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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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NASA NTRS1983

Evaluation of the effect of vibration nonlinearity on convergence behavior of adaptive higher harmonic controllers

Effect of nonlinearity on convergence of the local linear and global linear adaptive controllers is evaluated. A nonlinear helicopter vibration model is selected for the evaluation which has sufficient nonlinearity, including multiple minimum, to assess the vibration reduction capability of the adaptive controllers. The adaptive control algorithms are based upon a linear transfer matrix assumption and the presence of nonlinearity has a significant effect on algorithm behavior. Simulation results are presented which demonstrate the importance of the caution property in the global linear controller. Caution is represented by a time varying rate weighting term in the local linear controller and this improves the algorithm convergence. Nonlinearity in some cases causes Kalman filter divergence. Two forms of the Kalman filter covariance equation are investigated.

Molusis, J. A.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Convergent behavior of extended stalk regions from staphylococcal surface proteins with widely divergent sequence patterns

Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus are highly problematic bacteria in hospital settings. A major challenge is their ability to form biofilms on abiotic or biotic surfaces. Biofilms are well-organized, multicellular bacterial aggregates that resist antibiotic treatment and often lead to recurrent infections. Bacterial cell wall-anchored (CWA) proteins are important players in biofilm formation and infection. Many have putative stalk-like regions or regions of low complexity near the cell wall-anchoring motif. Recent work demonstrated the strong propensity of the stalk region of S. epidermidis accumulation-associated protein (Aap) to remain highly extended under solution conditions that typically induce compaction. This behavior is consistent with the expected function of a stalk-like region that is covalently attached to the cell wall peptidoglycan and projects the adhesive domains of Aap away from the cell surface. In this study, we evaluate whether the ability to resist compaction is a common theme among stalk regions from various staphylococcal CWA proteins. Circular dichroism spectroscopy was used to examine secondary structure changes as a function of temperature and cosolvents along with sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation, size-exclusion chromatography, and SAXS to characterize structural characteristics in solution. All stalk regions tested are intrinsically disordered, lacking secondary structure beyond random coil and polyproline type II helix, and they all sample highly extended conformations. Remarkably, the Ser-Asp dipeptide repeat region of SdrC exhibited nearly identical behavior in solution when compared to the Aap Pro/Gly-rich region, despite highly divergent sequence patterns, indicating conservation of function by various distinct staphylococcal CWA protein stalk regions.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1982

Convergence behavior that controls adaptive wind tunnel walls near the test section in the high angle of attack range

The NACA 0012 profile at Mach 0.5 was investigated in a wind tunnel with adaptive walls. It is found that adaptation of the flexible walls is possible in the high angle of attack range on both sides of maximum lift. Oil film photographs of the flow at the profile surface show three dimensional effects in the region of the corners between the profile and the sidewall. It is concluded that pure two dimensional separated flow is not possible.

Ziemann, J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Separate visual representations for perception and for visually guided behavior

Converging evidence from several sources indicates that two distinct representations of visual space mediate perception and visually guided behavior, respectively. The two maps of visual space follow different rules; spatial values in either one can be biased without affecting the other. Ordinarily the two maps give equivalent responses because both are veridically in register with the world; special techniques are required to pull them apart. One such technique is saccadic suppression: small target displacements during saccadic eye movements are not preceived, though the displacements can change eye movements or pointing to the target. A second way to separate cognitive and motor-oriented maps is with induced motion: a slowly moving frame will make a fixed target appear to drift in the opposite direction, while motor behavior toward the target is unchanged. The same result occurs with stroboscopic induced motion, where the frame jump abruptly and the target seems to jump in the opposite direction. A third method of separating cognitive and motor maps, requiring no motion of target, background or eye, is the Roelofs effect: a target surrounded by an off-center rectangular frame will appear to be off-center in the direction opposite the frame. Again the effect influences perception, but in half of the subjects it does not influence pointing to the target. This experience also reveals more characteristics of the maps and their interactions with one another, the motor map apparently has little or no memory, and must be fed from the biased cognitive map if an enforced delay occurs between stimulus presentation and motor response. In designing spatial displays, the results mean that what you see isn't necessarily what you get. Displays must be designed with either perception or visually guided behavior in mind.

