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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Universal Keplerian state transition matrix

A completely general method for computing the Keplerian state transition matrix in terms of Goodyear's universal variables is presented. This includes a new scheme for solving Kepler's problem which is a necessary first step to computing the transition matrix. The Kepler problem is solved in terms of a new independent variable requiring the evaluation of only one transcendental function. Furthermore, this transcendental function may be conveniently evaluated by means of a Gaussian continued fraction.

Shepperd, S. W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The transition prediction toolkit: LST, SIT, PSE, DNS, and LES

The e(sup N) method for predicting transition onset is an amplitude ratio criterion that is on the verge of full maturation for three-dimensional, compressible, real gas flows. Many of the components for a more sophisticated, absolute amplitude criterion are now emerging: receptivity theory, secondary instability theory, parabolized stability equations approaches, direct numerical simulation and large-eddy simulation. This paper will provide a description of each of these new theoretical tools and provide indications of their current status.

Zang, Thomas A.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Comparison of Methods for Determining Boundary Layer Edge Conditions for Transition Correlations

Data previously obtained for the X-33 in the NASA Langley Research Center 20-Inch Mach 6 Air Tunnel have been reanalyzed to compare methods for determining boundary layer edge conditions for use in transition correlations. The experimental results were previously obtained utilizing the phosphor thermography technique to monitor the status of the boundary layer downstream of discrete roughness elements via global heat transfer images of the X-33 windward surface. A boundary layer transition correlation was previously developed for this data set using boundary layer edge conditions calculated using an inviscid/integral boundary layer approach. An algorithm was written in the present study to extract boundary layer edge quantities from higher fidelity viscous computational fluid dynamic solutions to develop transition correlations that account for viscous effects on vehicles of arbitrary complexity. The boundary layer transition correlation developed for the X-33 from the viscous solutions are compared to the previous boundary layer transition correlations. It is shown that the boundary layer edge conditions calculated using an inviscid/integral boundary layer approach are significantly different than those extracted from viscous computational fluid dynamic solutions. The present results demonstrate the differences obtained in correlating transition data using different computational methods.

Liechty, Derek S.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Analytical Flight Dynamic Model Development for eVTOL Aircraft

This paper presents an analytical flight dynamic model development method for a multi- rotor eVTOL aircraft in hover and transition flight. The method captures the analytical stability and control sensitivities of rotor unsteady aerodynamic loads about a trim solution generated by a rotorcraft aeromechanics comprehensive analysis tool. The rotor aerody- namic forces include circulatory and non-circulatory components to account for unsteady aerodynamics. The circulatory forces are corrected for unsteady aerodynamics using the time-domain approximation of Theodorsen’s function. The integrated flight dynamic model includes the rigid-body aircraft flight dynamics, inflow dynamics, unsteady aerodynamics, and blade pitch and rotor actuator dynamics. Stability analyses shows that the Lift+Cruise aircraft is statically unstable in roll and yaw axes and also dynamically unstable in hover. Closed-loop feedback control is necessary for stable hover flight.

rotorcraft↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Transition Modeling Based on the Dual N-factor Method for the CRM-NLF Wind Tunnel Configuration

The dual N-factor method is used to model the boundary-layer transition over the common research model with natural laminar flow (CRM-NLF) aircraft configuration. The flow conditions match selected test conditions from a wind tunnel experiment in the National Transonic Facility at the NASA Langley Research Center. The paper presents a systematic methodology for transition prediction in the presence of a dual shock system and extends the prior capability for iteratively coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions to incorporate three-dimensional, transonic wings. The method employs stability computations based on the linear parabolized stability equations (PSE), along with a dual N-factor criterion. The iterative process begins with the fully turbulent Reynolds-averaged-Navier-Stokes (RANS) mean flow solution. For the first iteration, a mean flow solution is calculated with an imposed transition front that aligns with the shock front from the fully turbulent solution. Subsequently, stability computations are performed along a set of streamlines across the wing to calculate the amplification of planar Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) and stationary crossflow (CF) modes. The transition criterion based on the dual N-factor method is used to infer the updated transition front and the process is successively repeated until convergence of the solution. Within three iterations, the predicted fronts for angles of attack of 1.45, 1.98, 2.46 and 2.94 degrees and a mean-aerodynamic-chord Reynolds number equal to 15 million, approach visual convergence in most regions of the studied cases, and the resulting predictions are in good agreement with the transition fronts deduced from measurements of temperature-sensitive paint. Even though surface pressure measurements based on fully-turbulent flow agree well with the measured pressure coefficient distributions, strong viscous-inviscid interaction effects cause significant shifts in the shock locations based on the imposed transition front, underscoring the intrusive nature of static pressure measurements using surface mounted ports on the CRM-NLF configuration.

