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At least 19 records

Transonic airfoil calculations using solution-adaptive grids

A new algorithm for generating solution-adaptive grids (SAG) about airfoil configurations embedded in transonic flow is presented. The present SAG approach uses only the airfoil surface solution to recluster grid points on the airfoil surface, i.e., the reclustering problem is one dimension smaller than the flow-field calculation problem. Special controls automatically built into the elliptic grid generation procedure are then used to obtain grids with suitable interior behavior. This concept of redistributing grid points greatly simplifies the idea of solution-adaptive grids. Numerical results indicate significant improvements in accuracy for SAG grids relative to standard grids using the same number of points.

Holst, T. L.

Specification of mesospheric density, pressure, and temperature by extrapolation

A procedure is presented which employs an extrapolation technique to obtain estimates of density, pressure, and temperature up to 90 km from 52 km data. The resulting errors are investigated. The procedure is combined with a special temperature interpolation method around the stratopause to produce such estimates at eight levels between 36 km and 90 km from North American sectional chart data at 5, 2, and 0.4 mb. Fifth charts were processed to obtain mean values and standard deviations at grid points for midseasonal months from 1964 to 1966. The mean values were compared with Groves' model, and internal consistency tests were performed upon the statistics. Through application of the extrapolation procedure, the atmospheric structure of a stratospheric warming event is studied.

Graves, M. E.

Process modifications for improved carbon fiber composites: Alleviation of the electrical hazards problem

Attempts to alleviate carbon-fiber-composite electrical hazards during airplane crash fires through fiber gasification are described. Thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetric experiments found several catalysts that caused fibers to combust when composites were exposed to test fires. Composites were tested in the 'Burn-Bang' apparatus and in high voltage electrical detection grid apparatus. In a standard three minute burn test modified composites released no fibers, while state-of-the-art composites released several hundred fiber fragments. Expected service life with and without catalytic modification was studied and electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis furnished physical appearance and chemical composition data. An acrylic acid polymer fiber coating was developed that wet the carbon fiber surface uniformly with the catalyst, providing a marked contrast with the uneven coats obtained by solution-dipping.

Ramohalli, K.

A new solution-adaptive grid generation method for transonic airfoil flow calculations

The clustering algorithm is controlled by a second-order, ordinary differential equation which uses the airfoil surface density gradient as a forcing function. The solution to this differential equation produces a surface grid distribution which is automatically clustered in regions with large gradients. The interior grid points are established from this surface distribution by using an interpolation scheme which is fast and retains the desirable properties of the original grid generated from the standard elliptic equation approach.

Nakamura, S.

Multi-100 kW: Planar low cost solar array development

The applicability of selected low cost options to solar array blanket design was studied by fabricating representative modules and submitting them to thermal cycle environment. Large area (5.9 x 5.9 cm) solar cells of 3 varieties were purchased: (1) Standard wraparound, (2) Copper contacts substituted for the conventional Titanium-Palladium-Silver, and (3) Standard wraparound except with gridded back contact instead of continuous metallization. The baseline cell was purchased to compare fabrication cost and to serve as a control cell during test evaluation of the other two cells. All cells were assembled into either substrate modules where the cell is individually filtered and welded to an integrated Kapton-copper circuit or into a superstrate configuration with 4 cells jointly adhered to a single sheet of microsheet and then welded to the integrated Kapton-copper circuit. Cell quality, particularly in the metallization of contacts, was less than desired. Problems were encountered with copper metallization in laying down a barrier metal which would ohmically bond to the silicon. The cells received were shunted (sintered) or with low contact pull strength (non-sintered), thus leading to the decision to solder rather than weld the copper cells to the Kapton substrate.

Source record

Investigation of ERTS/MSS imagery for photo-mapping of the United States

The author has identified the following significant results. A UTM grid has been fitted to the 1:250,000 scale photomap and has resulted in a RMSE of 50 meters which is well within National Map Accuracy Standards. Fitting of the UTM grid to the State of Arizona photomaps is in progress.

Pilonero, J. T.

