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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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Algorithm provides for automatic input data preparation for the analysis of continuous domains in the fields of structural analysis, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics. The computer program utilizes the natural coordinate systems concept and the finite element method for data generation.
The problem of generating local mesh refinements when solving time dependent partial differential equations was examined. The problem of creating an appropriate grid, given a mesh function h defined over the spatial domain is discussed. A data structure which permits efficient use of the resulting grid is described. A good choice for h is an estimate of the local truncation error, and several ways to estimate it are discussed. The efficiency and implementation problems of these error estimates were compared.
Jupiter's low frequency radio emission morphology as observed by the Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) instrument onboard the Voyager spacecraft is reviewed. The PRA measurement capabilities and limitations are summarized following over two years of experience with the instrument. As a direct consequence of the PRA spacecraft observations, unprecedented in terms of their sensitivity and frequency coverage, at least three previous unrecognized emission components were discovered: broadband and narrow band kilometric emission and the lesser arc decametric emission. Their properties are reviewed. In addition, the fundamental structure of the decameter and hectometer wavelength emission, which is believed to be almost exclusively in the form of complex but repeating arc structures in the frequency time domain, is described. Dramatic changes in the emission morphology of some components as a function of Sun-Jupiter-spacecraft angle (local time) are described. Finally, the PRA in suit measurements of the Io plasma torus hot to cold electron density and temperature ratios are summarized.
A unified approach is introduced using system realization theory to derive and correlate modal parameter identification methods for flexible structures. Several different time-domain and frequency-domain methods are analyzed and treated. A basic mathematical foundation is presented which provides insight into the field of modal parameter identification for comparison and evaluation. The relation among various existing methods is established and discussed. This report serves as a starting point to stimulate additional research towards the unification of the many possible approaches for modal parameter identification.
A unified approach is introduced using system-realization theory to derive and correlate modal-parameter-identification methods for flexible structures. Several different time-domain methods are analyzed and treated. A basic mathematical foundation is presented which provides insight into the field of modal-parameter identification for comparison and evaluation. The relation among various existing methods is established and discussed. This report serves as a starting point to stimulate additional research toward the unification of the many possible approaches for modal-parameter identification.
The authors present a technique for structural abstraction applicable to the domain of pressurized hydraulic systems. Valves, when closed, functionally isolate clusters of components; when opened, neighboring clusters are merged. A cluster can only be in the one of two qualitative states-stable, where pressures are equal throughout and no flow occurs, or unstable, where flow from high-pressure source(s) to low-pressure sink(s) occurs. Reasoning in terms of clusters is shown to facilitate the generation and explanation of plans for operating and troubleshooting hydraulic systems.
The advantages of designing control systems for large space structures (LSS) using frequency-domain models extracted from empirical time data are discussed. Techniques for performing MIMO system identification from test data are presented as well as techniques for improving the performance of the system identification process in the presence of noise. The utility of the proposed system identification scheme is demonstrated on the basis of experimental data obtained at the LSS Ground Test Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center.
A new integration algorithm which has the simplicity of Euler integration but exhibits second-order accuracy is described. In fixed-step numerical integration of differential equations for mechanical dynamic systems the method represents displacement and acceleration variables at integer step times and velocity variables at half-integer step times. Asymptotic accuracy of the algorithm is twice that of trapezoidal integration and ten times that of second-order Adams-Bashforth integration. The algorithm is also compatible with real-time inputs when used for a real-time simulation. It can be used to produce simulation outputs at double the integration frame rate, i.e., at both half-integer and integer frame times, even though it requires only one evaluation of state-variable derivatives per integration step. The new algorithm is shown to be especially effective in the simulation of lightly-damped structural modes. Both time-domain and frequency-domain accuracy comparisons with traditional integration methods are presented. Stability of the new algorithm is also examined.
In high temperature superconductor (HTSC) materials the vortices are highly mobile and flexible. This is reflected in different models of melt of a vortex lattice. Another aspect of the problem is stressed: an easy nucleation and high mobility of dislocations in the vortex lattice. Some models of plastic deformation of vortex lattice are considered as a result of its interaction with a real crystal structure. Depinning is interpreted as yield of plastic flow is vortex medium. Effect of macroscopic defects in crystal structures (pores, inclusions, grain and domain boundaries) is being considered in detail. Available experimental facts on magnetization and a critical current in HTSC and conventional superconductors are discussed from the points of view of depinning to vortices vs. plastic flow of vortices vs. plastic flow of vortices medium.
A finite element absorbing boundary condition (FE-ABC) solution of the scattering by arbitrary 3-D structures is considered. The computational domain is discretized using edge-based tetrahedral elements. In contrast to the node-based elements, edge elements can treat geometries with sharp edges, are divergence-less, and easily satisfy the field continuity condition across dielectric interfaces. They do, however, lead to a higher unknown count but this is balanced by the greater sparsity of the resulting finite element matrix. Thus, the computation time required to solve such a system iteratively with a given degree of accuracy is less than the traditional node-based approach. The purpose is to examine the derivation and performance of the ABC's when applied to 2-D and 3-D problems and to discuss the specifics of our FE-ABC implementation.