Bridgeman, Bruce↗

DOE OSTI2022

Scalable Simulation of Pressure Gradient-Driven Transport of Rarefied Gases in Complex Permeable Media Using Lattice Boltzmann Method

Accurate representations of slip and transitional flow regimes present a challenge in the simulation of rarefied gas flow in confined systems with complex geometries. In these regimes, continuum-based formulations may not capture the physics correctly. This work considers a regularized multi-relaxation time lattice Boltzmann (LB) method with mixed Maxwellian diffusive and halfway bounce-back wall boundary treatments to capture flow at high Kn. The simulation results are validated against atomistic simulation results from the literature. We examine the convergence behavior of LB for confined systems as a function of inlet and outlet treatments, complexity of the geometry, and magnitude of pressure gradient and show that convergence is sensitive to all three. The inlet and outlet boundary treatments considered in this work include periodic, pressure, and a generalized periodic boundary condition. Compared to periodic and pressure treatments, simulations of complex domains using a generalized boundary treatment conserve mass but require more iterations to converge. Convergence behavior in complex domains improves at higher magnitudes of pressure gradient across the computational domain, and lowering the porosity deteriorates the convergence behavior for complex domains.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS2001

A Parallel Cartesian Approach for External Aerodynamics of Vehicles with Complex Geometry

This workshop paper presents the current status in the development of a new approach for the solution of the Euler equations on Cartesian meshes with embedded boundaries in three dimensions on distributed and shared memory architectures. The approach uses adaptively refined Cartesian hexahedra to fill the computational domain. Where these cells intersect the geometry, they are cut by the boundary into arbitrarily shaped polyhedra which receive special treatment by the solver. The presentation documents a newly developed multilevel upwind solver based on a flexible domain-decomposition strategy. One novel aspect of the work is its use of space-filling curves (SFC) for memory efficient on-the-fly parallelization, dynamic re-partitioning and automatic coarse mesh generation. Within each subdomain the approach employs a variety reordering techniques so that relevant data are on the same page in memory permitting high-performance on cache-based processors. Details of the on-the-fly SFC based partitioning are presented as are construction rules for the automatic coarse mesh generation. After describing the approach, the paper uses model problems and 3- D configurations to both verify and validate the solver. The model problems demonstrate that second-order accuracy is maintained despite the presence of the irregular cut-cells in the mesh. In addition, it examines both parallel efficiency and convergence behavior. These investigations demonstrate a parallel speed-up in excess of 28 on 32 processors of an SGI Origin 2000 system and confirm that mesh partitioning has no effect on convergence behavior.

Aftosmis, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Approximate effect of parameter pseudonoise intensity on rate of convergence for EKF parameter estimators

When using parameter estimation methods based on extended Kalman filter (EKF) theory, it is common practice to assume that the unknown parameter values behave like a random process, such as a random walk, in order to guarantee their identifiability by the filter. The present work is the result of an ongoing effort to quantitatively describe the effect that the assumption of a fictitious noise (called pseudonoise) driving the unknown parameter values has on the parameter estimate convergence rate in filter-based parameter estimators. The initial approach is to examine a first-order system described by one state variable with one parameter to be estimated. The intent is to derive analytical results for this simple system that might offer insight into the effect of the pseudonoise assumption for more complex systems. Such results would make it possible to predict the estimator error convergence behavior as a function of the assumed pseudonoise intensity, and this leads to the natural application of the results to the design of filter-based parameter estimators. The results obtained show that the analytical description of the convergence behavior is very difficult.

