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At least 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Alfven waves, alpha particles, and pickup ions in the solar wind

Past studies of the properties of Alfven waves in the solar wind have indicated that (1) the amplitude of the velocity fluctuations is almost always smaller than expected on the basis of the amplitude of the field fluctuations, even when the anisotropy of the plasma is taken into account, and (2) the alpha particles do not participate in the wave motions because they 'surf' on the waves carried by the proton fluid. Ulysses data are used to demonstrate that (1) the discrepancy between the velocity and field fluctuations is greater at high heliographic latitudes than in the ecliptic plane, and (2) the alphas do participate in the waves, being either in phase or out of phase with the proton motions depending on whether the differential flow speed between the alphas and protons is greater than or less than the 'observed' wave speed, B(sub o)(delta v squared / delta B squared)exp 1/2, as determined from the ratio of the amplitudes of the velocity and magnetic fluctuations. It is proposed that the modification of Alfven wave propagation speed is due to pressure anisotropies resulting from asymmetric distributions of interstellar pickup ions. If the proposed explanation is correct, it indicates that scattering of pickup ions onto a (bi)spherical shell may not be as complete as generally supposed.

Goldstein, B. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Kinetic effects on Alfven wave nonlinearity. II - The modified nonlinear wave equation

A previously developed Vlasov theory is used here to study the role of resonant particle and other kinetic effects on Alfven wave nonlinearity. A hybrid fluid-Vlasov equation approach is used to obtain a modified version of the derivative nonlinear Schroedinger equation. The differences between a scalar model for the plasma pressure and a tensor model are discussed. The susceptibilty of the modified nonlinear wave equation to modulational instability is studied. The modulational instability normally associated with the derivative nonlinear Schroedinger equation will, under most circumstances, be restricted to left circularly polarized waves. The nonlocal term in the modified nonlinear wave equation engenders a new modulational instability that is independent of beta and the sense of circular polarization. This new instability may explain the occurrence of wave packet steepening for all values of the plasma beta in the vicinity of the earth's bow shock.

Spangler, Steven R.↗
NASA NTRS2014

A Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis of Solid Rocket Motor with Flexible Inhibitors

A capability to couple NASA production CFD code, Loci/CHEM, with CFDRC's structural finite element code, CoBi, has been developed. This paper summarizes the efforts in applying the installed coupling software to demonstrate/investigate fluid-structure interaction (FSI) between pressure wave and flexible inhibitor inside reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM). First a unified governing equation for both fluid and structure is presented, then an Eulerian-Lagrangian framework is described to satisfy the interfacial continuity requirements. The features of fluid solver, Loci/CHEM and structural solver, CoBi, are discussed before the coupling methodology of the solvers is described. The simulation uses production level CFD LES turbulence model with a grid resolution of 80 million cells. The flexible inhibitor is modeled with full 3D shell elements. Verifications against analytical solutions of structural model under steady uniform pressure condition and under dynamic condition of modal analysis show excellent agreements in terms of displacement distribution and eigen modal frequencies. The preliminary coupled result shows that due to acoustic coupling, the dynamics of one of the more flexible inhibitors shift from its first modal frequency to the first acoustic frequency of the solid rocket motor.

Yang, H. Q.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Cryogenic Flow Sensor

An acousto-optic cryogenic flow sensor (CFS) determines mass flow of cryogens for spacecraft propellant management. The CFS operates unobtrusively in a high-pressure, high-flowrate cryogenic environment to provide measurements for fluid quality as well as mass flow rate. Experimental hardware uses an optical plane-of-light (POL) to detect the onset of two-phase flow, and the presence of particles in the flow of water. Acousto-optic devices are used in laser equipment for electronic control of the intensity and position of the laser beam. Acousto-optic interaction occurs in all optical media when an acoustic wave and a laser beam are present. When an acoustic wave is launched into the optical medium, it generates a refractive index wave that behaves like a sinusoidal grating. An incident laser beam passing through this grating will diffract the laser beam into several orders. Its angular position is linearly proportional to the acoustic frequency, so that the higher the frequency, the larger the diffracted angle. If the acoustic wave is traveling in a moving fluid, the fluid velocity will affect the frequency of the traveling wave, relative to a stationary sensor. This frequency shift changes the angle of diffraction, hence, fluid velocity can be determined from the diffraction angle. The CFS acoustic Bragg grating data test indicates that it is capable of accurately determining flow from 0 to 10 meters per second. The same sensor can be used in flow velocities exceeding 100 m/s. The POL module has successfully determined the onset of two-phase flow, and can distinguish vapor bubbles from debris.

