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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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Lyman continuum observations of solar flares

A study is made of Lyman continuum observations of solar flares, using data obtained by the EUV spectroheliometer on the Apollo Telescope Mount. It is found that there are two main types of flare regions: an overall 'mean' flare coincident with the H-alpha flare region, and transient Lyman continuum kernels which can be identified with the H-alpha and X-ray kernels observed by other authors. It is found that the ground level hydrogen population in flares is closer to LTE than in the quiet sun and active regions, and that the level of Lyman continuum formation is lowered in the atmosphere from a mass column density .000005 g/sq cm in the quiet sun to .0003 g/sq cm in the mean flare, and to .001 g/sq cm in kernels. From these results the amount of chromospheric material 'evaporated' into the high temperature region is derived, which is found to be approximately 10 to the 15th g, in agreement with observations of X-ray emission measures.

Machado, M. E.↗

Correlated observations of impulsive UV and hard X-ray bursts in solar flares from the solar maximum mission

An investigation is conducted of the temporal and spatial structures of UV and hard X-ray bursts in a disk and a limb flare observed with instruments on the Solar Maximum Mission satellite. Attention is given to the transient UV brightening before the flare, the impulsive enhancement of UV continuum emission, the relationship between emission source region and particle acceleration region, and large scale excitations. The most active part of the active region appears to be the most flare-productive region. These regions exhibit high UV activities with numerous UV transient bursts occurring in many small kernels.

Cheng, C.-C.↗

Dynamic evolution of the transition zone plasma in solar flares and active region transients

The dynamic evolution of flares and of transient brightenings in active regions observed during the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) in the UV lines of Si IV and O IV were studied. Transient brightenings in active regions and in flares occur in small points or kernels, not necessarily the initially bright regions. There is no apparent velocity pattern in which flaring or transient brightenings preferentially occur. At the flaring point, the velocity of the transition zone plasma tends to show larger downflow in the rise phase, and after the peak UV emission the downflow decreases or may even reverse and become upflow. This anticorrelation between velocity and UV intensity holds for some of the transient bright points but is more apparent for the flaring points.

Cheng, Chung-Chieh↗

Linear and nonlinear dynamic analysis by boundary element method

An advanced implementation of the direct boundary element method (BEM) applicable to free-vibration, periodic (steady-state) vibration and linear and nonlinear transient dynamic problems involving two and three-dimensional isotropic solids of arbitrary shape is presented. Interior, exterior, and half-space problems can all be solved by the present formulation. For the free-vibration analysis, a new real variable BEM formulation is presented which solves the free-vibration problem in the form of algebraic equations (formed from the static kernels) and needs only surface discretization. In the area of time-domain transient analysis, the BEM is well suited because it gives an implicit formulation. Although the integral formulations are elegant, because of the complexity of the formulation it has never been implemented in exact form. In the present work, linear and nonlinear time domain transient analysis for three-dimensional solids has been implemented in a general and complete manner. The formulation and implementation of the nonlinear, transient, dynamic analysis presented here is the first ever in the field of boundary element analysis. Almost all the existing formulation of BEM in dynamics use the constant variation of the variables in space and time which is very unrealistic for engineering problems and, in some cases, it leads to unacceptably inaccurate results. In the present work, linear and quadratic isoparametric boundary elements are used for discretization of geometry and functional variations in space. In addition, higher order variations in time are used. These methods of analysis are applicable to piecewise-homogeneous materials, such that not only problems of the layered media and the soil-structure interaction can be analyzed but also a large problem can be solved by the usual sub-structuring technique. The analyses have been incorporated in a versatile, general-purpose computer program. Some numerical problems are solved and, through comparisons with available analytical and numerical results, the stability and high accuracy of these dynamic analysis techniques are established.

Ahmad, Shahid↗

Steady-State and Transient Boundary Element Methods for Coupled Heat Conduction

Boundary element algorithms for the solution of steady-state and transient heat conduction are presented. The algorithms are designed for efficient coupling with computational fluid dynamic discretizations and feature piecewise linear elements with offset nodal points. The steady-state algorithm employs the fundamental solution approach; the integration kernels are computed analytically based on linear shape functions, linear elements, and variably offset nodal points. The analytic expressions for both singular and nonsingular integrands are presented. The transient algorithm employs the transient fundamental solution; the temporal integration is performed analytically and the nonsingular spatial integration is performed numerically using Gaussian quadrature. A series solution to the integration is derived for the instance of a singular integrand. The boundary-only character of the algorithm is maintained by integrating the influence coefficients from initial time. Numerical results are compared to analytical solutions to verify the current boundary element algorithms. The steady-state and transient algorithms are numerically shown to be second-order accurate in space and time, respectively.