Hill, Bryon K.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Weighted Least-Squares Cell-Average Gradient Construction Methods for the VULCAN-CFD Second-Order Accurate Unstructured-Grid Cell-Centered Finite-Volume Solver

White, Jeffery A.↗

NASA NTRS2008

An Initial Investigation of the Effects of Turbulence Models on the Convergence of the RK/Implicit Scheme

A three-stage Runge-Kutta (RK) scheme with multigrid and an implicit preconditioner has been shown to be an effective solver for the fluid dynamic equations. This scheme has been applied to both the compressible and essentially incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations using the algebraic turbulence model of Baldwin and Lomax (BL). In this paper we focus on the convergence of the RK/implicit scheme when the effects of turbulence are represented by either the Spalart-Allmaras model or the Wilcox k-! model, which are frequently used models in practical fluid dynamic applications. Convergence behavior of the scheme with these turbulence models and the BL model are directly compared. For this initial investigation we solve the flow equations and the partial differential equations of the turbulence models indirectly coupled. With this approach we examine the convergence behavior of each system. Both point and line symmetric Gauss-Seidel are considered for approximating the inverse of the implicit operator of the flow solver. To solve the turbulence equations we use a diagonally dominant alternating direction implicit (DDADI) scheme. Computational results are presented for three airfoil flow cases and comparisons are made with experimental data. We demonstrate that the two-dimensional RANS equations and transport-type equations for turbulence modeling can be efficiently solved with an indirectly coupled algorithm that uses the RK/implicit scheme for the flow equations.

Swanson, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Efficient and Robust Weighted Least-Squares Cell-Average Gradient Construction Methods for the Simulation of Scramjet Flows

White, Jeffery A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Convergence acceleration of implicit schemes in the presence of high aspect ratio grid cells

The performance of Navier-Stokes codes are influenced by several phenomena. For example, the robustness of the code may be compromised by the lack of grid resolution, by a need for more precise initial conditions or because all or part of the flowfield lies outside the flow regime in which the algorithm converges efficiently. A primary example of the latter effect is the presence of extended low Mach number and/or low Reynolds number regions which cause convergence deterioration of time marching algorithms. Recent research into this problem by several workers including the present authors has largely negated this difficulty through the introduction of time-derivative preconditioning. In the present paper, we employ the preconditioned algorithm to address convergence difficulties arising from sensitivity to grid stretching and high aspect ratio grid cells. Strong grid stretching is particularly characteristic of turbulent flow calculations where the grid must be refined very tightly in the dimension normal to the wall, without a similar refinement in the tangential direction. High aspect ratio grid cells also arise in problems that involve high aspect ratio domains such as combustor coolant channels. In both situations, the high aspect ratio cells can lead to extreme deterioration in convergence. It is the purpose of the present paper to address the reasons for this adverse response to grid stretching and to suggest methods for enhancing convergence under such circumstances. Numerical algorithms typically possess a maximum allowable or optimum value for the time step size, expressed in non-dimensional terms as a CFL number or vonNeumann number (VNN). In the presence of high aspect ratio cells, the smallest dimension of the grid cell controls the time step size causing it to be extremely small, which in turn results in the deterioration of convergence behavior. For explicit schemes, this time step limitation cannot be exceeded without violating stability restrictions of the scheme. On the other hand, for implicit schemes, which are typically unconditionally stable, there appears to be room for improvement through careful tailoring of the time step definition based on results of linear stability analyses. In the present paper, we focus on the central-differenced alternating direction implicit (ADI) scheme. The understanding garnered from this analyses can then be applied to other implicit schemes. In order to systematically study the effects of aspect ratio and the methods of mitigating the associated problems, we use a two pronged approach. We use stability analyses as a tool for predicting numerical convergence behavior and numerical experiments on simple model problems to verify predicted trends. Based on these analyses, we determine that efficient convergence may be obtained at all aspect ratios by getting a combination of things right. Primary among these are the proper definition of the time step size, proper selection of viscous preconditioner and the precise treatment of boundary conditions. These algorithmic improvements are then applied to a variety of test cases to demonstrate uniform convergence at all aspect ratios.

