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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 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2024

Effective structural impact detection and localization using convolutional neural network and Bayesian information fusion with limited sensors

Due to their unpredictable nature, many impact events (e.g., overheight vehicles striking on bridges) go unnoticed or get reported many hours later. However, they can induce structural failures or hidden damage that accelerates the structure’s long-term degradation. Therefore, prompt impact detection and localization strategies are essential for early warning of impact events and rapid maintenance of structures. Most existing impact detection strategies are developed for aircraft composite panels utilizing high-rate synchronized measurement from densely deployed sensors. Limited efforts have been made for infrastructure or human habitats which generally require large-scale but low-rate measurement. In particular, due to harsh environments (e.g., deep space habitats under meteoroids), structural impact localization must be robust to limited sensors (e.g., sensor damage during impacts) and multi-source errors (e.g., measurement errors). In this study, an effective impact detection and localization strategy is proposed using a limited number of vibration measurements, especially in harsh environments (e.g. in deep space). Convolutional neural networks are trained for each sensor node and are fused using Bayesian theory to improve the accuracy of impact localization. Special considerations are paid to evaluate the effect of both measurement error and modeling error in the analysis. The proposed strategy is illustrated using 1D structure, and further validated in 3D geodesic dome structure numerically. The results demonstrate that it can detect and localize impact events accurately and robustly on structures.

Yuguang Fu↗
NASA NTRS1985

Local density maxima - Progenitors of structure

Beginning with a short review of the observational data and of some previous theoretical ideas and numerical simulations, the question is addressed of how the large-scale structure that emerges around local density maxima depends on the nature of the primordial density perturbations field. The density contrast profile around local maxima is given, to a good approximation, by the primordial two-point correlation function. The mean number density of objects of a given core mass is calculated as a function of the primordial power spectrum, p(k). In an open universe, rich clusters should have halos steeper than galactic haloes. The observed structure is found to be consistent with omega-sub-zero less than 1.0 and n = -1.

Hoffman, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Stabilizing hierarchical compensation for locally controlled large flexible structures

A two-level hierarchical control strategy is proposed for large flexible space structures. The lower level consists of a set of local controllers. The higher level is a stabilizing compensator to account for any instabilities caused by controller-structure interaction with unmodeled dynamics. The advantage of this hierarchical strategy is that the lower level can be designed to meet the performance requirements, and the higher level can be designed independently to produce overall stability.

Das, B.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Insights into the Behavior of Potential Structural Failures Originating from Localized High Stress Regions in Configurations Relevant to Solid Rocket Motor Nozzles

During the structural certification effort for the Space Launch System solid rocket booster nozzle, it was identified that no consistent method for addressing local negative margins of safety in non-metallic materials had been developed. Relevant areas included bond-line terminations and geometric features in the composite nozzle liners. In order to gain understanding, analog test specimens were designed that very closely mimic the conditions in the actual full scale hardware. Different locations in the nozzle were represented by different analog specimen designs. This paper describes those tests and corresponding results. Finite element analysis results for the tests are presented. Strain gage correlation of the analysis to the test results is addressed. Furthermore, finite fracture mechanics (a coupled stress and energy failure criterion) is utilized to predict the observed crack pop-in loads for the different configurations. The finite fracture mechanics predictions are found to be within a 10% error relative to the average measured pop-in load for each of four configurations. Initiation locations, arrest behaviors, and resistances to further post-arrest crack propagation are also discussed.

McCutcheon, David Matthew↗
NASA NTRS1989

Electronic structure of BaO/W cathode surfaces

The local electronic structure of the emissive layer of barium dispenser thermionic cathodes is investigated theoretically using the relativistic scattered-wave approach. The interaction of Ba and O with W, Os, and W-Os alloy surfaces is studied with atomic clusters modeling different absorption environments representative of B- and M-type cathodes. Ba is found to be strongly oxidized, while O and the metal substrate are in a reduced chemical state. The presence of O enhances the surface dipole and Ba binding energy relative to Ba on W. Model results for W-Os alloy substrates show only relatively small changes in Ba and O for identical geometries, but very large charge redistributions inside the substrate, which are attributed to the electronegativity difference between Os and W. If Os is present in the surface layer, the charge transfer from Ba to the substrate and the Ba binding energy increase relative to W. Explanations are offered for the improved electron emission from alloy surfaces and the different emission enhancement for different alloy substrates.

