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At least 163 records · Page 9

Deformations and strains in adhesive joints by moire interferometry

Displacement fields in a thick adherend lap joint and a cracked lap shear specimen were measured by high sensitivity moire interferometry. Contour maps of in-plane U and V displacements were obtained across adhesive and adherent surfaces. Loading sequences ranged from modest loads to near-failure loads. Quantitative results are given for displacements and certain strains in the adhesive and along the adhesive/adherend boundary lines. The results show nonlinear displacements and strains as a function of loads or stresses and they show viscoelastic or time-dependent response. Moire interferometry is an excellent method for experimental studies of adhesive joint performance. Subwavelength displacement resolution of a few micro-inches, and spatial resolution corresponding to 1600 fringes/inch (64 fringes/mm), were obtained in these studies. The whole-field contour maps offer insights not available from local measurements made by high sensitivity gages.

Post, D.↗

Neuromorphic learning of continuous-valued mappings from noise-corrupted data. Application to real-time adaptive control

The ability of feed-forward neural network architectures to learn continuous valued mappings in the presence of noise was demonstrated in relation to parameter identification and real-time adaptive control applications. An error function was introduced to help optimize parameter values such as number of training iterations, observation time, sampling rate, and scaling of the control signal. The learning performance depended essentially on the degree of embodiment of the control law in the training data set and on the degree of uniformity of the probability distribution function of the data that are presented to the net during sequence. When a control law was corrupted by noise, the fluctuations of the training data biased the probability distribution function of the training data sequence. Only if the noise contamination is minimized and the degree of embodiment of the control law is maximized, can a neural net develop a good representation of the mapping and be used as a neurocontroller. A multilayer net was trained with back-error-propagation to control a cart-pole system for linear and nonlinear control laws in the presence of data processing noise and measurement noise. The neurocontroller exhibited noise-filtering properties and was found to operate more smoothly than the teacher in the presence of measurement noise.

Troudet, Terry↗

Global trajectory targeting via computer graphics

A technique is described in which the two-point boundary value problem (TPBVP) may be solved with the aid of interactive computer graphics. The particular TPBVP considered is the optimal electric propulsion space trajectory problem. An appropriate two-dimensional projection of the TPBVP mapping, or trajectory, is displayed on the computer's television screen, and a man-in-the-loop varies selected trajectory starting conditions in the fashion of a nonlinear walk until the viewed trajectory endpoint lies near a displayed target. Once global targeting is accomplished in this manner, program internal logic can easily handle local targeting to strongly solve the TPBVP.

Mann, F. I.↗

Optimum constrained image restoration filters

The research described centered on development of an optimum image restoration filter (IRF) minimizing the radius of gyration of the corrected or composite system point-spread function (P-SF) subject to contraints, and reducing 2-dimensional spatial smearing or blurring of an image. The constraints are imposed on the radius of gyration of the IRF P-SF, the total restored image noise power, and the shape of the composite system frequency spectrum. The image degradation corresponds to mapping many points from the original image into a single resolution element. The P-SF is obtained as solution to a set of simultaneous differential equations obeying nonlinear integral constraints. Truncation errors due to edge effects are controlled by constraining the radius of gyration of the IRF P-SF. An iterative technique suppresses sidelobes of the composite system P-SF.

Riemer, T. E.↗

Dynamic analysis of noncontacting face seals

The dynamic behavior of a noncontacting coned face seal is analyzed taking into account various design parameters and operating conditions. The primary seal ring motion is expressed by a set of nonlinear equations for three degrees of freedom. These equations, which are solved numerically, allow identification of two dimensionless groups of parameters that affect the seal dynamic behavior. Stability maps for various seals are presented. These maps contain a stable-to-unstable transition region in which the ring wobbles at half the shaft frequency. The effect of various parameters on seal stability is discussed and an empirical expression for critical stability is offered.

Etsion, I.↗

Improved Displacement Transfer Functions for Structure Deformed Shape Predictions Using Discretely Distributed Surface Strains

In the formulations of earlier Displacement Transfer Functions for structure shape predictions, the surface strain distributions, along a strain-sensing line, were represented with piecewise linear functions. To improve the shape-prediction accuracies, Improved Displacement Transfer Functions were formulated using piecewise nonlinear strain representations. Through discretization of an embedded beam (depth-wise cross section of a structure along a strain-sensing line) into multiple small domains, piecewise nonlinear functions were used to describe the surface strain distributions along the discretized embedded beam. Such piecewise approach enabled the piecewise integrations of the embedded beam curvature equations to yield slope and deflection equations in recursive forms. The resulting Improved Displacement Transfer Functions, written in summation forms, were expressed in terms of beam geometrical parameters and surface strains along the strain-sensing line. By feeding the surface strains into the Improved Displacement Transfer Functions, structural deflections could be calculated at multiple points for mapping out the overall structural deformed shapes for visual display. The shape-prediction accuracies of the Improved Displacement Transfer Functions were then examined in view of finite-element-calculated deflections using different tapered cantilever tubular beams. It was found that by using the piecewise nonlinear strain representations, the shape-prediction accuracies could be greatly improved, especially for highly-tapered cantilever tubular beams.

