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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 1,657 records · Page 92

Analysis of the Effects of Streamwise Lift Distribution on Sonic Boom Signature

The streamwise lift distribution of a wing-canard-stabilator-body configuration was varied to study its effect on the near-field sonic boom signature. The investigation was carried out via solving the three-dimensional Euler equation with the OVERFLOW-2 flow solver. The computational meshes were created using the Chimera overset grid topology. The lift distribution was varied by first deflecting the canard then trimming the aircraft with the wing and the stabilator while maintaining constant lift coefficient of 0.05. A validation study using experimental results was also performed to determine required grid resolution and appropriate numerical scheme. A wide range of streamwise lift distribution was simulated. The result shows that the longitudinal wave propagation speed can be controlled through lift distribution thus controlling the shock coalescence.

Yoo, Seung Yeun (Paul)↗

Slat Noise Predictions Using Higher-Order Finite-Difference Methods on Overset Grids

Computational aeroacoustic simulations using the structured overset grid approach and higher-order finite difference methods within the Launch Ascent and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA) solver framework are presented for slat noise predictions. The simulations are part of a collaborative study comparing noise generation mechanisms between a conventional slat and a Krueger leading edge flap. Simulation results are compared with experimental data acquired during an aeroacoustic test in the NASA Langley Quiet Flow Facility. Details of the structured overset grid, numerical discretization, and turbulence model are provided.

Overset Grids↗

HLPW-4/GMGW-3: Overview and Workshop Summary

The Fourth AIAA CFD High Lift Prediction Workshop and the Third Geometry and Mesh Generation Workshop were held collaboratively with the common goal of assessing the numerical prediction capability of current-generation computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology for swept, medium/high-aspect-ratio wings in high-lift configurations. A key aspect of this joint endeavor was the use of Technology Focus Groups, an innovative new approach for workshops involving close collaboration between participants. These groups, which included both mesh generation and flow solver experts, worked to accelerate advancements for their particular methodologies by addressing key questions of importance {\em prior} to the workshop. The high-lift version of the NASA Common Research Model (CRM-HL) configuration was the focus of this workshop. Measured experimental wind tunnel data were available for comparison. The workshop also included a two-dimensional turbulence model verification exercise based on the CRM-HL wing shape. Altogether, 44 participants submitted a total of 184 data sets of CFD results. This paper provides a high-level summary of the results and conclusions from the workshop. Like at past workshops, fixed-grid Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes continued to be inaccurate and inconsistent for high lift. However, mesh adaptation definitively brought more consistency. Scale-resolving methods appeared most promising for predicting high-lift flow physics.

Christopher L Rumsey↗

Numerical prediction of the decline of the shale gas production rate with considering the geomechanical effects based on the two-part Hooke’s model

The production rate of a typical shale gas well generally has steep decline trend at the initial stage but small declines at later times. Some empirical relationships have been proposed to describe the declining production rates and thus forecast the final cumulative production of a shale gas well. However, these empirical relationships can hardly elucidate the mechanisms that cause the special shale gas production trend. In this paper, a novel two-part Hooke’s model (TPHM) for the permeability and effective stress relationship is developed and incorporated into the hydro-mechanical COMSOL solver to determine the production rate of shale gas wells against time. The TPHM conceptualizes shale rock into soft part and hard part, which comply with the natural-strain-based and engineering-strain-based Hooke’s laws, respectively, and contribute differently to the decreasing permeability with increasing effective stresses. The simulation results are analyzed and compared with those for which the permeability change effect is not considered. Finally, the analysis indicates that the decrease in stress-induced permeability plays a non-negligible part in the decline of the production rate.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Solution of elliptic partial differential equations by fast Poisson solvers using a local relaxation factor. 1: One-step method

An algorithm for solving a large class of two- and three-dimensional nonseparable elliptic partial differential equations (PDE's) is developed and tested. It uses a modified D'Yakanov-Gunn iterative procedure in which the relaxation factor is grid-point dependent. It is easy to implement and applicable to a variety of boundary conditions. It is also computationally efficient, as indicated by the results of numerical comparisons with other established methods. Furthermore, the current algorithm has the advantage of possessing two important properties which the traditional iterative methods lack; that is: (1) the convergence rate is relatively insensitive to grid-cell size and aspect ratio, and (2) the convergence rate can be easily estimated by using the coefficient of the PDE being solved.

Chang, S. C.↗

Development of a time-dependent incompressible Navier-Stokes solver based on a fractional-step method

The main goals are the development, validation, and application of a fractional step solution method of the time-dependent incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in generalized coordinate systems. A solution method that combines a finite volume discretization with a novel choice of the dependent variables and a fractional step splitting to obtain accurate solutions in arbitrary geometries is extended to include more general situations, including cases with moving grids. The numerical techniques are enhanced to gain efficiency and generality.

