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At least 199 records · Page 11

Investigation of Downwash, Sidewash, and Mach Number Distribution behind a Rectangular Wing at a Mach Number of 2.41

An investigation of the nature of the flow field behind a rectangular circular-arc wing has been conducted in the Langley 9-inch supersonic tunnel. Pitot- and static-pressure surveys covering a region of flow behind the wing have been made together with detailed pitot surveys throughout the region of the wake. In addition, the flow direction has been measured using a weathercocking vane measurements. Theoretical calculations of the variation of both downwash and sidewash with angle of attack using Lagerstrom's superposition method have been made. In addition the effect of the wing thickness on the sidewash with the wing at 0 angle of attack has been evaluated. Near an angle of attack of 0, agreement between theory and experiment is good, particularly for the downwash results, except in the plane of the wing, inboard of the tip. In this region the proximity of the shed vortex sheet and the departure of the spanwise distribution of vorticity from theory would account for the disagreement. At higher angles of attack prediction of downwash depends on a knowledge of the location of the trailing vortex sheet, in order that the downwash may be corrected for its displacement and distortion. The theoretical location of the trailing vortex sheet, based on the theoretical downwash values integrated downstream from the wing trailing edge, is shown to differ widely from the experimental case. The rolling-up of the trailing vortex sheet behind the wing tip is evidenced by both the wake surveys and the flow-angle measurements.

Adamson, D.↗

Calibrating Optical Distortions in the Solar Orbiter SPICE Spectrograph

The Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instrument on Solar Orbiter is a high-resolution imaging spectrometer operating at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths from 70.4-79.0 nm and 97.3-104.9 nm. A single-mirror off-axis paraboloid focuses the solar image onto the entrance slit of the spectrometer section. A Toroidal Variable Line Space (TVLS) grating images the entrance slit onto a pair of MCP-intensified APS detectors. Ray-tracing analysis prior to launch showed that the instrument was subject to a number of small image distortions which need to be corrected in the final data product. We compare the ray tracing results with measurements made in flight. Co-alignment with other telescopes on Solar Orbiter will also be examined.

Therese Ann Kucera↗

Radar transmit bandwidth augmentation

Various technologies pertaining to forming a very high instantaneous bandwidth (IBW) radar signal based upon several radio frequency (RF) signals that have sub-bands of the frequency band of the radar signal are described herein. A radar system is configured to address local oscillator leakage across multiple transmit channels of the radar system, such that the radar signal has a relatively constant or other desired amplitude and phase across frequencies of the radar signal. In addition, the radar system is configured to compute a correction signal that pre-distorts each of the sub-frequency channels such that upon combining enables the generation of desired amplitude and phase response across a transmitted pulse.

Loui, Hung↗

Development of techniques for advanced optical contamination measurement with internal reflection spectroscopy, phase 1, volume 1

The feasibility of monitoring volatile contaminants in a large space simulation chamber using techniques of internal reflection spectroscopy was demonstrated analytically and experimentally. The infrared spectral region was selected as the operational spectral range in order to provide unique identification of the contaminants along with sufficient sensitivity to detect trace contaminant concentrations. It was determined theoretically that a monolayer of the contaminants could be detected and identified using optimized experimental procedures. This ability was verified experimentally. Procedures were developed to correct the attenuated total reflectance spectra for thick sample distortion. However, by using two different element designs the need for such correction can be avoided.

Hayes, J. D.↗

Transonic and supersonic test of a Mach 2.65 mixed-compression axisymmetric intake

The test results describe isolated intake performance between Mach 0.95 and the cruise Mach number of 2.65 at angles of incidence from +5 to -5 deg. Maximum total pressure recoveries of over 94 percent with 10 percent distortion were recorded at the compressor face in the Mach range from 2.65 to 2.4. Typical cruise operating recovery was 91 percent with 13 percent distortion, 7 percent bleed, 5 percent corrected flow stability margin, and 2.2 deg angle-of-incidence tolerance without need for control action. In the started range below Mach 2.4, recoveries were 2 percent to 4 percent lower than the recoveries above Mach 2.4, and the distortion increased to approximately 20 percent. At Mach 0.95 the maximum measured capture flow was 99.4 percent of the theoretical choked value. The recovery was 97.1 percent with less than 10 percent distortion.

