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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 NTRS2008

Using the Inflection Points and Rates of Growth and Decay to Predict Levels of Solar Activity

The ascending and descending inflection points and rates of growth and decay at specific times during the sunspot cycle are examined as predictors for future activity. On average, the ascending inflection point occurs about 1-2 yr after sunspot minimum amplitude (Rm) and the descending inflection point occurs about 6-7 yr after Rm. The ascending inflection point and the inferred slope (including the 12-mo moving average (12-mma) of (Delta)R (the month-to-month change in the smoothed monthly mean sunspot number (R)) at the ascending inflection point provide strong indications as to the expected size of the ongoing cycle s sunspot maximum amplitude (RM), while the descending inflection point appears to provide an indication as to the expected length of the ongoing cycle. The value of the 12-mma of (Delta)R at elapsed time T = 27 mo past the epoch of RM (E(RM)) seems to provide a strong indication as to the expected size of Rm for the following cycle. The expected Rm for cycle 24 is 7.6 +/- 4.4 (the 90-percent prediction interval), occurring before September 2008. Evidence is also presented for secular rises in selected cycle-related parameters and for preferential grouping of sunspot cycles by amplitude and/or period.

Wilson, Robert M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Inflection point caustic problems and solutions for high-gain dual-shaped reflectors

The singular nature of the uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) subreflector scattered field at the vicinity of the main reflector edge (for a high-gain antenna design) is investigated. It is shown that the singularity in the UTD edge-diffracted and slope-diffracted fields is due to the reflection distance parameter approaching infinity in the transition functions. While the geometrical optics (GO) and UTD edge-diffracted fields exhibit singularities of the same order, the edge slope-diffracted field singularity is more significant and is substantial for greater subreflector edge tapers. The diffraction analysis of such a subreflector in the vicinity of the main reflector edge has been carried out efficiently and accurately by a stationary phase evaluation of the phi-integral, whereas the theta-integral is carried out numerically. Computational results from UTD and physical optics (PO) analysis of a 34-m ground station dual-shaped reflector confirm the analytical formulations for both circularly symmetric and offset asymmetric subreflectors. It is concluded that the proposed PO(theta)GO(phi) technique can be used to study the spillover or noise temperature characteristics of a high-gain reflector antenna efficiently and accurately.

Galindo-Israel, Victor↗
NASA NTRS1986

Theory for computing the field scattered from a smooth inflected surface

A theory is described for computing the reflected or scattered field from a smooth body with inflection points. These inflections occur in certain directions at each surface point for which the total (Gaussian) curvature is zero or negative. For surface illumination in one of these critical directions, the usual reflection formulas obtained by the high-frequency approximation are inapplicable, and a shadow zone exists in the reflected field. Scattering into the shadow zone is treated, as well as specular reflection. This theory should have a variety of applications such as for certain optics problems, computer graphics modeling of three-dimensional shapes, and the design and analysis of specialized microwave reflector antennas.

Barger, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Direct numerical simulation of instabilities in parallel flow with spherical roughness elements

Results from a direct numerical simulation of laminar flow over a flat surface with spherical roughness elements using a spectral-element method are given. The numerical simulation approximates roughness as a cellular pattern of identical spheres protruding from a smooth wall. Periodic boundary conditions on the domain's horizontal faces simulate an infinite array of roughness elements extending in the streamwise and spanwise directions, which implies the parallel-flow assumption, and results in a closed domain. A body force, designed to yield the horizontal Blasius velocity in the absence of roughness, sustains the flow. Instabilities above a critical Reynolds number reveal negligible oscillations in the recirculation regions behind each sphere and in the free stream, high-amplitude oscillations in the layer directly above the spheres, and a mean profile with an inflection point near the sphere's crest. The inflection point yields an unstable layer above the roughness (where U''(y) is less than 0) and a stable region within the roughness (where U''(y) is greater than 0). Evidently, the instability begins when the low-momentum or wake region behind an element, being the region most affected by disturbances (purely numerical in this case), goes unstable and moves. In compressible flow with periodic boundaries, this motion sends disturbances to all regions of the domain. In the unstable layer just above the inflection point, the disturbances grow while being carried downstream with a propagation speed equal to the local mean velocity; they do not grow amid the low energy region near the roughness patch. The most amplified disturbance eventually arrives at the next roughness element downstream, perturbing its wake and inducing a global response at a frequency governed by the streamwise spacing between spheres and the mean velocity of the most amplified layer.