The reduction, verification and interpretation of MAGSAT magnetic data over Canada

Analysis of Investigator B tapes was extended to use a statistical screening of individual data points in each grid cell over the map area. The mean value of data from each cell was computed and all data values more than 4nT from the mean were rejected. The revised mean and standard deviation was computed. The average standard deviation for all map grid cells was 1.4nT for the scalar anomaly map and about 2nT for the vector component anomaly maps. At this stage, the grid cell is larger and spatial resolution lower for the vector maps than for the scalar maps, because the vector components are considerably more disturbed and more data points were rejected. An approach for altitude adjustment is in progress so that corrections can be made and data reduction procede. To evaluate the use of scalar and vector MAGSAT data for the production of regional magnetic charts, charts of the north, east, vertical, and scalar field derived from MAGSAT and from Canadian aeromagnetic data were compared. It appears possible to retrieve crustal signals from the horizontal vector components despite external disturbance fields at high latitude.

Coles, R. L.

The BANDIT computer program for the reduction of matrix bandwidth for NASTRAN

A computer program, BANDIT, is described which was developed for use as a preprocessor to NASTRAN to automatically resequence the grid point numbers for reduced matrix bandwidth. The BANDIT program accepts a standard NASTRAN data deck as input, resequences the grid point numbers for reduced bandwidth, and generates a set of SEQGP cards for insertion into the NASTRAN bulk data deck. BANDIT uses the Cuthill-McKee strategy for resequencing grid points. The program is operational on the CDC 6000 series of computers, the IBM 360, and the Univac 1108.

Everstine, G. C.

High resolution, low cost solar cell contact development

The experimental work demonstrating the feasibility of the MIDFILM process as a low cost means of applying solar cell collector metallization as reported. Cell efficiencies of above 14% (AMl, 28 C) were achieved with fritted silver metallization. Environmental tests suggest that the metallization is slightly humidity sensitive and degradation is observed on cells with high series resistance. The major yield loss in the fabrication of cells was due to discontinuous grid lines, resulting in high series resitance. Standard lead-tin solder plated interconnections do not appear compatible with the MIDFILM contact. Copper, nickel and molybdemun base powder were investigated as low cost metallization systems. The copper based powder degraded the cell response. The nickel and molybdenum base powders oxidized when sintered in the oxidizing atmosphere necessary to ash the photoresin.

Mardesich, N.

Short-circuit current improvement in thin cells with a gridded back contact

The use of gridded back contact on thin silicon solar cells 50 micrometers was investigated. An unexpected increase in short circuit current of almost 10 percent was experienced for 2 cm x 2 cm cells. Control cells with the standard continuous contact metallization were fabricated at the same time as the gridded back cells with all processes identical up to the formation of the back contact. The gridded back contact pattern was delineated by evaporation of Ti-Pd over a photo-resist mask applied to the back of the wafer; the Ti-Pd film on the controls was applied in the standard fashion in a continuous layer over the back of the cell. The Ti-Pd contacts were similarly applied to the front of the wafer, and the grid pattern on both sides of the cell was electroplated with 8-10 micrometers of silver.

Giuliano, M.

Approximate boundary condition procedure for the two-dimensional numerical solution of vortex wakes

Research on efficient computational methods for general vorticity fields has been conducted in connection with a need for basic research on vortex-dominated flows. The present investigation is concerned with the evolution of vortex wakes behind aircraft wings. An efficient procedure is presented for the calculation of the boundary values used in the numerical solution of the unsteady, incompressible, two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations for an unbounded flow field. The extent of the computational grid can be reduced compared to methods utilizing standard boundary conditions, without loss of accuracy. The efficiencies realized make it feasible to calculate the vortex wake development for realistic wing configurations, including the merging of multiple vortices, for Reynolds numbers of about 10,000 based on wing chord.

Weston, R. P.

