Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Dispersive wave relations”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Low-frequency macroscopic instabilities of fully ionized magnetoplasma

Studies are described of low-frequency quasi-static instabilities in a fully ionized plasma. The plasma is assumed to be immersed in a uniform magnetic field, and is either uniform or has a number density gradient perpendicular to the magnetic field. A moment equation description of the ion and electron dynamics is used; collisions are assumed to have a strong effect on electron motion along the magnetic field. Before considering specific modes, a stability analysis is developed which allows a classification of wave growth characteristics to be made for a bounded system from solutions to the dispersion relation for an infinite system. Also, a method is given for calculating the normal mode frequencies and wave profiles by using the reflection coefficients at the boundaries. For wave propagation perpendicular to the magnetic field, the flute wave is studied in cylindrical geometry. The destabilizing effect of a radial electric field is considered by solving a differential equation.

Rognlien, T. D.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Shuttle wave experiments

Wave experiments on shuttle are needed to verify dispersion relations, to study nonlinear and exotic phenomena, to support other plasma experiments, and to test engineering designs. Techniques based on coherent detection and bistatic geometry are described. New instrumentation required to provide modules for a variety of missions and to incorporate advanced signal processing and control techniques is discussed. An experiment for Z to 0 coupling is included.

Calvert, W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Runge-Kutta methods combined with compact difference schemes for the unsteady Euler equations

Recent development using compact difference schemes to solve the Navier-Stokes equations show spectral-like accuracy. A study was made of the numerical characteristics of various combinations of the Runge-Kutta (RK) methods and compact difference schemes to calculate the unsteady Euler equations. The accuracy of finite difference schemes is assessed based on the evaluations of dissipative error. The objectives are reducing the numerical damping and, at the same time, preserving numerical stability. While this approach has tremendous success solving steady flows, numerical characteristics of unsteady calculations remain largely unclear. For unsteady flows, in addition to the dissipative errors, phase velocity and harmonic content of the numerical results are of concern. As a result of the discretization procedure, the simulated unsteady flow motions actually propagate in a dispersive numerical medium. Consequently, the dispersion characteristics of the numerical schemes which relate the phase velocity and wave number may greatly impact the numerical accuracy. The aim is to assess the numerical accuracy of the simulated results. To this end, the Fourier analysis is to provide the dispersive correlations of various numerical schemes. First, a detailed investigation of the existing RK methods is carried out. A generalized form of an N-step RK method is derived. With this generalized form, the criteria are derived for the three and four-step RK methods to be third and fourth-order time accurate for the non-linear equations, e.g., flow equations. These criteria are then applied to commonly used RK methods such as Jameson's 3-step and 4-step schemes and Wray's algorithm to identify the accuracy of the methods. For the spatial discretization, compact difference schemes are presented. The schemes are formulated in the operator-type to render themselves suitable for the Fourier analyses. The performance of the numerical methods is shown by numerical examples. These examples are detailed. described. The third case is a two-dimensional simulation of a Lamb vortex in an uniform flow. This calculation provides a realistic assessment of various finite difference schemes in terms of the conservation of the vortex strength and the harmonic content after travelling a substantial distance. The numerical implementation of Giles' non-refelctive equations coupled with the characteristic equations as the boundary condition is discussed in detail. Finally, the single vortex calculation is extended to simulate vortex pairing. For the distance between two vortices less than a threshold value, numerical results show crisp resolution of the vortex merging.

Yu, Sheng-Tao↗
NASA NTRS1992

The mirror and ion cyclotron anisotropy instabilities

The linear dispersion equation for fully electromagnetic waves and instabilities at arbitrary directions of propagation relative to a background magnetic field B(0) in a homogeneous Vlasov plasma is solved numerically for bi-Maxwellian particle distributions. For isotropic plasmas the dispersion and damping of the three modes below the proton cyclotron frequency are studied as functions of Beta(i) and T(e)/T(i). The transport ratios of helicity, cross-helicity, Alfven ratio, compressibility, and parallel compressibility are defined. Under the condition that the proton temperature perpendicular to B(0) is greater than the parallel temperature, the growth rates and transport ratios of the mirror instability and the ion cyclotron anisotropy instability are examined and compared. Both the proton parallel compressibility and the proton Alfven ratio are significantly different for the two growing modes.

