Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “EXPECTATION VALUE”

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 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

Screening actuator locations for static shape control

Correction of shape distortion due to zero-mean normally distributed errors in structural sizes which are random variables is examined. A bound on the maximum improvement in the expected value of the root-mean-square shape error is obtained. The shape correction associated with the optimal actuators is also characterized. An actuator effectiveness index is developed and shown to be helpful in screening actuator locations in the structure. The results are specialized to a simple form for truss structures composed of nominally identical members. The bound and effectiveness index are tested on a 55-m radiometer antenna truss structure. It is found that previously obtained results for optimum actuators had a performance close to the bound obtained here. Furthermore, the actuators associated with the optimum design are shown to have high effectiveness indices. Since only a small fraction of truss elements tend to have high effectiveness indices, the proposed screening procedure can greatly reduce the number of truss members that need to be considered as actuator sites.

Haftka, Raphael T.↗
NASA NTRS1989

On-orbit results of the LIPS 3/InP homojunction solar cell experiment

The flight performance of the NASA indium phosphide homojunction cell module on the LIPS 3 satellite is presented. The experimental objectivewas to measure the InP cell performance in the natural radiation environment in a circular 1100 km altitude orbit inclined 60 degrees. Flight data for the first year is close to expected values. No degradation in the short-circuit current is seen. Details of cell structure and flight module design are discussed.

Brinker, David J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Active control of the forced and transient response of a finite beam

Structural vibrations from a point force are modelled on a finite beam. This research explores the theoretical limit on controlling beam vibrations utilizing another point source as an active controller. Three different types of excitation are considered, harmonic, random, and transient. For harmonic excitation, control over the entire beam length is possible only when the excitation frequency is near a resonant frequency of the beam. Control over a subregion may be obtained even between resonant frequencies at the cost of increasing the vibration outside of the control region. For random excitation, integrating the expected value of the displacement squared over the required interval, is shown to yield the identical cost function as obtained by integrating the cost function for harmonic excitation over all excitation frequencies. As a result, it is always possible to reduce the cost function for random excitation whether controlling the entire beam or just a subregion, without ever increasing the vibration outside the region in which control is desired. The last type of excitation considered is a single, transient pulse. The form of the controller is specified as either one or two delayed pulses, thus constraining the controller to be casual. The best possible control is examined while varying the region of control and the controller location. It is found that control is always possible using either one or two control pulses.

Post, John T.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Stratospheric H2(O-18) distribution from far infrared observations

The stratospheric distribution of H2(O-18) in the 22 to 37 km altitude range has been obtained from balloon-based measurement of far infrared thermal emission spectra with an unapodized spectral resolution of 0.0033/cm. The analysis is based on the observed spectra of 9 isolated spectral lines in the 46 to 72/cm region obtained from four complete limb sequences. Comparison of the results with the statistically expected values indicates enhancement in the H2(O-18) concentrations increasing from 27 + or - 14 percent at 29 km to 40 + or - 23 percent at 37 km. No significant enhancement at lower altitudes was observed.

Guo, J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Observational test of a hot flow anomaly formation mechanism

The hot-flow anomalies (HFAs) observed in the vicinity of the earth's bow shock, whose high-temperature plasma is strongly deflected relative to the solar wind and flanked by density and magnetic field enhancements, are presently addressed by a model in which the coupling of ions reflected off the shock with the solar wind would convert the relative streaming energy between the reflected and solar wind ions into thermal energy; the hot plasma would then expand to form the HFA. Attention is given to a simple observational test of this model, which compares the measured temperature and density with the values expected immediately after the assumed coupling and after expansion.

Onsager, T. G.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Runway Exit Designs for Capacity Improvement Demonstrations. Phase 1: Algorithm Development

A description and results are presented of a study to locate and design rapid runway exits under realistic airport conditions. The study developed a PC-based computer simulation-optimization program called REDIM (runway exit design interactive model) to help future airport designers and planners to locate optimal exits under various airport conditions. The model addresses three sets of problems typically arising during runway exit design evaluations. These are the evaluations of existing runway configurations, addition of new rapid runway turnoffs, and the design of new runway facilities. The model is highly interactive and allows a quick estimation of the expected value of runway occupancy time. Aircraft populations and airport environmental conditions are among the multiple inputs to the model to execute a viable runway location and geometric design solution. The results presented suggest that possible reductions on runway occupancy time (ROT) can be achieved with the use of optimally tailored rapid runway designs for a given aircraft population. Reductions of up to 9 to 6 seconds are possible with the implementation of 30 m/sec variable geometry exits.

