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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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At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2010

Geologic Mapping of the Mawrth Vallis Region, Mars: MTM Quadrangles 25022, 25017, 25012, 20022, 20017, and 20012

Mawrth Vallis is a 15-25 km wide, 500 km long sinuous channel that winds through the highlands of Arabia Terra and debouches into the lowlands of Acidalia Planitia. The Mawrth Vallis region lies along the gradational zone between southern hemisphere thick crust and northern hemisphere thin crust, a topographically distinct portion of the Martian crustal dichotomy. The origin and age of the dichotomy boundary are controversial and are further complicated by the multi-stage and multi-process geologic history that has modified this approximately 6000 km section of the highland-lowland boundary (approximately 5 N, 330E to approximately 30 N, 80 E; herein referred as the Arabia Terra boundary). Furthermore, the Arabia Terra boundary has been subjected to many post-boundary processes such as outflow floods to the west, volcanism and tectonism to the east, and potential volatile deposition and glacial modification to the north. This study seeks to better understand the history of the Mawrth Vallis region by mapping six MTM quadrangles (17.5-27.5 N, 335-350 E) at 1:1M scale using traditional and modern digital geologic mapping techniques.

Chuang, F. C.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Surrogate approximation of the Grad–Shafranov free boundary problem via stochastic collocation on sparse grids

In magnetic confinement fusion devices, the equilibrium configuration of a plasma is determined by the balance between the hydrostatic pressure in the fluid and the magnetic forces generated by an array of external coils and the plasma itself. The location of the plasma is not known a priori and must be obtained as the solution to a free boundary problem. The partial differential equation that determines the behavior of the combined magnetic field depends on a set of physical parameters (location of the coils, intensity of the electric currents going through them, magnetic permeability, etc.) that are subject to uncertainty and variability. The confinement region is in turn a function of these stochastic parameters as well. In this work, we consider variations on the current intensities running through the external coils as the dominant source of uncertainty. This leads to a parameter space of dimension equal to the number of coils in the reactor. With the aid of a surrogate function built on a sparse grid in parameter space, a Monte Carlo strategy is used to explore the effect that stochasticity in the parameters has on important features of the plasma boundary such as the location of the x-point, the strike points, and shaping attributes such as triangularity and elongation. Furthermore, the use of the surrogate function reduces the time required for the Monte Carlo simulations by factors that range between 7 and over 30.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1976

Hybrid finite element methods

The purpose of this paper is to show how Lagrange multipliers can be used with finite elements to achieve a number of desirable properties in the underlying approximation. For elliptic boundary value problems, variational principles can be developed in which all boundary conditions are natural. In fluid flow problems, one can endow the approximations with physically essential conservation laws.

Fix, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

AgRISTARS. Supporting research: Algorithms for scene modelling

The requirements for a comprehensive analysis of LANDSAT or other visual data scenes are defined. The development of a general model of a scene and a computer algorithm for finding the particular model for a given scene is discussed. The modelling system includes a boundary analysis subsystem, which detects all the boundaries and lines in the image and builds a boundary graph; a continuous variation analysis subsystem, which finds gradual variations not well approximated by a boundary structure; and a miscellaneous features analysis, which includes texture, line parallelism, etc. The noise reduction capabilities of this method and its use in image rectification and registration are discussed.

Rassbach, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Experimental Study of Bypass Transition in a Boundary Layer

A detailed investigation to compare the boundary layer transition process in a low intensity disturbance environment to that in an environment in which the disturbances are initially non-linear in amplitude was conducted using a flat plate model. The transition mechanism based on linear growth of Tollmien Schlichting (T-S) waves was associated with a freestream turbulence level of 0.3 percent; however, for a freestream turbulence intensity of 0.65 percent and higher, the bypass transition mechanism prevailed. The results of detailed measurements acquired to study and compare the two transition mechanisms indicate that there exists a critical value for the peak rms of the velocity fluctuations within the boundary layer of approximately 3 to 3.5 percent of the freestream velocity. Once the unsteadiness within the boundary layer reached this critical value, turbulent bursting initiated, regardless of the transition mechanism. The two point correlations and simultaneous time traces within the transition region illustrate the features of a turbulent burst and its effect on the surrounding flowfield.