Gary, S. P.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Electromagnetic processes in the atmosphere of pulsars

The work consists of two parts. The first deals with the fine structure of radio pulses. Based on kinetic theory, processes occurring in the plasma shell of a pulsar when external electromagnetic radiation is present are investigated. It is shown that electromagnetic waves cause electrons to drift relative to ions, and initiate longitudinal oscillations. A dispersion equation describing the longitudinal oscillations in magnetized plasma is derived. Conditions for excitation of oscillations are found. Correlation functions of electron density are calculated, along with the coefficients of electromagnetic wave scattering. It is shown that variations in the amplitude of pulsar pulses are associated with scintillations caused by fluctuations in the plasma electron density. The second part of the study presents a mechanism for the radio emission of pulsars. The model of a rotating and a pulsating star, a neutron star with dipolar or more complex magnetic field, is examined.

Yukhimuk, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Ion-ion waves in the auroral region - Wave excitation and ion heating

The properties of the ion-ion mode which is excited in plasmas when two or more cold ion beams are streaming relative to one another are investigated assuming a warm electron distribution at rest (the model consistent with particle distributions observed in auroral plasma cavities). Numerical solutions are derived for the generalized electrostatic dispersion equation for parallel propagation and for oblique propagation of ion waves. It is shown that the relative ion temperature and concentration have significant effects on the stability of the accelerated plasma and the expected ion heating. Finally, a relationship between ion drift and thermal speed is derived using the marginal stability of ion-ion waves for nonzero ion temperature; the relationship was found to compare favorably with DE-1 ion observations at the high-altitude boundary of the auroral cavity.

Dusenbery, P. B.↗
NASA NTRS1995

0n the dynamics of warped accretion disks

We present some analyses of warping modes in inviscid near Keplerian disks taking the three-dimensional structure fully into account. The results of this investigation verify the validity of a vertical averaging approximation for thin disks when the radial wavelength is significantly longer than the disk thickness. They also indicate that long wavelength disturbances may persist for long times. Shorter wavelength disturbances in non-self gravitating disks are found to propagate with little dispersion at a speed related to the sound speed. When self-gravity becomes important, fast and slow waves are found which also propagate with little dispersion. When a small viscosity is included, the evolution of the disturbances becomes more diffusive in character.

Papaloizou, J. C. B.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Hopkinson Bar Impact Force Measurement for Application to Development of an Artificial Bird

A test method has been published for measuring forces from bird cadavers and artificial birds to demonstrate equivalency to support the use of artificial birds in aircraft certification testing. The test method involves a large diameter Hopkinson bar as the technique for measuring and comparing forces. The method involves the assumption that a force on one end of the bar results in a one-dimensional plane wave that travels down the bar. To avoid reflected waves from the end of the bar overlapping the input pulse, and due to practical limitations on the length of the bar, strain transducers are located relatively close to the impacted face of the bar, raising questions about the validity of the assumption of one-dimensional wave propagation. In addition, the large diameter of the bar can introduce dispersion effects in the propagated pulse. These must be assessed to determine the impact on the accuracy of impact force measurements and, if significant, dispersion correction techniques must be used. In this study analytical, experimental, and computational methods are used to analyze the wave propagation characteristics for impact forces expected from realistic bird impacts. While wave dispersion and effects of non-concentric impacts are present, the resulting errors are relatively small. For the response we expect to see in bird impacts up to velocities of approximately 300 m/sec the large diameter Hopkinson bar test appears to be an acceptable method for measuring the impact forces and comparing the response of real and proposed artificial birds.

Birdstrike↗
NASA NTRS1979

The radiation pressure-driven Rayleigh-Taylor instability - Analysis and application to QSO emission line clouds

The growth of perturbations in a photoionized gas slab accelerated by radiation pressure under conditions like those in QSO emission-line regions is analyzed. A linear dispersion relation is derived, and numerical radiation-transfer calculations are performed to evaluate the coefficients and roots of that dispersion relation for L-alpha optical depths between 0.1 and 10,000. The nonlinear growth of the waves is estimated, and it is concluded that complete dispersal of the clouds is likely. On the basis of qualitative arguments it is suggested that clouds of greater optical depth are linearly stable.