Koncsek, J. L.↗

Onboard utilization of ground control points for image correction. Volume 2: Analysis and simulation results

An approach to remote sensing that meets future mission requirements was investigated. The deterministic acquisition of data and the rapid correction of data for radiometric effects and image distortions are the most critical limitations of remote sensing. The following topics are discussed: onboard image correction systems, GCP navigation system simulation, GCP analysis, and image correction analysis measurement.

Source record↗

Digital image processing for the rectification of television camera distortions.

All television systems introduce distortions into the imagery they record which influence the results of quantitative photometric and geometric measurements. Digital computer techniques provide a powerful approach to the calibration and rectification of these systematic effects. Nonlinear as well as linear problems can be attacked with flexibility and precision. Methods which have been developed and applied for the removal of structured system noises and the correction of photometric, geometric, and resolution distortions in vidicon systems are briefly described. Examples are given of results derived primarily from the Mariner Mars 1969 television experiment.

Rindfleisch, T. C.↗

An Experimental Investigation of Unsteady Surface Pressure on an Airfoil in Turbulence

Measurements of fluctuating surface pressure were made on a NACA 0015 airfoil immersed in grid generated turbulence. The airfoil model has a 2 ft chord and spans the 6 ft Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel test section. Two grids were used to investigate the effects of turbulence length scale on the surface pressure response. A large grid which produced turbulence with an integral scale 13% of the chord and a smaller grid which produced turbulence with an integral scale 1.3% of the chord. Measurements were performed at angles of attack, alpha from 0 to 20 . An array of microphones mounted subsurface was used to measure the unsteady surface pressure. The goal of this measurement was to characterize the effects of angle of attack on the inviscid response. Lift spectra calculated from pressure measurements at each angle of attack revealed two distinct interaction regions; for omega(sub r) = omega b / U(sub infinity) is less than 10 a reduction in unsteady lift of up to 7 decibels (dB) occurs while an increase occurs for omega(sub r) is greater than 10 as the angle of attack is increased. The reduction in unsteady lift at low omega(sub r) with increasing angle of attack is a result that has never before been shown either experimentally or theoretically. The source of the reduction in lift spectral level appears to be closely related to the distortion of inflow turbulence based on analysis of surface pressure spanwise correlation length scales. Furthermore, while the distortion of the inflow appears to be critical in this experiment, this effect does not seem to be significant in larger integral scale (relative to the chord) flows based on the previous experimental work of McKeough suggesting the airfoils size relative to the inflow integral scale is critical in defining how the airfoil will respond under variation of angle of attack. A prediction scheme is developed that correctly accounts for the effects of distortion when the inflow integral scale is small relative to the airfoil chord. This scheme utilizes Rapid Distortion Theory to account for the distortion of the inflow with the distortion field modeled using a circular cylinder.

Mish, Patrick F.↗

Utilization of ERTS-1 data to monitor and classify eutrophication of inland lakes

The author has identified the following significant results. Channel 7 is highly useful in surveying surface water in lakes, rivers, and large marshes. It is likely to miss detection of elliptically shaped bodies of 4 acres or less. Further, it is possible that the bodies are distorted and displaced because of lack of correction for sensor response time. These errors might not be critical because:(1) location accuracy is not essential to a surface water survey; and (2) an obviously distorted image is often not in error in excess of 5% The finding that Orchard Lake and other lakes in Oakland County have different densities in channels 4, 5, 6, and 7 is important because it implies that the lake wide water color average is different in the separate channels. Channels 6 and 7 were constant in tonal quality among all the lakes while channels 4 and 5 varied from lake to lake and in various parts of Orchard Lake. These findings are significant because it means that small inland lake color differences are recorded by the MSS even on a cloudy or hazy day. It also confirms that ERTS-1 is performing well enough to be used for correlation to ground truth and aircraft underflights.