Rosenfeld, Moshe↗

External Boundary Conditions for Three-Dimensional Problems of Computational Aerodynamics

We consider an unbounded steady-state flow of viscous fluid over a three-dimensional finite body or configuration of bodies. For the purpose of solving this flow problem numerically, we discretize the governing equations (Navier-Stokes) on a finite-difference grid. The grid obviously cannot stretch from the body up to infinity, because the number of the discrete variables in that case would not be finite. Therefore, prior to the discretization we truncate the original unbounded flow domain by introducing some artificial computational boundary at a finite distance of the body. Typically, the artificial boundary is introduced in a natural way as the external boundary of the domain covered by the grid. The flow problem formulated only on the finite computational domain rather than on the original infinite domain is clearly subdefinite unless some artificial boundary conditions (ABC's) are specified at the external computational boundary. Similarly, the discretized flow problem is subdefinite (i.e., lacks equations with respect to unknowns) unless a special closing procedure is implemented at this artificial boundary. The closing procedure in the discrete case is called the ABC's as well. In this paper, we present an innovative approach to constructing highly accurate ABC's for three-dimensional flow computations. The approach extends our previous technique developed for the two-dimensional case; it employs the finite-difference counterparts to Calderon's pseudodifferential boundary projections calculated in the framework of the difference potentials method (DPM) by Ryaben'kii. The resulting ABC's appear spatially nonlocal but particularly easy to implement along with the existing solvers. The new boundary conditions have been successfully combined with the NASA-developed production code TLNS3D and used for the analysis of wing-shaped configurations in subsonic (including incompressible limit) and transonic flow regimes. As demonstrated by the computational experiments and comparisons with the standard (local) methods, the DPM-based ABC's allow one to greatly reduce the size of the computational domain while still maintaining high accuracy of the numerical solution. Moreover, they may provide for a noticeable increase of the convergence rate of multigrid iterations.

Tsynkov, Semyon V.↗

A stochastic solver based on the residence time algorithm for crystal plasticity models

Abstract The deformation of crystalline materials by dislocation motion takes place in discrete amounts determined by the Burgers vector. Dislocations may move individually or in bundles, potentially giving rise to intermittent slip. This confers plastic deformation with a certain degree of variability that can be interpreted as being caused by stochastic fluctuations in dislocation behavior. However, crystal plasticity (CP) models are almost always formulated in a continuum sense, assuming that fluctuations average out over large material volumes and/or cancel out due to multi-slip contributions. Nevertheless, plastic fluctuations are known to be important in confined volumes at or below the micron scale, at high temperatures, and under low strain rate/stress deformation conditions. Here, we develop a stochastic solver for CP models based on the residence-time algorithm that naturally captures plastic fluctuations by sampling among the set of active slip systems in the crystal. The method solves the evolution equations of explicit CP formulations, which are recast as stochastic ordinary differential equations and integrated discretely in time. The stochastic CP model is numerically stable by design and naturally breaks the symmetry of plastic slip by sampling among the active plastic shear rates with the correct probability. This can lead to phenomena such as intermittent slip or plastic localization without adding external symmetry-breaking operations to the model. The method is applied to body-centered cubic tungsten single crystals under a variety of temperatures, loading orientations, and imposed strain rates.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Positivity Limiters for Filtered Spectral Approximations of Linear Kinetic Transport Equations

We analyze the properties and compare the performance of several positivity limiters for spectral approximations with respect to the angular variable of linear transport equations. It is well-known that spectral methods suffer from the occurrence of (unphysical) negative spatial particle concentrations due to the fact that the underlying polynomial approximations are not always positive at the kinetic level. Positivity limiters address this defect by enforcing positivity of the polynomial approximation on a finite set of preselected points. With a proper PDE solver, they ensure positivity of the particle concentration at each step in a time integration scheme. We review several known positivity limiters proposed in other contexts and also introduce a modification for one of them. We give error estimates for the consistency of the positive approximations produced by these limiters and compare the theoretical estimates to numerical results. We then solve two benchmark problems with these limiters, make qualitative and quantitative observations about the solutions, and then compare the efficiency of the different limiters.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A COMPARISON OF TRANSIENT INFINITE ELEMENTS AND TRANSIENT KIRCHHOFF INTEGRAL METHODS FOR FAR FIELD ACOUSTIC ANALYSIS

