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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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NASA NTRS2000

X-38 Experimental Aerothermodynamics

The X-38 program seeks to demonstrate an autonomously returned orbital test flight vehicle to support the development of an operational Crew Return Vehicle for the International Space Station. The test flight, anticipated in 2002, is intended to demonstrate the entire mission profile of returning Space Station crew members safely back to earth in the event of medical or mechanical emergency. Integral to the formulation of the X-38 flight data book and the design of the thermal protection system, the aerothermodynamic environment is being defined through a synergistic combination of ground based testing and computational fluid dynamics. This report provides an overview of the hypersonic aerothermodynamic wind tunnel program conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center in support of the X-38 development. Global and discrete surface heat transfer force and moment, surface streamline patterns, and shock shapes were measured on scaled models of the proposed X-38 configuration in different test gases at Mach 6, 10 and 20. The test parametrics include angle of attack from 0 to 50 degs, unit Reynolds numbers from 0.3 x 10 (exp 6) to 16 x 10 (exp 6)/ ft, rudder deflections of 0, 2, and 5 deg. and body flap deflections from 0 to 30 deg. Results from hypersonic aerodynamic screening studies that were conducted as the configuration evolved to the present shape at, presented. Heavy gas simulation tests have indicated that the primary real gas effects on X-38 aerodynamics at trim conditions are expected to favorably influence flap effectiveness. Comparisons of the experimental heating and force and moment data to prediction and the current aerodynamic data book are highlighted. The effects of discrete roughness elements on boundary layer transition were investigated at Mach 6 and the development of a transition correlation for the X-38 vehicle is described. Extrapolation of ground based heating measurements to flight radiation equilibrium wall temperatures at Mach 6 and 10 were made and generally compared to within 50 deg F of flight prediction.

Horvath, Thomas J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Development of an unstructured solution adaptive method for the quasi-three-dimensional Euler and Navier-Stokes equations

A general solution adaptive scheme based on a remeshing technique is developed for solving the two-dimensional and quasi-three-dimensional Euler and Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical scheme is formulated on an unstructured triangular mesh utilizing an edge-based pointer system which defines the edge connectivity of the mesh structure. Jameson's four-stage hybrid Runge-Kutta scheme is used to march the solution in time. The convergence rate is enhanced through the use of local time stepping and implicit residual averaging. As the solution evolves, the mesh is regenerated adaptively using flow field information. Mesh adaptation parameters are evaluated such that an estimated local numerical error is equally distributed over the whole domain. For inviscid flows, the present approach generates a complete unstructured triangular mesh using the advancing front method. For turbulent flows, the approach combines a local highly stretched structured triangular mesh in the boundary layer region with an unstructured mesh in the remaining regions to efficiently resolve the important flow features. One-equation and two-equation turbulence models are incorporated into the present unstructured approach. Results are presented for a wide range of flow problems including two-dimensional multi-element airfoils, two-dimensional cascades, and quasi-three-dimensional cascades. This approach is shown to gain flow resolution in the refined regions while achieving a great reduction in the computational effort and storage requirements since solution points are not wasted in regions where they are not required.

Jiang, Yi-Tsann↗
NASA NTRS1993

Development of an unstructured solution adaptive method for the quasi-three-dimensional Euler and Navier-Stokes equations

A general solution adaptive scheme-based on a remeshing technique is developed for solving the two-dimensional and quasi-three-dimensional Euler and Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical scheme is formulated on an unstructured triangular mesh utilizing an edge-based pointer system which defines the edge connectivity of the mesh structure. Jameson's four-stage hybrid Runge-Kutta scheme is used to march the solution in time. The convergence rate is enhanced through the use of local time stepping and implicit residual averaging. As the solution evolves, the mesh is regenerated adaptively using flow field information. Mesh adaptation parameters are evaluated such that an estimated local numerical error is equally distributed over the whole domain. For inviscid flows, the present approach generates a complete unstructured triangular mesh using the advancing front method. For turbulent flows, the approach combines a local highly stretched structured triangular mesh in the boundary layer region with an unstructured mesh in the remaining regions to efficiently resolve the important flow features. One-equation and two-equation turbulence models are incorporated into the present unstructured approach. Results are presented for a wide range of flow problems including two-dimensional multi-element airfoils, two-dimensional cascades, and quasi-three-dimensional cascades. This approach is shown to gain flow resolution in the refined regions while achieving a great reduction in the computational effort and storage requirements since solution points are not wasted in regions where they are not required.

