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At least 253 records · Page 14

Noise Radiation from a Continuous Mold-Line Link Flap Configuration

The results of an experimental study of the noise from a Continuous Mold-Line Link (CML) flap are presented. Acoustic and unsteady surface pressure measurements were performed on a main element wing section with a half-span CML flap in NASA Langley s Quiet Flow Facility. The acoustic data were acquired with a medium aperture directional array (MADA) of microphones. The Deconvolution Approach for the Mapping of Acoustic Sources (DAMAS) method is applied to determine the spatial distribution and strength of the noise sources over the surface of the test model. A Coherent Output Power (COP) method which relates the output from unsteady surface pressure sensors to the output of the MADA is also used to obtain more detailed characteristics of the noise source distribution in the trailing edge region of the CML. These results are compared to those obtained for a blunt flap to quantify the level of noise benefit that is achieved with the CML flap. The results indicate that the noise from the CML region of the flap is 5 to 17 dB lower (depending on flap deflection and Mach number) than the noise from the side edge region of the blunt flap. Lower noise levels are obtained for all frequencies. Spectral analysis of the noise from the cove region of the CML and blunt flap models also reveal a spectral peak in the high frequency range that is related to noise scattering at the trailing edge of the main element. The peaks in the CML and blunt flap cove noise spectra are close in level and often exceed blunt side edge noise. Applying a strip of serrated tape to the trailing edge of the CML flap model main airfoil reduced the peak but increased other noise somewhat. Directivity measurements show that the CML flap can be more directional than the blunt flap.

Hutcheson, Florence V.↗

Future Nuisance Flooding in Norfolk, VA, From Astronomical Tides and Annual to Decadal Internal Climate Variability

Abstract Increasing sea level rise will lead to more instances of nuisance flooding along the Virginia coastline in the coming decades, causing road closures and deteriorating infrastructure. These minor flood events can be caused by astronomical tides alone, in addition to internal climate variability on annual to decadal timescales. An assessment of nuisance flooding from these two effects is presented up until the year2050 for Norfolk, Virginia. The analysis of water levels indicates that nuisance flooding from tides alone in conjunction with a medium-high sea level scenario will result in flooding beginning in 2030 with frequency increasing thereafter. The addition of climate variability, by use of an empirical mode decomposition, leads to a substantial increase of flooding relative to the tides-alone analysis and shows flood events beginning as soon as 2020. High tides in the future will produce nuisance flooding without the need of other drivers such as coastal storms.

Burgos, A. G.↗

Analysis of propulsion system dynamics in the validation of a high-order state space model of the UH-60

Frequency responses generated from a high-order linear model of the UH-60 Black Hawk have shown that the propulsion system influences significantly the vertical and yaw dynamics of the aircraft at frequencies important to high-bandwidth control law designs. The inclusion of the propulsion system comprises the latest step in the development of a high-order linear model of the UH-60 that models additionally the dynamics of the fuselage, rotor, and inflow. A complete validation study of the linear model is presented in the frequency domain for both on-axis and off-axis coupled responses in the hoverflight condition, and on-axis responses for forward speeds of 80 and 120 knots.

Kim, Frederick D.↗

Submillimeter Planetary Atmospheric Chemistry Exploration Sounder

Planetary Atmospheric Chemistry Exploration Sounder (SPACES), a high-sensitivity laboratory breadboard for a spectrometer targeted at orbital planetary atmospheric analysis. The frequency range is 520 to 590 GHz, with a target noise temperature sensitivity of 2,500 K for detecting water, sulfur compounds, carbon compounds, and other atmospheric constituents. SPACES is a prototype for a powerful tool for the exploration of the chemistry and dynamics of any planetary atmosphere. It is fundamentally a single-pixel receiver for spectral signals emitted by the relevant constituents, intended to be fed by a fixed or movable telescope/antenna. Its front-end sensor translates the received signal down to the 100-MHz range where it can be digitized and the data transferred to a spectrum analyzer for processing, spectrum generation, and accumulation. The individual microwave and submillimeter wave components (mixers, LO high-powered amplifiers, and multipliers) of SPACES were developed in cooperation with other programs, although with this type of instrument in mind. Compared to previous planetary and Earth science instruments, its broad bandwidth (approx. =.13%) and rapid tunability (approx. =.10 ms) are new developments only made possible recently by the advancement in submillimeter circuit design and processing at JPL.

