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Results for “Bounded motion”

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 181 records · Page 10

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NASA NTRS1986

Aeolian processes aboard a space station: Saltation and particle trajectory analysis

The Carousel wind tunnel (CWT) proposed to study aeolian processes aboard a space station consists of two concentric rotating drums. The space between the two drums comprises the wind tunnel test section. Differential rates of rotation of the two drums would provide a wind velocity with respect to either drum surface. Preliminary results of measured velocity profiles made in a CWT prototype indicate that the wall bounded boundary layer profiles are suitable to simulate flat plate turbulent boundary layer flow. The two dimensional flat plate Cartesian coordinate equations of motion of a particle moving through the air are explained. In order to assess the suitability of CWT in the analysis of the trajectories of windblown particles, a series of calculations were conducted comparing cases for gravity with those of zero gravity. Results from the calculations demonstrate that a wind tunnel of the carousel design could be fabricted to operate in a space station environment and that experiments could be conducted which would yield significant results contributing to the understanding of the physics of particle dynamics.

White, B. R.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Aeolian processes aboard a Space Station: Saltation and particle trajectory analysis

The Carousel Wind Tunnel (CWT) proposed to study aeolian processes aboard a Space Station consists of two concentric rotating drums. The space between the two drums comprises the wind tunnel section. Differential rates of rotation of the two drums would provide a wind velocity with respect to either drum surface. Preliminary results of measured velocity profiles made in a CWT prototype indicate that the wall bounded boundary layer profiles are suitable to simuate flat plate turbulent boundary layer flow. The two dimensional flate plate Cartesian coordinate equations of motion of a particle moving through the air are explained. In order to assess the suitability of CWT in the analysis of the trajectories of windblown particles, a series of calculations were conducted comparing cases for gravity with those of zero gravity. Results from the calculations demonstrate that a wind tunnel of the carousel design could be fabricated to operate in a space station environment and that experiments could be conducted which would yield significant results contributing to the understanding of the physics of particle dynamics.

White, Bruce R.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Analytical model for the motion and interaction of two-dimensional active nematic defects

Here, we develop an approximate, analytical model for the velocity of defects in active nematics by combining recent results for the velocity of topological defects in nematic liquid crystals with the flow field generated from individual defects in active nematics. Importantly, our model takes into account the long-range interactions between defects that result from the flows they produce as well as the orientational coupling between defects inherent in nematics. Our work complements previous studies of active nematic defect motion by introducing a linear approximation that allows us to treat defect interactions as two-body interactions and incorporates the hydrodynamic screening length as a tuning parameter. We show that the model can analytically predict bound states between two +1/2 winding number defects, effective attraction between two –1/2 defects, and the scaling of a critical unbinding length between ±1/2 defects with activity. The model also gives predictions for the trajectories of defects, such as the scattering of +1/2 defects by –1/2 defects at a critical impact parameter that depends on activity. In the presence of circular confinement, the model predicts a braiding motion for three +1/2 defects that was recently seen in experiments, as well as stable and ergodic trajectories for four or more defects.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2024

Primeval very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs – VIII. The first age benchmark L subdwarf, a wide companion to a halo white dwarf

ABSTRACT We report the discovery of five white dwarf + ultracool dwarf systems identified as common proper motion wide binaries in the Gaia Catalogue of Nearby Stars. The discoveries include a white dwarf + L subdwarf binary, VVV 1256−62AB, a gravitationally bound system located 75.6$^{+1.9}_{-1.8}$ pc away with a projected separation of 1375$^{+35}_{-33}$ au. The primary is a cool DC white dwarf with a hydrogen dominated atmosphere, and has a total age of $10.5^{+3.3}_{-2.1}$ Gyr, based on white dwarf model fitting. The secondary is an L subdwarf with a metallicity of [M/H] = $-0.72^{+0.08}_{-0.10}$ (i.e. [Fe/H] = $-0.81\pm 0.10$) and $T_{\rm eff}$ = 2298$^{+45}_{-43}$ K based on atmospheric model fitting of its optical to near infrared spectrum, and likely has a mass just above the stellar/substellar boundary. The subsolar metallicity of the L subdwarf and the system’s total space velocity of 406 km s−1 indicates membership in the Galactic halo, and it has a flat eccentric Galactic orbit passing within 1 kpc of the centre of the Milky Way every $\sim$0.4 Gyr and extending to 15–31 kpc at apogal. VVV 1256−62B is the first L subdwarf to have a well-constrained age, making it an ideal benchmark of metal-poor ultracool dwarf atmospheres and evolution.