Jiang, Yi-Tsann↗
NASA NTRS1995

The structure of the distanct geomagnetic tail during long periods of northward IMF

We have used a newly developed, parallelized, global MHD magnetosphere - ionosphere simulation model with a 400 R(sub E) long tail to study the evolution, structure, and dynamics of the distant magnetotail during extended periods of northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). We find that the tail evolves to a nearly time stationary structure about one solar wind transit time after the IMF turns northward. Four regions of different magnetic topology can be distinguished which extend at least to the end of the simulation box at 400 R(sub E). Besides lobe field lines and open solar wind field lines tailward of an X-line, there is a broad boundary layer of closed field lines which we call the tail flank boundary layer (TFBL). Just inside the TFBL there is a region of closed field loops. Besides the X-line we find two O-lines which are enclosed by the closed field loops and are roughly aligned with the tail axis. Together they form a U shaped separator between the northward and the southward plasma sheet fields.

Raeder, J.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Planning, Implementation, and Scientific Goals of the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) Field Missions

The Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field mission based at Ellington Field, Texas, during August and September 2013 employed the most comprehensive airborne payload to date to investigate atmospheric composition over North America. The NASA ER-2, DC-8, and SPEC Inc. Learjet flew 57 science flights from the surface to 20 km. The ER-2 employed seven remote sensing instruments as a satellite surrogate and eight in situ instruments. The DC-8 employed 23 in situ and five remote sensing instruments for radiation, chemistry, and microphysics. The Learjet used 11 instruments to explore cloud microphysics. SEAC4RS launched numerous balloons, augmented Aerosol RObotic NETwork, and collaborated with many existing ground measurement sites. Flights investigating convection included close coordination of all three aircraft. Coordinated DC-8 and ER-2 flights investigated the optical properties of aerosols, the influence of aerosols on clouds, and the performance of new instruments for satellite measurements of clouds and aerosols. ER-2 sorties sampled stratospheric injections of water vapor and other chemicals by local and distant convection. DC-8 flights studied seasonally evolving chemistry in the Southeastern U.S., atmospheric chemistry with lower emissions of NOx and SO2 than in previous decades, isoprene chemistry under high and low NOx conditions at different locations, organic aerosols, air pollution near Houston and in petroleum fields, smoke from wildfires in western forests and from agricultural fires in the Mississippi Valley, and the ways in which the chemistry in the boundary layer and the upper troposphere were influenced by vertical transport in convective clouds.

Toon, Owen B.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Photospheric Magnetic Flux Transport - Supergranules Rule

Observations of the transport of magnetic flux in the Sun's photosphere show that active region magnetic flux is carried far from its origin by a combination of flows. These flows have previously been identified and modeled as separate axisymmetric processes: differential rotation, meridional flow, and supergranule diffusion. Experiments with a surface convective flow model reveal that the true nature of this transport is advection by the non-axisymmetric cellular flows themselves - supergranules. Magnetic elements are transported to the boundaries of the cells and then follow the evolving boundaries. The convective flows in supergranules have peak velocities near 500 m/s. These flows completely overpower the superimposed 20 m/s meridional flow and 100 m/s differential rotation. The magnetic elements remain pinned at the supergranule boundaries. Experiments with and without the superimposed axisymmetric photospheric flows show that the axisymmetric transport of magnetic flux is controlled by the advection of the cellular pattern by underlying flows representative of deeper layers. The magnetic elements follow the differential rotation and meridional flow associated with the convection cells themselves -- supergranules rule!