Schlecht, Erich T.↗

Water Flow Testing and Unsteady Pressure Analysis of a Two-Bladed Liquid Oxidizer Pump Inducer

The unsteady fluid dynamic performance of a cavitating two-bladed oxidizer turbopump inducer was characterized through sub-scale water flow testing. While testing a novel inlet duct design that included a cavitation suppression groove, unusual high-frequency pressure oscillations were observed. With potential implications for inducer blade loads, these high-frequency components were analyzed extensively in order to understand their origins and impacts to blade loading. Water flow testing provides a technique to determine pump performance without the costs and hazards associated with handling cryogenic propellants. Water has a similar density and Reynolds number to liquid oxygen. In a 70%-scale water flow test, the inducer-only pump performance was evaluated. Over a range of flow rates, the pump inlet pressure was gradually reduced, causing the flow to cavitate near the pump inducer. A nominal, smooth inducer inlet was tested, followed by an inlet duct with a circumferential groove designed to suppress cavitation. A subsequent 52%-scale water flow test in another facility evaluated the combined inducer-impeller pump performance. With the nominal inlet design, the inducer showed traditional cavitation and surge characteristics. Significant bearing loads were created by large side loads on the inducer during synchronous cavitation. The grooved inlet successfully mitigated these loads by greatly reducing synchronous cavitation, however high-frequency pressure oscillations were observed over a range of frequencies. Analytical signal processing techniques showed these oscillations to be created by a rotating, multi-celled train of pressure pulses, and subsequent CFD analysis suggested that such pulses could be created by the interaction of rotating inducer blades with fluid trapped in a cavitation suppression groove. Despite their relatively low amplitude, these high-frequency pressure oscillations posed a design concern due to their sensitivity to flow conditions and test scale. The amplitude and frequency of oscillations varied considerably over the pump s operating space, making it difficult to predict blade loads.

Schwarz, Jordan B.↗

Noise generated by convected gusts interacting with swept airfoil cascades

An analysis is developed for the noise generated by the interaction of a rotor viscous wake with a cascade of swept stator vanes. The stator vanes span a channel formed by infinite parallel walls and containing a subsonic mean flow. High frequency interactions, for which the noise generation is concentrated at the vane leading edge, are considered. The analysis utilizes a superposition of the solution to the isolated stator vane problem, presented in an earlier paper, to develop an approximate solution to the cascade problem. The rotor wake model includes the features of wake circumferential lean and a linear spanwise variation of the magnitude of the wake deficit velocity. Calculations are presented which show that, for rotor wakes with moderate circumferential lean, stator sweep produces substantial reductions in noise level. The vane sweep must be oriented to enhance the phase lags along the vane leading edge produced by wake lean. The noise levels are found to be fairly insensitive to spanwise variations in the wake deficit.

Envia, E.↗

Flow induced vibrations in the SSME injector heads

A description is given of the flowfield in the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) powerhead, the mechanisms which control flow-induced vibrations, and previous experimental work. An in-depth description is given of the development phase of the program , which includes the analysis, design, and fabrication of liquid oxygen (LOX) posts models used in the experimental phase, as well as test facilities, equipment, and procedures used. Also covered is the experimental data analysis, which includes overall steady state powerhead flowfield as well as the high frequency response of the LOX posts.

Lepore, Frank A.↗

Thick plate bending wave transmission using a mobility power flow approach

The mobility power flow (MPF) approach is used in this paper to describe the flexural behavior of an L-shaped plate structure consisting of thick plates with rotary inertia and shear deformation effects included in the analysis. The introduction of the thick plate effects significantly increases the complexity of the structural mobility functions used in the definitions of the power flow terms; however, because of the substructuring that is used in the MPF approach, the complexity of the problem is significantly reduced as compared to solving for the global structure. Additionally, with the MPF approach the modal behavior is described. The MPF analysis of the L-shaped plate is performed for the case of point force excitation on one plate, with the two plates being identical in both size and thickness. The results of this analysis are compared to results from the finite-element analysis (FEA) and the statistical energy analysis (SEA) and show very good agreement in the low- and high-frequency regimes, respectively.

