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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

Fracture modes of high modulus graphite/epoxy angleplied laminates subjected to off-axis tensile loads

Angleplied laminates of high modulus graphite fiber/epoxy were examined in several ply configurations at various tensile loading angles to the zero ply direction to determine the effects of ply orientations on tensile properties, fracture modes, and fracture surface characteristics of the various plies. Experimental results consist of stress-strain data, selected plots, fracture stresses and strains, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs of fracture surfaces. It was found that the stress-strain curves were linear to fracture, and that although fracture surface characteristics for a given fracture mode are similar to those for the same fracture mode in uniaxial specimens, no simple load angle range can be associated with a given fracture mode. It was also concluded that SEM results must be supplemented with ply stress calculations in order to identify ranges of fracture modes occurring as a function of ply orientation with respect to the load direction.

Sinclair, J. H.↗

A system reliability analysis for stand-by spares with non-zero unpowered failure rates

Equations which define the reliability of n-fold parallel systems with stand-by spares, and triply redundant, majority-voting systems with stand-by spares have been derived. The stand-by spares have been assumed to have a non-zero failure rate while in the stand-by mode. A Monte Carlo system simulation has been generated and the results compared to the theoretical reliability predictions. A comparison of these two stand-by configurations is also presented for three through six total units.

Taylor, D. S.↗

Illustration of airfoil shape effect on forward-swept wing divergence

A static aeroelastic analysis is presented of the divergence of untapered wings with conventional and supercritical airfoil sections at sweep angles of zero and -15 deg. One bending and one torsion mode were employed for a uniform rectangular cantilevered beam with the elastic axis at midchord, and calculations were based on a two-dimensional differential equations formulation in the structural coordinate system and in simple strip theory. A minimum divergence speed in the transonic range is obtained which is associated with the rearward shift of the aerodynamic center, and a 17% difference in minimum divergence dynamic pressure is found between a supercritical and a conventional wing. It is noted that although the strip method employed allows the assessment of the sensitivity of airfoil shapes to divergence, three-dimensional transonic aerodynamic methods should be used to predict wing divergence characteristics.

Bland, S. R.↗

On eigensolutions for discontinuous liners in a duct containing uniform mean flow

Sound attenuation in a rectangular acoustically lined duct containing uniform mean flow is analytically investigated using the generalized Wiener-Hopf technique. Uniqueness of the solution is enforced for lined sections of the finite axial extent by imposing edge conditions at the liner interface. Possible edge conditions are considered, including the Kutta condition, and the causal solution corresponding to edge conditions is considered the best choice. Solution methods such as the mode matching and singularity methods imply differing edge conditions, and results show that power attenuation is insensitive to the imposed edge conditions, although significant differences are observed for the reflection coefficient. The amplitude of the exponentially increasing instability mode in the lined section must be set to zero as a first approximation to the nonlinear situation, and results indicate that measurements of the reflection factor can be used to make a more definite decision about physically appropriate edge conditions.

Koch, W.↗

Control pole placement relationships

Using a simplified Large Space Structure (LSS) model, a technique was developed which gives algebraic relationships for the unconstrained poles. The relationships, which were obtained by this technique, are functions of the structural characteristics and the control gains. Extremely interesting relationships evolve for the case when the structural damping is zero. If the damping is zero, the constrained poles are uncoupled from the structural mode shapes. These relationships, which are derived for structural damping and without structural damping, provide new insight into the migration of the unconstrained poles for the CFPPS.

Ainsworth, O. R.↗

Research on diabatic initialization

The objective was to contribute to the improvement of the analyses of irrotational wind and moisture fields in the trophics through advancement in the technique of initialization by incorporating diabatic effects. Significant accomplishments made during the period May 1990 to April 1991 in the following areas are presented: (1) estimation of the uncertainty of daily synoptic analyses in the tropics; (2) normal modes of Laplace's tidal equations for zonal wavenumber zero; and (3) tropical initialization to ameliorate the spin-up problem of precipitation forecasts. The focus of current research and plans for next year are also presented.

