has also a uniform density and uniform magnetic field. The jet is perturbed at the boundary with a linear amplitude and fixed frequency. We simulate the coronal jet using the 3D ZEUS code. The first results indicate the slab jet is unstable to the MHD KH instability at 5-10 solar radius for some angle of wave propagation. The propagating instability may smooth the filamented flow. It may also produce the entrained Alfvenic fluctuations observed by Ulysses in the high speed wind. We are at present determining the parameters which induce large growth rate. This may clarify the mystery behind the emergence of fast smooth solar wind from very filamentary structures in coronal holes. Also, using the dispersion relation already available for such a flow we obtain some general description of the instability criteria for the KH instability at a jet interface.
Space experiments are suggested to better monitor the solar dynamo and solar luminosity variations. Polar and other magnetic fields, sunspots, coronal holes, filaments and other observable solar and solar wind phenomena can provide us with important links to test and discover physical mechanisms which relate solar activity to terrestrial weather, climate, and possibly population variations.
We report on the solar and interplanetary (IP) causes of the third largest geomagnetic storm (26 August 2018) in solar cycle 24. The underlying coronal mass ejection (CME) originating from a quiescent filament region becomes a 440 km/s magnetic cloud (MC) at 1 au after ∼5 days. The prolonged CME acceleration (for ∼24 hr) coincides with the time profiles of the post-eruption arcade intensity and reconnected flux. Chen et al. (2019, https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab3f36) obtain a lower speed since they assumed that the CME does not accelerate after ∼12 hr. The presence of multiple coronal holes near the filament channel and the high-speed wind from them seem to have the combined effect of producing complex rotation in the corona and IP medium resulting in a high-inclination MC. The Dst time profile in the main phase steepens significantly (rapid increase in storm intensity) coincident with the density increase (prominence material) in the second half of the MC. Simulations using the Comprehensive Inner Magnetosphere-Ionosphere model show that a higher ring current energy results from larger dynamic pressure (density) in MCs. Furthermore, the Dst index is highly correlated with the main-phase time integral of the ring current injection that includes density, consistent with the simulations. A complex temporal structure develops in the storm main phase if the underlying MC has a complex density structure during intervals of southward IP magnetic field. We conclude that the high intensity of the storm results from the prolonged CME acceleration, complex rotation of the CME flux rope, and the high density in the 1-au MC.
An experimental investigation has been conducted on the compressive buckling and failure of filament-wound circular cylinders. This investigation identifies one of the relationships between structural performance and scale, as well as some of the causes of reduced structural performance in large-scale structures. It is hypothesized that this effect is related to two conditions: first, the number of fiber tow undulations; and second, the percentage of weak interfaces within the structure. The effect of winding pattern and the resulting location of the fiber undulations were studied by varying the winding parameters. Three types of cylinders were manufactured from Amoco T650-35/1908 graphite/epoxy preimpregnated tow with different winding sequences (0/+/-60)s, (+/-30/90)s, and (90/+/-30)s. The (90/+/-30)s cylinders were manufactured with two different winding patterns (distributed and classical) and radius-to-thickness ratios (15 and 55). All cylinders were loaded in compression to failure. Comparisons of the compressive strength and failure modes demonstrate the relationship between the winding parameters, scale, and structural performance of filament-wound composite cylinders.
Weak (discontinuous) solutions of the 3-D MHD equations look like a promising tool to model the transonic solar wind with structural elements: current sheets, coronal plumes etc. Using the observational information about various coronal emissions one can include these structural elements into the 3-D MHD solar wind model by embedding the discontinuities of given type. Such 3-D MHD structured solar wind is calculated self-consistently: variants are examined via numerical experiments. In particular, the behavior of coronal plumes in the transonic solar wind flow, is modeled. The input information for numerical modeling (for example, the magnetic field map at the very base of the solar corona) can be adjusted so that fast stream arises over the center of the coronal hole, over the coronal hole boundaries and, even, over the region with closed magnetic topology. 3-D MHD equations have the analytical solution which can serve as a model of supersonic trans-alfvenic solar wind in the (5-20) solar radii heliocentric distance interval. The transverse, nonradial total (gas + magnetic field) pressure balance in the flow is the corner-stone of this solution. The solution describes the filamentation (ray-like structure of the solar corona) and streaming (formation of high-speed streams with velocities up to 800 km/sec) as a consequence of the magnetic field spatial inhomogeneous structure and trans-alfvenic character of the flow. The magnetic field works in the model as a 'controller' for the solar wind streaming and filamentation.