Mccollum, M. D.↗

Wavelength tunable liquid crystal imaging filters for remote sensing from geosynchronous platforms

Recent advances in liquid crystal technology have enabled us to construct tunable birefringent filters with bandwidths between approximately 0.1 nm and 50 nm. The center wavelength of these filters can be selected electronically, in a few tens of milliseconds, with no moving parts. These liquid crystal tunable filters (LCTF's), together with existing CCD detectors, make possible a new generation of lightweight, rugged, high-resolution imaging spectrophotometers. Such instruments would be particularly interesting for remote sensing applications from geosynchronous platforms. Important advantages exist in the aperture, absence of image shift, power consumption, size, weight, and absence of high drive frequencies, compared to current instruments used or considered for multispectral scene analysis. In the present work, we have reviewed spectral requirements of planned NASA geosynchronous remote sensing missions and identified several applications of the liquid crystal tunable filter technology. We have modeled the LCTF performance in the visible and near-infrared, and carried out a literature study on space-hardening of the filter components, to evaluate the suitability of LCTF's for geosynchronous missions. We have also compared the power consumption, weight, size, reliability, and optical performance of an imaging spectrophotometer using a LCTF monochromator, to other instruments that have been put forward for remote sensing from geosynchronous platforms. We put forward some conceptual designs for LCTF's that seem to offer important reliability, over the mechanical filter wheels presently baselined for the HEPI and ALM experiments. The extremely wide acceptance angle achievable with LCTF's could also avoid the present need for large-aperture interference filters in the ALM (and LIS) experiments. Thermal vacuum testing and radiation damage analysis is required to investigate the space hardening of these new filters for geosynchronous flight.

Foukal, Peter↗

Ground based studies of thermocapillary flows in levitated drops

Analytical studies along with ground-based experiments are presently being carried out in connection with thermocapillary phenomena associated with drops and bubbles in a containerless environment. The effort here focuses on the thermal and the fluid phenomena associated with the local heating of acoustically levitated drops, both at 1-g and at low-g. In particular, the Marangoni effect on drops under conditions of local spot-heating and other types of heating are being studied. With the experiments conducted to date, fairly stable acoustic levitation of drops has been achieved and successful flow visualization by light scattering from smoke particles has been carried out. The results include situations with and without heating. As a preliminary qualitative interpretation of these experimental results, we consider the external flow pattern as a superposition of three discrete circulation cells operating on different spatial scales. The observations of the flow fields also indicate the existence of a steady state torque induced by the streaming flows. The theoretical studies have been concentrated on the analysis of streaming flows in a gaseous medium with the presence of a spherical particle undergoing periodic heating. A matched asymptotic analysis was carried out for small parameters derived from approximations in the high frequency range. The heating frequency being 'in tune' with the acoustic frequency results in a nonzero time-averaged thermal field. This leads to a steady heat flow across the equatorial plane of the sphere.

Sadhal, Satwindar Singh↗

A new approach to estimating rainwater content by radar using propagation differential phase shift

As microwaves propagate through rain, the rate of phase change with increasing distance is different depending upon whether the transmissions are polarized horizontally or vertically. This rate of change is the so-called specific propagation differential phase shift phi(sub DP). This paper demonstrates that at several frequencies and over a wide domain the ratio of phi(sub DP) to the rainwater content W is nearly linearly related to D(sub m), the mass-weighted mean drop size. An investigation of errors indicates that this new approach is likely to yield more accurate estimates of W than the other classical reflectivity factor Z, attenuation, or polarization techniques. The most accurate estimates of W are most likely at the highest frequency considered, 13.80 GHz. In lieu of such high-frequency measurements, these somewhat esoteric results are made more concrete through an analysis of 3-GHz radar measurements collected during the Convection and Precipitation Experiment in a tropical rainstorm in Florida. Among the principal advantages of using phi(sub DP) to measure rain are that an absolute calibration of the radar is no longer required and the estimates are decoupled from measurements of the radar reflectivity factor. Consequently, temporal and spatial structures of rain estimates do not simply mimic those of the reflectivity factor, as happens for classical estimation techniques using Z.