Krolik, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Advanced Computational Aeroacoustics Methods for Fan Noise Prediction

Direct computation of fan noise is presently not possible. One of the major difficulties is the geometrical complexity of the problem. In the case of fan noise, the blade geometry is critical to the loading on the blade and hence the intensity of the radiated noise. The precise geometry must be incorporated into the computation. In computational fluid dynamics (CFD), there are two general ways to handle problems with complex geometry. One way is to use unstructured grids. The other is to use body fitted overset grids. In the overset grid method, accurate data transfer is of utmost importance. For acoustic computation, it is not clear that the currently used data transfer methods are sufficiently accurate as not to contaminate the very small amplitude acoustic disturbances. In CFD, low order schemes are, invariably, used in conjunction with unstructured grids. However, low order schemes are known to be numerically dispersive and dissipative. dissipative errors are extremely undesirable for acoustic wave problems. The objective of this project is to develop a high order unstructured grid Dispersion-Relation-Preserving (DRP) scheme. would minimize numerical dispersion and dissipation errors. contains the results of the funded portion of the project. scheme on an unstructured grid has been developed. constructed in the wave number space. The characteristics of the scheme can be improved by the inclusion of additional constraints. Stability of the scheme has been investigated. Stability can be improved by adopting the upwinding strategy.

Envia, Edmane↗
NASA NTRS1989

The electron beam instability revisited: Growth above and below f sub p

The growth of electrostatic waves near the plasma frequency (fp) due to an unstable electron beam is investigated by solving the unmagnetized electrostatic dispersion equation numerically. The numerical solutions are compared with analytic theories for reactive (or fluid-type) and kinetic versions of the beam instability, and for the O'Neil/Malmberg connection of the beam and Langmuir modes. Conditions for growth significantly above or below fp are given. Three general results are found: (1) The unstable waves do not grow on a mode with Langmuir dispersion except in the limit of a very dilute beam with growth on O'Neil/Malmberg's connected mode; (2) The properties of the unstable mode depend strongly on beam parameters such as beam density, speed and temperature; and (3) The frequency of maximum growth frequently lies significantly above or below fp, and differs significantly from that predicted by the Langmuir dispersion relation. Results imply important consequences for theories of strong turbulence and nonlinear wave-wave processes, and observational identification of fp from observed wave frequencies.

Cairns, I. H.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Ion acoustic waves in a multi-ion plasma.

An exact treatment of the multispecies ion acoustic dispersion relation is given for an argon/helium plasma. Phase velocity and damping are obtained as a function of ion-electron temperature ratio and relative densities of the two species. There are two important modes in the plasma, with quite different phase velocities, which are referred to as principal heavy ion mode and principal light ion mode. Which of these is dominant depends on the relative densities of the two components, but, in general, the light ion mode becomes important for surprisingly small light ion contamination. Approximate analytic expressions are derived from damping rates and phase velocities and their domains of validity are investigated. Relevance of the results for the investigation of collisionless shocks is discussed.

Fried, B. D.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Voyager 2 observations of Saturn's northern mid-latitude cloud features - Morphology, motions, and evolution

Voyager 2 images provide a basis for detailed study of the morphology and circulation of Saturn's northern midlatitudes. Both Saturn's large-scale cloud bands and the distribution of its local cloud features have a characteristic zonal organization. The region between 30 N and 45 N contains two oppositely directed jets in close proximity, with many bright, active features in the westward jet, and an unusual ribbonlike wave feature encircling the planet in the eastward jet. Several of the smaller features within the westward jet do not remain at fixed latitudes and interact with each other. One group of v-shaped features is found to have periods of high activity correlated with the passage of a cyclonic bright spot. The ribbon wave was Fourier analyzed to determine its spectral composition. The greatest power is near wave number 9, with significant additional peaks appearing at planetary wave numbers 19, 25-27, 35-38, and 47-51. The phase velocity increases with wave number but is not well described by a Rossby-Haurwitz dispersion relation. The curvature of the mean wind profile obtained from cloud tracking indicates that the westward jet exceeds the standard barotropic instability condition, while the eastward jet marginally exceeds the deep-circulation instability condition of Ingersoll and Pollard (1982). The rms eddy velocities on Saturn are less than half as large as those observed on Jupiter.