Zhang, Z. H. (ORCID:000000033047607X)↗

NASA NTRS1994

Superfluid helium sloshing dynamics induced oscillations and fluctuations of angular momentum, force and moment actuated on spacecraft driven by gravity gradient or jitter acceleration associated with slew motion

The generalized mathematical formulation of sloshing dynamics for partially filled liquid of cryogenic superfluid helium II in dewar containers driven by the gravity gradient and jitter accelerations associated with slew motion for the purpose to perform scientific observation during the normal spacecraft operation are investigated. An example is given with the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility-Spectroscopy (AXAF-S) for slew motion which is responsible for the sloshing dynamics. The jitter accelerations include slew motion, spinning motion, atmospheric drag on the spacecraft, spacecraft attitude motions arising from machinery vibrations, thruster firing, pointing control of spacecraft, crew motion, etc. Explicit mathematical expressions to cover these forces acting on the spacecraft fluid systems are derived. The numerical computation of sloshing dynamics is based on the non-inertia frame spacecraft bound coordinate, and solve time-dependent, three-dimensional formulations of partial differential equations subject to initial and boundary conditions. The explicit mathematical expressions of boundary conditions to cover capillary force effect on the liquid-vapor interface in microgravity environments are also derived. The formulations of fluid moment and angular moment fluctuations in fluid profiles induced by the sloshing dynamics, together with fluid stress and moment fluctuations exerted on the spacecraft dewar containers have also been derived. Examples are also given for cases applicable to the AXAF-S spacecraft sloshing dynamics associated with slew motion.

Hung, R. J.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Muon capture on Li 6 , C 12 , and O 16 from ab initio nuclear theory

Muon capture on nuclei is one of the most promising probes of the nuclear electroweak current driving the yet-hypothetical neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay. Both processes involve vector and axial-vector currents at finite momentum transfer, q ~ 100 MeV, as well as the induced pseu doscalar and weak-magnetism currents. Comparing measured muon-capture rates with reliable ab initio nuclear-theory predictions could help us validate these currents. To this end, we compute partial muon-capture rates for 6 Li, 12 C and 16 O, feeding the ground and excited states in 6 He, 12 B and 16 N, using ab initio no-core shell model with two- and three-nucleon chiral interactions. Here, we remove the spurious center-of-mass motion by introducing translationally invariant operators and approximate the effect of hadronic two-body currents by Fermi-gas model. We solve the bound-muon wave function from the Dirac wave equations in the Coulomb field created by a finite nucleus. We find that the computed rates to the low-lying states in the final nuclei are in good agreement with the measured counterparts. We highlight sensitivity of some of the transitions to the sub-leading three-nucleon interaction terms. We also compare summed rates to several tens of final states with the measured total capture rates and note that we slightly underestimate the total rate with this simple approach due to limited range of excitation energies

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1990

Research on diabatic initialization

The objective of this research project is to contribute to improvement in the synoptic analyses in the tropics for numerical weather prediction and climate research. In addition to a prediction model, four dimensional data assimilation systems have two principal components. One is objective analysis and the other is initialization. Various methods of objective analysis are designed primarily to analyze the mass and rotational wind fields. Methods of initialization are developed to obtain the irrotational wind and its associated vertical velocity field which are balanced with the mass field and free from meteorological noise. There are essentially three approaches to the problem of initialization: quasi-geostrophic theory, bounded derivative method and nonlinear normal mode method. In the midlatitudes, these approaches generally produce satisfactory results even without diabatic effects for large-scale motions. In the tropics, the situation is quite different from that in the midlatitudes. Because of a small magnitude of the Coriolis parameter and a weak horizontal temperature gradient in the tropics, any method of initialization must incorporate diabatic effects. In fact, it can be said that understanding the problem of diabatic initialization is the key to improving the analysis and weather forecasting in the tropics.

Kasahara, Akira↗

NASA NTRS1977

Single-axis gyroscopic motion with uncertain angular velocity about spin axis

A differential game approach is presented for studying the response of a gyro by treating the controlled angular velocity about the input axis as the evader, and the bounded but uncertain angular velocity about the spin axis as the pursuer. When the uncertain angular velocity about the spin axis desires to force the gyro to saturation a differential game problem with two terminal surfaces results, whereas when the evader desires to attain the equilibrium state the usual game with single terminal manifold arises. A barrier, delineating the capture zone (CZ) in which the gyro can attain saturation and the escape zone (EZ) in which the evader avoids saturation is obtained. The CZ is further delineated into two subregions such that the states in each subregion can be forced on a definite target manifold. The application of the game theoretic approach to Control Moment Gyro is briefly discussed.