Trani, A. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Two-photon transitions in hydrogen - A test of pseudostate summation

A technique in which the intermediate states of conventional second-order perturbation theory are replaced by a finite set of psudostates, while the energy denominators are supplanted by the expectation values of the unperturbed Hamiltonian with respect to those pseudostates, is presently used to investigate the 2S-1S transition rate on the bases of both the E-x and A-p forms of the interaction. The results thus obtained are noted to closely reflect those conventionally derived, even in cases where only a small number of terms are used; these results are also found not to be strongly dependent on the exact form of the basis functions employed.

Drachman, Richard J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Safety status of space radioisotope and reactor power sources

The current overall safety criterion for both radioisotope and reactor power sources is containment or immobilization in the case of a reentry accident. In addition, reactors are designed to remain subcritical under conditions of land impact or water immersion. A very extensive safety test and analysis program was completed on the radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) in use on the Galileo spacecraft and planned for use on the Ulysses spacecraft. The results of this work show that the RTGs will pose little or no risk for any credible accident. The SP-100 space nuclear reactor program has begun addressing its safety criteria, and the design is planned to be such as to ensure meeting the various safety criteria. Preliminary mission risk analyses on SP-100 show the expected value population dose from postulated accidents on the reference mission to be very small. It is concluded that the current US nuclear power sources are the safest flown.

Bennett, Gary L.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Multifractal structure of speed fluctuations in recurrent streams at 1 AU and near 6 AU

This paper demonstrates the existence of multifractal structure in the velocity fluctuations associated with recurrent streams at 1 AU and near 6 AU. There is a significant evolution of the multifractal spectrum from 1 AU to 6 AU. At 1 AU the fluctuations on all scales in the indicated range are related to the local speed gradients associated with the stream structure. Near 6 AU the multifractal structure of the speed fluctuations approaches the universal form for intermittent turbulence for moments when q is greater than 5, and it has approximately the value expected for a set of discontinuities for q = 2.

Burlaga, L. F.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Degradation studies of Martian impact craters

The amount of obliteration suffered by Martian impact craters is quantified by comparing measurable attributes of the current crater shape to those values expected for a fresh crater of identical size. Crater diameters are measured from profiles obtained using photoclinometry across the structure. The relationship between the diameter of a fresh crater and a crater depth, floor width, rim height, central peak height, etc. was determined by empirical studies performed on fresh Martian impact craters. We utilized the changes in crater depth and rim height to judge the degree of obliteration suffered by Martian impact craters.

Barlow, N. G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Black holes in magnetic monopoles

We study magnetically charged classical solutions of a spontaneously broken gauge theory interacting with gravity. We show that nonsingular monopole solutions exist only if the Higgs field vacuum expectation value v is less than or equal to a critical value v sub cr, which is of the order of the Planck mass. In the limiting case, the monopole becomes a black hole, with the region outside the horizon described by the critical Reissner-Nordstrom solution. For v less than v sub cr, we find additional solutions which are singular at f = 0, but which have this singularity hidden within a horizon. These have nontrivial matter fields outside the horizon, and may be interpreted as small black holes lying within a magnetic monopole. The nature of these solutions as a function of v and of the total mass M and their relation to the Reissner-Nordstrom solutions is discussed.

Lee, Kimyeong↗
NASA NTRS1991

Could the electroweak scale be linked to the large scale structure of the Universe?

We study a model where the domain walls are generated through a cosmological phase transition involving a scalar field. We assume the existence of a coupling between the scalar field and dark matter and show that the interaction between domain walls and dark matter leads to an energy dependent reflection mechanism. For a simple Yakawa coupling, we find that the vacuum expectation value of the scalar field is theta approx. equals 30GeV - 1TeV, in order for the model to be successful in the formation of large scale 'pancake' structures.

Chakravorty, Alak↗
NASA NTRS1992

Exact solution of a quantum forced time-dependent harmonic oscillator

The Schrodinger equation is used to exactly evaluate the propagator, wave function, energy expectation values, uncertainty values, and coherent state for a harmonic oscillator with a time dependent frequency and an external driving time dependent force. These quantities represent the solution of the classical equation of motion for the time dependent harmonic oscillator.