Ko, William L.↗

Experiments with conjugate gradient algorithms for homotopy curve tracking

There are algorithms for finding zeros or fixed points of nonlinear systems of equations that are globally convergent for almost all starting points, i.e., with probability one. The essence of all such algorithms is the construction of an appropriate homotopy map and then tracking some smooth curve in the zero set of this homotopy map. HOMPACK is a mathematical software package implementing globally convergent homotopy algorithms with three different techniques for tracking a homotopy zero curve, and has separate routines for dense and sparse Jacobian matrices. The HOMPACK algorithms for sparse Jacobian matrices use a preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm for the computation of the kernel of the homotopy Jacobian matrix, a required linear algebra step for homotopy curve tracking. Here, variants of the conjugate gradient algorithm are implemented in the context of homotopy curve tracking and compared with Craig's preconditioned conjugate gradient method used in HOMPACK. The test problems used include actual large scale, sparse structural mechanics problems.

Irani, Kashmira M.↗

Design of Neural Networks for Fast Convergence and Accuracy: Dynamics and Control

A procedure for the design and training of artificial neural networks, used for rapid and efficient controls and dynamics design and analysis for flexible space systems, has been developed. Artificial neural networks are employed, such that once properly trained, they provide a means of evaluating the impact of design changes rapidly. Specifically, two-layer feedforward neural networks are designed to approximate the functional relationship between the component/spacecraft design changes and measures of its performance or nonlinear dynamics of the system/components. A training algorithm, based on statistical sampling theory, is presented, which guarantees that the trained networks provide a designer-specified degree of accuracy in mapping the functional relationship. Within each iteration of this statistical-based algorithm, a sequential design algorithm is used for the design and training of the feedforward network to provide rapid convergence to the network goals. Here, at each sequence a new network is trained to minimize the error of previous network. The proposed method should work for applications wherein an arbitrary large source of training data can be generated. Two numerical examples are performed on a spacecraft application in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Maghami, Peiman G.↗

Using Regionalized Air Quality Model Performance and Bayesian Maximum Entropy Data Fusion to Map Global Surface Ozone Concentration and Associated Uncertainty

Estimates of ground-level ozone concentrations have been improved through data fusion of observations and atmospheric chemistry models. Our previous global ozone estimates for the Global Burden of Disease study corrected for bias uniformly across continents and then corrected near monitoring stations using the Bayesian Maximum Entropy (BME) framework for data fusion. Here, we use the Regionalized Air Quality Model Performance (RAMP) framework to correct model bias over a much larger spatial range than BME can, accounting for the spatial inhomogeneity of bias and nonlinearity as a function of modeled ozone. RAMP bias correction is applied to a composite of 9 global chemistry-climate models, based on the nearest set of monitors. These estimates are then fused with observations using BME, which matches observations at measurement stations, with the influence of observations declining with distance in space and time. We create global ozone maps for each year from 1990 to 2017 at fine spatial resolution. RAMP is shown to create unrealistic discontinuities due to the spatial clustering of ozone monitors, which we overcome by applying a weighting for RAMP based on the number of monitors nearby. Incorporating RAMP before BME has little effect on model performance near stations, but strongly increases R 2 by 0.15 at locations farther from stations, shown through a checkerboard cross-validation. Corrections to estimates differ based on location in space and time, confirming heterogeneity. We quantify the likelihood of exceeding selected ozone levels, finding that parts of the Middle East, India, and China are most likely to exceed 55 parts per billion (ppb) in 2017. About 96% of the global population was exposed to ozone levels above the World Health Organization guideline of 60 µg m −3 (30 ppb) in 2017. Our annual fine-resolution ozone estimates may be useful for several applications including epidemiology and assessments of impacts on health, agriculture, and ecosystems.

