Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Advanced Codes”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records

New coding advances for deep space communications

Advances made in error-correction coding for deep space communications are described. The code believed to be the best is a (15, 1/6) convolutional code, with maximum likelihood decoding; when it is concatenated with a 10-bit Reed-Solomon code, it achieves a bit error rate of 10 to the -6th, at a bit SNR of 0.42 dB. This code outperforms the Voyager code by 2.11 dB. The use of source statics in decoding convolutionally encoded Voyager images from the Uranus encounter is investigated, and it is found that a 2 dB decoding gain can be achieved.

Yuen, Joseph H.↗

Advanced coding and modulation schemes for TDRSS

This paper describes the performance of the Ungerboeck and pragmatic 8-Phase Shift Key (PSK) Trellis Code Modulation (TCM) coding techniques with and without a (255,223) Reed-Solomon outer code as they are used for Tracking Data and Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) S-Band and Ku-Band return services. The performance of these codes at high data rates is compared to uncoded Quadrature PSK (QPSK) and rate 1/2 convolutionally coded QPSK in the presence of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), self-interference, and hardware distortions. This paper shows that the outer Reed-Solomon code is necessary to achieve a 10(exp -5) Bit Error Rate (BER) with an acceptable level of degradation in the presence of RFI. This paper also shows that the TCM codes with or without the Reed-Solomon outer code do not perform well in the presence of self-interference. In fact, the uncoded QPSK signal performs better than the TCM coded signal in the self-interference situation considered in this analysis. Finally, this paper shows that the E(sub b)/N(sub 0) degradation due to TDRSS hardware distortions is approximately 1.3 dB with a TCM coded signal or a rate 1/2 convolutionally coded QPSK signal and is 3.2 dB with an uncoded QPSK signal.

Harrell, Linda↗

Automatic differentiation of advanced CFD codes for multidisciplinary design

Automated multidisciplinary design of aircraft and other flight vehicles requires the optimization of complex performance objectives with respect to a number of design parameters and constraints. The effect of these independent design variables on the system performance criteria can be quantified in terms of sensitivity derivatives which must be calculated and propagated by the individual discipline simulation codes. Typical advanced CFD analysis codes do not provide such derivatives as part of a flow solution; these derivatives are very expensive to obtain by divided (finite) differences from perturbed solutions. It is shown that sensitivity derivatives can be obtained accurately and efficiently using the ADIFOR source translator for automatic differentiation. In particular, it is demonstrated that the 3-D, thin-layer Navier-Stokes, multigrid flow solver called TLNS3D is amenable to automatic differentiation in the forward mode even with its implicit iterative solution algorithm and complex turbulence modeling. It is significant that by using computational differentiation, consistent discrete nongeometric sensitivity derivatives have been obtained from an aerodynamic 3-D CFD code in a relatively short time, e.g., O(man-week) not O(man-year).

Bischof, C.↗

Development of UMARC (University of Maryland Advanced Rotorcraft Code)

The University of Maryland Advanced Rotorcraft Code (UMARC) is a user-friendly, FEM-based comprehensive helicopter rotor simulation code of high numerical robustness and computational efficiency. UMARC formulates the rotor-fuselage equations using Hamilton's principle, and are discretized using finite elements in space and time. The FEM formulation allows the code to analyze a wide variety of rotor designs. Dynamic inflow modeling is used for unsteady wake inflow computations. Predicted stability, response, and blade-load data are validated with experimental data for several configurations, including representative articulated, hingeless, and bearingless rotors.

Bir, Gunjit↗

The Continuum from Energy Codes to Advanced Technologies: A New Approach to Training

In July of 2020, the unamended 2018 IECC became the statewide energy code for the state of Nebraska. This represented a significant energy code advancement over the previous code – the 2009 IECC. To support the implementation of the new code, the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA), along with in-state partners, including the Nebraska Energy Office and the Nebraska Code Officials Association, applied for and received a FOA award for an integrated and innovative training and education program.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Observations on computational methodologies for use in large-scale, gradient-based, multidisciplinary design incorporating advanced CFD codes

How a combination of various computational methodologies could reduce the enormous computational costs envisioned in using advanced CFD codes in gradient based optimized multidisciplinary design (MdD) procedures is briefly outlined. Implications of these MdD requirements upon advanced CFD codes are somewhat different than those imposed by a single discipline design. A means for satisfying these MdD requirements for gradient information is presented which appear to permit: (1) some leeway in the CFD solution algorithms which can be used; (2) an extension to 3-D problems; and (3) straightforward use of other computational methodologies. Many of these observations have previously been discussed as possibilities for doing parts of the problem more efficiently; the contribution here is observing how they fit together in a mutually beneficial way.