Justak, John↗
NASA NTRS1958

The Interaction of a Reflected Shock Wave with the Boundary Layer in a Shock Tube

Ideally, the reflection of a shock from the closed end of a shock tube provides, for laboratory study, a quantity of stationary gas at extremely high temperature. Because of the action of viscosity, however, the flow in the real case is not one-dimensional, and a boundary layer grows in the fluid following the initial shock wave. In this paper simplifying assumptions are made to allow an analysis of the interaction of the shock reflected from the closed end with the boundary layer of the initial shock afterflow. The analysis predicts that interactions of several different types will exist in different ranges of initial shock Mach number. It is shown that the cooling effect of the wall on the afterflow boundary layer accounts for the change in interaction type. An experiment is carried out which verifies the existence of the several interaction regions and shows that they are satisfactorily predicted by the theory. Along with these results, sufficient information is obtained from the experiments to make possible a model for the interaction in the most complicated case. This model is further verified by measurements made during the experiment. The case of interaction with a turbulent boundary layer is also considered. Identifying the type of interaction with the state of turbulence of the interacting boundary layer allows for an estimate of the state of turbulence of the boundary layer based on an experimental investigation of the type of interaction. A method is proposed whereby the effect of the boundary-layer interaction on the strength of the reflected shock may be calculated. The calculation indicates that the reflected shock is rapidly attenuated for a short distance after reflection, and this result compares favorably with available experimental results.

Mark, Herman↗
NASA NTRS1993

A Search of Large Amplitude Waves in Slow Shock in the Distant Tail and an Examination of Wave Turbulence in the Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer

Two fluid simulations predict that switch-off slow shocks should have large amplitude left-hand wave trains downstream of the shock. Recent simulations show that this feature depends on specific plasma parameters, such as Much number and ratio of electron-to-ion temperature. In this study we carefully examine all distant tail crossings using ISEE-3 field and plasma data. We seek large amplitude rotational waves and compare to shock parameters. We also investigate right-hand waves associated with ion beams in the plasma sheet boundary layer. We examine the role of those back-streaming ions from slow shocks in wave generation. Wave mode cascade and parametric decay in these regions also will be studied.

Ho, C. M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Lee waves: Benign and malignant

The flow of an incompressible fluid over an obstacle will produce an oscillation in which buoyancy is the restoring force, called a gravity wave. For disturbances of this scale, the atmosphere may be treated as dynamically incompressible, even though there exists a mean static upward density gradient. Even in the linear approximation - i.e., for small disturbances - this model explains a great many of the flow phenomena observed in the lee of mountains. However, nonlinearities do arise importantly, in three ways: (1) through amplification due to the decrease of mean density with height; (2) through the large (scaled) size of the obstacle, such as a mountain range; and (3) from dynamically singular levels in the fluid field. These effects produce a complicated array of phenomena - large departure of the streamlines from their equilibrium levels, high winds, generation of small scales, turbulence, etc. - that present hazards to aircraft and to lee surface areas. The nonlinear disturbances also interact with the larger-scale flow in such a manner as to impact global weather forecasts and the climatological momentum balance. If there is no dynamic barrier, these waves can penetrate vertically into the middle atmosphere (30-100 km), where recent observations show them to be of a length scale that must involve the coriolis force in any modeling. At these altitudes, the amplitude of the waves is very large, and the phenomena associated with these wave dynamics are being studied with a view to their potential impact on high performance aircraft, including the projected National Aerospace Plane (NASP). The presentation shows the results of analysis and of state-of-the-art numerical simulations, validated where possible by observational data, and illustrated with photographs from nature.

Wurtele, M. G.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Airships for transporting highly volatile commodities

Large airships may prove feasible as carriers of commodities that move as gases or cryogenic liquids; buoyant gaseous cargo could be ballasted with liquid cargo. Airships are compact in shape, operate in a rarified medium, and hence can be fast and perhaps economic carriers of costly cryogenic tanks. The high-pressure gas pipeline has excessive surface area when carrying hydrogen and excessive fluid density when carrying natural gas, while the cryogenic ocean tanker runs in a dense medium and makes gravity waves. But the airship, despite its fluid dynamic advantages, faces problems of safety, weather, and altitude control.