Boundary Layer Transition↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Modeling Boundary-Layer Transition in Subsonic Flow over a Swept Wing

Predicting the onset of boundary-layer transition is often more accurate using physics-based models that directly compute disturbance growth rather than phenomenological models often implemented into industrial CFD codes. The aim of this ongoing study is to calibrate linear, physics-based computations of transition in subsonic flows over swept wings against a large set of experimental data. Advancing the calibration of linear models of transition contributes to the CFD-Vision-2030 goal of automated boundary-layer transition prediction. This progress report uses the dual N-factor method to model transition over the swept NACA 64-2-015A wing. The flow conditions match selected test conditions from an extensive experimental dataset acquired from the NASA Ames 12-ft Pressure Tunnel. The OVERFLOW 2.4b flow solver is used to obtain laminar basic states based on an infinite-span assumption. Stability analyses are performed on 365 distinct configurations with linear stability theory (LST) and parabolized stability equations (PSE) from the Langley Stability and Transition Analysis Codes (LASTRAC), modeling the growth of Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) and stationary crossflow (SCF) disturbances. From a total of 67 data points for unswept, i.e., TS-dominant configurations, the critical N-factor based on PSE is found to be N_TS = 9. The SCF critical N-factor is found to be near 8 for the highly swept, SCF-dominant configurations. Dual N-factor curves for both LST and PSE computations demonstrate a high level of interaction between TS and SCF. It may be worthwhile to investigate an alternate metric to visualize maximal SCF amplification upstream of the transition location to account for the growth of SCF modes near the leading edge, which is not considered in the conventional applications of the dual N-factor criterion.

boundary-layer transition↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Modeling Boundary-Layer Transition in Subsonic Flow over a Swept Wing

Predicting the onset of boundary-layer transition is often more accurate using physics-based models that directly compute disturbance growth rather than phenomenological models often implemented into industrial CFD codes. The aim of this ongoing study is to calibrate linear, physics-based computations of transition in subsonic flows over swept wings against a large set of experimental data. Advancing the calibration of linear models of transition contributes to the CFD-Vision-2030 goal of automated boundary-layer transition prediction. This progress report uses the dual N-factor method to model transition over the swept NACA 64-2-015A wing. The flow conditions match selected test conditions from an extensive experimental dataset acquired from the NASA Ames 12-ft Pressure Tunnel. The OVERFLOW 2.4b flow solver is used to obtain laminar basic states based on an infinite-span assumption. Stability analyses are performed on 365 distinct configurations with linear stability theory (LST) and parabolized stability equations (PSE) from the Langley Stability and Transition Analysis Codes (LASTRAC), modeling the growth of Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) and stationary crossflow (SCF) disturbances. From a total of 67 data points for unswept, i.e., TS-dominant configurations, the critical N-factor based on PSE is found to be N_TS = 9. The SCF critical N-factor is found to be near 8 for the highly swept, SCF-dominant configurations. Dual N-factor curves for both LST and PSE computations demonstrate a high level of interaction between TS and SCF. It may be worthwhile to investigate an alternate metric to visualize maximal SCF amplification upstream of the transition location to account for the growth of SCF modes near the leading edge, which is not considered in the conventional applications of the dual N-factor criterion.

computational modeling↗
DOE OSTI2026

A physics informed model for the prediction of surface energies and the shape of metal particles

Surface energies of metal-based systems are important for determining the Wulff-constructed shapes of metal nanoparticles and understanding the stability. We have developed a physics informed method to predict the total energy of metal-based systems across a wide range of configurations. Our method has been tested against density functional theory (DFT) calculations for late transition metals. This method enables on-the-fly surface energy predictions based on the fundamental of materials property and allows for the Wulff construction of metal particles for a random number of elemental atoms and without the need for DFT calculations. By making a division between atoms in the different layers of the model system, we can improve the accuracy of the model, suggesting a dissimilarity between the electronic structure due to an alternating compression and expansion of atomic layers. We find that our model accurately and effectively provides valuable insights into the distribution and stability of nanoparticles.