Buelow, B. E. O.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Geometrically Flexible and Efficient Flow Analysis of High Speed Vehicles Via Domain Decomposition, Part 1: Unstructured-Grid Solver for High Speed Flows

The ability to solve the equations governing the hypersonic turbulent flow of a real gas on unstructured grids using a spatially-elliptic, 2nd-order accurate, cell-centered, finite-volume method has been recently implemented in the VULCAN-CFD code. This paper describes the key numerical methods and techniques that were found to be required to robustly obtain accurate solutions to hypersonic flows on non-hex-dominant unstructured grids. The methods and techniques described include: an augmented stencil, weighted linear least squares, cell-average gradient method, a robust multidimensional cell-average gradient-limiter process that is consistent with the augmented stencil of the cell-average gradient method and a cell-face gradient method that contains a cell skewness sensitive damping term derived using hyperbolic diffusion based concepts. A data-parallel matrix-based symmetric Gauss-Seidel point-implicit scheme, used to solve the governing equations, is described and shown to be more robust and efficient than a matrix-free alternative. In addition, a y+ adaptive turbulent wall boundary condition methodology is presented. This boundary condition methodology is deigned to automatically switch between a solve-to-the-wall and a wall-matching-function boundary condition based on the local y+ of the 1st cell center off the wall. The aforementioned methods and techniques are then applied to a series of hypersonic and supersonic turbulent flat plate unit tests to examine the efficiency, robustness and convergence behavior of the implicit scheme and to determine the ability of the solve-to-the-wall and y+ adaptive turbulent wall boundary conditions to reproduce the turbulent law-of-the-wall. Finally, the thermally perfect, chemically frozen, Mach 7.8 turbulent flow of air through a scramjet flow-path is computed and compared with experimental data to demonstrate the robustness, accuracy and convergence behavior of the unstructured-grid solver for a realistic 3-D geometry on a non-hex-dominant grid.

White, Jeffery A.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Code Verification and Solution Verification framework in pin-resolved neutron transport code MPACT

Program verification in scientific computing encompasses the application of formal and mathematical techniques to a scientific computing code for its credibility, accuracy, and validity. Code Verification identifies bugs and performance issues in the software development stage. Solution Verification assesses the applicability of the code and the accuracy of the solution to problems of interest. Both activities utilize application cases and quantify the error against prescribed acceptance criteria. However, simply executing more application cases does not guarantee stronger or more comprehensive credibility. Here, we establish a verification framework that involves Code Verification and Solution Verification, both of which work together such that the overarching goal of “converge to the correct answer for the intended application” can be reasonably inferred. The application of such a verification framework is demonstrated using the pin-resolved neutron transport code MPACT, where standard unit tests and regression tests are covered, and where the Method of Exact Solutions and the Method of Manufactured Solutions are successfully used. Additionally, the applicability of Method of Manufactured Solutions is extended to the OECD/NEA C5G7 benchmark problems of practical material and geometric configurations. Solution Verification activities are demonstrated on a practical hierarchy of application models of increasing complexity ranging from 2D pin cell problems to 3D assembly problems. The convergence behavior and rate of convergence with respect to each individual variable are studied and provided. This framework can be adapted broadly to other fields involving scientific computing codes.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRS2018

Characterizing Material Scalability for Ultralight Lattice Design

Stiff yet ultra-light lattice structures constructed using digital materials have many practical applications as the building block for aircraft and other structures. By furthering our understanding of how material configuration affects the structural properties of an ultralight lattice, we can intelligently design these structures based on their intended function. Here we compare the behavior of ultralight lattice structures when fabricated by different materials. The individual unit cells of the lattice structures are referred to as voxels. The stiffness, elastic modulus, and yield strength of the specimens in compression and tension are determined through mechanical testing. Specimens are tested both as single voxel as well as 4x4x4 voxel constructions on an Instron 5982 Universal Testing System until failure. Each voxel is manufactured in bulk through injection molding, with a unit cell pitch of 76.2 mm. Individual voxels are fastened with machine screws and nuts to create assemblies. Four separate materials are used as voxel compositions in this experiment. These include a homogeneous polymer referred to as Ultem 1000, a glass-fiber reinforced polymer referred to as Ultem 2200, a polymer with chopped carbon fibers as 30% of its fill, and homogenous polypropylene. This work compares mechanical behavior, as well as the convergence behavior of the lattice as the size of the lattice assembly increases for various materials. The goal of this study is to characterize the behavior of homogenous lattices such that heterogenous lattices can be designed with different material voxels to achieve target material properties for ultralight space applications.