Sonstegaard, M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Homogeneous quantum electrodynamic turbulence

The electromagnetic field equations and Dirac equations for oppositely charged wave functions are numerically time-integrated using a spatial Fourier method. The numerical approach used, a spectral transform technique, is based on a continuum representation of physical space. The coupled classical field equations contain a dimensionless parameter which sets the strength of the nonlinear interaction (as the parameter increases, interaction volume decreases). For a parameter value of unity, highly nonlinear behavior in the time-evolution of an individual wave function, analogous to ideal fluid turbulence, is observed. In the truncated Fourier representation which is numerically implemented here, the quantum turbulence is homogeneous but anisotropic and manifests itself in the nonlinear evolution of equilibrium modal spatial spectra for the probability density of each particle and also for the electromagnetic energy density. The results show that nonlinearly interacting fermionic wave functions quickly approach a multi-mode, dynamic equilibrium state, and that this state can be determined by numerical means.

Shebalin, John V.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Dynamic gravity Probe-B spacecraft due to gravity jitter induced cryogenic helium disturbances in rotating dewar

The dynamical behavior of fluids, in particular the effect of surface tension on partially-filled rotating fluids (cryogenic liquid helium and helium vapor) in a full scale Gravity Probe-B Spacecraft propellant dewar tank imposed by various frequencies of gravity jitters have been investigated. The study shows that slosh waves excited inside the spacecraft propellant tank are characterized by the lowest frequency of the waves initiated, frequencies of the gravity jitters imposed on the propellant system, the levels of background gravity environment, and dewar rotating speeds. Conditions for suppression and amplification of the slosh waves are discussed. It also shows that fluid stress distribution exerted on the walls of the rotating dewar are closely related to the characteristics of slosh waves excited on the liquid-vapor interface in the rotating dewar tank. This can provide a set of data leading toward the control of spacecraft imbalance caused by the uneven fluid stress distribution from slosh waves.

Hung, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Slosh wave excitation of cryogenic liquid helium in gravity Probe-B rotating dewar

The dynamical behavior of fluids, in particular the effect of surface tension on partially-filled rotating fluids (cryogenic liquid helium and helium vapor) in a full scale Gravity Probe-B Spacecraft propellant dewar tank imposed by various frequencies of gravity jitters have been investigated. Fluid stress distribution, caused by the excitation of slosh waves and their associated large amplitude disturbances on the liquid-vapor interface, exerted on the outer and inner walls of rotating dewar container also have been investigated. Results show that fluid stress distribution exerted on the outer and inner walls of rotating dewar are closely related to the characteristics of slosh waves excited on the liquid-vapor interface in the rotating dewar tank.

Hung, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Mechanical energy transport

The properties, generation, and dissipation mechanisms of acoustic, gravity and Alfven waves are described, whose restoring forces are pressure, buoyancy, and magnetic tension, respectively. For acoustic waves, generation by turbulent convective motions and by the Eddington Valve thermal overstability is discussed, considering the 'five-minute' oscillation; dissipation is possible either by radiation or shocks. Generation of gravity waves by penetrative convective motions and by shear arising from supergranule motions is reviewed, and dissipation due to wave breaking, interaction with the mean horizontal fluid flow, and very severe radiative damping is considered. Attention is given to Alfven wave generation by convective motions and thermal overstability, and to dissipation by mode coupling, wave decay, current dissipation, and particle collisions producing Joule or viscous heating.

Stein, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis of Solid Rocket Motor with Flexible Inhibitors

