Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “flow lines”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 181 records · Page 10

Enhanced Line Integral Convolution with Flow Feature Detection

The Line Integral Convolution (LIC) method, which blurs white noise textures along a vector field, is an effective way to visualize overall flow patterns in a 2D domain. The method produces a flow texture image based on the input velocity field defined in the domain. Because of the nature of the algorithm, the texture image tends to be blurry. This sometimes makes it difficult to identify boundaries where flow separation and reattachments occur. We present techniques to enhance LIC texture images and use colored texture images to highlight flow separation and reattachment boundaries. Our techniques have been applied to several flow fields defined in 3D curvilinear multi-block grids and scientists have found the results to be very useful.

Lane, David↗

The solar wind flow along the subsolar line in the magnetic barrier and reconnection at the magnetopause

The magnetic barrier is a significant fraction of the magnetosheath region where magnetic forces react back on the plasma flow. We use a magnetohydrodynamic approach to calculate the solar wind flow around the magnetosphere. The use of so-called frozen-in coordinates, where the flow lines and the magnetic field are coordinate axes, is found to be most appropriate. Numerical solutions are presented for the problem of the flow around a blunt body. The results near the magnetopause are used as input parameters for a model of the reconnection of magnetic field lines based on shock-type structures.

Erkaev, N. V.↗

Shuttle Main Propulsion System LH2 Feed Line and Inducer Simulations

This viewgraph presentation includes simulations of the unsteady flow field in the LH2 feed line, flow line, flow liner, backing cavity and inducer of Shuttle engine #1. It also evaluates aerodynamic forcing functions which may contribute to the formation of the cracks observed on the flow liner slots. The presentation lists the numerical methods used, and profiles a benchmark test case.

Daniel Dorney↗

Real-time, In-line Assessment of Flow Performance for Compressible and Anisotropic Bulk Solids

Feeding and handling problems have been recognized as a major contributor to low production of renewable cellulosic ethanol in the US, which achieved only 7% of nameplate capacity in 2016. Current methods that assess material feeding and handling properties require multiple hours to complete, making them ill-suited for quality assurance and control (QA/QC) in production environments. This talk presents a method, based upon a custom hopper with adaptable geometry, to assess feeding and handling behavior of materials in a production or receiving line in real-time, so that those properties can be used to either sort material or adjust preprocessing conditions to ensure that incoming material meet feeding and handling specifications. Flow properties are determined by continually adjusting the size of the outlet in a plane-flow hopper to maintain a constant fill level in the hopper. The angle of the hopper walls can also be adjusted to tune the geometry to different materials. Tests conducted at approximately 1,000 lbs per hour indicate that this method readily assesses the flow performance differences of corn stover and pine wood due to changes in particle size from 3 to 13 mm and due to changes in moisture content from 10 to 20%. Comparison of this method with shear tests using an automated Schulze ring shear indicate that this method is more sensitive for determining differences in flowability performance than traditional shear tests for corn stover and pine wood. Test results, including wall pressure measurements, are compared to simulations and indicate that this method shows promise for in-line quantitative estimation of the flow properties of compressible and anisotropic materials, including bulk density, cohesion, and internal angle of friction.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Comparison of hydrodynamic and semi-kinetic treatments for plasma flow along closed field lines

Hydrodynamic and semi-kinetic treatments of plasma flow along closed geomagnetic field lines are compared. The hydrodynamic treatment is based on a simplified 16-moment set of transport equations as the equations for the heat flows are not solved; the heat flows are treated heuristically. The semi-kinetic treatment is based on a particle code. The comparison deals with the distributions of the plasma density, flow velocity, and parallel and perpendicular temperatures as obtained from the two treatments during the various stages of the flow. In the kinetic treatment, the appropriate boundary condition is the prescription of the velocity distribution functions for the particles entering the flux tubes at the ionospheric boundaries; those particles leaving the system are determined by the processes occurring in the flux tube. The prescribed distributions are half-Maxwellian with temperature T(sub 0) and density n(sub 0). In the hydrodynamic model, the prescribed boundary conditions are on density (n(sub 0)), flow velocity (V(sub 0)) and temperature (T(sub 0). It was found that results from the hydrodynamic treatment critically depend on V(sub 0); for early stages of the flow this treatment yields results in good agreement with those from the kinetic treatment, when V(sub 0) = square root of (kT(sub 0)/2 (pi)m), which is the average velocity of particles moving in a given direction for a Maxwellian distribution. During this early stage, the flows developing form the conjugate ionospheres show some distinct transitions. For the first hour or so, the flows are highly supersonic and penetrate deep into the opposite hemispheres, and both hydrodynamics and kinetic treatments yield almost similar features. It is found that during this period heatflow effects are negligibly small. When a flow penetrates deep into the opposite hemisphere, the kinetic treatment predicts reflection and setting up of counterstreaming. In contrast, the hydrodynamic treatment yields a shock in the flow. The reasons for this difference in the two treatments is discussed, showing that in view of the relatively warm ions, the coupling of ion beams and the consequent shock formation in the offequatorial region are not likely due to the enhancements in the beam temperatures. The counterstreaming in the kinetic treatment and the shock in the hydrodynamic treatment first advance upward to the equator and then downward to the ionospheric boundary from where the flow originated. The transit time for this advancement is found to be about 1 hour for the respective models. After 2 hours or so, both models predict that the flows from the ionospheric boundaries are generally subsonic with respect to the local ion-sound speed. At late stages of the flow, when a substantial fraction of ions entering the flux tube begin to return back in the kinetic treatment, the hydrodynamic treatment with the boundary condition V(sub 0) = square root of (kT(sub 0)/2(pi)m) yields an over-refilling, and the choice of V(sub 0) becomes uncertain.

