DESIGN AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF A SINGLE-STAGE TURBINE WITH A ROTOR ENTERING RELATIVE MACH NUMBER OF 2
Design of single-stage turbine for rotor entering at supersonic speed - performance characteristics
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Design of single-stage turbine for rotor entering at supersonic speed - performance characteristics
Optimal design procedure as experimental design finite decision problem, using Bayes and minimax techniques
The honeybee’s nest has inspired the design of engineering honeycomb core that primarily abstract the hexagonal cell shape and exploit its mass minimizing properties to construct lightweight panels. This work explored three additional design features that are part of the natural honeybee comb but have not been traditionally considered as design features of interest in honeycomb design: the radius at the corner of each cell, the coping at the top of the cell walls, and the interface between cell arrays. These features were first characterized in natural honeycomb using optical and X-ray techniques, and then incorporated into honeycomb core design, and fabricated using an additive manufacturing process. The honeycomb cores were then tested in out-of-plane compression and bending, and since all three design features added mass to the overall structure, all metrics were examined per unit mass to assess performance gains. The study concluded that the addition of an interface increases specific flexural modulus but has little benefit in out-of-plane compression; coping radius positively impacts specific flexural strength; but that the corner radius has no significant effect in bending, and actually is slightly detrimental for out-of-plane compression testing.
The platform of optimal experiment management, POEM, powered with automated machine learning to accelerate the discovery of optimal solutions, and automatically guide the design of experiments to be evaluated. POEM currently supports 1) random model explorations for experiment design, 2) sparse grid model explorations with Gaussian Polynomial Chaos surrogate model to accelerate experiment design ,3) time-dependent model sensitivity and uncertainty analysis to identify the importance features for experiment design, 4) model calibrations via Bayesian inference to integrate experiments to improve model performance, and 5) Bayesian optimization for optimal experimental design. In addition, POEM aims to simplify the process of experimental design for users, enabling them to analyze the data with minimal human intervention, and improving the technological output from research activities.
Accurate material characterization and model calibration are essential for computationally supported high-consequence engineering decisions. Historically, characterization and calibration methods (1) use simplified test specimen geometries and global data, (2) cannot guarantee that sufficient characterization data are collected for a specific model of interest, (3) use deterministic methods that provide best-fit parameter values with no uncertainty quantification, and (4) are sequential, inflexible, and time-consuming. This work brings together several recent advancements into an improved workflow called interlaced characterization and calibration (ICC) that advances the state-of-the-art in constitutive model calibration. The ICC paradigm (1) employs tools to efficiently use full-field data to calibrate high-fidelity material models, (2) aligns the data needed with the data collected by adopting an optimal experimental design protocol, (3) quantifies parameter uncertainty through Bayesian inference and (4) incorporates these advancements into a quasi real-time feedback loop. The ICC framework is demonstrated here on the calibration of a material model using simulated full-field data for an aluminium cruciform specimen being deformed biaxially. The cruciform is actively driven through the myopically preferred load path using Bayesian optimal experimental design, which selects load steps that yield the maximum expected information gain (EIG). Principal component analysis (PCA) is performed on the model predictions of full-field displacements, and fast surrogate models are built to approximate the input-output relationships of the expensive finite element model. Furthermore, the tools developed and demonstrated here show that high-fidelity constitutive models can be efficiently and reliably calibrated with quantified uncertainty, thus supporting credible decision-making and potentially increasing the agility of solid mechanics modelling by enabling utilization of computational simulations at earlier stages of the design cycle.
This paper proposes a new concept in force balance calibration. An overview of the state-of-the-art in force balance calibration is provided with emphasis on both the load application system and the experimental design philosophy. Limitations of current systems are detailed in the areas of data quality and productivity. A unique calibration loading system integrated with formal experimental design techniques has been developed and designated as the Single-Vector Balance Calibration System (SVS). This new concept addresses the limitations of current systems. The development of a quadratic and cubic calibration design is presented. Results from experimental testing are compared and contrasted with conventional calibration systems. Analyses of data are provided that demonstrate the feasibility of this concept and provide new insights into balance calibration.
The achievement of ignition in the laboratory has renewed interest in defining the requirements for a future high-gain inertial confinement fusion (ICF) facility. Our best chance of predicting future ICF performance is with 3-D radiation hydrodynamic simulations that have been benchmarked against experimental data, but their high computational cost is prohibitive for use in practical design studies. We introduce a hierarchical approach where 3-D simulations are tuned to match experimental measurements and used to train 3-D degradation models in 1-D simulations allowing for accurate predictions over the entire OMEGA direct-drive database. A genetic algorithm was used in combination with the trained 1-D simulations to search for optimal direct-drive implosion designs at driver energies ranging from 20 kJ to 10 MJ. As the fidelity of 3-D codes improves, this approach will provide a viable experimentally informed tool for defining the next ICF facility.