Newman, P. A.↗

Methods of alleviation of ionospheric scintillation effects on digital communications

The degradation of the performance of digital communication systems because of ionospheric scintillation effects can be reduced either by diversity techniques or by coding. The effectiveness of traditional space-diversity, frequency-diversity and time-diversity techniques is reviewed and design considerations isolated. Time-diversity signaling is then treated as an extremely simple form of coding. More advanced coding methods, such as diffuse threshold decoding and burst-trapping decoding, which appear attractive in combatting scintillation effects are discussed and design considerations noted. Finally, adaptive coding techniques appropriate when the general state of the channel is known are discussed.

Massey, J. L.↗

SAM: A Modern System Code for Advanced Non-LWR Safety Analysis

The System Analysis Module (SAM), developed at Argonne National Laboratory and by collaborators at other organizations, is for advanced non–light water reactor safety analysis. SAM aims to provide fast-running, modest-fidelity, whole-plant transient analysis capabilities that are essential for fast-turnaround design scoping and engineering analyses of advanced reactor concepts. To facilitate code development, SAM utilizes the MOOSE object-oriented application framework, its underlying finite element library, and linear and nonlinear solvers to leverage modern advanced software environments and numerical methods. SAM aims to solve tightly coupled physical phenomena, including fission reaction, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and thermal-mechanical responses in advanced reactor structures, systems, and components with high accuracy and efficiency. Finally, this paper gives an overview of the SAM code development, including goals and functional requirements, physical models, current capabilities, verification and validation, software quality assurance, and examples of simulations for advanced nuclear reactor applications.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Application of advanced computational codes in the design of an experiment for a supersonic throughflow fan rotor

Increased emphasis on sustained supersonic or hypersonic cruise has revived interest in the supersonic throughflow fan as a possible component in advanced propulsion systems. Use of a fan that can operate with a supersonic inlet axial Mach number is attractive from the standpoint of reducing the inlet losses incurred in diffusing the flow from a supersonic flight Mach number to a subsonic one at the fan face. The design of the experiment using advanced computational codes to calculate the components required is described. The rotor was designed using existing turbomachinery design and analysis codes modified to handle fully supersonic axial flow through the rotor. A two-dimensional axisymmetric throughflow design code plus a blade element code were used to generate fan rotor velocity diagrams and blade shapes. A quasi-three-dimensional, thin shear layer Navier-Stokes code was used to assess the performance of the fan rotor blade shapes. The final design was stacked and checked for three-dimensional effects using a three-dimensional Euler code interactively coupled with a two-dimensional boundary layer code. The nozzle design in the expansion region was analyzed with a three-dimensional parabolized viscous code which corroborated the results from the Euler code. A translating supersonic diffuser was designed using these same codes.

Wood, Jerry R.↗

Application of advanced computational codes in the design of an experiment for a supersonic throughflow fan rotor

Increased emphasis on sustained supersonic or hypersonic cruise has revived interest in the supersonic throughflow fan as a possible component in advanced propulsion systems. Use of a fan that can operate with a supersonic inlet axial Mach number is attractive from the standpoint of reducing the inlet losses incurred in diffusing the flow from a supersonic flight Mach number to a subsonic one at the fan face. The design of the experiment using advanced computational codes to calculate the components required is described. The rotor was designed using existing turbomachinery design and analysis codes modified to handle fully supersonic axial flow through the rotor. A two-dimensional axisymmetric throughflow design code plus a blade element code were used to generate fan rotor velocity diagrams and blade shapes. A quasi-three-dimensional, thin shear layer Navier-Stokes code was used to assess the performance of the fan rotor blade shapes. The final design was stacked and checked for three-dimensional effects using a three-dimensional Euler code interactively coupled with a two-dimensional boundary layer code. The nozzle design in the expansion region was analyzed with a three-dimensional parabolized viscous code which corroborated the results from the Euler code. A translating supersonic diffuser was designed using these same codes.