Singh, Nagendra↗

The application of finite element techniques to acoustic transmission in lined ducts with flow

The finite element method (FEM) is used to analyze the propagation of sound in two-dimensional nonuniform ducts carrying a compressible subsonic mean flow. Galerkin and residual least squares (RLS) methods with natural and forced boundary conditions are considered. The accuracy of FEM results for the eigenvalue and transmission problems is assessed by comparison with alternative numerical schemes for nonuniform ducts. The results presented and those from associated investigations indicate that modal coupling is a significant feature of the acoustic field, especially at high Mach numbers. A multimodal model therefore appears to be essential if any reliable conclusions are to be drawn in the context of turbofan inlet regions. Improvements to the eigenvalue scheme following the implementation of higher-order Hermitian elements indicate a similar modification for the transmission problem.

Astley, R. J.↗

Flow properties along field lines in a 3-D tilted-dipole geometry

A 3-D MHD simulation of a global, tilted-dipole solar wind flow pattern is analyzed to determine flow properties along individual magnetic field lines. In the model, flow conditions near the Sun are chosen to provide a reasonable match to the interplanetary configuration prevailing during the recent south polar passage by Ulysses, i.e., a streamer belt inclined approximately 30 deg to the solar equator and speeds ranging from 325-800 km/s. Field lines all across the stream pattern are traced from 1 to 10 AU by following the motion of marker particles embedded in the flow. It is found that those field lines threading the core of the interaction region are subject to significant latitudinal and relative longitudinal displacement over this range of heliocentric distance. Thus, observations taken at a fixed latitude in the inner solar system sample, over the course of a solar rotation, field lines which connect to a range of latitudes in the outer heliosphere. Maps of the field line displacements are presented to help visualize these connections. In addition, it is found that depending upon the location relative to the CIR structure, the radial evolution of fluid elements frozen to different field lines can deviate considerably from that of the canonical solar wind. That is, for selected subsets of field lines, large speed changes (not just at shocks) can be experienced; the density variation can be far from 1/r(exp 2), and the magnetic field intensity need not decay monotonically with distance.

Pizzo, V. J.↗

Topological defect lines and renormalization group flows in two dimensions

We consider topological defect lines (TDLs) in two-dimensional conformal field theories. Generalizing and encompassing both global symmetries and Verlinde lines, TDLs together with their attached defect operators provide models of fusion categories without braiding. We study the crossing relations of TDLs, discuss their relation to the ’t Hooft anomaly, and use them to constrain renormalization group flows to either conformal critical points or topological quantum field theories (TQFTs). We show that if certain non-invertible TDLs are preserved along a RG flow, then the vacuum cannot be a non-degenerate gapped state. For various massive flows, we determine the infrared TQFTs completely from the consideration of TDLs together with modular invariance.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Series FACTS Devices for Increasing Resiliency in Severe Weather Conditions

Severe weather conditions are low-probability, high-impact events that affect grid operations. The majority of power outages are caused by severe weather conditions. Grid resiliency to weather events can be enhanced by decreasing the reliance on its affected sections. One way to do this is to reduce the power flow through lines vulnerable to severe weather. If a line is disconnected, its initial power flow is distributed through the neighbor lines, which may cause congestion in the grid. FACTS devices can be used to control the power flow of lines that have a higher chance of power outages. Most previous works do not consider weather events in power flow control. In this work, a linearized optimal power flow (OPF)–based algorithm is developed to minimize the real power flow of vulnerable lines considering the thermal limits of lines to prevent infeasible solutions; the simulation is fast, making it suitable for large-scale systems. The proposed optimization problem is presented as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP), making it capable of using short-term load forecasting due to its high solution speed. The proposed optimization problem considers multiple lines with different outage probabilities and the uncertainties of the weather forecast. Moreover, it estimates the power reduction in vulnerable lines due to changes in the series FACTS devices. The performance of the proposed optimization problem is tested on IEEE 14-, 30-, and 118-bus systems for several scenarios. The results are validated with the AC power flow results from MATPOWER.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