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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 19 records

Measurement of tilt rotor VTOL rotor wake-airframe ground aerodynamic interference for application to real time flight simulation

The hover and low speed rotor wake-airframe-ground aerodynamic characteristics of the XV-15 tilt rotor research aircraft were determined in wind tunnel tests of a scale model. Results of the wind tunnel tests were applied to real flight time simulation. The principal findings of the wind tunnel tests are summarized. The effect of aerodynamic interference on the handling qualities of the aircraft is analyzed. It was determined that aerodynamic interference effects are significant in hover and at low speeds, with the influence being more pronounced in ground effect than out of it. At airspeeds above 60 knots, aerodynamic interference does not have a significant effect on handling characteristics.

Gaffey, T. M.↗

Hypersonic Research Vehicle (HRV) real-time flight test support feasibility and requirements study. Part 1: Real-time flight experiment support

The results are presented of a study to identify potential real time remote computational applications to support monitoring HRV flight test experiments along with definitions of preliminary requirements. A major expansion of the support capability available at Ames-Dryden was considered. The focus is on the use of extensive computation and data bases together with real time flight data to generate and present high level information to those monitoring the flight. Six examples were considered: (1) boundary layer transition location; (2) shock wave position estimation; (3) performance estimation; (4) surface temperature estimation; (5) critical structural stress estimation; and (6) stability estimation.

Rediess, Herman A.↗

Statistical analysis of flight times for space shuttle ferry flights

Markov chain and Monte Carlo analysis techniques are applied to the simulated Space Shuttle Orbiter Ferry flights to obtain statistical distributions of flight time duration between Edwards Air Force Base and Kennedy Space Center. The two methods are compared, and are found to be in excellent agreement. The flights are subjected to certain operational and meteorological requirements, or constraints, which cause eastbound and westbound trips to yield different results. Persistence of events theory is applied to the occurrence of inclement conditions to find their effect upon the statistical flight time distribution. In a sensitivity test, some of the constraints are varied to observe the corresponding changes in the results.

Graves, M. E.↗

Quantifying Effects of Departure and Flight Time Uncertainty on Urban Air Mobility Operations

Demand capacity balancing is a key mechanism for maintaining safe and efficient Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations. However, uncertainties such as departure delays and flight time variation may reduce the effectiveness of algorithms used for balancing and detrimentally impact the safety and efficiency of UAM operations. In this paper, the effects of these uncertainties on UAM operations are quantified by modeling a distribution of departure and flight time errors. A route network in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area was used to simulate traffic demand with and without uncertainty. Simulations were conducted with three main models of uncertainty – first uncertainty in departure time delay resulting in late takeoffs, second with uncertainty in flight times in addition to departure delays, and finally, uncertainty in departure times that cause either late or early takeoffs. Each of these simulations were performed using varied standard deviations to fully understand the effects of uncertainties. Results from these simulations were compared to a baseline simulation using the same parameters, but without any uncertainty. The results suggest that both safety and efficiency are significantly impacted by uncertainty even with relatively low uncertainty introduced. These results work towards quantifying the effects of uncertainty in flight scheduling for UAM. They will also aid in the further development of the demand capacity balancing algorithms for UAM operations and associated air traffic management.

Urban Air Mobility↗

Quantifying the Effects of Departure and Flight Time Uncertainty on Urban Air Mobility Operations

Demand capacity balancing is a key mechanism for maintaining safe and efficient Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations. However, uncertainties such as departure delays and flight time variation may reduce the effectiveness of algorithms used for balancing and detrimentally impact the safety and efficiency of UAM operations. In this paper, the effects of these uncertainties on UAM operations are quantified by modeling a distribution of departure and flight time errors. A route network in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area was used to simulate traffic demand with and without uncertainty. Simulations were conducted with three main models of uncertainty – first uncertainty in departure time delay resulting in late takeoffs, second with uncertainty in flight times in addition to departure delays, and finally, uncertainty in departure times that cause either late or early takeoffs. Each of these simulations were performed using varied standard deviations to fully understand the effects of uncertainties. Results from these simulations were compared to a baseline simulation using the same parameters, but without any uncertainty. The results suggest that both safety and efficiency are significantly impacted by uncertainty even with relatively low uncertainty introduced. These results work towards quantifying the effects of uncertainty in flight scheduling for UAM. They will also aid in the further development of the demand capacity balancing algorithms for UAM operations and associated air traffic management.

Urban Air Mobility↗

Small High Endurance Aircraft Technology (sHEAT) - Application of Solid-State Hydrogen Storage to Extend Flight Time of sUAS

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) proposed a study to The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) to investigate the possibility of extending the flight time of small-scale Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using aluminum hydride (AlH 3 or alane) to power a hydrogen fuel cell. Alane is a solid-state hydrogen storage material with greater volumetric energy density than compressed hydrogen and much greater energy density than lithium batteries. UAVs typically use lithium-polymer and lithium-ion batteries for flight, but lithium batteries have not provided a substantial increase in flight time or range since their wide acceptance in the unmanned aircraft market. Several DHS agencies would benefit greatly from extended flight times and ranges for UAS platforms, so experimenting with new types of power sources could provide significant improvement in these important areas of research for DHS S&T.

08 HYDROGEN↗

A general algorithm for relating ground trajectory distance, elapsed flight time, and aircraft airspeed and its application to 4-D guidance

A general solution using an elliptic integral approximation which relates flight time, aircraft airspeed, and ground distance on straight-line and circular-arc trajectory segments is developed. The solution procedure is applicable to both constant and accelerating aircraft flight. In addition, wind shear including both magnitude and heading change is incorporated in the solution. The solution equations are used in a four-dimensional (4-D) control algorithm where both flight time and final airspeed are specified. The results show that the algorithm converges rapidly and accurately.