Deanna, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1959

Experimental Investigation of the Pressure Rise Required for the Incipient Separation of Turbulent Boundary Layers in Two-Dimensional Supersonic Flow

An experimental investigation has been made of turbulent boundary-layer separation associated with compression corners, curved surfaces of various radii, and incident shock waves. The purpose of the investigation was to provide design information, and to define significant physical trends, which would aid in the prediction of turbulent separation for various aerodynamic devices, such as compressor blades, flaps, spoilers, and diffusers. A characteristic change in the longitudinal static-pressure distribution (i.e., a change from a curve with one inflection point to a curve with three inflection points) was employed to detect the occurrence of separation. The effects of Reynolds number (10(exp 6) to 10(exp 7) per foot or l.5 x 10(exp 4) to 7.5 x 10(exp 4) based upon boundary-layer thickness) and Mach number (1.6 to 4.2) on the onset of turbulent boundary-layer separation were investigated. The pressure gradient of the boundary-layer flow ahead of the interaction region was essentially zero. The results show a considerable effect of Mach number on the pressure rise for incipient separation for all configurations. For a curved-surface model, the static pressure-rise ratio required to cause separation varied from about 2.5, at a Mach number of 2 to about 16, at a Mach number of 3.5. A substantial effect of Reynolds number on the pressure rise for incipient separation was observed in the upper Mach number range and in the lower Reynolds number range; namely, the pressure rise required for separation decreased with increasing Reynolds number. For low Mach numbers and high Reynolds numbers, there appeared to be no Reynolds number effect. The effects of Mach number and of Reynolds number were similar for all models. Model shape was also found to be an important variable affecting the onset of separation. Large gains were realized in the pressure-rise ratio with no separation when the radius of curvature of the model surface was increased. At a Mach number of 3.4, for instance, the pressure-rise ratio with no separation increased from about 5 to 15 as a result of an increase in the radius of curvature from approximately 0 to 30 boundary-layer thicknesses.

Kuehn, Donald M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Finite source sizes and the information content of macho-type lens search light curves

If the dark halo matter is primarily composed of Massive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs) toward the lower end of the possible detection range (less than 10(exp -3) solar mass) a fraction of the lens detection events should involve the lens crossing directly in front of the disk of the background star. Previously, Nemiroff has shown that each crossing would create an inflection point in the light curve of the MACHO event. Such inflection points would allow a measure of the time it took for the lens to cross the stellar disk. Given an independent estimate of the stellar radius by other methods, one could then obtain a more accurate estimate of the velocity of the lens. This velocity could then, in turn, be used to obtain a more accurate estimate of the mass range for the MACHO or disk star doing the lensing.

Nemiroff, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Assessing Uncertainties in Boundary Layer Transition Predictions for HIFiRE-1 at Non-zero Angles of Attack

Boundary layer stability was analyzed for the HIFiRE-1 flight vehicle geometry for ground tests conducted at the CUBRC LENS I hypersonic shock test facility and the Langley Research Center (LaRC) 20- inch Mach 6 Tunnel. Boundary layer stability results were compared to transition onset location obtained from discrete heat transfer measurements from thin film gauges during the CUBRC test and spatially continuous heat transfer measurements from thermal phosphor paint data during the LaRC test. The focus of this analysis was on conditions at non-zero angles of attack as stability analysis has already been performed at zero degrees angle of attack. Also, the transition onset data obtained during flight testing was at nonzero angles of attack, so this analysis could be expanded in the future to include the results of the flight test data. Stability analysis was performed using the 2D parabolized stability software suite STABL (Stability and Transition Analysis for Hypersonic Boundary Layers) developed at the University of Minnesota and the mean flow solutions were computed using the DPLR finite volume Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver. A center line slice of the 3D mean flow solution was used for the stability analysis to incorporate the angle of attack effects while still taking advantage of the 2D STABL software suite. The N-factors at transition onset and the value of Re(sub theta)/M(sub e), commonly used to predict boundary layer transition onset, were compared for all conditions analyzed. Ground test data was analyzed at Mach 7.2 and Mach 6.0 and angles of attack of 1deg, 3deg and 5deg. At these conditions, the flow was found to be second mode dominant for the HIFiRE-1 slender cone geometry. On the leeward side of the vehicle, a strong trend of transition onset location with angle of attack was observed as the boundary layer on the leeward side of the vehicle developed inflection points at streamwise positions on the vehicle that correlated to angle of attack. Inflection points are a strong instability mechanism that lead to rapid breakdown and transition to turbulence. The transition onset location on the windward side of the vehicle displayed no trend with angle of attack or freestream Reynolds number and transition was observed farther down the vehicle than observed on the leeward side of the vehicle. In analysis of both windward and leeward sides of the vehicle, use of the N factor methodology to develop trends to predict boundary layer transition onset showed improvements over the Re(sub theta)/M(sub e) empirical correlation methodology. Stronger correlations and less scatter in the data were observed when using the N factor method for these cases.