Finite element analysis of transient acoustic phenomena on unbounded exterior domains is very common in engineering analysis. In these problems there is a common need to compute the acoustic pressure at points outside of the acoustic mesh, since meshing to points of interest is impractical in many scenarios. In aeroacoustic calculations, for example, the acoustic pressure may be required at tens or hundreds of meters from the structure. In these cases, a method is needed for post-processing the acoustic results to compute the response at far-field points. In this paper, we compare two methods for computing far-field acoustic pressures, one derived directly from the infinite element solution, and the other from the transient version of the Kirchhoff integral. Here, we show that the infinite element approach alleviates the large storage requirements that are typical of Kirchhoff integral and related procedures, and also does not suffer from loss of accuracy that is an inherent part of computing numerical derivatives in the Kirchhoff integral. In order to further speed up and streamline the process of computing the acoustic response at points outside of the mesh, we also address the nonlinear iterative procedure needed for locating parametric coordinates within the host infinite element of far-field points, the parallelization of the overall process, linear solver requirements, and system stability considerations.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Solution of elliptic PDEs by fast Poisson solvers using a local relaxation factor

A large class of two- and three-dimensional, nonseparable elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs) is presently solved by means of novel one-step (D'Yakanov-Gunn) and two-step (accelerated one-step) iterative procedures, using a local, discrete Fourier analysis. In addition to being easily implemented and applicable to a variety of boundary conditions, these procedures are found to be computationally efficient on the basis of the results of numerical comparison with other established methods, which lack the present one's: (1) insensitivity to grid cell size and aspect ratio, and (2) ease of convergence rate estimation by means of the coefficient of the PDE being solved. The two-step procedure is numerically demonstrated to outperform the one-step procedure in the case of PDEs with variable coefficients.

Chang, Sin-Chung↗

Theory of multicolor lattice gas - A cellular automaton Poisson solver

The present class of models for cellular automata involving a quiescent hydrodynamic lattice gas with multiple-valued passive labels termed 'colors', the lattice collisions change individual particle colors while preserving net color. The rigorous proofs of the multicolor lattice gases' essential features are rendered more tractable by an equivalent subparticle representation in which the color is represented by underlying two-state 'spins'. Schemes for the introduction of Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions are described, and two illustrative numerical test cases are used to verify the theory. The lattice gas model is equivalent to a Poisson equation solution.

Chen, H.↗

Analysis of a pneumatic forebody flow control concept about a full aircraft geometry

A full aircraft geometry is used to computationally analyze the effectiveness of a pneumatic forebody flow control concept. An overset grid technique is employed to model the aircraft and slot geometry. Steady-state solutions for both isolated forebody and full aircraft configurations are carried out using a thin-layer Navier-Stokes flow solver. A solution obtained using the full aircraft geometry and a flight sideslip condition investigates the effect of sideslip on the leading edge extention vortex burst point. A no-sideslip blowing solution using the isolated forebody at full-scale wind tunnel test conditions is compared with experimental data to determine the accuracy of the numerical method. A solution employing the full geometry and slot blowing at flight conditions is obtained.

Gee, Ken↗

Simulations of Coupled Shoulder Ablation of A Conceptual Aeroshell

The current study explores coupled numerical simulations of flow dynamics and material response affect ablation of the shoulder region of an entry capsule used in space missions like the Mars Sample Return (MSR) project. A new computational tool named Ares, developed at NASA Ames Research Center, is applied to carry out the coupled simulations by interconnecting well-established US3D (flow solver) and Icarus (material response solver), and the material considered is three-dimensional mid-density carbon phenolic (3MDCP). Particularly, this work extends the uncoupled analysis of Shrestha et al. 2022 by incorporating the coupling mechanism across the ablating surface between fluid and the capsule geometry. For simplicity, an axisymmetric geometry of the entry system is considered. A few mission-relevant parametric studies such as angles of orientation of the material layers with respect to the streamwise direction, backshell boundary conditions, and alternation of convective heat-transfer coefficients are investigated to essentially explore Ares capability with the primary focus on shoulder location.

Coupled Ablation Modeling↗

Numerical Experiments of Counterflowiing Jet Effects on Supersonic Slender-Body Configurations