Muller, Wolfgang↗
NASA NTRS1981

Investigation of traveling ionospheric disturbances

Maximum entropy power spectra of the ionospheric electron density were constructed to enable PINY to compare them with the power independently obtained by PINY with in situ measurements of ionospheric electron density and neutral species performed with instrumentation carried by the Atmospheric Explorer (AE) satellite. This comparison corroborated evidence on the geophysical reality of the alleged electron density irregularities detected by the ASTP dual frequency Doppler link. Roughly half of the localized wave structures which are confined to dimensions of 1800 km or less (as seen by an orbiting Doppler baseline) were found to be associated with the larger crest of the geomagnetic anomaly in the Southern (winter) Hemisphere in the morning. The observed nighttime structures are also associated with local peaks in the electron density.

Grossi, M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The local interstellar medium

The structure of the local interstellar medium is reviewed with emphasis on the new observations of the cold neutral component. The properties of the high latitude molecular clouds are discussed as well as their relationship to the 'infrared cirrus' and atomic gas. The molecular clouds are shown to lie preferentially along the loops and filaments of local H I gas, but a detailed examination shows the CO and H I peaks are offset from one another. An expansion velocity of 7 km/s is derived for one of the shells, suggesting an expansion energy of about 8 x 10 to the 47th ergs, which is somewhat smaller than that expected for a supernova explosion. If the pressure in the clumps of the high latitude clouds is in equilibrium with the surrounding gas, the pressure in the shells is 10,000-100,000/cu cm K, an order of magnitude higher than what is generally argued to exist in the interstellar medium.

Blitz, Leo↗
NASA NTRS1986

A global-local approach to solving vibration of large truss structures

A global-local approach was proposed to solve dynamic problems involving truss beams. A continuum Timoshenko beam was used to model sections of truss beams wherever possible and accurate. Near applied loads the continuum model was not adequate and detailed truss finite elements (discrete model) were employed. This approach was also proven efficient for an odd-shaped truss structure connected to a truss beam. Between the continuum model and the discrete model, compatibility conditions were derived.

Sun, C. T.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Large-scale Bubble Structure of the Intersteller Medium (ISM) and Properties of the Local Spiral Arm (LSA)

Bubbles which are very common structure units in the Galaxy and galaxies were examined. Collection of radio, optical, infrared and X-ray observations of the Cyg superbubble (CSB) region of the sky show that the CSB is not a single bubble object. Between 50 to 75 percent of its X-ray emission is ascribed to discrete sources. The other 25 to 50% X-ray emission, probably originates from bubbles around 8 OB associations of the region. All bubbles located within the spiral structure of Galaxy, M31 and M33 have diameter 300 pc. The large distance of stellar association from the galactic plane (GP) combined with picture of the gas distribution within the LSA shows that a Reyleigh-Taylor instability in the LSA can develop and give use to the formation of compact stellar clusters, such as the Cyg OB2 association. Development stages of the Reyleigh-Taylor instability, some peculiarities of the dust distribution and departures of the local structure from the galactic grand design suggest the absence of a spiral shockwave in the LSA.

Bochkarev, N. G.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Constitutive Modeling of Nanotube-Reinforced Polymer Composite Systems

In this study, a technique has been proposed for developing constitutive models for polymer composite systems reinforced with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT). Since the polymer molecules are on the same size scale as the nanotubes, the interaction at the polymer/nanotube interface is highly dependent on the local molecular structure and bonding. At these small length scales, the lattice structures of the nanotube and polymer chains cannot be considered continuous, and the bulk mechanical properties of the SWNT/polymer composites can no longer be determined through traditional micromechanical approaches that are formulated using continuum mechanics. It is proposed herein that the nanotube, the local polymer near the nanotube, and the nanotube/polymer interface can be modeled as an effective continuum fiber using an equivalent-continuum modeling method. The effective fiber retains the local molecular structure and bonding information and serves as a means for incorporating micromechanical analyses for the prediction of bulk mechanical properties of SWNT/polymer composites with various nanotube sizes and orientations. As an example, the proposed approach is used for the constitutive modeling of two SWNT/polyethylene composite systems, one with continuous and aligned SWNT and the other with discontinuous and randomly aligned nanotubes.