Hathaway, David H.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Physical Structure of Four Symbiotic Binaries

Disk accretion powers many astronomical objects, including pre-main sequence stars, interacting binary systems, and active galactic nuclei. Unfortunately, models developed to explain the behavior of disks and their surroundings - boundary layers, jets, and winds - lack much predictive power, because the physical mechanism driving disk evolution - the viscosity - is not understood. Observations of many types of accreting systems are needed to constrain the basic physics of disks and provide input for improved models. Symbiotic stars are an attractive laboratory for studying physical phenomena associated with disk accretion. These long period binaries (P(sub orb) approx. 2-3 yr) contain an evolved red giant star, a hot companion, and an ionized nebula. The secondary star usually is a white dwarf accreting material from the wind of its red giant companion. A good example of this type of symbiotic is BF Cygni: our analysis shows that disk accretion powers the nuclear burning shell of the hot white dwarf and also manages to eject material perpendicular to the orbital plane (Mikolajewska, Kenyon, and Mikolajewski 1989). The hot components in other symbiotic binaries appear powered by tidal overflow from a very evolved red giant companion. We recently completed a study of CI Cygni and demonstrated that the accreting secondary is a solar-type main sequence star, rather than a white dwarf (Kenyon et aL 1991). This project continued our study of symbiotic binary systems. Our general plan was to combine archival ultraviolet and optical spectrophotometry with high quality optical radial velocity observations to determine the variation of line and continuum sources as functions of orbital phase. We were very successful in generating orbital solutions and phasing UV+optical spectra for five systems: AG Dra, V443 Her, RW Hya, AG Peg, and AX Per. Summaries of our main results for these systems appear below. A second goal of our project was to consider general models for the outbursts of symbiotic stars, with an emphasis on understanding the differences between disk-driven and nuclear-powered eruptions.

Kenyon, Scott J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Second mode interactions in supersonic boundary layers

The nonlinear evolution of a two-dimensional second mode unstable wave in a Mach 4.5 wall-bounded flow is computed by solving the full time-dependent compressible Navier-Stokes equations. A highly accurate solution is obtained using spectral collocation methods. It is shown that departure from linearity first occurs in the critical layer due to the cubic nonlinearities in the momentum equation. This is a direct result of the large density perturbations in this regime. Time evolution studies of the growth rate as a function of normal distance from the plate suggests that the mode is evolving toward a nonlinear saturated state, and that this problem is possibly amenable to standard weakly nonlinear perturbation methods.

Erlebacher, Gordon↗
NASA NTRS1981

Experience with flight test trajectory guidance

A system that provides the test pilot with flight test trajectory guidance is presently evolving at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility. In use, this system has resulted in discernible improvements in the ease and accuracy with which pilots have approached and maintained the desired flight test conditions or trajectories. This paper describes the use of the guidance system in several past flight programs at Dryden, including the F-111 TACT program, the F-15 airframe/propulsion system interaction program, the F-15 cone transition and boundary layer experiments, and the Space Shuttle tiles flight test program.

Swann, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Preliminary Analysis and Simulations of July 23rd Extended Anvil Case

A key focus of CRYSTAL-FACE (Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and cirrus Layers - Florida Area Cirrus Experiment) was the generation and subsequent evolution of cirrus outflow from deep convective cloud systems. A preliminary integrated look at the observations of an extended cirrus anvil cloud system observed on 23 July 2002 will be presented, including lidar and millimeter radar observations from NASA's ER-2 and in- situ observations from NASA's WB-57 and University of North Dakota Citation. The observations will be compared to preliminary results of simulations using 1-D and 2-D high-resolution (100 meter) cloud resolving models. The CRMs explicitly account for cirrus microphysical development by resolving the evolving ice crystal size distribution (bin model) in time and space. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation are allowed in the model. The CRM simulations are driven using the output of regional simulations using MM5 that produces deep convection similar to what was observed. The MM5 model employs a 2 km inner grid (32 layers) over a 360 km domain, nested within a 6 km grid over a 600 km domain. Initial and boundary conditions for the 36- hour MM5 simulation are taken from NCEP Eta model analysis at 32 km resolution. Key issues to be explored are the settling of the observed anvil versus the model simulations, and comparisons of dynamical properties, such as vertical motions, occurring in the observations and models. The former provides an integrated measure of the validity of the model microphysics (fallspeed) while the latter is the key factor in forcing continued ice generation.