Marek, Lindsay C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Development of boundary layer rolls from dynamic instabilities

Using three three-dimensional spectral models of flow in a neutral atmosphere, the development of atmospheric boundary layer rolls from the inflection point and parallel instabilities is examined. Using the Ekman profile, the ability of the various models to reproduce the modes arising from the parallel and inflection point instability mechanisms was tested by comparing the results from the spectral models with the results from larger models used by other investigators. It was found that the truncated spectral models used in this investigation yielded preferred values of orientation angle and aspect ratio that agreed with those produced by the larger models, as well as with the observations data taken on September 1981 during the West-German KonTur experiment.

Stensrud, David J.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Gaussian Decomposition of Laser Altimeter Waveforms

We develop a method to decompose a laser altimeter return waveform into its Gaussian components assuming that the position of each Gaussian within the waveform can be used to calculate the mean elevation of a specific reflecting surface within the laser footprint. We estimate the number of Gaussian components from the number of inflection points of a smoothed copy of the laser waveform, and obtain initial estimates of the Gaussian half-widths and positions from the positions of its consecutive inflection points. Initial amplitude estimates are obtained using a non-negative least-squares method. To reduce the likelihood of fitting the background noise within the waveform and to minimize the number of Gaussians needed in the approximation, we rank the "importance" of each Gaussian in the decomposition using its initial half-width and amplitude estimates. The initial parameter estimates of all Gaussians ranked "important" are optimized using the Levenburg-Marquardt method. If the sum of the Gaussians does not approximate the return waveform to a prescribed accuracy, then additional Gaussians are included in the optimization procedure. The Gaussian decomposition method is demonstrated on data collected by the airborne Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) in October 1997 over the Sequoia National Forest, California.

Hofton, Michelle A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Deep Convective Cloud Calibration Sensitivity Studies in Support of Radiometrically Scaling GEO Imagers With VIIRS

The NASA CERES SYN1deg product provides the scientific community regional hourly TOA and surface broadband fluxes and clouds. For consistent geostationary (GEO) derived fluxes and clouds the GEO imagers are radiometrically scaled to the Aqua-MODIS calibration reference. The CERES project utilizes GEO and MODIS or VIIRS analogous channel coincident, collocated, and co-angled radiance pairs as the primary method to inter-calibrate the GEO imagers. Tropical deep convective clouds (DCC) are bright, near Lambertian, top of atmosphere pseudo invariant Earth targets that do not rely on coincident ray-matched radiance pairs to radiometrically scale sensors to a common calibration reference. The DCC invariant target (DCC-IT) methodology collectively analyzes all tropical DCC identified pixel radiances by way of probability density function (PDF) distributions. Perfectly inter-calibrated sensor pairs should reveal nearly identical PDF distributions given the same DCC identification criterion. The PDF median, mean, mode, and inflection point statistics were tested as a function of DCC identification criterion using SNPP-VIIRS and Himawari-8 AHI 0.65μm channel radiances during January 2019. It was found that the PDF inflection point provided inter-calibration factors within 0.25% that were nearly independent of DCC identification criterion. The PDF median provided inter-calibration factors within 0.25% for the coldest BT and most stringent homogeneity factors. The PDF mean and mode statistics were inadequate under any DCC conditions. It is critical for the DCC pixel radiances to be anisotropically corrected. The DCC-IT methodology will also be tested for other visible and SWIR bands.

DCC↗
NASA NTRS1947

Investigations of Effects of Surface Temperature and Single Roughness Elements on Boundary-Layer Transition

The laminar boundary layer and the position of the transition point were investigated on a heated flat plate. It was found that the Reynolds number of transition decreased as the temperature of the plate is increased. It is shown from simple qualitative analytical considerations that the effect of variable viscosity in the boundary layer due to the temperature difference produces a velocity profile with an inflection point if the wall temperature is higher than the free-stream temperature. This profile is confirmed by measurements. The instability of inflection-point profiles is discussed. Studies of the flow in the wake of large, two-dimensional roughness elements are presented. It is shown that a boundary-layer can separate and reattach itself to the wall without having transition take place.

Liepmann, Hans W↗
NASA NTRS1993

Use of surface heat transfer measurements as a flow separation diagnostic in a two dimensional reflected oblique shock/turbulent boundary layer interaction

The feasibility of using streamwise surface heat transfer measurements to detect the presence of flow separation in a two-dimensional reflected oblique shock/turbulent boundary layer interaction is reported. Surface heat transfer and static pressure data are presented for attached and separated flows for a free stream nominal Mach number range of 2.5 to 3.5 and shock generator angles of 2 to 8 degrees. The static pressure data do show the characteristic triple inflection point distribution for the strongly separated flow cases. The corresponding surface heat transfer data show unique trends that correlate well with the static pressure determination of the extent of the separated flow region. For the incipient or weakly separated flow cases, the static pressure data do not exhibit the characteristic triple inflection point distribution. However, the same trends in the heat transfer data that are seen for the strongly separated flow cases are evident for the weakly separated flows. Hence, the heat transfer data can be used to determine the extent of weakly separated flows when the surface static pressure distributions often can not.