The uncooled, 2.27 kg/sec mass flow radial turbine designed to operate at 1477 K in the gas generator of an advanced, variable-capacity 683 kW turboshaft engine was configured with a cooled, movable sidewall nozzle capable of changing the stage flow capacity from 50 to 100 percent of maximum. Overall performance test data were obtained in a turbine test rig that duplicated engine Reynolds numbers; attention is given to the changing of flow capacity by moving the hub or shroud sidewall, vane sidewall leakage, vaneless space sidewall geometry, and nozzle-cooling injection. Data are presented in the form of turbine flow, efficiency, work parameter, and performance mappings.
Three-stage multiple-reentry turbine for auxiliary power application - design and testing
A large chord swept supercritical laminar flow control (LFC) airfoil was designed, constructed, and tested in the NASA Langley 8-ft Transonic Pressure Tunnel (TPT). The LFC airfoil experiment was established to provide basic information concerning the design and compatibility of high-performance supercritical airfoils with suction boundary layer control achieved through discrete fine slots or porous surface concepts. It was aimed at validating prediction techniques and establishing a technology base for future transport designs and drag reduction. Good agreement was obtained between measured and theoretically designed shockless pressure distributions. Suction laminarization was maintained over an extensive supercritical zone up to high Reynolds numbers before transition gradually moved forward. Full-chord laminar flow was maintained on the upper and lower surfaces at M sub infinity = 0.82 up to R sub c is less than or equal to 12 x 10 to the 6th power. When accounting for both the suction and wake drag, the total drag could be reducted by at least one-half of that for an equivalent turbulent airfoil. Specific objectives for the LFC experiment are given.
A mixed-flow impeller was designed to give a prescribed blade-surface velocity distribution at mean blade height for a given hub-shroud profile. The blade shape at mean blade height, which was produced by the prescribed velocity distribution, was extended by means of radial lines to form the composite blade shape from hub to shroud. The resulting blade was relatively thick; therefore, it was necessary to retain the inverse blade taper which resulted from extension of the radial lines in order to prevent merging or near merging of the separate blades near the hub. For the first test version of the impeller, designated the MFI-2A, the blade height was arbitrarily made greater than that for the basic impeller (the MFI-2) to allow for viscous effects. At design equivalent speed of 1400 feet per second the peak pressure ratio and maximum adiabatic efficiency were 3.95 and 79 percent, respectively. The adiabatic efficiency of the MFI-2A is four points lower than that for impeller model MFI-1A, but because of the higher slip factor for the MFI-2A, the pressure ratios are approximately equal. The procedures followed in the design of the MFI-1A and MFI-2A were, in general, the same; and, although the prescribed initial condition resulted in geometrical configurations that were quite dissimilar, the resulting performance characteristics compare favorably with designs for which considerable development work has been necessary.
The synthesis and experimental validation of a control law for an active flutter suppression system for the Active Flexible Wing wind-tunnel model is presented. The design was accomplished with traditional root locus and Nyquist methods using interactive computer graphics tools and with extensive use of simulation-based analysis. The design approach relied on a fundamental understanding of the flutter mechanism to formulate understanding of the flutter mechanism to formulate a simple control law structure. Experimentally, the flutter suppression controller succeeded in simultaneous suppression of two flutter modes, significantly increasing the flutter dynamic pressure despite errors in the design model. The flutter suppression controller was also successfully operated in combination with a rolling maneuver controller to perform flutter suppression during rapid rolling maneuvers.
The following topics are addressed: (1) motivation for the National Meteorological Center (NMC) simulation project; (2) history of the NMC simulation project; (3) experimental design of the WINDSAT observing system simulation experiment; (4) preparation of the simulated observations; and (5) strengths and weaknesses of the experimental design.
The overall performance and detailed stator performance of a negative hub reaction turbine design featuring a moderately low solidity jet flap stator and a jet flap rotor were determined. Testing was conducted over a range of turbine expansion ratios at design speed. At each expansion ratio, the stator jet flow and rotor jet flow ranged up to about 7 and 8 percent, respectively, of the turbine inlet flow. The performance of the jet flap stator/jet flap rotor turbine was compared with that of a turbine which used the same jet flap rotor and a conventional, high solidity plan stator. The effect on performance of increased axial spacing between the jet stator and rotor was also investigated.