Lin, R.-F.↗
NASA NTRS2003

CRYSTAL-FACE Analysis and Simulations of the July 23rd Extended Anvil Case

A key focus of CRYSTAL-FACE (Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and cirrus Layers - Florida Area Cirrus Experiment) was the generation and subsequent evolution of cirrus outflow from deep convective cloud systems. Present theoretical background and motivations will be discussed. An integrated look at the observations of an extended cirrus anvil cloud system observed on 23 July 2002 will be presented, including lidar and millimeter radar observation; from NASA s ER-2 and in-situ observations from NASA s WB-57 and University of North Dakota Citation. The observations will be compared to results of simulations using 1-D and 2-D high-resolution (100 meter) cloud resolving models. The CRMs explicitly account for cirrus microphysical development by resolving the evolving ice crystal size distribution (bin model) in time and space. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation are allowed in the model. The CRM simulations are driven using the output of regional simulations using MM5 that produces deep convection similar to what was observed. The MM5 model employs a 2 km inner grid (32 layers) over a 360 km domain, nested within a 6-km grid over a 600-km domain. Initial and boundary conditions for the 36-hour MM5 simulation are taken from NCEP Eta model analysis at 32 km resolution. Key issues to be explored are the settling of the observed anvil versus the model simulations, and comparisons of dynamical properties, such as vertical motions, occurring in the observations and models. The former provides an integrated measure of the validity of the model microphysics (fallspeed) while the latter is the key factor in forcing continued ice generation.

Starr, David↗
DOE OSTI2026

Scaling kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations of grain growth with combined convolutional and graph neural networks

Graph neural networks (GNN) have emerged as a promising machine learning method for microstructure simulations such as grain growth. However, accurate modeling of realistic grain boundary networks requires large simulation cells, which GNN has difficulty scaling up to. To alleviate the computational costs and memory footprint of GNN, we suggest a hybrid architecture combining a convolutional neural network (CNN) based bijective autoencoder to compress the spatial dimensions, and a GNN that evolves the microstructure in the latent space of reduced spatial sizes. Our results demonstrate that the new design significantly reduces computational costs with using fewer message passing layer (from 12 down to 3) compared with GNN alone. The reduction in computational cost becomes more pronounced as the spatial size increases, indicating strong computational scalability. For the largest mesh evaluated (160 3 ), our method reduces memory usage and runtime in inference by 117× and 115×, respectively, compared with GNN-only baseline. More importantly, it shows higher accuracy and stronger spatiotemporal capability than the GNN-only baseline, especially in long-term testing. Such combination of scalability and accuracy is essential for simulating realistic material microstructures over extended time scales. The improvements can be attributed to the bijective autoencoder’s ability to compress information losslessly from spatial domain into a high dimensional feature space, thereby producing more expressive latent features for the GNN to learn from, while also contributing its own spatiotemporal modeling capability. Training data are generated from stochastic grain growth simulations, providing realistic variability for learning robust microstructure evolution. Comprehensive system validation confirms that the model is accurate, robust, and scalable.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2019

Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report: Tropospheric Ozone From 1877 to 2016, Observed Levels, Trends and Uncertainties

From the earliest observations of ozone in the lower atmosphere in the 19th century, both measurement methods and the portion of the globe observed have evolved and changed. These methods have different uncertainties and biases, and the data records differ with respect to coverage (space and time), information content, and representativeness. In this study, various ozone measurement methods and ozone datasets are reviewed and selected for inclusion in the historical record of background ozone levels, based on relationship of the measurement technique to the modern UV absorption standard, absence of interfering pollutants, representativeness of the well-mixed boundary layer and expert judgement of their credibility. There are significant uncertainties with the 19th and early 20th-century measurements related to interference of other gases. Spectroscopic methods applied before 1960 have likely underestimated ozone by as much as 11% at the surface and by about 24% in the free troposphere, due to the use of differing ozone absorption coefficients. There is no unambiguous evidence in the measurement record back to 1896 that typical mid-latitude background surface ozone values were below about 20 nmol mol–1, but there is robust evidence for increases in the temperate and polar regions of the northern hemisphere of 30–70%, with large uncertainty, between the period of historic observations, 1896–1975, and the modern period (1990–2014). Independent historical observations from balloons and aircraft indicate similar changes in the free troposphere. Changes in the southern hemisphere are much less. Regional representativeness of the available observations remains a potential source of large errors, which are difficult to quantify. The great majority of validation and intercomparison studies of free tropospheric ozone measurement methods use ECC ozonesondes as reference. Compared to UV-absorption measurements they show a modest (~1–5% ±5%) high bias in the troposphere, but no evidence of a change with time. Umkehr, lidar, and FTIR methods all show modest low biases relative to ECCs, and so, using ECC sondes as a transfer standard, all appear to agree to within one standard deviation with the modern UV-absorption standard. Other sonde types show an increase of 5–20% in sensitivity to tropospheric ozone from 1970–1995. Biases and standard deviations of satellite retrieval comparisons are often 2–3 times larger than those of other free tropospheric measurements. The lack of information on temporal changes of bias for satellite measurements of tropospheric ozone is an area of concern for long-term trend studies.