Kasahara, Akira↗

Multistep matrix integrators for real-time simulation

An explicit linear multistep matrix-integration technique is presented for vector systems of ODEs which employs the stability region placement approach to permit the time-step to be chosen independently of system eigenvalues. Closed-form solutions for the general p-step method and the case where the system matrix has zero eigenvalues are given. It is shown that system mode shapes are preserved over the integration process, and that the technique remains applicable to systems with eigenvalues at their origin without need for computing a matrix inversion.

De Abreu-Garcia, J. A.↗

Design of aberrationless aspheric unstable resonators

We present a method for designing aspheric mirrors for unstable-resonator lasers to yield an arbitrary laser mode inside the resonator. Both analytical and numerical examples are given of aberration-compensated resonators, including solid resonators whose modes on refraction through the output coupler have identical zero spherical aberration.

Lang, Robert J.↗

Analysis of ripple formation in single crystal spot welds

Stationary spot welds have been made at the (001) surface of Fe-l5%Ni-15%Cr single crystals using a Gas Tungsten Arc (GTA). On the top surface of the spot welds, very regular and concentric ripples were observed after solidification by differential interference color microscopy. Their height (typically 1--5 micrometers and spacing, typically approximately 60 micrometers) decreased with the radius of the pool. These ripples were successfully accounted for in terms of capillary-wave theory using the fundamental mode frequency f(sub 0) given by the first zero of the zero-order Bessel function. The spacing d between the ripples was then equated to v(sub s)/f(sub 0), where v(sub s) is the solidification rate. From the measured ripple spacing, the velocity of the pool was deduced as a function of the radius, and this velocity was in good agreement with the results of a heat-flow simulation.

Rappaz, M.↗

Transition Analysis for the HIFiRE-1 Flight Experiment

The HIFiRE-1 flight experiment provided a valuable database pertaining to boundary layer transition over a 7-degree half-angle, circular cone model from supersonic to hypersonic Mach numbers, and a range of Reynolds numbers and angles of incidence. This paper reports the initial findings from the ongoing computational analysis pertaining to the measured in-flight transition behavior. Transition during the ascent phase at nearly zero degree angle of attack is dominated by second mode instabilities except in the vicinity of the cone meridian where a roughness element was placed midway along the length of the cone. The first mode instabilities were found to be weak at all trajectory points analyzed from the ascent phase. For times less than approximately 18.5 seconds into the flight, the peak amplification ratio for second mode disturbances is sufficiently small because of the lower Mach numbers at earlier times, so that the transition behavior inferred from the measurements is attributed to an unknown physical mechanism, potentially related to step discontinuities in surface height near the locations of a change in the surface material. Based on the time histories of temperature and/or heat flux at transducer locations within the aft portion of the cone, the onset of transition correlated with a linear PSE N-factor of approximately 14.

Li, Fei↗

Hypersonic Transition Analysis for HIFiRE Experiments

The HIFiRE-1 flight experiment provided a valuable database pertaining to boundary layer transition over a 7-degree half-angle, circular cone model from supersonic to hypersonic Mach numbers, and a range of Reynolds numbers and angles of attack. This paper reports selected findings from the ongoing computational analysis of the measured in-flight transition behavior. Transition during the ascent phase at nearly zero degree angle of attack is dominated by second mode instabilities except in the vicinity of the cone meridian where a roughness element was placed midway along the length of the cone. The growth of first mode instabilities is found to be weak at all trajectory points analyzed from the ascent phase. For times less than approximately 18.5 seconds into the flight, the peak amplification ratio for second mode disturbances is sufficiently small because of the lower Mach numbers at earlier times, so that the transition behavior inferred from the measurements is attributed to an unknown physical mechanism, potentially related to step discontinuities in surface height near the locations of a change in the surface material. Based on the time histories of temperature and/or heat flux at transducer locations within the aft portion of the cone, the onset of transition correlated with a linear N-factor, based on parabolized stability equations, of approximately 13. Due to the large angles of attack during the re-entry phase, crossflow instability may play a significant role in transition. Computations also indicate the presence of pronounced crossflow separation over a significant portion of the trajectory segment that is relevant to transition analysis.