Flexible inhibitors are generally used in solid rocket motors (SRMs) as a means to control the burning of propellant. Vortices generated by the flow of propellant around the flexible inhibitors have been identified as a driving source of instabilities that can lead to thrust oscillations in launch vehicles. Potential coupling between the SRM thrust oscillations and structural vibration modes is an important risk factor in launch vehicle design. As a means to predict and better understand these phenomena, a multidisciplinary simulation capability that couples the NASA production CFD code, Loci/CHEM, with CFDRC's structural finite element code, CoBi, has been developed. This capability is crucial to the development of NASA's new space launch system (SLS). This paper summarizes the efforts in applying the coupled software to demonstrate and investigate fluid-structure interaction (FSI) phenomena between pressure waves and flexible inhibitors inside reusable solid rocket motors (RSRMs). The features of the fluid and structural solvers are described in detail, and the coupling methodology and interfacial continuity requirements are then presented in a general Eulerian-Lagrangian framework. The simulations presented herein utilize production level CFD with hybrid RANS/LES turbulence modeling and grid resolution in excess of 80 million cells. The fluid domain in the SRM is discretized using a general mixed polyhedral unstructured mesh, while full 3D shell elements are utilized in the structural domain for the flexible inhibitors. Verifications against analytical solutions for a structural model under a steady uniform pressure condition and under dynamic modal analysis show excellent agreement in terms of displacement distribution and eigenmode frequencies. The preliminary coupled results indicate that due to acoustic coupling, the dynamics of one of the more flexible inhibitors shift from its first modal frequency to the first acoustic frequency of the solid rocket motor. This insight could have profound implications for SRM and flexible inhibitor designs for current and future launch vehicles including SLS.

Yang, H. Q.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The strong nonlinear interaction of Tollmien-Schlichting waves and Taylor-Goertler vortices in curved channel flow

Viscous fluid flows with curved streamlines can support both centrifugal and viscous traveling wave instabilities. Here the interaction of these instabilities in the context of the fully developed flow in a curved channel is discussed. The viscous (Tollmein-Schlichting) instability is described asymptotically at high Reynolds numbers and it is found that it can induce a Taylor-Goertler flow even at extremely small amplitudes. In this interaction, the Tollmein-Schlichting wave can drive a vortex state with wavelength either comparable with the channel width or the wavelength of lower branch viscous modes. The nonlinear equations which describe these interactions are solved for nonlinear equilibrium states.

Bennett, J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Lee waves, benign and malignant

The flow of an incompressible, stratified fluid over an obstacle will produce an oscillation in which buoyancy is the restoring force, called a gravity wave. For disturbances of this scale, the atmosphere may be treated as incompressible; and even the linear approximation will explain many of the phenomena observed in the lee of mountains. However, nonlinearities arise in two ways: (1) through the large (scaled) size of the mountain, and (2) from dynamically singular levels in the fluid field. These produce a complicated array of phenomena that present hazards to aircraft and to lee surface areas. If there is no dynamic barrier, these waves can penetrate vertically into the middle atmosphere (30-100 km attitude), where recent observations show them to be of a length scale that must involve the Coriolis force in any modeling. At these altitudes, the amplitude of the waves is very large, and the waves are studied with a view to their potential impact on the projected National Aerospace Plane. This paper presents the results of analyses and state-of-the-art numerical simulations, validated where possible by observational data.

Wurtele, M. G.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Effect of the baffle on the spacecraft fluid propellant viscous stress and moment fluctuations

The dynamical behavior of fluids affected by asymmetric gravity jitter oscillations, in particular the effect of surface tension on rotating fluids in a partially filled dewar tank imposed by time-dependent directions of background gravity have been investigated. Results show that a lower frequency gravity jitter imposed on the time-dependent variations of the direction of background gravity induced a greater amplitude of oscillations and a stronger degree of asymmetry in liquid-vapor interface geometry than that caused by higher-frequency gravity jitter. As viscous force between liquid and solid interface greatly contributes to the damping effect of slosh wave excitation, a rotating dewar with installed baffle provides more areas of liquid-solid interface than a rotating dewar without baffle. Damping by baffle reduces the amplitude of slosh wave excitation, angular momentum, and fluid moment fluctuation and lowers the degree of asymmetry in the liquid-vapor distribution.

Hung, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Momentum and energy transport by waves in the solar atmosphere and solar wind

The fluid equations for the solar wind are presented in a form which includes the momentum and energy flux of waves in a general and consistent way. The concept of conservation of wave action is introduced and is used to derive expressions for the wave energy density as a function of heliocentric distance. The explicit form of the terms due to waves in both the momentum and energy equations are given for radially propagating acoustic, Alfven, and fast mode waves. The effect of waves as a source of momentum is explored by examining the critical points of the momentum equation for isothermal spherically symmetric flow. We find that the principal effect of waves on the solutions is to bring the critical point closer to the sun's surface and to increase the Mach number at the critical point. When a simple model of dissipation is included for acoustic waves, in some cases there are multiple critical points.

Jacques, S. A.↗