Singh, S. N.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Higher-derivative corrections to entropy and the weak gravity conjecture in Anti-de Sitter space

We compute the four-derivative corrections to the geometry, extremality bound, and thermodynamic quantities of AdS-Reissner-Nordström black holes for general dimensions and horizon geometries. We confirm the universal relationship between the extremality shift at fixed charge and the shift of the microcanonical entropy, and discuss the consequences of this relation for the Weak Gravity Conjecture in AdS. The thermodynamic corrections are calculated using two different methods: first by explicitly solving the higher-derivative equations of motion and second, by evaluating the higher-derivative Euclidean on-shell action on the leading-order solution. In both cases we find agreement, up to the addition of a Casimir energy in odd dimensions. We derive the bounds on the four-derivative Wilson coefficients implied by the conjectured positivity of the leading corrections to the microcanonical entropy of thermodynamically stable black holes. These include the requirement that the coefficient of Riemann-squared is positive, meaning that the positivity of the entropy shift is related to the condition that c – a is positive in the dual CFT. We discuss implications for the deviation of η/s from its universal value and a potential lower bound.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

NASA NTRS1991

On computing the global time-optimal motions of robotic manipulators in the presence of obstacles

A method for computing the time-optimal motions of robotic manipulators is presented that considers the nonlinear manipulator dynamics, actuator constraints, joint limits, and obstacles. The optimization problem is reduced to a search for the time-optimal path in the n-dimensional position space. A small set of near-optimal paths is first efficiently selected from a grid, using a branch and bound search and a series of lower bound estimates on the traveling time along a given path. These paths are further optimized with a local path optimization to yield the global optimal solution. Obstacles are considered by eliminating the collision points from the tessellated space and by adding a penalty function to the motion time in the local optimization. The computational efficiency of the method stems from the reduced dimensionality of the searched spaced and from combining the grid search with a local optimization. The method is demonstrated in several examples for two- and six-degree-of-freedom manipulators with obstacles.

Shiller, Zvi↗

DOE OSTI2021

Error estimates of finite difference methods for the Dirac equation in the massless and nonrelativistic regime

We present four frequently used finite difference methods and establish the error bounds for the discretization of the Dirac equation in the massless and nonrelativistic regime, involving a small dimensionless parameter 0 < ε &NestedLessLess; 1 inversely proportional to the speed of light. In the massless and nonrelativistic regime, the solution exhibits rapid motion in space and is highly oscillatory in time. Specifically, the wavelength of the propagating waves in time is at O(ε), while in space, it is at O(1) with the wave speed at O(ε -1 ). We adopt one leap-frog, two semi-implicit, and one conservative Crank-Nicolson finite difference methods to numerically discretize the Dirac equation in one dimension and establish rigorously the error estimates which depend explicitly on the time step τ, mesh size h, and the small parameter ε. The error bounds indicate that, to obtain the “correct” numerical solution in the massless and nonrelativistic regime, i.e., 0 < ε &NestedLessLess; 1, all these finite difference methods share the same ε-scalability as time step τ = O(ε 3/2 ) and mesh size h = O(ε 1/2 ). A large number of numerical results are reported to verify the error estimates.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2023

Chromoelectric field correlator for quarkonium transport in the strongly coupled $ \mathcal{N}$ = 4 Yang-Mills plasma from AdS/CFT

Previous studies have shown that a gauge-invariant correlation function of two chromoelectric fields connected by a straight timelike adjoint Wilson line encodes crucial information about quark-gluon plasma (QGP) that determines the dynamics of small-sized quarkonium in the medium. Motivated by the successes of holographic calculations to describe strongly coupled QGP, we calculate the analog gauge-invariant correlation function in strongly coupled $\mathcal{N}$ = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory at finite temperature by using the AdS/CFT correspondence. Our results indicate that the transition processes between bound and unbound quarkonium states are suppressed in strongly coupled plasmas, and moreover, the leading contributions to these transition processes vanish in both the quantum Brownian motion and quantum optical limits of open quantum system approaches to quarkonia

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1983

Instabilities of dynamic thermocapillary liquid layers. I Convective instabilities

A steady shear flow is set up in a planar liquid layer bounded below by a rigid plate, and above by an interface with a passive gas, by imposing a temperature gradient along the layer and driving the motion by thermocapillarity. The thermal-convective instabilities to which this dynamic state is susceptible include stationary longitudinal rolls involving the classical Marangoni instability, and unsteady hydrothermal waves, whose new instability mechanism derives its energy from the horizontal temperature gradients. The thermal stability characteristics for liquid layers with and without return flow profiles are presently given as functions of the Prandtl number for the liquid and the Biot number for the interface, and comparisons are made with available experimental observations.