Wood, Jerry R.↗

Development of the US3D Code for Advanced Compressible and Reacting Flow Simulations

Aerothermodynamics and hypersonic flows involve complex multi-disciplinary physics, including finite-rate gas-phase kinetics, finite-rate internal energy relaxation, gas-surface interactions with finite-rate oxidation and sublimation, transition to turbulence, large-scale unsteadiness, shock-boundary layer interactions, fluid-structure interactions, and thermal protection system ablation and thermal response. Many of the flows have a large range of length and time scales, requiring large computational grids, implicit time integration, and large solution run times. The University of Minnesota NASA US3D code was designed for the simulation of these complex, highly-coupled flows. It has many of the features of the well-established DPLR code, but uses unstructured grids and has many advanced numerical capabilities and physical models for multi-physics problems. The main capabilities of the code are described, the physical modeling approaches are discussed, the different types of numerical flux functions and time integration approaches are outlined, and the parallelization strategy is overviewed. Comparisons between US3D and the NASA DPLR code are presented, and several advanced simulations are presented to illustrate some of novel features of the code.

CFD↗

A new code for Galileo

Over the past six to eight years, an extensive research effort was conducted to investigate advanced coding techniques which promised to yield more coding gain than is available with current NASA standard codes. The delay in Galileo's launch due to the temporary suspension of the shuttle program provided the Galileo project with an opportunity to evaluate the possibility of including some version of the advanced codes as a mission enhancement option. A study was initiated last summer to determine if substantial coding gain was feasible for Galileo and, is so, to recommend a suitable experimental code for use as a switchable alternative to the current NASA-standard code. The Galileo experimental code study resulted in the selection of a code with constant length 15 and rate 1/4. The code parameters were chosen to optimize performance within cost and risk constraints consistent with retrofitting the new code into the existing Galileo system design and launch schedule. The particular code was recommended after a very limited search among good codes with the chosen parameters. It will theoretically yield about 1.5 dB enhancement under idealizing assumptions relative to the current NASA-standard code at Galileo's desired bit error rates. This ideal predicted gain includes enough cushion to meet the project's target of at least 1 dB enhancement under real, non-ideal conditions.

Dolinar, S.↗

Galileo mission planning for Low Gain Antenna based operations

The Galileo mission operations concept is undergoing substantial redesign, necessitated by the deployment failure of the High Gain Antenna, while the spacecraft is on its way to Jupiter. The new design applies state-of-the-art technology and processes to increase the telemetry rate available through the Low Gain Antenna and to increase the information density of the telemetry. This paper describes the mission planning process being developed as part of this redesign. Principal topics include a brief description of the new mission concept and anticipated science return (these have been covered more extensively in earlier papers), identification of key drivers on the mission planning process, a description of the process and its implementation schedule, a discussion of the application of automated mission planning tool to the process, and a status report on mission planning work to date. Galileo enhancements include extensive reprogramming of on-board computers and substantial hard ware and software upgrades for the Deep Space Network (DSN). The principal mode of operation will be onboard recording of science data followed by extended playback periods. A variety of techniques will be used to compress and edit the data both before recording and during playback. A highly-compressed real-time science data stream will also be important. The telemetry rate will be increased using advanced coding techniques and advanced receivers. Galileo mission planning for orbital operations now involves partitioning of several scarce resources. Particularly difficult are division of the telemetry among the many users (eleven instruments, radio science, engineering monitoring, and navigation) and allocation of space on the tape recorder at each of the ten satellite encounters. The planning process is complicated by uncertainty in forecast performance of the DSN modifications and the non-deterministic nature of the new data compression schemes. Key mission planning steps include quantifying resource or capabilities to be allocated, prioritizing science observations and estimating resource needs for each, working inter-and intra-orbit trades of these resources among the Project elements, and planning real-time science activity. The first major mission planning activity, a high level, orbit-by-orbit allocation of resources among science objectives, has already been completed; and results are illustrated in the paper. To make efficient use of limited resources, Galileo mission planning will rely on automated mission planning tools capable of dealing with interactions among time-varying downlink capability, real-time science and engineering data transmission, and playback of recorded data. A new generic mission planning tool is being adapted for this purpose.

Gershman, R.↗

BISON: A Flexible Code for Advanced Simulation of the Performance of Multiple Nuclear Fuel Forms [Slides]

As fuel vendors and designers pursue the development of advanced reactors or the increase in burnup limits for existing reactors, advanced computational tools are necessary to understand the fuel performance. BISON, a fuel performance code developed primarily at Idaho National Laboratory, which is built upon the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE), provides capabilities to analyze multiple nuclear fuel forms in a wide variety of dimensions. Since its inception, BISON has been used to investigate the performance of light-water reactor fuel rods, accident tolerant fuel concepts, metallic and mixed-oxide (MOX) fuels for fast reactors, plate fuels for research reactors, and tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles. This talk will provide a history of BISON, highlights of major development milestones, tributes to key contributors, and applications of its use to various fuel forms in one-, two-, and three-dimensions.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Using Calibrated Water Data for Preliminary Validation of the SRT Code for Advanced Reactors