Because launch cost of a space structural system is often proportional to the launch volume and mass and there is no significant gravity in space, NASA's space exploration programs and various science missions have stimulated extensive use of ultra-lightweight deployable/inflatable structures. These structures are named here as Highly Flexible Structures (HFSs) because they are designed to undergo large displacements, rotations, and/or buckling without plastic deformation under normal operation conditions. Except recent applications to space structural systems, HFSs have been used in many mechanical systems, civil structures, aerospace vehicles, home appliances, and medical devices to satisfy space limitations, provide special mechanisms, and/or reduce structural weight. The extensive use of HFSs in today's structural engineering reveals the need of a design and analysis software and a database system with design guidelines for practicing engineers to perform computer-aided design and rapid prototyping of HFSs. Also to prepare engineering students for future structural engineering requires a new and easy-to- understand method of presenting the complex mathematics of the modeling and analysis of HFSs. However, because of the high flexibility of HFSs, many unique challenging problems in the modeling, design and analysis of HFSs need to be studied. The current state of research on HFSs needs advances in the following areas: (1) modeling of large rotations using appropriate strain measures, (2) modeling of cross-section warpings of structures, (3) how to account for both large rotations and cross- section warpings in 2D (two-dimensional) and 1D structural theories, (4) modeling of thickness thinning of membranes due to inflation pressure, pretension, and temperature change, (5) prediction of inflated shapes and wrinkles of inflatable structures, (6) development of efficient numerical methods for nonlinear static and dynamic analyses, and (7) filling the gap between geometrically exact elastic analysis and elastoplastic analysis. The objectives of this research project were: (1) to study the modeling, design, and analysis of deployable/inflatable ultra-lightweight structures, (2) to perform numerical and experimental studies on the static and dynamic characteristics and deployability of HFSs, (3) to derive guidelines for designing HFSs, (4) to develop a MATLAB toolbox for the design, analysis, and dynamic animation of HFSs, and (5) to perform experiments and establish an adequate database of post-buckling characteristics of HFSs.
Unique and innovative graph theory, neural network, organizational modeling, and genetic algorithms are applied to the design and evolution of programmatic and organizational architectures. Graph theory representations of programs and organizations increase modeling capabilities and flexibility, while illuminating preferable programmatic/organizational design features. Treating programs and organizations as neural networks results in better system synthesis, and more robust data modeling. Organizational modeling using covariance structures enhances the determination of organizational risk factors. Genetic algorithms improve programmatic evolution characteristics, while shedding light on rulebase requirements for achieving specified technological readiness levels, given budget and schedule resources. This program of research improves the robustness and verifiability of systems synthesis tools, including the Complex Organizational Metric for Programmatic Risk Environments (COMPRE).
The development of control of large flexible structures technology must include practical demonstrations to aid in the understanding and characterization of controlled structures in space. To support this effort, a testbed facility has been developed to study practical implementation of new control technologies under realistic conditions. The paper discusses the design of a second order, acceleration feedback controller which acts as an active vibration absorber. This controller provides guaranteed stability margins for collocated sensor/actuator pairs in the absence of sensor/actuator dynamics and computational time delay. Experimental results in the presence of these factors are presented and discussed. The robustness of this design under model uncertainty is demonstrated.
Understanding the kinds of evidence available and using the best evidence to answer a question is critical to evidenced-based decision-making, and it requires synthesis of evidence from a variety of sources. Categorization of human system risks in spaceflight, in particular, focuses on how well the integration and interpretation of all available evidence informs the risk statement that describes the relationship between spaceflight hazards and an outcome of interest. A mature understanding and categorization of these risks requires: 1) sufficient characterization of risk, 2) sufficient knowledge to determine an acceptable level of risk (i.e., a standard), 3) development of mitigations to meet the acceptable level of risk, and 4) identification of factors affecting generalizability of the evidence to different design reference missions. In the medical research community, evidence is often ranked by increasing confidence in findings gleaned from observational and experimental research (e.g., "levels of evidence"). However, an approach based solely on aspects of experimental design is problematic in assessing human system risks for spaceflight. For spaceflight, the unique challenges and opportunities include: (1) The independent variables in most evidence are the hazards of spaceflight, such as space radiation or low gravity, which cannot be entirely duplicated in terrestrial (Earth-based) analogs, (2) Evidence is drawn from multiple sources including medical and mission operations, Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH), spaceflight research (LSDA), and relevant environmental & terrestrial databases, (3) Risk metrics based primarily on LSAH data are typically derived from available prevalence or incidence data, which may limit rigorous interpretation, (4) The timeframe for obtaining adequate spaceflight sample size (n) is very long, given the small population, (5) Randomized controlled trials are unattainable in spaceflight, (6) Collection of personal and environmental data on the astronaut population may create opportunities for advanced analytics and human-environment modeling that goes beyond that achieved in isolated experimental designs; and (7) Translation of relevant research to operations is a complex, transdisciplinary enterprise in which the approach must apply across the physical, biological, behavioral, and social sciences. The approach to synthesizing evidence must address both source and fidelity of data, and reflect the most general attributes of quality of evidence in science and engineering: reliability and validity. The authors are developing a two-factor approach which includes the various kinds of evidence required to understand risks and for the integrated interpretation of all evidence that is essential to develop standards and countermeasures. A unified framework for aggregating and assessing different kinds of evidence provides a consistent, traceable, evidence-based decision-making process to translate research to operations in an environment where engineers, scientists, physicians, and managers all engage in analyzing the trade space of vehicle design, standards, requirements and solutions for spaceflight.