Ozone↗

The behavior of wave 2 in the Southern Hemisphere stratosphere during late winter and early spring

The behavior of wave 2 in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) winter and early spring stratosphere has been examined in detail using 10 years of NMC data. Wave 2 is characterized by a broad meridional structure peaking between 55 and 65 S, and regular eastward propagation, with periods ranging from 5 to 40 days. The range of maximum geopotential height amplitudes is from 600 to 1000 m for a year. Consideration is also given to the relationship of wave 2 to other features of stratospheric circulation, Eliassen-Palm fluxes, and synoptic maps. The results obtained show that the zonal mean state of the SH stratosphere frequently satisfies conditions for instability. It is concluded that both instability of zonally symmetric and asymmetric states, and nonlinear interactions between wave 1 and wave 2 are of importance for determining the behavior of wave 2 in the SH winter and spring stratosphere.

Manney, G. L.↗

A Comparative Study of High and Low Fidelity Fan Models for Turbofan Engine System Simulation

In this paper, a heterogeneous propulsion system simulation method is presented. The method is based on the formulation of a cycle model of a gas turbine engine. The model includes the nonlinear characteristics of the engine components via use of empirical data. The potential to simulate the entire engine operation on a computer without the aid of data is demonstrated by numerically generating "performance maps" for a fan component using two flow models of varying fidelity. The suitability of the fan models were evaluated by comparing the computed performance with experimental data. A discussion of the potential benefits and/or difficulties in connecting simulations solutions of differing fidelity is given.

Reed, John A.↗

Thermal Behavior of Unusual Local-Scale Features on Vesta

On Vesta, the thermal behavior of areas of unusual albedo seen at the local scale can be related to physical properties that can provide information about the origin of those materials. Dawn's Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIR) hyperspectral cubes are used to retrieve surface temperatures and emissivities, with high accuracy as long as temperatures are greater than ~180 K. Data acquired in the Survey phase (23 July through 29 August 2011) show several unusual surface features: 1) high-albedo (bright) and low-albedo (dark) material deposits, 2) spectrally distinct ejecta and pitted materials, 3) regions suggesting finer-grained materials. Some of the unusual dark and bright features were re-observed by VIR in the subsequent High-Altitude Mapping Orbit (HAMO) and Low-Altitude Mapping Orbit (LAMO) phases at increased pixel resolution. In particular, bright and dark surface materials on Vesta, and pitted materials, are currently being investigated by the Dawn team. In this work we present temperature maps and emissivities of several local-scale features that were observed by Dawn under different illumination conditions and different local solar times. To calculate surface temperatures, we applied a Bayesian approach to nonlinear inversion based on the Kirchhoff law and the Planck function, and whose results were compared with those provided by the application of alternative methods. Data from the IR channel of VIR show that bright regions generally correspond to regions with lower thermal emission, i.e. lower temperature, while dark regions correspond to areas with higher thermal emission, i.e. higher temperature. This behavior confirms that many of the dark appearances in the VIS mainly reflect albedo variations, and not, for example, shadowing. During maximum daily insolation, dark features in the equatorial region may rise to temperatures greater than 270 K, while brightest features stop at roughly 258 K for similar local solar times. However, pitted materials, showing relatively low reflectance, have significantly lower temperatures, as a result of differences in composition and/or structure (e.g, average grain size of the surface regolith, porosity, etc.). To complement this work, we provide preliminary values of thermal inertia for some bright and dark features.

Tosi, Federico↗

Optimization of linear, controlled structures

An approach to the integrated design of linear controlled structures, which is being investigated as part of NASA's controlled structures interaction (CSI) methodology development program, is presented. The approach is integrated in the sense that the structure and its controller are simultaneously designed. The design methodology uses constrained nonlinear optimization procedures based on analytically obtained gradients of the structural responses. Design of the controller is based on the so-called Q-parameterization theory, which parameterizes all closed-loop input/output maps achievable with stabiizing linear controllers. Very general objective and constraint functions are possible, and structural shape can be included in the design variables. This method has been partially implemented and demonstrated; early findings are reported.

Hunziker, K. Scott↗

First Use of Synoptic Vector Magnetograms for Global Nonlinear, Force-Free Coronal Magnetic Field Models

Context. The magnetic field permeating the solar atmosphere is generally thought to provide the energy for much of the activity seen in the solar corona, such as flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), etc. To overcome the unavailability of coronal magnetic field measurements, photospheric magnetic field vector data can be used to reconstruct the coronal field. Currently, there are several modelling techniques being used to calculate three-dimensional field lines into the solar atmosphere. Aims. For the first time, synoptic maps of a photospheric-vector magnetic field synthesized from the vector spectromagnetograph (VSM) on Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS) are used to model the coronal magnetic field and estimate free magnetic energy in the global scale. The free energy (i.e., the energy in excess of the potential field energy) is one of the main indicators used in space weather forecasts to predict the eruptivity of active regions. Methods. We solve the nonlinear force-free field equations using an optimization principle in spherical geometry. The resulting threedimensional magnetic fields are used to estimate the magnetic free energy content E(sub free) = E(sub nlfff) − E(sub pot), which is the difference of the magnetic energies between the nonpotential field and the potential field in the global solar corona. For comparison, we overlay the extrapolated magnetic field lines with the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations by the atmospheric imaging assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Results. For a single Carrington rotation 2121, we find that the global nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) magnetic energy density is 10.3% higher than the potential one. Most of this free energy is located in active regions.