Suder, Kenneth L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A Von Karman integral approach to a two phase boundary layer problem

A Von Karman integral approximation of a two phase boundary layer is developed for bodies of arbitrary shape. The flow field considered is that of the injection of water through a porous airfoil. A solution for the special case of a flat plate is presented. The equations for the airfoil solution are developed and possible effects on airflow separation are discussed.

Henry, R.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Finite Element A Posteriori Error Estimation for Heat Conduction

This research investigates residual-based a posteriori error estimates for finite element approximations of heat conduction in single-layer and multi-layered materials. The finite element approximation, based upon hierarchical modelling combined with p-version finite elements, is described with specific application to a two-dimensional, steady state, heat-conduction problem. Element error indicators are determined by solving an element equation for the error with the element residual as a source, and a global error estimate in the energy norm is computed by collecting the element contributions. Numerical results of the performance of the error estimate are presented by comparisons to the actual error. Two methods are discussed and compared for approximating the element boundary flux. The equilibrated flux method provides more accurate results for estimating the error than the average flux method. The error estimation is applied to multi-layered materials with a modification to the equilibrated flux method to approximate the discontinuous flux along a boundary at the material interfaces. A directional error indicator is developed which distinguishes between the hierarchical modeling error and the finite element error. Numerical results are presented for single-layered materials which show that the directional indicators accurately determine which contribution to the total error dominates.

Lang, Christapher G.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The terminal area simulation system. Volume 1: Theoretical formulation

A three-dimensional numerical cloud model was developed for the general purpose of studying convective phenomena. The model utilizes a time splitting integration procedure in the numerical solution of the compressible nonhydrostatic primitive equations. Turbulence closure is achieved by a conventional first-order diagnostic approximation. Open lateral boundaries are incorporated which minimize wave reflection and which do not induce domain-wide mass trends. Microphysical processes are governed by prognostic equations for potential temperature water vapor, cloud droplets, ice crystals, rain, snow, and hail. Microphysical interactions are computed by numerous Orville-type parameterizations. A diagnostic surface boundary layer is parameterized assuming Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. The governing equation set is approximated on a staggered three-dimensional grid with quadratic-conservative central space differencing. Time differencing is approximated by the second-order Adams-Bashforth method. The vertical grid spacing may be either linear or stretched. The model domain may translate along with a convective cell, even at variable speeds.

Proctor, F. H.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Analysis of separated boundary-layer flows

A method for predicting the strong interaction between the viscous and inviscid flows which occurs in flow separation is reviewed. An inverse boundary-layer procedure approximately accounts for normal pressure gradients that may be important in strongly interacting flows. Transformed boundary-layer equations are written in which the pressure gradient is set equal to the inviscid pressure gradient. As the boundary-layer edge is approached and the viscous shear and heat conduction terms vanish, the viscous flow solution is required to asymptotically approach the inviscid solution over the generalized displacement body. Attention is then focused on viscous-inviscid interacting flows with a first-order viscous formulation and constant pressure across the boundary layer. Results obtained with this procedure are presented for: (1) transitional separation bubbles near an airfoil leading edge, (2) subsonic boattail separated turbulent flow, and (3) transonic turbulent shock wave boundary-layer interaction on an axisymmetric bump configuration.

Carter, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Middle atmosphere project. A semi-spectral numerical model for the large-scale stratospheric circulation

The complete model is a semispectral model in which the longitudinal dependence is represented by expansion in zonal harmonics while the latitude and height dependencies are represented by a finite difference grid. The model is based on the primitive equations in the log pressure coordinate system. The lower boundary of the model domain is set at the 100 mb level (i.e., near the tropopause) and the effects of tropospheric forcing are included in the lower boundary condition. The upper boundary is at approximately 96 km, and the latitudinal extent is either global or hemispheric. The basic differential equations and boundary conditions are outlined. The finite difference equations are described. The initial conditions are discussed and a sample calculation is presented. The FORTRAN code is given in the appendix.