Two-dimensional integrating matrices on rectangular grids

The use of integrating matrices in solving differential equations associated with rotating beam configurations is examined. In vibration problems, by expressing the equations of motion of the beam in matrix notation, utilizing the integrating matrix as an operator, and applying the boundary conditions, the spatial dependence is removed from the governing partial differential equations and the resulting ordinary differential equations can be cast into standard eigenvalue form. Integrating matrices are derived based on two dimensional rectangular grids with arbitrary grid spacings allowed in one direction. The derivation of higher dimensional integrating matrices is the initial step in the generalization of the integrating matrix methodology to vibration and stability problems involving plates and shells.

Lakin, W. D.

Comparison of solutions of the Navier-Stokes and interacting boundary layer equations for separated turbulent flow

Comparisons are presented between numerical solutions of the Navier-Stokes and interacting boundary-layer equations for the subsonic separated turbulent flow over an axisymmetric boattail configuration for which experimental data was available. Comparisons were made using a standard algebraic turbulence model and its modification using a streamwise relaxation model. Grid size studies were performed to provide an approximate assessment of the sensitivity of each method to mesh size. In general, good agreement was observed between the solutions of the Navier-Stokes and interacting boundary-layer equations; however, the interaction approach responded more strongly to the modified turbulence model thereby giving better agreement with experimental data.

Vatsa, V. N.

The CMC/3DPNS computer program for prediction of three-dimension, subsonic, turbulent aerodynamic juncture region flow. Volume 2: Users' manual

The CMC fluid mechanics program system was developed to transmit the theoretical solution of finite element numerical solution methodology, applied to nonlinear field problems into a versatile computer code for comprehensive flow field analysis. Data procedures for the CMC 3 dimensional Parabolic Navier-Stokes (PNS) algorithm are presented. General data procedures a juncture corner flow standard test case data deck is described. A listing of the data deck and an explanation of grid generation methodology are presented. Tabulations of all commands and variables available to the user are described. These are in alphabetical order with cross reference numbers which refer to storage addresses.

Manhardt, P. D.

Report of the subpanel on resampling functions

The state of the art and anticipated requirements for resampling in applications of remote sensing are examined. It is noted that the wide range of potential applications and expanded needs for resampling versatility in new imaging sensors leads to a concern for creating standardized test data sets and ground training sites. Several research areas are defined including the development of (1) a theory for defining an input psf of an instrument such that upon resampling of the processed data into the desired output grid the radiometric and geometric properties are a best estimate of the true upwelling radiances; (2) algorithms for estimating missing data or for ignoring missing data; (3) optimal resampling functions; (4) standard data sets; and (5) merit functions for assessing resampling techniques.

Source record

Effect of grid transparency and finite collector size on determining ion temperature and density by the retarding potential analyzer

The effects of the grid transparency and finite collector size on the values of thermal ion density and temperature determined by the standard RPA (retarding potential analyzer) analysis method are investigated. The current-voltage curves calculated for varying RPA parameters and a given ion mass, temperature, and density are analyzed by the standard RPA method. It is found that only small errors in temperature and density are introduced for an RPA with typical dimensions, and that even when the density error is substantial for nontypical dimensions, the temperature error remains minimum.

Troy, B. E., Jr.

High performance solar Stirling system

A full-scale Dish-Stirling system experiment, at a power level of 25 kWe, has been tested during 1981 on the Test Bed Concentrator No. 2 at the Parabolic Dish Test Site, Edwards, CA. Test components, designed and developed primarily by industrial contractors for the Department of Energy, include an advanced Stirling engine driving an induction alternator, a directly-coupled solar receiver with a natural gas combustor for hybrid operation and a breadboard control system based on a programmable controller and standard utility substation components. The experiment demonstrated practicality of the solar Stirling application and high system performance into a utility grid. This paper describes the design and its functions, and the test results obtained.

Stearns, J. W.

Experiments with the fourth order GISS general circulation model

The new GISS GCM with 4th order conservative horizontal finite difference is briefly described. A simple forecast performed with real initial data indicates a significant increase in skill with respect to standard 2nd order GISS GCM. The improvement is limited by other sources of errors, especially poor initial data and vertical truncation. It is estimated that with a 4th order - 200 km grid model, errors introduced by horizontal truncation will be negligible for about a week for most synoptic scales (wavelengths larger than 1000 km).

Kalnay-Rivas, E.