Mandal, Shyama Charan (ORCID:0000000245882874)↗
NASA NTRS1985

Shuttle glow emissions due to radiative relaxation of highly vibrationally excited NO molecules produced by surface reflection

A new mechanism is proposed for the Space Shuttle glow, which is due to the radiative relaxation of ambient nitric-oxide molecules that are excited to very high vibrational levels by collisions with the Shuttle surface. Many of the particles colliding with the Shuttle surface at a very high speed (about 8 km/sec) would bounce off, exciting vibrational and rotational motions of molecules up to the level of vibrational quantum number v not greater than 35. Radiative transfer from these high levels should cause emissions in the spectrum range from infrared (IR) to visible red depending upon the transition paths. A perturbation method is used to calculate the transition probability and the emission intensity for the transitions of Delta-v not greater than 4. The result indicates that the Delta-v not greater than 4 transitions from high vibrational levels dominates the other transitions; the Delta-v = 4 transitions generally occur at the IR range.

Shimazaki, T.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A study of methods to investigate nozzle boundary layer transition

To further investigate nozzle flow, numerical computations are employed. The computations produce complete flow velocity and temperature fields within the nozzle. As a check, these results can be compared with experimental data at the wall. Once an accurate numerical scheme has been validated, it can be used as a design tool to predict the performance of other nozzle designs without the cost of experimental testing. Typically, the numerical analysis assumes either a laminar boundary layer or a fully turbulent boundary layer which is steady and two-dimensional. Boundary layer transition is not considered. Computing both the completely laminar boundary layer and the completely turbulent boundary layer conditions gives the minimum and maximum wall heat flux possible for a specified geometry. When the experimental heat flux measurements lie between these two values, the nature of the boundary layer is unknown. The boundary layer may have transitioned from laminar to turbulent; three-dimensional structures may be present in the boundary layer, or the inlet flow conditions may not be correctly specified in the computation.

Pauley, Laura L.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Ligand Many-Body Expansion as a General Approach for Accelerating Transition Metal Complex Discovery

Methods that accelerate the evaluation of molecular properties are essential for chemical discovery. While some degree of ligand additivity has been established for transition metal complexes, it is underutilized in asymmetric complexes, such as the square pyramidal coordination geometries highly relevant to catalysis. To develop predictive methods beyond simple additivity, we apply a many-body expansion to octahedral and square pyramidal complexes and introduce a correction based on adjacent ligands (i.e., the cis interaction model). We first test the cis interaction model on adiabatic spin-splitting energies of octahedral Fe(II) complexes, predicting DFT-calculated values of unseen binary complexes to within an average of 1.4 kcal/mol. Uncertainty analysis reveals the optimal basis, comprising the homoleptic and mer symmetric complexes. We next show that the cis model (i.e., the cis interaction model solved for the optimal basis) infers both DFT- and CCSD(T)-calculated model catalytic reaction energies to within 1 kcal/mol on average. The cis model predicts low-symmetry complexes with reaction energies outside the range of binary complex reaction energies. We observe that trans interactions are unnecessary for most monodentate systems but can be important for some combinations of ligands, such as complexes containing a mixture of bidentate and monodentate ligands. Lastly, we demonstrate that the cis model may be combined with Δ-learning to predict CCSD(T) reaction energies from exhaustively calculated DFT reaction energies and the same fraction of CCSD(T) reaction energies needed for the cis model, achieving around 30% of the error from using the CCSD(T) reaction energies in the cis model alone.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Propagation method and planting density influence canopy developmental transition and biomass productivity in Miscanthus × giganteus

Understanding how establishment practices influence the mechanisms underlying Miscanthus × giganteus (miscanthus) productivity and canopy development is critical for optimizing management. Data was collected during the juvenile (2011–2013) and mature (2024) phases of a long-term field experiment established in Urbana, Illinois, to evaluate the effects of propagation method (plug propagation [PP] and rhizome propagation [RP]), planting density (1.0, 0.75, and 0.25 plants m⁻²), and nitrogen application (0 and 67 kg N ha⁻¹) on end-of-season biomass yield, tiller mass, tiller density, and tiller height. Linear regression models identified the dominant predictors of yield across stand ages and management regimes. Planting density, nitrogen (N) application, and propagation method significantly influenced early yield and canopy development. During the juvenile phase, biomass yield was driven by tiller density due to canopy expansion; in the mature phase, yield became driven by tiller mass. The PP plots produced higher tiller density than the RP plots, resulting in faster canopy closure and higher juvenile-phase yields. Rhizome-propagated (RP) plots produced lower tiller density, but individual tillers were 3.3–6.4 g tiller −1 heavier than PP tillers. After the canopy reached equilibrium, the PP and RP yields were similar because greater RP tiller mass compensated for its lower tiller density. Higher planting density resulted in greater yield and tiller density during the second year (2012), but this effect was absent from the third year (2013) onward. In the juvenile phase, N fertilization enhanced yield by 1.6–3.4 Mg ha −1 . Initiating fertilization in 2013 on unfertilized plots produced biomass similar to that in fertilized plots, suggesting yield recovery in the mature phase. These findings revealed that establishment strategies, including propagation method and planting density, influence juvenile miscanthus canopy development and productivity, transitioning from tiller-density- to mass-dominated yields, but not mature phase productivity.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS2012