Chase, P. E.↗

Refraction corrections for surveying

Optical measurements of range and elevation angles are distorted by refraction of Earth's atmosphere. Theoretical discussion of effect, along with equations for determining exact range and elevation corrections, is presented in report. Potentially useful in optical site surveying and related applications, analysis is easily programmed on pocket calculator. Input to equation is measured range and measured elevation; output is true range and true elevation.

Lear, W. M.↗

Eddy current correction in volume-localized MR spectroscopy

The quality of volume-localized magnetic resonance spectroscopy is affected by eddy currents caused by gradient switching. Eddy currents can be reduced with improved gradient systems; however, it has been suggested that the distortion due to eddy currents can be compensated for during postprocessing with a single-frequency reference signal. The authors propose modifying current techniques for acquiring the single-frequency reference signal by using relaxation weighting to reduce interference from components that cannot be eliminated by digital filtering alone. Additional sequences with T1 or T2 weighting for reference signal acquisition are shown to have the same eddy current characteristics as the original signal without relaxation weighting. The authors also studied a new eddy current correction method that does not require a single-frequency reference signal. This method uses two free induction decays (FIDs) collected from the same volume with two sequences with opposite gradients. Phase errors caused by eddy currents are opposite in these two FIDs and can be canceled completely by combining the FIDs. These methods were tested in a phantom. Eddy current distortions were corrected, allowing quantitative measurement of structures such as the -CH = CH- component, which is otherwise undetectable.

NASA Discipline Musculoskeletal↗

Prelaunch testing of the laser geodynamic satellite (LAGEOS)

The LAGEOS was extensively tested optically prior to launch. The measurement techniques used are described and resulting data is presented. Principal emphasis was placed on pulse spreading characteristics, range correction for center of mass tracking, and pulse distortion due to coherent effects. A mode-locked freqeuncy doubled Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of about 60 ps was used as the ranging transmitter and a crossfield photo-multiplier was used in the receiver. High speed sampling electronics were employed to increase receiver bandwidth. LAGEOS reflected pulses typically had a width of 250 ps with a variability in the range correction of less than 2 mm rms. Pulse distortion due to coherent effects was inferred from average waveforms and appears to introduce less than + or - 50 ps jitter in the location of the pulse peak. Analytic results on this effect based on computer simulations are also presented. Theoretical and experimental data on the lidar cross section were developed in order to predict the strength of lidar echoes from the satellite. Cross section was measured using a large aperture laser collimating system to illuminate the LAGEOS. Reflected radiation far-field patterns were measured using the collimator in an autocollimating mode. Data were collected with an optical data digitzer and displayed as a three-dimensional plot of intensity versus the two far-field coordinates. Measurements were made at several wavelengths, for several types of polarizations, and as a function of satellite orientation.

Fitzmaurice, M. W.↗

Implementation of a 9-point stencil in SOLPS-ITER and implications for Alcator C-Mod divertor plasma simulations

The SOLPS-ITER code suite is used worldwide for plasma edge modeling, the interpretation of experiments, as well as for the design of the ITER divertor. The numerical scheme of the plasma solver of the code, B2.5, is based on the assumption of perfectly field-aligned grids, while in practice grids are often strongly distorted to match divertor target shapes. Neglecting these grid distortion leads to qualitatively and quantitatively incorrect results for fluid neutral simulations, and may affect results in cold (detached) divertors even when using kinetic neutral simulations. In this contribution, we present the first results of a newly implemented 9-point stencil in B2.5 to properly handle misaligned grids. The new scheme is then applied to fluid neutral simulations of a well-diagnosed and previously modeled Alcator C-Mod discharge. Results are compared with the original 5-point scheme neglecting grid distortion effects, as well as with simulations including a full kinetic neutral model. We conclude that the 9-point stencil is essential to correctly model the transport of fluid neutrals on distorted grids, and to capture the effects of divertor closure on the fluid neutral behavior.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DESI mock challenge: Halo and galaxy catalogues with the bias assignment method