Holton, J. R.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Boundary condition effects on runaway electron mitigation coil modeling for the SPARC and DIII-D tokamaks

Abstract Extended-MHD modeling of planned Runaway Electron Mitigation Coils (REMC) for SPARC and DIII-D is performed with the NIMROD code. A coil has been designed for each machine, with the two differing in shape and location, but both having n = 1 symmetry (with n the toroidal mode number). Compared to previous modeling efforts, three improvements are made to the simulations boundary conditions. First a resistive wall model is used in place of an ideal wall. Second, the ThinCurr code is used to compute the time-dependent 3D fields used as magnetic boundary conditions for the simulations. Third, the simulation boundary is moved from the first-wall location to the Vacuum Vessel (VV), which extends the boundary past the location of the internal REMC. To remove the 3D coil from the simulation domain, an equivalent set of 3D fields is calculated at the VV boundary that produce approximately the same field distribution at the last closed flux surface assuming vacuum between the two. Each of these three boundary condition improvements leads to an improvement in the predicted performance of the REMC for both machines. The resistive wall alone primarily effects the resonance of the coil with the plasma after the TQ, affecting the q-profile evolution in the SPARC modeling, and allowing the applied spectrum to be modified in response to the plasma in the DIII-D modeling. The movement of the simulation boundary has the most significant effect on the RE confinement overall, including in the early stages, particularly for a DIII-D inner wall limited equilibrium, where the RE loss fraction increases from 90% to > 99%, with SPARC RE losses also occurring much earlier when the boundary is placed at the VV.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1983

Three-dimensional transonic nacelle/inlet flowfield computations using an efficient approximate factorization algorithm

A highly efficient computer analysis has been developed for predicting transonic nacelle/inlet flowfields. This algorithm can compute the three-dimensional transonic flowfield about axisymmetric or asymmetric nacelle/inlet configurations at zero or nonzero incidence. The flowfield is determined by solving the full-potential equation in conservative form on a body-fitted curvilinear computational mesh. The difference equations are solved using the AF2 approximate factorization scheme. The effects of boundary layer viscous entrainment are approximated in the inviscid algorithm by applying a surface transpiration velocity which is determined from the calculated boundary layer growth. Computed results and correlations with existing methods and experiment are presented to illustrate application of the analysis.

Vadyak, J.↗
NASA NTRS1965

Scattering by nonspherical systems

Scattering by nonspherical particles with size of order of wavelength - scattering by axisymmetric penetrable particles using approximate matching of boundary conditions

APPROXIMATION METHOD↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Propulsion-Airframe Integration for Conceptual Redesign of a Low-Boom Supersonic Transport

A low-boom supersonic transport was designed for a cruise Mach of 1.7 and 40 passengers. This low-boom aircraft, referred to as the Mach 1.7 40-PAX concept, was generated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based sonic boom analysis at the start of overland cruise (SOC). The engine for the Mach 1.7 40-PAX concept was designed using the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) and modeled as a flow-through nacelle for CFD analysis. To understand how the engine plume affects the undertrack ground signature, the Mach 1.7 40-PAX concept is redesigned using an aeropropulsive CFD simulation. A process for approximation of the NPSS engine at SOC by a CFD engine is developed. The generated CFD engine has the identical nozzle boundary conditions and approximately the same mass flow and thrust as those of the NPSS engine at SOC. Then, the configuration with the CFD engines is optimized to approximately restore the low-boom characteristics of the Mach 1.7 40-PAX concept. Finally, the CFD simulation data for the optimized concept with the CFD engines is used to calibrate the low-fidelity aerodynamic analyses for mission analysis of this concept. The cyclic dependency of the involved disciplinary analyses is resolved using an iteration method for a consistent coupling of the mission analysis, NPSS engine analysis, and low-boom redesign using the aeropropulsive CFD simulation. This low-boom redesign study is used as an example to demonstrate how the propulsion-airframe integration could be implemented for conceptual design of low-boom supersonic transports.

Low-boom supersonic transport↗