Porro, A. Robert↗
NASA NTRS1993

Use of surface heat transfer measurements as a flow separation diagnostic in a two-dimensional reflected oblique shock/turbulent boundary layer interaction

The feasibility of using streamwise surface heat transfer measurements to detect the presence of flow separation in a two-dimensional reflected oblique shock/turbulent boundary layer interaction is reported. Surface heat transfer and static pressure data are presented for attached and separated flows for a free stream nominal Mach number range of 2.5 to 3.5 and shock generator angles of 2 to 8 degrees. The static presure data do show the characteristic triple inflection point distribution for the strongly separated flow cases. The corresponding surface heat transfer data show unique trends that correlate well with the static pressure determination of the extent of the separated flow region. For the incipient or weakly separated flow cases, the static pressure data do not exhibit the characteristic triple inflection point distribution. However, the same trends in the heat transfer data that are seen for the strongly separated flow cases are evident for the weakly separated flows. Hence, the heat transfer data can be used to determine the extent of weakly separated flows when the surface static pressure distributions often can not.

Porro, A. R.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Boundary-layer analysis of subsonic inlet diffuser geometries for engines nacelles

Theoretical Mach number distributions and boundary-layer parameters are presented for subsonic nacelle inlet diffuser geometries with length to exit diameter ratios ranging from 0.4 to 1.6 and diffuser exit area to throat area ratios ranging from 1.1 to 2.0. The major portion of the study was done with a cubic diffuser contour with the inflection point at the midpoint of the diffuser, a diffuser throat Mach number of 0.6, and a free-stream Mach number of 0.12. Calculations were performed at both model (diffuser exit diameter, 30.5 cm) and full-scale (diffuser exit diameter, 183 cm) sizes. Separation limits were defined by establishing a separation boundary on plots of diffuser area ratio as a function of diffuser length to diameter ratio. The effects of diffuser contour, inlet lip geometry, and throat Mach number on the boundary-layer characteristics are illustrated. The major results of the study indicate that the separation boundary is shifted to greater area ratios by (1) increasing the diffuser length, (2) increasing the scale of the diffuser and, (3) moving the inflection point of the diffuser contour to or ahead of the midpoint of the diffuser.

Albers, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Device and method for determining freezing points

A freezing point method and device (10) are disclosed. The method and device pertain to an inflection point technique for determining the freezing points of mixtures. In both the method and device (10), the mixture is cooled to a point below its anticipated freezing point and then warmed at a substantially linear rate. During the warming process, the rate of increase of temperature of the mixture is monitored by, for example, thermocouple (28) with the thermocouple output signal being amplified and differentiated by a differentiator (42). The rate of increase of temperature data are analyzed and a peak rate of increase of temperature is identified. In the preferred device (10) a computer (22) is utilized to analyze the rate of increase of temperature data following the warming process. Once the maximum rate of increase of temperature is identified, the corresponding temperature of the mixture is located and earmarked as being substantially equal to the freezing point of the mixture. In a preferred device (10), the computer (22), in addition to collecting the temperature and rate of change of temperature data, controls a programmable power supply (14) to provide a predetermined amount of cooling and warming current to thermoelectric modules (56).

Mathiprakasam, Balakrishnan↗
NASA NTRS1983

An algorithm for using a laser anemometer to determine mean streamline patterns in a turbulent flow

The technique of tracing out a mean flow streamline with a three dimensional laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) is discussed with respect to cumulative, systematic errors that are inherent when the motion of the LDA test point is in the direction of the local measured velocity. Using simple potential flows that have variable curvature and inflection points to simulate an LDA experiment, a streamline tracing algorithm is developed that minimizes these errors. Also, the test point path remains close to the correct streamline even when simulated statistical measurement variations are included.

Orloff, K. L.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Influence of heat transfer on the stability of parallel flow between concentric cylinders

The stability of the parallel flow of water between concentric cylinders at different temperatures is investigated for infinitesimal velocity and pressure disturbances. Primary interest is in the effect of heat transfer and the radius ratio a/b on the critical point of the neutral stability curve. The results indicate a strong dependence of the critical eigenvalues on both the heat transfer and the radius ratio. The critical Reynolds number of the nonisothermal flow appears to approach a finite value as the inner radius approaches zero (pipe flow) by showing an inflection point on the curve of critical Reynolds number vs a/b.

Choo, Y. K.↗