We present a novel approach to the construction of mock galaxy catalogues for large-scale structure analysis based on the distribution of dark matter halos obtained with effective bias models at the field level. We aim to produce mock galaxy catalogues capable of generating accurate covariance matrices for a number of cosmological probes that are expected to be measured in current and forthcoming galaxy redshift surveys (e.g. two- and three-point statistics). The construction of the catalogues shown in this paper is part of a mock-comparison project within the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration. We use the bias assignment method ( BAM ) to model the statistics of halo distribution through a learning algorithm using a few detailed N-body simulations, and approximated gravity solvers based on Lagrangian perturbation theory. We introduce cosmic-web-dependent corrections to modelling redshift-space distortions at the N-body level – both in the halo and galaxy distributions –, as well as a multi-scale approach for accurate assignment of halo properties. Using specific models of halo occupation distributions to populate halos, we generate galaxy mocks with the expected number density and central-satellite fraction of emission-line galaxies, which are a key target of the DESI experiment. BAM generates mock catalogues with per cent accuracy in a number of summary statistics, such as the abundance, the two- and three-point statistics of halo distributions, both in real and redshift space. In particular, the mock galaxy catalogues display ~3%-10% accuracy in the multipoles of the power spectrum up to scales of k ~ 0.4 h -1 Mpc. We show that covariance matrices of two- and three-point statistics obtained with BAM display a similar structure to the reference simulation. BAM offers an efficient way to produce mock halo catalogues with accurate two- and three-point statistics and is able to generate a variety of multi-tracer catalogues with precise covariance matrices of several cosmological probes. We discuss future developments of the algorithm towards mock production in DESI and other galaxy-redshift surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Experimental and data analysis techniques for deducing collision-induced forces from photographic histories of engine rotor fragment impact/interaction with a containment ring

An analysis method termed TEJ-JET is described whereby measured transient elastic and inelastic deformations of an engine-rotor fragment-impacted structural ring are analyzed to deduce the transient external forces experienced by that ring as a result of fragment impact and interaction with the ring. Although the theoretical feasibility of the TEJ-JET concept was established, its practical feasibility when utilizing experimental measurements of limited precision and accuracy remains to be established. The experimental equipment and the techniques (high-speed motion photography) employed to measure the transient deformations of fragment-impacted rings are described. Sources of error and data uncertainties are identified. Techniques employed to reduce data reading uncertainties and to correct the data for optical-distortion effects are discussed. These procedures, including spatial smoothing of the deformed ring shape by Fourier series and timewise smoothing by Gram polynomials, are applied illustratively to recent measurements involving the impact of a single T58 turbine rotor blade against an aluminum containment ring. Plausible predictions of the fragment-ring impact/interaction forces are obtained by one branch of this TEJ-JET method; however, a second branch of this method, which provides an independent estimate of these forces, remains to be evaluated.

Yeghiayan, R. P.↗

Strains and tilts on crustal blocks

Geodetic work done over the past century is examined to investigate block motion in areas of intense tectonic deformation, with special attention to geodetic releveling data obtained for Japan. Problems in interpreting strainmeter and tiltmeter to study the behavior of crustal blocks and block boundaries are discussed. Block dimensions of 5 to 50 km seem to occur frequently in regions of intense tectonic activity. Block boundaries are often considerably weaker than contiguous crustal blocks, resulting in a concentration of strains at boundaries and decrease of strains within blocks. Block to block variations in tilt phase and magnitude are observed. There is some evidence that block boundaries may exhibit strain-dependent elastic properties or respond viscoelastically, possibly accounting for the slow transmission of tectonic deformation reported in Japan. If nonlinear behavior is characteristic of regions fragmented by crustal blocks, it will generally not be possible to apply a site correction factor based on the observed distortion of tidal or seismic strains in interpreting secular strains.

Bilham, R. G.↗