Sajjadi, Afsheen↗

DOE OSTI2020

Code-to-code-to-experiment validation of LES-ALM wind farm simulators

The aim of this work is to present a detailed code-to-code comparison of two Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) solvers. Corresponding experimental measurements are used as a reference to validate the quality of the CFD simulations. The comparison highlights the effects of solver order on the solutions, and it tries to answer the question of whether a high order solver is necessary to capture the main characteristics of a wind farm. Both solvers were used on different grids to study their convergence behavior. While both solvers show a good match with experimental measurements, it appears that the low order solver is more accurate and substantially cheaper in terms of computational cost.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Robust Decentralized Learning Using ADMM With Unreliable Agents

Many signal processing and machine learning problems can be formulated as consensus optimization problems which can be solved efficiently via a cooperative multi-agent system. However, the agents in the system can be unreliable due to a variety of reasons: noise, faults and attacks. Providing erroneous updates leads the optimization process in a wrong direction, and degrades the performance of distributed machine learning algorithms. This paper considers the problem of decentralized learning using ADMM in the presence of unreliable agents. First, we rigorously analyze the effect of erroneous updates (in ADMM learning iterations) on the convergence behavior of the multi-agent system. We show that the algorithm linearly converges to a neighborhood of the optimal solution under certain conditions and characterize the neighborhood size analytically. Next, we provide guidelines for network design to achieve a faster convergence to the neighborhood. Here, we also provide conditions on the erroneous updates for exact convergence to the optimal solution. Finally, to mitigate the influence of unreliable agents, we propose ROAD , a robust variant of ADMM, and show its resilience to unreliable agents with an exact convergence to the optimum.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRS1981

Self-adaptive predictor-corrector algorithm for static nonlinear structural analysis

A multiphase selfadaptive predictor corrector type algorithm was developed. This algorithm enables the solution of highly nonlinear structural responses including kinematic, kinetic and material effects as well as pro/post buckling behavior. The strategy involves three main phases: (1) the use of a warpable hyperelliptic constraint surface which serves to upperbound dependent iterate excursions during successive incremental Newton Ramphson (INR) type iterations; (20 uses an energy constraint to scale the generation of successive iterates so as to maintain the appropriate form of local convergence behavior; (3) the use of quality of convergence checks which enable various self adaptive modifications of the algorithmic structure when necessary. The restructuring is achieved by tightening various conditioning parameters as well as switch to different algorithmic levels to improve the convergence process. The capabilities of the procedure to handle various types of static nonlinear structural behavior are illustrated.

Padovan, J.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Effect of Geometric Granularity on the Noise Signature of a Full-Scale Large Civil Transport Nose Landing Gear

Results from a comprehensive simulation campaign focused on characterizing the air-frame noise signature of a full-scale Boeing 777-300ER nose landing gear are presented. The as-flown, installed nose gear geometry was used to assess how accurately the selected computational methodology can predict far-field noise before extending the simulation approach to the complete B777-300ER aircraft in landing configuration. To facilitate direct comparisons with experimental data, the simulations were conducted for conditions matching those recorded for a flyby of the same aircraft over the ground-based phased microphone array used during the 2005 Quiet Technology Demonstrator II test. The far-field acoustic footprint of the nose landing gear was computed via a Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings integral approach, with pressures on the model solid surface or flow quantities on a permeable data surface enclosing the gear used as input. A grid refinement study performed for the baseline gear con-figuration to establish the convergence behavior of the far-field spectrum indicated that the sound pressure levels had converged at frequencies slightly beyond 5 kHz for the finest spatial resolution attempted. To ascertain the effects of geometric granularity on far-field noise, simulations of a defeatured version of the nose gear were undertaken. Comparisons with fully-dressed gear results indicated that finer geometric details add 2–4 dB to the sound pressure levels at mid- to high-frequencies (800 Hz to 5 kHz), suggesting that for accurate noise prediction such details cannot be neglected.

airframe noise↗