Li, Fei↗

Stability Analysis for HIFiRE Experiments

The HIFiRE-1 flight experiment provided a valuable database pertaining to boundary layer transition over a 7-degree half-angle, circular cone model from supersonic to hypersonic Mach numbers, and a range of Reynolds numbers and angles of attack. This paper reports selected findings from the ongoing computational analysis of the measured in-flight transition behavior. Transition during the ascent phase at nearly zero degree angle of attack is dominated by second mode instabilities except in the vicinity of the cone meridian where a roughness element was placed midway along the length of the cone. The growth of first mode instabilities is found to be weak at all trajectory points analyzed from the ascent phase. For times less than approximately 18.5 seconds into the flight, the peak amplification ratio for second mode disturbances is sufficiently small because of the lower Mach numbers at earlier times, so that the transition behavior inferred from the measurements is attributed to an unknown physical mechanism, potentially related to step discontinuities in surface height near the locations of a change in the surface material. Based on the time histories of temperature and/or heat flux at transducer locations within the aft portion of the cone, the onset of transition correlated with a linear N-factor, based on parabolized stability equations, of approximately 13.5. Due to the large angles of attack during the re-entry phase, crossflow instability may play a significant role in transition. Computations also indicate the presence of pronounced crossflow separation over a significant portion of the trajectory segment that is relevant to transition analysis. The transition behavior during this re-entry segment of HIFiRE-1 flight shares some common features with the predicted transition front along the elliptic cone shaped HIFiRE-5 flight article, which was designed to provide hypersonic transition data for a fully 3D geometric configuration. To compare and contrast the crossflow dominated transition over the HIFiRE-1 and HIFiRE-5 configurations, this paper also analyzes boundary layer instabilities over a subscale model of the HIFiRE-5 flight configuration that was tested in the Mach 6 quiet tunnel facility at Purdue University.

Li, Fei↗

Interferometric Quantum-Nondemolition Single-Photon Detectors

Two interferometric quantum-nondemolition (QND) devices have been proposed: (1) a polarization-independent device and (2) a polarization-preserving device. The prolarization-independent device works on an input state of up to two photons, whereas the polarization-preserving device works on a superposition of vacuum and single- photon states. The overall function of the device would be to probabilistically generate a unique detector output only when its input electromagnetic mode was populated by a single photon, in which case its output mode would also be populated by a single photon. Like other QND devices, the proposed devices are potentially useful for a variety of applications, including such areas of NASA interest as quantum computing, quantum communication, detection of gravity waves, as well as pedagogical demonstrations of the quantum nature of light. Many protocols in quantum computation and quantum communication require the possibility of detecting a photon without destroying it. The only prior single- photon-detecting QND device is based on quantum electrodynamics in a resonant cavity and, as such, it depends on the photon frequency. Moreover, the prior device can distinguish only between one photon and no photon. The proposed interferometric QND devices would not depend on frequency and could distinguish between (a) one photon and (b) zero or two photons. The first proposed device is depicted schematically in Figure 1. The input electromagnetic mode would be a superposition of a zero-, a one-, and a two-photon quantum state. The overall function of the device would be to probabilistically generate a unique detector output only when its input electromagnetic mode was populated by a single photon, in which case its output mode also would be populated by a single photon.