Calibration of PCB-132 Sensors in a Shock Tube

While PCB-132 sensors have proven useful for measuring second-mode instability waves in many hypersonic wind tunnels, they are currently limited by their calibration. Until now, the factory calibration has been all that was available, which is a single-point calibration at an amplitude three orders of magnitude higher than a second-mode wave. In addition, little information has been available about the frequency response or spatial resolution of the sensors, which is important for measuring high-frequency instability waves. These shortcomings make it difficult to compare measurements at different conditions and between different sensors. If accurate quantitative measurements could be performed, comparisons of the growth and breakdown of instability waves could be made in different facilities, possibly leading to a method of predicting the amplitude at which the waves break down into turbulence, improving transition prediction. A method for calibrating the sensors is proposed using a newly-built shock tube at Purdue University. This shock tube, essentially a half-scale version of the 6-Inch shock tube at the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at Caltech, has been designed to attain a moderate vacuum in the driven section. Low driven pressures should allow the creation of very weak, yet still relatively thin shock waves. It is expected that static pressure rises within the range of second-mode amplitudes should be possible. The shock tube has been designed to create clean, planar shock waves with a laminar boundary layer to allow for accurate calibrations. Stronger shock waves can be used to identify the frequency response of the sensors out to hundreds of kilohertz.

Berridge, Dennis C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Multigrid methods and high order finite difference for flow in transition - Effects of isolated and distributed roughness elements

The high order finite difference and multigrid methods have been successfully applied to direct numerical simulation (DNS) for flow transition in 3D channels and 3D boundary layers with 2D and 3D isolated and distributed roughness in a curvilinear coordinate system. A fourth-order finite difference technique on stretched and staggered grids, a fully-implicit time marching scheme, a semicoarsening multigrid method associated with line distributive relaxation scheme, and a new treatment of the outflow boundary condition, which needs only a very short buffer domain to damp all wave reflection, are developed. These approaches make the multigrid DNS code very accurate and efficient. This makes us not only able to do spatial DNS for the 3D channel and flat plate at low computational costs, but also able to do spatial DNS for transition in the 3D boundary layer with 3D single and multiple roughness elements. Numerical results show good agreement with the linear stability theory, the secondary instability theory, and a number of laboratory experiments.

Liu, C.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

MEDLI2: MISP Inferred Aerothermal Environment and Flow Transition Assessment

The Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation 2 (MEDLI2) sensor suite on the Mars2020 mission contained multiple sensors on the aeroshell to measure the aerothermal environment during entry into the Martian atmosphere. These sensors performed superbly and successfully returned forebody and aftbody heating measurements. Analysis of MEDLI2 data indicated flow transitioning from a laminar to turbulent state on the heatshield. No evidence of flow transition was observed on the backshell. Two methods were used to estimate flow transition times on the heatshield: (1) temperature gradient of near-surface thermocouple data and (2) heat flux gradient from an inverse reconstruction approach using thermocouple data and material response modeling. Both methods produced similar transition times with an estimated accuracy of ±1 s. To assess various transition criteria, transition parameters were evaluated at each sensor location using flow field solutions from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The idea was to use conservative values inferred from MEDLI2 data as transition criteria for other Mars missions. To test this hypothesis, MEDLI data from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission was used to compare predicted vs. actual flow transition times. The comparisons suggest smooth wall transition criteria are not well-suited in modeling the rapid progression of a turbulent transition front. Transition criteria containing a roughness element parameter agreed better with the flight data. In summary, critical transition values derived from MEDLI2 data may be used as a starting point in constructing a flow transition model for future Mars missions.

Chun Y Tang↗