Smith, M. K.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Stability Analysis of Bow Shocks

We present a linear stability analysis of bow shocks created by the interaction of a spherical wind moving with respect to its surrounding medium. The bounding shocks are assumed isothermal and with Mach number M = infinity. Following Soker (1990) we study the evolution of short wavelength perturbations. We find that the motion is unstable in this limit. Moreover, the ratio of the wind velocity v(sub w) to the star velocity v(sub *) characterizes the stability properties. Bow shocks with fast winds for which v(sub *)/v(sub w)<<1 are more stable than bow sho with slow winds i.e. v(sub *)/v(sub w)>>1.

Bow Shocks↗

DOE OSTI2021

Unexpected Scaling of Peak Acceleration for a Yielding Mass-Spring System Subjected to a Triangular Base Acceleration Pulse

The use of bounding scenarios is a common practice that greatly simplifies the design and qualification of structures. However, this approach implicitly assumes that the quantities of interest increase monotonically with the input to the structure, which is not necessarily true for nonlinear structures. This paper surveys the literature for observations of nonmonotonic behavior of nonlinear systems and finds such observations in both the earthquake engineering and applied mechanics literature. Numerical simulations of a single degree-of-freedom mass-spring system with an elastic–plastic spring subjected to a triangular base acceleration pulse are then presented, and it is shown that the relative acceleration of this system scales nonmonotonically with the input magnitude in some cases. The equation of motion for this system is solved symbolically and an approximate expression for the relative acceleration is developed, which qualitatively agrees with the nonmonotonic behavior seen in the numerical results. The nonmonotonicity is investigated and found to be a result of dynamics excited by the discontinuous derivative of the base acceleration pulse, the magnitude of which scales nonmonotonically with the input magnitude due to the fact that the first yield of the spring occurs earlier as the input magnitude is increased. The relevance of this finding within the context of defining bounding scenarios is discussed, and it is recommended that modeling be used to perform a survey of the full range of possible inputs prior to defining bounding scenarios.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS1990

The dynamics and control of large flexible space structures - 13

The optimal control of three-dimensional large angle maneuvers and vibrations of a Shuttle-mast-reflector system is considered. The nonlinear equations of motion are formulated by using Lagrange's formula, with the mast modeled as a continuous beam subject to three-dimensional deformations. Pontryagin's Maximum Principle is applied to the slewing problem, to derive the necessary conditions for the optimal controls, which are bounded by given saturation levels. The resulting two point boundary value problem is then solved by using the quasilinearization algorithm and the method of particular solutions. The study of the large angle maneuvering of the Shuttle-beam-reflector spacecraft in the plane of a circular earth orbit is extended to consider the effects of the structural offset connection, the axial shortening, and the gravitational torque on the slewing motion. Finally the effect of additional design parameters (such as related to additional payload requirement) on the linear quadratic regulator based design of an orbiting control/structural system is examined.

Bainum, Peter M.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Low-frequency macroscopic instabilities of fully ionized magnetoplasma

Studies are described of low-frequency quasi-static instabilities in a fully ionized plasma. The plasma is assumed to be immersed in a uniform magnetic field, and is either uniform or has a number density gradient perpendicular to the magnetic field. A moment equation description of the ion and electron dynamics is used; collisions are assumed to have a strong effect on electron motion along the magnetic field. Before considering specific modes, a stability analysis is developed which allows a classification of wave growth characteristics to be made for a bounded system from solutions to the dispersion relation for an infinite system. Also, a method is given for calculating the normal mode frequencies and wave profiles by using the reflection coefficients at the boundaries. For wave propagation perpendicular to the magnetic field, the flute wave is studied in cylindrical geometry. The destabilizing effect of a radial electric field is considered by solving a differential equation.

Rognlien, T. D.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Binary Black Hole Mergers in the First Advanced LIGO Observing Run

The first observational run of the Advanced LIGO detectors, from September 12, 2015 to January 19, 2016, saw the first detections of gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers. In this paper we present full results from a search for binary black hole merger signals with total masses up to 100M solar mass and detailed implications from our observations of these systems. Our search, based on general-relativistic models of gravitational wave signals from binary black hole systems, unambiguously identified two signals, GW150914 and GW151226, with a significance of greater than 5 alpha over the observing period. It also identified a third possible signal, LVT151012, with substantially lower significance, which has a 87 probability of being of astrophysical origin. We provide detailed estimates of the parameters of the observed systems. Both GW150914 and GW151226 provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the two-body motion of a compact-object binary in the large velocity, highly nonlinear regime. We do not observe any deviations from general relativity, and place improved empirical bounds on several high-order post-Newtonian coefficients. From our observations we infer stellar-mass binary black hole merger rates lying in the range 9-240 Gpc-3 yr-1. These observations are beginning to inform astrophysical predictions of binary black hole formation rates, and indicate that future observing runs of the Advanced detector network will yield many more gravitational wave detections.

Abbott, B. P.↗