Foudriat, E. C.↗

Development and application of a local linearization algorithm for the integration of quaternion rate equations in real-time flight simulation problems

High angular rates encountered in real-time flight simulation problems may require a more stable and accurate integration method than the classical methods normally used. A study was made to develop a general local linearization procedure of integrating dynamic system equations when using a digital computer in real-time. The procedure is specifically applied to the integration of the quaternion rate equations. For this application, results are compared to a classical second-order method. The local linearization approach is shown to have desirable stability characteristics and gives significant improvement in accuracy over the classical second-order integration methods.

Barker, L. E., Jr.↗

Enhancing real-time flight simulation execution by intercepting Run-Time Library calls

Standard operating system input-output (I/O) procedures impose a large time penalty on real-time program execution. These procedures are generally invoked by way of Run-Time Library (RTL) calls. To reduce the time penalty, as well as add flexibility, a technique has been developed to dynamically intercept these calls. The design and implementation of this technique, as applied to FORTRAN WRITE statements, are described. Measured performance gains using this RTL intercept technique are on the order of 1000 percent.

Reinbachs, Namejs↗

The Investigation of Optimal Discrete Approximations for Real Time Flight Simulations

The results are presented of an investigation of discrete approximations for real time flight simulation. Major topics discussed include: (1) consideration of the particular problem of approximation of continuous autopilots by digital autopilots; (2) use of Bode plots and synthesis of transfer functions by asymptotic fits in a warped frequency domain; (3) an investigation of the various substitution formulas, including the effects of nonlinearities; (4) use of pade approximation to the solution of the matrix exponential arising from the discrete state equations; and (5) an analytical integration of the state equation using interpolated input.

Parrish, E. A.↗

V/STOL tilt rotor study. Volume 5: A mathematical model for real time flight simulation of the Bell model 301 tilt rotor research aircraft

A mathematical model for real-time flight simulation of a tilt rotor research aircraft was developed. The mathematical model was used to support the aircraft design, pilot training, and proof-of-concept aspects of the development program. The structure of the mathematical model is indicated by a block diagram. The mathematical model differs from that for a conventional fixed wing aircraft principally in the added requirement to represent the dynamics and aerodynamics of the rotors, the interaction of the rotor wake with the airframe, and the rotor control and drive systems. The constraints imposed on the mathematical model are defined.

P B Harendra↗

A study of workstation computational performance for real-time flight simulation

With recent advances in microprocessor technology, some have suggested that modern workstations provide enough computational power to properly operate a real-time simulation. This paper presents the results of a computational benchmark, based on actual real-time flight simulation code used at Langley Research Center, which was executed on various workstation-class machines. The benchmark was executed on different machines from several companies including: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Cray Research, Digital Equipment Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, International Business Machines, Silicon Graphics, and Sun Microsystems. The machines are compared by their execution speed, computational accuracy, and porting effort. The results of this study show that the raw computational power needed for real-time simulation is now offered by workstations.

Maddalon, Jeffrey M.↗

Use of high performance networks and supercomputers for real-time flight simulation

In order to meet the stringent time-critical requirements for real-time man-in-the-loop flight simulation, computer processing operations must be consistent in processing time and be completed in as short a time as possible. These operations include simulation mathematical model computation and data input/output to the simulators. In 1986, in response to increased demands for flight simulation performance, NASA's Langley Research Center (LaRC), working with the contractor, developed extensions to the Computer Automated Measurement and Control (CAMAC) technology which resulted in a factor of ten increase in the effective bandwidth and reduced latency of modules necessary for simulator communication. This technology extension is being used by more than 80 leading technological developers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Included among the commercial applications are nuclear process control, power grid analysis, process monitoring, real-time simulation, and radar data acquisition. Personnel at LaRC are completing the development of the use of supercomputers for mathematical model computation to support real-time flight simulation. This includes the development of a real-time operating system and development of specialized software and hardware for the simulator network. This paper describes the data acquisition technology and the development of supercomputing for flight simulation.

Cleveland, Jeff I., II↗

High performance real-time flight simulation at NASA Langley

In order to meet the stringent time-critical requirements for real-time man-in-the-loop flight simulation, computer processing operations must be deterministic and be completed in as short a time as possible. This includes simulation mathematical model computational and data input/output to the simulators. In 1986, in response to increased demands for flight simulation performance, personnel at NASA's Langley Research Center (LaRC), working with the contractor, developed extensions to a standard input/output system to provide for high bandwidth, low latency data acquisition and distribution. The Computer Automated Measurement and Control technology (IEEE standard 595) was extended to meet the performance requirements for real-time simulation. This technology extension increased the effective bandwidth by a factor of ten and increased the performance of modules necessary for simulator communications. This technology is being used by more than 80 leading technological developers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Included among the commercial applications of this technology are nuclear process control, power grid analysis, process monitoring, real-time simulation, and radar data acquisition. Personnel at LaRC have completed the development of the use of supercomputers for simulation mathematical model computational to support real-time flight simulation. This includes the development of a real-time operating system and the development of specialized software and hardware for the CAMAC simulator network. This work, coupled with the use of an open systems software architecture, has advanced the state of the art in real time flight simulation. The data acquisition technology innovation and experience with recent developments in this technology are described.

Cleveland, Jeff I., II↗