Odegard, Gregory M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Constitutive Modeling of Nanotube-Reinforced Polymer Composite Systems

In this study, a technique has been proposed for developing constitutive models for polymer composite systems reinforced with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT). Since the polymer molecules are on the same size scale as the nanotubes, the interaction at the polymer/nanotube interface is highly dependent on the local molecular structure and bonding. At these small length scales, the lattice structures of the nanotube and polymer chains cannot be considered continuous, and the bulk mechanical properties of the SWNT/polymer composites can no longer be determined through traditional micromechanical approaches that are formulated using continuum mechanics. It is proposed herein that the nanotube, the local polymer near the nanotube, and the nanotube/polymer interface can be modeled as an effective continuum fiber using an equivalent-continuum modeling method. The effective fiber retains the local molecular structure and bonding information and serves as a means for incorporating micromechanical analyses for the prediction of bulk mechanical properties of SWNT/polymer composites with various nanotube sizes and orientations. As an example, the proposed approach is used for the constitutive modeling of two SWNT/polyethylene composite systems, one with continuous and aligned SWNT and the other with discontinuous and randomly aligned nanotubes.

Odegard, Gregory M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Design and operation of a supersonic annular flow facility

Supersonic annular flow passages exist in propulsion applications that include dual combustion ramjet engines where a supersonic annular flow (the outer flow) mixes with a sonic (or supersonic) gas generator flow (the inner flow) in the shock expansion zone downstream of the gas generator nozzle exit. Other engine designs include components in the form of annular ducts whose cross-sectional area varies in the streamwise flow direction. In some of these configurations, it is necessary to support the outer shroud (cowl) by means of struts positioned between the cowl and centerbody. To investigate the distorting influence of these struts on the local flow structure, it is first necessary to ensure that the intrinsic flow without struts is free of wave reflections and the effects of upstream disturbances. It is also necessary to demonstrate that the intrinsic flow exhibits the characteristics of a well-defined turbulent boundary layer flow, so that changes in the local flow structure induced by the presence of struts can be interpreted properly. The purpose of this Note is to demonstrate that a supersonic flow facility that meets these objectives has been developed.

Williams, K. E.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Methods and strategies of object localization

An important property of an intelligent robot is to be able to determine the location of an object in 3-D space. A general object localization system structure is proposed, some important issues on localization discussed, and an overview given for current available object localization algorithms and systems. The algorithms reviewed are characterized by their feature extracting and matching strategies; the range finding methods; the types of locatable objects; and the mathematical formulating methods.

Shao, Lejun↗
NASA NTRS2019

Distorted Perovskites for High Voltage Dielectric Capacitors

There are several mechanisms which have been proposed for the existence of colossal dielectric constant in the class of perovskite calcium copper titanate (CaCu3Ti4O12 or CCTO) materials. Researches indicate that existence of twinning parallel to (100) (001) and (010) planes causes planar defects and causes changes in local electronic structure. This change can cause insulating barriers locally which contribute to the large dielectric values irrespective of processing. The combination of insulating barriers, defects and displacements caused by twinning have been attributed to the generation of large dielectric constant in CCTO. To examine some of these arguments some researchers replaced Ca with other elements and evaluated this concept. In this study we present the synthesis and characterization of Ga2/3Cu3Ti4O12-xNx (GCTON) material. This provides both distortion due to atomic size difference and defects due to insertion of nitrogen. The morphology of the compound was determined to show that processing has tremendous effect on the dielectric values. The resistivity of GCTON was several order higher than CCTO and dielectric constant was higher than 10,000.

Gill, Puneet↗
NASA NTRS1987

Effects of local vibrations on the dynamics of space truss structures

The paper discusses the influence of local member vibrations on the dynamics of repetitive space truss structures. Several focus problems wherein local member vibration modes are in the frequency range of the global truss modes are discussed. Special attention is given to defining methods that can be used to identify the global modes of a truss structure amidst many local modes. Significant interactions between the motions of local member vibrations and the global behavior are shown to occur in truss structures when: (1) the natural frequencies of the individual members for clamped-clamped boundary conditions are in the vicinity of the global truss frequency; and (2) the total mass of the individual members represents a large portion of the mass of the whole structure. The analysis is carried out with a structural analysis code which uses exact member theory. The modeling detail required using conventional finite element codes to adequately represent such a class of problems is examined. The paper concludes with some practical considerations for the design and dynamic testing of structures which might exhibit such behavior.

Warnaar, Dirk B.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Optimal local control of flexible structures

The steady state solution of the linear quadratic optimal control problem with the constraint that only partial state information is available for feedback is derived. This development results in a systematic and computationally efficient approach for reducing the complexity of the control law for high order systems. Numerical examples and performance evaluation of (1) a simple fourth order system, and (2) a free-free flexible beam, are included.

Schaechter, D. B.↗