Kontinos, Dean A.↗

Maize Rough Endosperm6 (rgh6) Encodes A Predicted Dead-Box RNA Helicase and Affects Mirna Processing in Endosperm Development

Maize rough endosperm (rgh) mutants have defective kernels with a rough, etched, or pitted endosperm surface. Molecular genetic analysis of this mutant class has identified multiple RNA processing proteins critical to endosperm development. Here, we report on the developmental and molecular function of the rgh6 locus. The rgh6 mutant was isolated from the UniformMu transposon tagging population. Mutant kernels have reduced endosperm size and defective embryos that develop in a more apical position than typical for defective embryos. TB translocation crosses revealed that rgh6 mutant endosperm inhibits normal embryo development. Positional cloning of the rgh6 locus found that it encodes a predicted DEAD-box RNA helicase. Consistent with a predicted function for RNA processing, transient expression of a RGH6-GFP fusion protein is localized to nucleolus and nuclear speckles in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Rgh6 transcripts are highly expressed in endosperm epidermal cell types such as the aleurone, basal endosperm cell layer, embryo surrounding region, and endosperm adjacent to scutellum. Markers of these cell types show increased levels in rgh6 mutant kernels. Mutant endosperm tissues have increased precursor microRNA (pre-miRNA) and decreased mature miRNA relative to normal sibling endosperm, indicating that rgh6 is required for miRNA processing. The transcript levels for most miRNA target genes accumulate to a higher level in rgh6 mutant tissue. These results suggest that miRNA processing and regulation of miRNA target genes are required for normal endosperm development.

Plant Sciences↗

Development of an integrated BEM approach for hot fluid structure interaction

The progress made toward the development of a boundary element formulation for the study of hot fluid-structure interaction in Earth-to-Orbit engine hot section components is reported. The convective viscous integral formulation was derived and implemented in the general purpose computer program GP-BEST. The new convective kernel functions, in turn, necessitated the development of refined integration techniques. As a result, however, since the physics of the problem is embedded in these kernels, boundary element solutions can now be obtained at very high Reynolds number. Flow around obstacles can be solved approximately with an efficient linearized boundary-only analysis or, more exactly, by including all of the nonlinearities present in the neighborhood of the obstacle. The other major accomplishment was the development of a comprehensive fluid-structure interaction capability within GP-BEST. This new facility is implemented in a completely general manner, so that quite arbitrary geometry, material properties and boundary conditions may be specified. Thus, a single analysis code (GP-BEST) can be used to run structures-only problems, fluids-only problems, or the combined fluid-structure problem. In all three cases, steady or transient conditions can be selected, with or without thermal effects. Nonlinear analyses can be solved via direct iteration or by employing a modified Newton-Raphson approach.

Dargush, G. F.↗

Ultraviolet converter transients induced by electrons

The output of ultraviolet converters typically used in satellite astronomy was monitored during irradiation with electrons from a sealed SR-90 source which approximated the peak flux in earth's outer electron belt. The signal induced by irradiation was attributed to two mechanisms: (1) photoelectrons resulting from photons created in the MgF2 window and (2) the direct impact of electrons on the phosphor. For irradiation at about 1 x 10 to the 7th e/sq cm sec, these two effects produced signals which were, in order of magnitude, the same as those produced by an incident UV flux (254 nm) of 10 to the 8th and 10 to the 7th photons/sq cm sec, respectively. In addition, the induced signal was investigated as a function of electron energy by irradiating another converter with 0.4-1.8-MeV electrons from a Van de Graaff. These results suggest that the dominant contribution to the electron-induced signal is Cerenkov photon production in the MgF2 window.

Kernell, R. L.↗

GRO: Black hole models for gamma-ray bursts

The Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) has established that the distribution of gamma-ray bursts (GRB's) is isotropic but is bound radially. This finding suggests that the bursts are either cosmological or they originate from an extended Galactic halo. The implied luminosities and the observed variability of the GRB's on time scales as short as one millisecond suggest that they originate from compact objects. We are presently studying black hole models for GRB's. Any such model must produce a non-thermal photon spectrum to agree with the observed properties. For a wide range of burst parameters the assumed bursting source consists of a non-thermal electron-positron-photon plasma of very high density. It seems possible to produce such a plasma in accretion onto black holes. In our on-going work, we are developing the kinetic theory for a non-equilibrium pair plasma. The main new features of our work are as follows: (1) We do not assume the presence of a thermal electron bath. (2) Non-thermal, high-energy pairs are allowed to have an arbitrary concentration and energy distribution. (3) There is no soft photon source in our model; initially all the photons in the plasma are either energetic X-rays or gamma-rays. (4) The initial energy distribution of the pairs as well as photons is arbitrary. (5) We collect the analytical expressions for the kinetic kernels for all relevant processes. And (6) we present a different approach to finding the time-evolution of pair and photon spectra, which is a combination of the kinetic-theory and the non-linear Monte-Carlo schemes. We have developed many Monte-Carlo programs to model various process, to take into account the time evolution, and to incorporate various physical effects which are unique to non-thermal plasmas. The hydrodynamics of fireballs in GRB's was studied before. Applying results from kinetic theory will improve our understanding of these systems.

Ruderman, Malvin↗