Recent interest and corresponding progress worldwide regarding advanced nuclear reactors has renewed focus on their performance and related safety assessments. Specifically, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has emphasized the importance of mechanistic approaches to source term analysis for advanced reactor licensing applications, which attempt to realistically account radionuclide transport and retention phenomena. Further model development is required due to the numerous and complex physical and chemical phenomena associated with mechanistic source term analyses. Reflecting the need for modeling advancement, Argonne National Laboratory developed a mechanistic source term analysis tool for sodium fast reactors. The Simplified Radionuclide Transport (SRT) code describes fuel pin failure (for simulating the initial condition at the point of fuel pin breach), bubble scrubbing, deposition, leakage and following environmental impact. In the current work, a validation study of the SRT bubble scrubbing model is performed using a water-loop experiment performed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Through the analysis, the approach and fundamental bubble scrubbing models in SRT, which examine the removal of aerosols within the bubble as it is transported through a pool, have been widely evaluated. The results of the assessment demonstrate a high level of agreement in the regions of greater aerosol size. In the parameter range of minimal aerosol removal, the simulation slightly underpredicts the experiment results; however, considering the scale of plots and huge uncertainties inherently included, the deviation can be judged to be minor and would produce a conservative result. In addition, uncertainty analysis has been further refined to reflect the experimental distribution of parameters including aerosol sizes, which induces a span of performance for each representative aerosol size. Based upon the initial validation results along with uncertainty effects, SRT is expected to provide meaningful insights for the analysis of bubble scrubbing. Future sodium-loop tests will provide further validation basis.

Kam, Dong Hoon↗

Using Calibrated Sodium Data for Preliminary Validation of the SRT Code for Advanced Reactors

Various types of non-light water reactors are currently engaged in the U.S. licensing process. Because of inherent differences compared with well-established large light water reactors, appropriate assessment tools are needed. Specifically, source term analysis, which determines environmental dose impacts from potential accident scenarios, is a crucial part of design and licensing. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has emphasized the importance of mechanistic source term analysis for advanced reactor deployments. To align with these needs, Argonne National Laboratory has developed the Simplified Radionuclide Transport (SRT) source term analysis code for metal fuel Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFRs) and microreactors. SRT conducts time-dependent radionuclide transport and retention in SFRs for core and ex-core radionuclide source accident sequences. The main objective of SRT is to provide rapid sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, incorporating parametric uncertainties and summarizing probabilistic results. As part of the code validation process, a study focused on the bubble scrubbing module was performed using an experiment recently carried out by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Based on the analysis, the modeling approach in SRT provides accurate results for small and large aerosols, while slight underprediction of radionuclide aerosol removal are observed for medium sized aerosols. However, the deviation is minor, considering the highly uncertain phenomenon and range of results, and is in the conservative direction. In addition, uncertainty information derived from the experiments is further implemented, reflecting the actual span of parameters, which leads to enhanced agreement with code predictions. The results demonstrate that SRT provides reasonable predictions for the bubble scrubbing process in sodium pool.

Kam, Dong Hoon↗

Centrifugal Pump Model for System Codes for Advanced NPP Designs

In this document, a homologous model and one-dimensional line model for centrifugal pump are described to provide the theoretical background of a pump model to be developed in system-level codes. Input and output parameters are proposed, along with a summary of the governing equations for each model. Furthermore, hydraulic performance degradation of centrifugal pump is also modeled in the homologous pump model. This document suggests that system codes provide a homologous and one-dimensional line model for centrifugal pumps, allowing the users to choose the model that best fits their purposes.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

BISON: A Flexible Code for Advanced Simulation of the Performance of Multiple Nuclear Fuel Forms

BISON is a nuclear fuel performance application built using the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) finite element library. One of its major goals is to have a great amount of flexibility in how it is used, including in the types of fuel it can analyze, the geometry of the fuel being modeled, the modeling approach employed, and the dimensionality and size of the models. Fuel forms that can be modeled include standard light water reactor fuel, emerging light water reactor fuels, tri-structural isotropic fuel particles, and metallic fuels. BISON is a platform for research in nuclear fuel performance modeling while simultaneously serving as a tool for the analysis of nuclear fuel designs. Recent research in BISON includes techniques such as the extended finite element method for fuel cracking, exploration of high-burnup light water reactor fuel behavior, swelling behavior of metallic fuels, and central void formation in mixed-oxide fuel. BISON includes integrated documentation for each of its capabilities, follows rigorous software quality assurance procedures, and has a growing set of rigorous verification and validation tests.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