Kok, Peter↗

Orbiting chains and rings

Two very different, highly flexible, space structures proposed during the last decade which involve analytical solution of certain partial differential equations are discussed. The first structure is an array, or hanging chain of aluminum beads which would serve as a convenient communicator if, under the influence of the Earth's gravity gradient, it assumes a local vertical orientation as it circles the Earth. Two passive schemes have been proposed for damping the rigid modes: twist the wire at the ends to provide non-zero moment of inertia about the vertical, thereby inducing relative motion of the two tips during rigid pitch or roll, and thus exercising a damper; and introduce weak lossy springs between the end sections and the main section; thereby providing linear coupling between the springs and all the in-plane (pitch) modes. The second structure is a complete ring of satellites cabled together at synchronous altitude. By a slight increase in altitude, the cable is in tension. This configuration is, however, unstable, and an active feedback control scheme is required to stabilize it. A possible scheme involves local cable length adjustment based on measurement of local altitude and shape variations and their rates.

Breakwell, J. V.↗

Morphological instability in rapid directional solidification

Mullins and Sekerka (1964) showed for fixed temperature gradient that the planar interface is linearly stable for all pulling speeds V above some critical value, the absolute stability limit. Near this limit, where solidification rates are rapid, the assumption of local equilibrium at the interface may be violated. Here, nonequilibrium effects are incorporated into a linear stability analysis of the planar front by allowing the segregation coefficient and interface temperature to depend on V in a thermodynamically consistent way. The absolute stability limit of the cellular mode is modified. A new oscillatory state is formed which, in the absence of latent heat, has a critical wavenumber of zero; by itself this instability would lead to the formation of solute bands in the solid. This mode has its own absolute-stability limit determined by solute trapping and kinetics. Under certain conditions, there exists a window of stability above the steady absolute-stability boundary and below the oscillatory-stability boundary; here the planar segregation-free state is restabilized.

Merchant, G. J.↗

Fracture modes of high modulus graphite/epoxy angleplied laminates subjected to off-axis tensile loads

Angelplied laminates of high modulus graphite fiber/epoxy were studied in several ply configurations at various tensile loading angles to the zero ply direction in order to determine the effects of ply orientations on tensile properties, fracture modes, and fracture surface characteristics of the various plies. It was found that fracture modes in the plies of angleplied laminates can be characterized by scanning electron microscope observation. The characteristics for a given fracture mode are similar to those for the same fracture mode in unidirectional specimens. However, no simple load angle range can be associated with a given fracture mode.

Sinclair, J. H.↗

Floating reference frames for flexible spacecraft

Floating reference frames which move with the flexible body under dynamic analysis offer the advantages of a linear vibration analysis in the presence of large system rotations. When the deformations of an elastic continuum are expanded in terms of the free-free modes on an unconstrained system, the rigid body modes are found to be fixed in a reference frame called the Tisserand frame, with respect to which the relative momentum is zero. This result also guarantees the independence of small variations of frame motions and coordinates for all modes with nonzero natural frequencies, a condition which can greatly simplify the formulation of equations of motion. A Modified Tisserand Constraint is introduced in order to define a floating reference frame with similar properties for an elastic body which contains spinning rotors.

Canavin, J. R.↗

Transonic single-mode flutter and buffet of a low aspect ratio wing having a subsonic airfoil shape

Transonic flutter and buffet results obtained from wind-tunnel tests of a low aspect ratio semispan wing model are presented. The tests were conducted to investigate potential transonic aeroelastic problems of vehicles having subsonic airfoil sections. The model employed NACA 00XX-64 airfoil sections in the streamwise direction and had a 14 deg leading edge sweep angle. Aspect ratio, and average thickness were 4.0, 0.35, and 8 percent, respectively. The model was tested at Mach numbers from 0.6 to 0.95 at angles of attack from 0 deg to 15 deg. Two zero lift flutter conditions were found that involved essentially single normal mode vibrations. With boundary layer trips on the model, flutter occurred in a narrow Mach number range centered at about Mach 0.90. The frequency and motion of this flutter were like that of the first normal mode vibration. With the trips removed flutter occurred at a slightly high Mach number but in a mode strongly resembling that of the second normal mode.

Erickson, L. L.↗