Yeon, Kyu Hwang↗
NASA NTRS1991

Limits on static shape control for space structures

This paper deals with correction of shape distortion due to zero-mean normally distributed errors in structural sizes. The concept of ideal actuators - actuators that can produce any desired displacement field - is introduced. Using this concept, a bound on the possible improvement in the expected value of the root-mean-square shape error is obtained. The shape correction associated with the ideal actuators is also characterized. An actuator effectiveness index is developed by comparing the displacement field generated by the actuator to the ideal. The results are specialized to a simple form for truss structures composed of nominally identical members. The bound and effectiveness index are tested on a 55-m radiometer antenna truss structure. It is found that previously obtained results for optimum actuators had a performance close to the bound obtained here. Also, it is found that large numbers of actuators are needed for large reductions in shape errors. Furthermore, the actuators associated with the optimum design are shown to have high effectiveness indices. Since only a small fraction of truss elements tend to have high effectiveness indices, the use of the effectiveness index can greatly reduce the number of truss members that need to be considered actuator sites.

Haftka, Raphael T.↗
NASA NTRS1992

CW dye laser technique for simultaneous, spatially-resolved measurements of temperature, pressure, and velocity of NO in an underexpanded free jet

Gas dynamic quantities within an underexpanded free jet were measured nonintrusively using a rapid-tuning, CW ring dye laser. A nitrogen jet was seeded with 0.5 percent NO in N2, and the conditions were controlled such that a barrel shock formed. The frequency-doubled output of the dye laser was used to spectrally resolve rotational lines in the NO gamma band near 225 nm. With the rapid-tuning capability, these rotational spectra were acquired at a repetition rate of 4 kHz. Spatial resolution was afforded by monitoring the induced fluorescence via a lens and photomultiplier tube. Modeling the spectrally-resolved features with Voigt profiles permitted simultaneous measurements of NO velocity, rotational temperature, and pressure. Expansion of the jet was assumed to be isentropic, and agreement between measured and expected values was typically better than 10 percent over most of the Mach-number range encountered. At high Mach numbers, the measured rotational temperatures systematically departed from the isentropic temperature distribution. Such a measured departure could be ascribed to the onset of a non-Boltzmann distribution of NO rotational states.

Di Rosa, M. D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Effect of spectral shape on acoustic fatigue life estimates

Methods for estimating fatigue life due to random loading are briefly reviewed. These methods include a probabilistic approach in which the expected value of the rate of damage accumulation is computed by integrating over the probability density of damaging events and a method which consists of analyzing the response time history to count damaging events. It is noted that it is necessary to employ a time domain approach to perform Rainflow counting, while simple peak counting may be accomplished using the probabilistic method. Data obtained indicate that Rainflow counting produces significantly different fatigue life predictions than other methods that are commonly used in acoustic fatigue predictions. When low-frequency oscillations are present in a signal along with high-frequency components, peak counting will produce substantially shorter fatigue lives than Rainflow counting. It is concluded that Rainflow counting is capable of providing reliable fatigue life predictions for acoustic fatigue studies.

Miles, R. N.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Ly-alpha emission from cooling flows and measures of the dust content of rich clusters of galaxies

Ly-alpha and UV continuum fluxes from measurements across the emission-line regions of 10 'cooling flow' clusters of galaxies are tabulated. Comparison of Ly-alpha emission fluxes obtained with the IUE satellite with optical Balmer emission fluxes is used to demonstrate that the lines of sight to the centers of these clusters show an average excess reddening E(B-V) about 0.19 above foreground extinction. While some fraction of this may derive from localized extinction in the central (cooling flow) region of the cluster, a substantial portion of this effect should arise from an extended cluster component. The case where this extinction originates in the hot intracluster gas of the cluster halo is considered. Estimates for the corresponding 100-micron infrared emission, assuming grain properties similar to those of interstellar grains, place the expected emission at the about 1/2 Jy level for nearby clusters. Measurements from IRAS pointed mode observations of clusters are consistent with the expected values. These results are used to show that ISO and SIRTF may detect clusters to cosmological distances.

Hu, Esther M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A comparison of modeled and observed intensity profiles for C2, C3, CN, and the continuum for P/Halley

Model intensity profiles have been compared with those observed for the C2, C3, CN, and continuum emissions of Comet Halley, in order to constrain the dust and gas parameters. While most of the parameters were consistent with expected values, the lifetimes of C3 and its parent were unexpectedly small. The day:night production rate ratio, which was about 1:1 for the gas, covered the 4:3-1:0 range in the case of the dust.

Ellis, Tracy A.↗