Previous studies have demonstrated that the use of counterflowing jets can greatly reduce the drag and heat loads on blunt-body geometries, especially when the long penetration mode jet condition can be established. Previously, the authors had done some preliminary numerical studies to determine the ability to establish long penetration mode jets on a typical Mach 1.6 slender configuration, and study its impact on the boom signature. The results indicated that a jet with a longer penetration length was required to achieve any impact on the boom signature of a typical Mach 1.6 slender configuration. This paper focuses on an in-depth parametric study, done using the space-time conservation element solution element Navier-Stokes flow solver, for investigating the effect of various counterflowing jet conditions/configurations on two supersonic slender-body models (cone-cylinder and quartic body of revolution). The study is aimed at gaining a better understanding of the relationship between the shock penetration length and reduction of drag and boom signature for these two supersonic slender-body configurations. Different jet flow rates, Mach numbers, nozzle jet exit diameters and jet-to-base diameter ratios were examined. The results show the characteristics of a short-to-long-to-short penetration-mode pattern with the increase of jet mass flow rates, observed across various counterflowing jet nozzle configurations. Though the optimal shock penetration length for potential boom-signature mitigation is tied to the long penetration mode, it often results in a very unsteady flow and leads to large oscillations of surface pressure and drag. Furthermore, depending on the geometry of the slender body, longer jet penetration did not always result in maximum drag reduction. For the quartic geometry, the maximum drag reduction corresponds well to the longest shock penetration length, while this was not the case for the cone-cylinder-as the geometry was already optimized for drag. Numerical results and assessments obtained from this parametric study along with the recommendation for future implementation of counterflowing jets as a means for drag and noise reduction are detailed in this paper.

Venkatachari, Balaji Shankar↗

Application of the inverse fast multipole method as a preconditioner in a 3D Helmholtz boundary element method

Here we investigate an efficient preconditioning of iterative methods (such as GMRES) for solving dense linear systems Ax = b that follow from a boundary element method (BEM) for the 3D Helmholtz equation, focusing on the low-frequency regime. While matrix–vector products in GMRES can be accelerated through the low-frequency fast multipole method (LFFMM), the BEM often remains computationally expensive due to the large number of GMRES iterations. We propose the application of the inverse fast multipole method (IFMM) as a preconditioner to accelerate the convergence of GMRES. The IFMM is in essence an approximate direct solver that uses a multilevel hierarchical decomposition and low-rank approximations. The proposed IFMM-based preconditioning has a tunable parameter ε that balances the cost to construct a preconditioner M, which is an approximation of A -1 , and the cost to perform the iterative process by means of M. Namely, using a small (respectively, large) value of ε takes a long (respectively, short) time to construct M, while the number of iterations can be small (respectively, large). A comprehensive set of numerical examples involving various boundary value problems with complicated geometries and mixed boundary conditions is presented to validate the efficiency of the proposed method. We show that the IFMM preconditioner (with a nearly optimal ε of 10 -2 ) clearly outperforms some common preconditioners for the BEM, achieving 1.2–10.8 times speed-up of the computations, in particular when the scale of the underlying scatterer is about five wavelengths or more. In addition, the IFMM preconditioner is capable of solving complicated problems (in a reasonable amount of time) that BD preconditioner can not.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

An Early Investigation of the HHL Quantum Linear Solver for Scientific Applications

In this paper, we explore using the Harrow–Hassidim–Lloyd (HHL) algorithm to address scientific and engineering problems through quantum computing, utilizing the NWQSim simulation package on a high-performance computing platform. Focusing on domains such as power-grid management and climate projection, we demonstrate the correlations of the accuracy of quantum phase estimation, along with various properties of coefficient matrices, on the final solution and quantum resource cost in iterative and non-iterative numerical methods such as the Newton–Raphson method and finite difference method, as well as their impacts on quantum error correction costs using the Microsoft Azure Quantum resource estimator. We summarize the exponential resource cost from quantum phase estimation before and after quantum error correction and illustrate a potential way to reduce the demands on physical qubits. This work lays down a preliminary step for future investigations, urging a closer examination of quantum algorithms’ scalability and efficiency in domain applications.

hybrid software for QC-HPC↗

A matrix-free approach for finite-strain hyperelastic problems using geometric multigrid

This paper investigates matrix-free algorithms for problems in quasi-static finite-strain hyperelasticity. Iterative solvers with matrix-free operator evaluation have emerged as an attractive alternative to sparse matrices in the fluid dynamics and wave propagation communities because they significantly reduce the memory traffic, the limiting factor in classical finite element solvers. Specifically, we study different matrix-free realizations of the finite element tangent operator and determine whether generalized methods of incorporating complex constitutive behavior might be feasible. Furthermore, in order to improve the convergence behavior of iterative solvers, we also propose a method by which to construct level tangent operators and employ them to define a geometric multigrid preconditioner. Additionally, the performance of the matrix-free operator and the geometric multigrid preconditioner is compared to the matrix-based implementation with an algebraic multigrid (AMG) preconditioner on a single node for a representative numerical example of a heterogeneous hyperelastic material in two and three dimensions. We find that matrix-free methods for finite-strain solid mechanics are very promising, outperforming linear matrix-based schemes by two to five times, and that it is possible to develop numerically efficient implementations that are independent of the hyperelastic constitutive law.

42 ENGINEERING↗