UV absorption standard↗
NASA NTRS2021

Large-Eddy Simulations of Marine Boundary-Layer Clouds Associated With Cold Air Outbreaks During the Activate Campaign – Part 1: Case Setup and Sensitivities to Large-Scale Forcings

Large-eddy simulation (LES) is able to capture key boundary-layer (BL) turbulence and cloud processes. Yet, large-scale forcing and surface turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat are often poorly prescribed for LES simulations. We derive these quantities from measurements and reanalysis obtained for two cold air outbreak (CAO) events during Phase I of the Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) in February-March 2020. We study the two contrasting CAO cases by performing LES and test the sensitivity of BL structure and clouds to large-scale forcings and turbulent heat fluxes. Profiles of atmospheric state and large-scale divergence and surface turbulent heat fluxes obtained from the reanalysis data ERA5 agree reasonablywell with those derived fromACTIVATE field measurements for both cases at the sampling time and location. Therefore, we adopt the time evolving heat fluxes, wind and advective tendencies profiles from ERA5 reanalysis data to drive the LES.We find that large-scale thermodynamic advective tendencies and wind relaxations are important for the LES to capture the evolving observed BL meteorological states characterized by the hourly ERA5 reanalysis data and validated by the observations. We show that the divergence (or vertical velocity) is important in regulating the BL growth driven by surface heat fluxes in LES simulations. The evolution of liquid water path is largely affected by the evolution of surface heat fluxes. The liquid water path imulated in LES agrees reasonably well with the ACTIVATE measurements. This study paves the path to investigate aerosol-cloud-meteorology interactions using LES informed and evaluated by ACTIVATE field measurements.

Large-eddy simulation↗
NASA NTRS2015

An Enhanced Seasonal Transition that Intensified Summer Drought in the Central U.S.

Precipitation in the central U.S. decreases by about 25% during the seasonal transition from June to July, and this precipitation decrease has been observed to have intensified since 1979. Such an intensification could enhance future spring drought occurrences such as was the case in the 2012 "flash drought" in the Midwestern U.S., where conditions evolved quickly from being abnormally dry to exceptionally dry within a mere month from June to July. In this study, various atmospheric and land reanalysis datasets were analyzed to examine the trend calculated from 1979 to 2012 in the June-to-July seasonal transition. It was found that the change in precipitation deficit was accompanied by increased downward shortwave radiation flux and tropospheric subsidence, enhanced evaporative fraction, as well as an elevated planetary boundary layer height. The change in the tropospheric circulation encompassed an anomalous ridge over the western U.S. and a trough on either side; this wave-form circulation pattern is known to induce dry conditions in the central U.S. Possibly, the trends in the June-to-July seasonal shifts in precipitation, drought severity and tropospheric circulation intensified the 2012 "flash drought" in timing and extent. The knowledge of the trends allows one to anticipate the evolution of spring onset of drought into the summer.

Drought↗
DOE OSTI2025

Seismic response of vertical dry storage casks under three-dimensional earthquake motions

