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A theoretical analysis is made of the error propagation due to numerical roundoff for four different Kalman filter implementations: the conventional Kalman filter, the square root covariance filter, the square root information filter, and the Chandrasekhar square root filter. An experimental analysis is performed to validate the new insights gained by the theoretical analysis.
Equations of motion for a three-bladed hingeless rotor coupled to a gimbal-supported fuselage are developed. A brief derivation of the equations is presented, including the assumptions made, the ordering scheme, and a discussion of both the source of the aerodynamic axial load term and the reason for differences due to hinge sequence. The solution of the equations is discussed, including linearization, the use of multiblade coordinates to eliminate periodic coefficients, and specialization to a root-sprung model. The treatment of the blade root offset by using an ordering scheme to neglect higher-order terms is found to affect results in pitch and roll. A small aerodynamic loading term in the blade axial direction has a significant effect at large collective pitch settings, as does the choice of a flap-lag or a lag-flap transformation sequence for blade motion. The results for a hingeless rotor also differ significantly from those for the root-sprung model when the nonrotating natural frequencies are matched.
An enhanced integrated aerodynamic load/dynamic optimization procedure is developed to minimize vibratory root shears and moments. The optimization is formulated with 4/rev vertical and 3/rev inplane shears at the blade root as objective functions and constraints, and 4/rev lagging moment. Constraints are also imposed on blade natural frequencies, weight, autorotational inertia, centrifugal stress, and rotor thrust. The 'Global Criteria Approach' is used for formulating the multi-objective optimization. Design variables include spanwise distributions of bending stiffnesses, torsional stiffness, nonstructural mass, chord, radius of gyration, and blade taper ratio. The program CAMRAD is coupled with an optimizer, which consists of the program CONMIN and an approximate analysis, to obtain optimum designs. The optimization procedure is applied to an advanced rotor as a reference design. Optimum blade designs, obtained with and without a constraint on the rotor thrust, are presented and are compared to the reference blade. Substantial reductions are obtained in the vibratory root forces and moments. As a byproduct, improvements are also found in some performance parameters, such as total power required, which were not considered during optimization.
Low-contact-ratio spur gears were tested in NASA gear-noise-rig to study gear dynamics including dynamic load, tooth bending stress, vibration, and noise. The experimental results were compared with a NASA gear dynamics code to validate the code as a design tool for predicting transmission vibration and noise. Analytical predictions and experimental data for gear-tooth dynamic loads and tooth-root bending stress were compared at 28 operating conditions. Strain gage data were used to compute the normal load between meshing teeth and the bending stress at the tooth root for direct comparison with the analysis. The computed and measured waveforms for dynamic load and stress were compared for several test conditions. These are very similar in shape, which means the analysis successfully simulates the physical behavior of the test gears. The predicted peak value of the dynamic load agrees with the measurement results within an average error of 4.9 percent except at low-torque, high-speed conditions. Predictions of peak dynamic root stress are generally within 10 to 15 percent of the measured values.
An enhanced integrated aerodynamic load/dynamic optimization procedure is developed to minimize vibratory root shears and moments. The optimization is formulated with 4/rev vertical and 3/rev inplane shears at the blade root as objective functions and constraints, and 4/rev lagging moment. Constraints are also imposed on blade natural frequencies, weight, autorotational inertia, contrifugal stress, and rotor thrust. The Global Criteria Approach is used for formulating the multi-objective optimization. Design variables include spanwise distributions of bending stiffnesses, torsional stiffness, nonstructural mass, chord, radius of gyration, and blade taper ratio. The program CAMRAD is coupled with an optimizer, which consists of the program CONMIN and an approximate analysis, to obtain optimum designs. The optimization procedure is applied to an advanced rotor as a reference design. Optimum blade designs, obtained with and without a constraint on the rotor thrust, are presented and are compared to the reference blade. Substantial reductions are obtained in the vibratory root forces and moments. As a byproduct, improvements are also found in some performance parameters, such as total power required, which were not considered during optimization.
Channels left in soil by decayed roots and burrowing animals allow organic and inorganic precipitates and detritus to move through soil from above, to depths at which the minuteness of pores restricts further passage. Consecutive translocation-and-root-growth phases stir the soil, constituting an invasive, dilatational process which generates cumulative strains. Below the depths thus affected, mineral dissolution by descending organic acids leads to internal collapse; this softened/condensed precursor horizon is then transformed into soil via biological activity that mixes and expands the evolving residuum through root and micropore-network invasion.