A matrix methodology similar to that of the finite element method is developed for the analysis of stress waves in layered solids. Because the mass distribution is modeled exactly, the approach gives the exact frequency response of each layer. The fast Fourier transform and Fourier series are used for inversion to the time/space domain. The impact of a structured medium with multiple layers is used to demonstrate the method. Comparison with existing propagator and direct global matrix methods show the present approach to be computationally more efficient.
Under the support of this Cooperative Agreement, computations of transonic flow past the complex forebody/inlet configuration of the AV-8B Harrier II have been performed. The actual aircraft configuration was measured and its surface and surrounding domain were defined using computational structured grids. The thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations were used to model the flow along with the Chimera embedded multi-grid technique. A fully conservative, alternating direction implicit (ADI), approximately-factored, partially flux-split algorithm was employed to perform the computation. An existing code was altered to conform with the needs of the study, and some special engine face boundary conditions were developed. The algorithm incorporated the Chimera technique and an algebraic turbulence model in order to deal with the embedded multi-grids and viscous governing equations. Comparison with experimental data has yielded good agreement for the simplifications incorporated into the analysis. The aim of the present research was to provide a methodology for the numerical solution of complex, combined external/internal flows. This is the first time-dependent Navier-Stokes solution for a geometry in which the fuselage and inlet share a wall. The results indicate the methodology used here is a viable tool for transonic aircraft modeling.
The differentiation matrix for a Daubechies-based wavelet basis is constructed and superconvergence is proven. That is, it will be proven that under the assumption of periodic boundary conditions that the differentiation matrix is accurate of order 2M, even though the approximation subspace can represent exactly only polynomials up to degree M-1, where M is the number of vanishing moments of the associated wavelet. It is illustrated that Daubechies-based wavelet methods are equivalent to finite difference methods with grid refinement in regions of the domain where small-scale structure is present.
This project is a continuation of the work performed in the summers of 1991 and 1992, during which a 9-block structured grid for the computational domain around each of the four NTF 65-degree Delta Wing models with the sting mount were created. The objective of the project is to validate and supplement the test data on the wing models by computing the viscous flow field about the models.
Computational algorithms for structural analysis on parallel-vector supercomputers are reviewed. These parallel algorithms, developed by the authors, are for the assembly of structural equations, 'out-of-core' strategies for linear equation solution, massively distributed-memory equation solution, unsymmetric equation solution, general eigen-solution, geometrically nonlinear finite element analysis, design sensitivity analysis for structural dynamics, optimization algorithm and domain decomposition. The source code for many of these algorithms is available from NASA Langley.
A Bayesian analysis of photon-counting data leads to a new time-domain algorithm for detecting localized structures (bursts), revealing pulse shapes, and generally characterizing intensity variations. The raw counting data -- time-tag events (TTE), time-to-spill (TTS) data, or binned counts -- is converted to a maximum likelihood segmentation of the observation into time intervals during which the photon arrival rate is perceptibly constant -- i.e. has a fixed intensity without statistically significant variations. The resulting structures, Bayesian Blocks, can be thought of as bins with arbitrary spacing determined by the data. The method itself sets no lower limit to the time scale on which variability can be detected. We have applied the method to RXTE data on Cyg X-1, yielding information on this source's short-time-scale variability.
Aeroelastic stability and control derivatives for the X-56A Multi-Utility Technology Testbed (MUTT), in the stiff-wing configuration, were estimated from flight test data using the output-error method. Practical aspects of the analysis are discussed. The orthogonal phase-optimized multisine inputs provided excellent data information for aeroelastic modeling. Consistent parameter estimates were determined using output error in both the frequency and time domains. The frequency domain analysis converged faster and was less sensitive to starting values for the model parameters, which was useful for determining the aeroelastic model structure and obtaining starting values for the time domain analysis. Including a modal description of the structure from a finite element model reduced the complexity of the estimation problem and improved the modeling results. Effects of reducing the model order on the short period stability and control derivatives were investigated.
Motivated by NASA's need for high-assurance software, NASA Ames' Amphion project has developed a generic program generation system based on deductive synthesis. Amphion has a number of advantages, such as the ability to develop a new synthesis system simply by writing a declarative domain theory. However, as a practical matter, the validation of the domain theory for such a system is problematic because the link between generated programs and the domain theory is complex. As a result, when generated programs do not behave as expected, it is difficult to isolate the cause, whether it be an incorrect problem specification or an error in the domain theory. This paper describes a tool we are developing that provides formal traceability between specifications and generated code for deductive synthesis systems. It is based on extensive instrumentation of the refutation-based theorem prover used to synthesize programs. It takes augmented proof structures and abstracts them to provide explanations of the relation between a specification, a domain theory, and synthesized code. In generating these explanations, the tool exploits the structure of Amphion domain theories, so the end user is not confronted with the intricacies of raw proof traces. This tool is crucial for the validation of domain theories as well as being important in everyday use of the code synthesis system. It plays an important role in validation because when generated programs exhibit incorrect behavior, it provides the links that can be traced to identify errors in specifications or domain theory. It plays an important role in the everyday use of the synthesis system by explaining to users what parts of a specification or of the domain theory contribute to what pieces of a generated program. Comments are inserted into the synthesized code that document these explanations.