Sun: corona↗

Flow field topology of transient mixing driven by buoyancy

Transient mixing driven by buoyancy occurs through the birth of a symmetric Rayleigh-Taylor morphology (RTM) structure for large length scales. Beyond its critical bifurcation the RTM structure exhibits self-similarity and occurs on smaller and smaller length scales. The dynamics of the RTM structure, its nonlinear growth and internal collision, show that its genesis occurs from an explosive bifurcation which leads to the overlap of resonance regions in phase space. This event shows the coexistence of regular and chaotic regions in phase space which is corroborated with the existence of horseshoe maps. A measure of local chaos given by the topological entropy indicates that as the system evolves there is growth of uncertainty. Breakdown of the dissipative RTM structure occurs during the transition from explosive to catastrophic bifurcation; this event gives rise to annihilation of the separatrices which drives overlap of resonance regions. The global bifurcation of explosive and catastrophic events in phase space for the large length scale of the RTM structure serves as a template for which mixing occurs on smaller and smaller length scales. Copyright 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Nonlinear Dynamics↗

The Cooperative VAS Program with the Marshall Space Flight Center

Work was divided between the analysis/forecast model development and evaluation of the impact of satellite data in mesoscale numerical weather prediction (NWP), development of the Multispectral Atmospheric Mapping Sensor (MAMS), and other related research. The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Synoptic Scale Model (SSM) has progressed from a relatively basic analysis/forecast system to a package which includes such features as nonlinear vertical mode initialization, comprehensive Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) physics, and the core of a fully four-dimensional data assimilation package. The MAMS effort has produced a calibrated visible and infrared sensor that produces imager at high spatial resolution. The MAMS was developed in order to study small scale atmospheric moisture variability, to monitor and classify clouds, and to investigate the role of surface characteristics in the production of clouds, precipitation, and severe storms.

Diak, George R.↗

Parallel Methods on Large-Scale Structural Analysis and Physics Applications; Symposium, Hampton, VA, Feb. 5, 6, 1991, Selected Papers

Recent advances in parallel methods and algorithms integrated into large-scale codes are presented. Consideration is given to problem decomposition (substructuring), efficient matrix solution algorithms for shared memory architectures, dynamic and transient analysis algorithms for shared memory architectures, and algorithms for distributed and massively parallel architectures. Particular attention is given to partitioning of unstructured problems for parallel processing, parallel-vector computation for linear-structural analysis and nonlinear unconstraint optimization problems, a parallel-vector equation solver for unsymmetric matrices on supercomputers, parallel nonlinear finite element dynamic response, multigrid algorithms for solving structural mechanics problems on supercomputers, structural analysis on massively parallel computers, explicit finite element methods with contact-impact on SIMD computers, and the impact of mapping and sparsity on parallelized finite element method modules.

Storaasli, Olaf O.↗

Model-Data Assimilation of Internal Waves during ASIAEX-2001

In recent Asian Seas International Acoustics Experiment (ASIAEX), extensive moorings have been deployed around the continental shelf break area in the northeast of South China Sea in May 2001. Simultaneous RADARSAT SAR images have been collected during the field test to integrate with the in-situ measurements from moorings, ship-board sensors, and CTD casts. Besides it provides synoptic information, satellite imagery is very useful for tracking the internal waves, and locating surface fronts and mesoscale features. During ASIAEX in May 2001, many large internal waves were observed at the test area and were the major oceanic features for acoustic volume interaction. Based on the internal wave distribution maps compiled from satellite data, the wave crest can be as long as 200 km with amplitude of 100 m. Environmental parameters have been calculated based on extensive CTD casts data near the ASIAEX area. Nonlinear internal wave models have been applied to integrate and assimilate both SAR and mooring data. Using SAR data in deep water as an initial condition, numerical simulations produce the wave evolution on the continental shelf and compared reasonably well with the mooring measurements at the downstream station. The shoaling, turning, and dissipation of large internal waves on the shelf break, elevation solitons, and wave-wave interaction have been studied and are very important issues for acoustic propagation. The internal wave effects on acoustic modal coupling has been implicated and discussed.

Liu, Antony↗