The invention is a method for measuring the wavelength of cross-flow vortices of air flow having streamlines of flow traveling across a swept airfoil. The method comprises providing a plurality of hot-film sensors. Each hot-film sensor provides a signal which can be processed, and each hot-film sensor is spaced in a straight-line array such that the distance between successive hot-film sensors is less than the wavelength of the cross-flow vortices being measured. The method further comprises determining the direction of travel of the streamlines across the airfoil and positioning the straight-line array of hot film sensors perpendicular to the direction of travel of the streamlines, such that each sensor has a spanwise location. The method further comprises processing the signals provided by the sensors to provide root-mean-square values for each signal, plotting each root-mean-square value as a function of its spanwise location, and determining the wavelength of the cross-flow vortices by noting the distance between two maxima or two minima of root-mean-square values.
Results are presented for the minimum weight design of SR2 unswept blade made of (titanium/graphite-epoxy/titanium) sub s fiber composite. The blade which is rotating at high RPM is subject to ice impact. The root chord length, blade thicknesses at five stations, and graphite-epoxy ply orientation are chosen as design variables. Design constraints are placed on the behavior variables: local leading edge strain and root damage parameter (combined stress failure criteria) as a function due to ice impact, maximum spanwise centrifugal stress at the root of the deformed blade due to local damage, first three natural frequencies, and resonance margin after impact. The method of feasible directions is employed to solve the inequality constrained minimization problem. The effect of ice speed and the ice impact location on the final design are discussed.
In this paper, results are presented for the minimum weight design of SR2 unswept blade made of (Titanium/Graphite-Epoxy/Titanium)s fiber composite. The blade which is rotating at high RPM is subject to ice impact. The root chord length, blade thicknesses at five stations, and graphite-epoxy ply orientation are chosen as design variables. The design constraints are placed on the behavior variables: leading edge strain and root damage parameter due to ice impact, maximum post-impact bending stress at the root due to rotation, first three natural frequencies and resonance margin after impact. The method of feasible directions is employed to solve the inequality constrained minimization problem. The effect of ice speed and the ice impact location on the final design are discussed.
NASA's research with foliage houseplants during the past 10 years has produced a new concept in indoor air quality improvement. This new and exciting technology is quite simple. Both plant leaves and roots are utilized in removing trace levels of toxic vapors from inside tightly sealed buildings. Low levels of chemicals such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde can be removed from indoor environments by plant leaves alone, while higher concentrations of numerous toxic chemicals can be removed by filtering indoor air through the plant roots surrounded by activated carbon. The activated carbon absorbs large quantities of the toxic chemicals and retains them until the plant roots and associated microorganisms degrade and assimilate these chemicals.
In this study, the leaves, roots, soil, and associated microorganisms of plants have been evaluated as a possible means of reducing indoor air pollutants. Additionally, a novel approach of using plant systems for removing high concentrations of indoor air pollutants such as cigarette smoke, organic solvents, and possibly radon has been designed from this work. This air filter design combines plants with an activated carbon filter. The rationale for this design, which evolved from wastewater treatment studies, is based on moving large volumes of contaminated air through an activated carbon bed where smoke, organic chemicals, pathogenic microorganisms (if present), and possibly radon are absorbed by the carbon filter. Plant roots and their associated microorganisms then destroy the pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and the organic chemicals, eventually converting all of these air pollutants into new plant tissue. It is believed that the decayed radon products would be taken up the plant roots and retained in the plant tissue.
A transonic fighter-bomber aircraft, having a swept supercritical wing with smooth variable-camber flaps was fitted with a maneuver load control (MLC) system that implements a technique to reduce the inboard bending moments in the wing by shifting the spanwise load distribution inboard as load factor increases. The technique modifies the spanwise camber distribution by automatically commanding flap position as a function of flap position, true airspeed, Mach number, dynamic pressure, normal acceleration, and wing sweep position. Flight test structural loads data were obtained for loads in both the wing box and the wing root. Data from uniformly deflected flaps were compared with data from flaps in the MLC configuration where the outboard segment of three flap segments was deflected downward less than the two inboard segments. The changes in the shear loads in the forward wing spar and at the roots of the stabilators also are presented. The camber control system automatically reconfigures the flaps through varied flight conditions. Configurations having both moderate and full trailing-edge flap deflection were tested. Flight test data were collected at Mach numbers of 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, and 0.9 and dynamic pressures of 300, 450, 600, and 800 lb/sq ft. The Reynolds numbers for these flight conditions ranged from 26 x 10(exp 6) to 54 x 10(exp 6) at the mean aerodynamic chord. Load factor increases of up to 1.0 g achieved with no increase in wing root bending moment with the MLC flap configuration.