Ensuring the long-term seismic safety of dry storage casks (DSCs) is becoming increasingly critical as these systems evolve from temporary to de facto permanent repositories for spent nuclear fuels. Traditional seismic soil–structure interaction (SSI) assessment methods use one-dimensional deconvolution or simplified boundary conditions to model incident waves. Although computationally appealing, simplifying assumptions may alter the seismic risk by neglecting the full complexity of three-dimensional (3D) wave propagation effects. To address this challenge, this paper introduces a novel high-fidelity computational framework that leverages the Domain Reduction Method (DRM) with perfectly matched layers (PML) to accurately transfer complex, 3D seismic wavefields from regional-scale fault-rupture simulations into local-scale finite element models of DSCs. Using broadband, physics-based ground motions from a generic M w 7.0 strike-slip event, both single-cask and multi-cask configurations were investigated under near- and far-field conditions. Emphasis is placed on capturing complex SSI, spatial variability in the ground motion, and nonlinear phenomena such as cask rocking and sliding. Numerical results demonstrate that near-field conditions, where forward directivity and fling-step effects dominate, lead to significantly higher DSC rocking and sliding. Far-field cases, by contrast, generally exhibit modest responses. Incorporating SSI tends to amplify or alter DSC response spectra and introduce response variability, which underscores the need for site-specific evaluations and robust modeling approaches to ensure the seismic integrity of DSCs in interim spent fuel storage installations.

Das, Tonmoy↗
NASA NTRS1995

Kinetic structure of rotational discontinuities: Implications for the magnetopause

Magnetic field rotations in the high ion beta magnetosheath that are part of the magnetopause structure are expected to have only a small normal component. We have studied the properties of rotational discontinuities (RDs) under these conditions, viewed as the limit of weak intermediate shocks (ISs), by performing hybrid simulations with a reflecting wall boundary condition (piston method). With this dynamic formation, the sense and size of rotation are not arbitrarily predetermined, but rather evolve from the given upstream (magnetosheath) and downstream (magnetospheric) boundary conditions, similar to what takes place at the magnetopause. This work focuses on several aspects: the observed minimum shear of RDs, their width, their internal signature, and their relation to ISs in isotropic plasmas. Our simulation results are in agreement with the minimum shear observations, that is, the RDs choose the sense of rotation that corresponds to the minimum angle between the upstream and downstream field vector. The RDs are stable, with a unique scale size. Typical gradient scale half widths are one to four ion inertial lengths with a total width up to ten times of that, in agreement with magnetopause observations. We develop a generalized fluid theory of RDs and discuss the characteristic internal signatures of the rotational layer, comparing the kinetic simulation results to predictions from the generalized fluid theory. The results show that ion inertia, anisotropic pressure, finite Larmor radius effects, nonzero ion heat flux, and reflected ions all contribute to the signatures of RDs on kinetic scales. The RDs may have upstream or downstream wave trains, which become weak for high ion beta and small normal components of the magnetic field. We explain the presence and direction of wave trains in terms of the kinetic properties of the Alfven/ion-cyclotron mode. Away from the RD limit there is a smooth transition to weak intermediate shocks, which have small jumps close to expected Rankine-Hugoniot values. Apart from that, there are few kinetic plasma signatures that distinguish RDs from their neighboring ISs. However, noncoplanar ISs evolve in time into thin RDs. Using the properties of RDs and ISs, we make specific suggestions how these discontinuities can be distinguished observationally in the case of an isotropic plasma.

Krauss-Varban, D.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Staircases of passive and active scalar concentration in cellular flow

This paper develops a unified model for staircase formation in both passive and active scalar systems, building upon prior numerical studies by offering new heuristic and physical insights. While prior studies primarily reported numerical results, they did not explore the underlying unifying physics that governs both types of scalar transport; this work addresses that gap by identifying shared mechanisms across both cases. Results of studies of passive and active scalar staircase formation in cellular flows are presented. Staircase formation in cellular flows occurs due to the interplay of fast mixing within cells and slow transport across the inter-cell boundary. The cell boundary emerges as a de facto transport barrier. Special attention is focused on the effects of cellular fluctuations and noise upon staircase structure. A forced, fluctuating vortex array model is used to drive the underlying flow structure. Cellular Peclet number and staircase profile curvature are identified as figures-of-merit to quantify the resiliency of layering. These are related to simple, multi-scatterer scalar random walk models. Results for Peclet number and curvature scaling with flow excitation are presented. We also study staircases of magnetic potential evolving in two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics as examples of layering of active scalar concentration. Formation of magnetic potential staircases is indeed observed. Flux expulsion inhibits the intercellular transport of magnetic potential and strengthens staircase barriers. Magnetic staircases can be supported against resistive decay by magnetic potential noise forcing. Implications for staircase formation in magnetic confinement experiments are discussed.

Control theory↗