Sromovsky, L. A.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Characteristics of Electromagnetic Pulse Propagation in Metal

It is well known that the solution of the diffusion equation for an electromagnetic field with a time harmonic term, e(sup iwt), is in the form of a traveling wave whose amplitude attenuates over distance into a conducting medium. As the attenuation is an increasing function of frequency, the high frequency components attenuate more rapidly than those of low ones upon entering a well conducting object. At the same time, the phase velocity of an individual component is also an increasing function of frequency causing a broadening of the pulse traveling inside a conductor. In the results of our previous study of numerical simulations, the problem of using a gaussian input pulse was immediately clear. First, having the dominant frequency components distributed around zero, the movement of the peak was not well defined. Second, with the amplitude of fourier components varying slowly over a wide range, the dispersion-induced blurring of the peak position was seen to be severe. For the present study, we have used a gaussian modulated single frequency sinusoidal wave, i. e., the carrier, as an input pulse in an effort to improve the issues related to the unclear movement of peak and dispersion as described above. This was based on the following two anticipated advantages: First, the packet moves in a conductor at the group velocity calculated at the carrier frequency, which means it is well controllable. Second, the amplitude of frequency components other than that of the carrier can be almost negligible, such that the effect of dispersion can be significantly reduced. A series of experiments of transmitting electromagnetic pulses through aluminum plates of various thickness was performed to test the validity of the above points. The results of numerical simulation based on wave propagation are discussed with respect to the experimental results. Finally, a simple simulation was performed based on diffusion of a continuous sine wave input and the results are compared with those of a single frequency sinusoidal wave observed over time at difference locations inside a conductor.

Namkung, M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Application of the coded long-pulse technique to plasma line studies of the ionosphere

Recently, the coded long-pulse radar technique was tested at Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico using photoelectron-enhanced plasma lines in the daytime ionosphere. The technique immediately proved to be a powerful diagnostic tool for studying natural ionospheric phenomena. Our initial observations indicate that extremely accurate measurements of absolute electron density (0.01 to 0.03% error bars) can be achieved with an altitude resolution of 150 m and a temporal resolution of approx. 2 s. In addition, the technique provides information about electron density structure within a 150-m altitude cell and yields parameters from which the energy spectrum of suprathermal electrons (equal to or greater than 5 eV) can be deduced. Our earliest measurements are used to illustrate applications of the coded long-pulse technique to several aeronomic/ionsospheric areas of current interest. These include studies of neutral wave motions in the lower thermosphere, measurements of ion composition in the F(sub 1) region/upper ionosphere, and investigations of electron-gas thermal balance and photoelectron energy loss processes. The technique can be utilized to examine irregularity formation in the F region, probe electron acceleration processes in ionospheric modification experiments, verify the magnetic field dependence of Langmuir wave damping, and more generally test higher order corrections suggested for the Langmuir dispersion relation. It is anticipated that the latter tests will facilitate measurements of ionospheric currents.

Djuth, Frank T.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Analysis of non-interacting binaries with luminous cool primaries

High dispersion long wave redundant (LWR) spectra are analyzed for the differential velocity between hot and cool components of heretofore single lined spectroscopic binaries with late type giant or supergiant primaries. Cross correlation of a composite spectrum against early and late type standard stars yields relative velocities with an accuracy of 0.2 to 0.3 kms. When the orbit of the primay is known, the differential measurement from IUE gives the mass ratio of the system. Low dispersion short wave prime (SWP) and LWR flux spectra are used together with ground-based photometry to disentangle the composite energy distributions of the binaries. Temperatures of both components, their relative luminosities, and the reddening of the system are obtained. Assuming the hot secondaries to be main sequence stars, their probable luminosities and masses may be obtained from their temperatures. Then absolute magnitudes and masses may be obtained for the evolved primaries with more confidence than with existing techniques.

Parsons, S. B.↗