The overall goal of this study was to provide a quantitative understanding of the cycling of carbon in the soils associated with deep-rooting Amazon forests. In particular, we wished to apply the understanding gained by answering two questions: (1) what changes will accompany the major land use change in this region, the conversion of forest to pasture? and (2) what is the role of carbon stored deeper than one meter in depth in these soils? To construct carbon budgets for pasture and forest soils we combined the following: measurements of carbon stocks in above-ground vegetation, root biomass, detritus, and soil organic matter; rates of carbon inputs to soil and detrital layers using litterfall collection and sequential coring to estimate fine root turnover; C-14 analyses of fractionated SOM and soil CO2 to estimate residence times; C-13 analyses to estimate C inputs to pasture soils from C-4 grasses; soil pCO2, volumetric water content, and radon gradients to estimate CO2 production as a function of soil depth; soil respiration to estimate total C outputs; and a model of soil C dynamics that defines SOM fractions cycling on annual, decadal, and millennial time scales.
In a new formulation for digital phase-locked loops, loop-filter constants are determined from loop roots that can each be selectively placed in the s-plane on the basis of a new set of parameters, each with simple and direct physical meaning in terms of loop noise bandwidth, root-specific decay rate, or root-specific damping. Loops of first to fourth order are treated in the continuous-update approximation (BLT yields 0) and in a discrete-update formulation with arbitrary BLT. Deficiencies of the continuous-update approximation in large-BLT applications are avoided in the new discrete-update formulation. A new method for direct, transient-free acquisition with third- and fourth-order loops can improve the versatility and reliability of acquisition with such loops.
The objective of this grant was to complete below-ground carbon budgets for pastures and forest soils in the Amazon. Profiles of radon and carbon dioxide were used to estimate depth distribution of CO2 production in soil. This information is necessary for determining the importance of deep roots as sources of carbon inputs. Samples were collected for measuring root biomass from new research sites at Santana de Araguaia and Trombetas. Soil gases will be analyzed for CO2 and (14)CO2, and soil organic matter will be analyzed for C-14. Estimates of soil texture from the RADAMBRASIL database were merged with climate data to calculate soil water extraction by forest canopies during the dry season. In addition, a preliminary map of areas where deep roots are needed for deep soil water was produced. A list of manuscripts and papers prepared during the reporting periods is given.
The effects of blade and root-flexure elasticity and dynamic stall on the stability of hingeless rotor blades are investigated. The dynamic stall description is based on the ONERA models of lift, drag, and pitching moment. The structural analysis is based on three blade models that range from a rigid flap-lag model to two elastic flap-lag-torsion models, which differ in representing root-flexure elasticity. The predictions are correlated with the measured lag damping of an experimental isolated three-blade rotor; the correlation covers rotor operations from near-zero-thrust conditions in hover to highly stalled, high-thrust conditions in foward flight. That correlation shows sensitivity of lag-damping predictions to structural refinements in blade and root-flexure modeling. Moreover, this sensitivity increases with increasing control pitch angle and advance ratio. For high-advance-ratio and high-thrust conditions, inclusion of dynamic stall generally improves the correlation.
We detect anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at degree angular scales and confirm a previous detection reported by Wollack et al. (1993). The root-mean-squared amplitude of the fluctuations is 44(sup+13)(sub -7)microK. This may be expressed as the square root of the angular power spectrum in a band of multiples between l(sub eff)=69(sup +29)(sub -22). We find delta T(sub l) = square root of (l(2l+1) expected value of ((absolute value of (a(sup m)(sub L)))(exp 2))/(4xpi))= 42(sup +12)(sub -7). The measured spectral index of the fluctuations is consistent with zero, the value expected for the CMB. The spectral index corresponding to Galactic free-free emission, the most likely foreground contaminant, is rejected at approximately 3 sigma. The analysis is based on three independent data sets. The first, taken in 1993, spans the 26-36 GHz frequency range with three frequency bands; the second was taken with the same radiometer as the first but during an independent observing campaign in 1994; and the third, also taken in 1994, spans the 36-46 GHz range in three bands. For each telescope position and radiometer channel, the drifts in the instrument offset are less than or equal to 4 microK/day averaged over a period of 1 month. The dependence of the inferred anisotropy on the calibration and data editing is addressed.
This overview covers the basic microbial ecology of recirculating hydroponic solutions. Examples from NASA and Soviet Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) tests and the commercial hydroponic industry will be used. The sources of microorganisms in nutrient solutions include air, water, seeds, plant containers and plumbing, biological vectors, and personnel. Microbial fates include growth, death, and emigration. Important microbial habitats within nutrient delivery systems are root surfaces, hardware surfaces (biofilms), and solution suspension. Numbers of bacteria on root surfaces usually exceed those from the other habitats by several orders of magnitude. Gram negative bacteria dominate the microflora with fungal counts usually much lower. Trends typically show a decrease in counts with increasing time unless stressed plants increase root exudates. Important microbial activities include carbon mineralization and nitrogen transformations. Important detrimental interactions include competition with plants, and human and plant pathogenesis.