Jameson, A. R.↗

Materials and Device Optimization for High Power SiGe HBT Amplifiers at X-Band Frequencies

The driving force behind SiGe development is the potential for high frequency and high power devices that provide comparable functionality as more expensive semiconductors such as InP and GaAs, but at a much lower cost. Additional advantages are the potential for incorporating SiGe devices onto monolithic Si chips and fabricating entire systems, such as receiver front-ends or RF power amplifiers, on a single chip. The work reported in this paper summarizes the materials and simulation aspects of a much larger project, which will eventually lead to SiGe HBT amplifiers with output powers greater than 1 W and over 35 dB gain at X-band frequencies. To achieve these goals, accurate analysis of the materials properties, especially in the base region, and highly refined amplifier design procedures must be established. In this paper we report the precision that may be obtained using optical ellipsometry to monitor the base and emitter thicknesses and Ge content of the base. We also report the extent of crystalline degradation in state-of-the-art SiGe films with high Ge contents. The objective of this work is to access the materials quality of HBT structures, and then use this data to model how various defects impact device performance, and which defects are most likely to limit high power and/or high frequency performance.

Mueller, C. H.↗

Numerical Study of Pressure Fluctuations due to High-Speed Turbulent Boundary Layers

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) are used to examine the pressure fluctuations generated by fully developed turbulence in supersonic turbulent boundary layers with an emphasis on both pressure fluctuations at the wall and the acoustic fluctuations radiated into the freestream. The wall and freestream pressure fields are first analyzed for a zero pressure gradient boundary layer with Mach 2.5 and Reynolds number based on momentum thickness of approximately 2835. The single and multi-point statistics reported include the wall pressure fluctuation intensities, frequency spectra, space-time correlations, and convection velocities. Single and multi-point statistics of surface pressure fluctuations show good agreement with measured data and previously published simulations of turbulent boundary layers under similar flow conditions. Spectral analysis shows that the acoustic fluctuations outside the boundary layer region have much lower energy content within the high-frequency region. The space-time correlations reflect the convective nature of the pressure field both at the wall and in the freestream, which is characterized by the downstream propagation of pressure-carrying eddies. Relative to those at the wall, the pressure-carrying eddies associated with the freestream signal are larger and convect at a significantly lower speed. The preliminary DNS results of a Mach 6 boundary layer show that the pressure rms in the freestream region is significantly higher than that of the lower Mach number case.

Duan, Lian↗

Nonlinear structural and life analyses of a turbine blade

The most critical structural requirements that aircraft gas turbine engines must meet result from the diversity of extreme environmental conditions in the turbine section components. Accurate life assessment of the components under these conditions requires sound analytical tools and techniques. The utility of advanced structural analysis techniques and advanced life prediction techniques in the life assessment of hot-section components was evaluated. The extend to which a three-dimensional cyclic isoparametric finite element analysis of a hot-section component would improve the accuracy of component life predictions was assessed. At the same time, high temperature life prediction theories such as strainrange partitioning and the frequency modified approaches were applied and their efficiency judged. A stress analysis was performed on a commercial air-cooled turbine blade. The evaluation of the life prediction methods indicated that none of those studied were satisfactory.

Kaufman, A.↗

Design of elastomer dampers for a high-speed flexible rotor

This paper describes the methods used to design elastomerically damped supports for high-speed, flexible rotor-bearing systems. The procedure consists of using a damped natural frequency analysis to identify stiffness and damping requirements for the supports over the speed range. Optimum values for these coefficients are found and unbalance response analysis is used to calculate expected rotor behavior. Equations for calculating the shear and compressive stiffness and damping of button-type elastomer mounts are given, as is a procedure for their application to the design of the elastomeric mounts. These techniques were successfully applied to the design of damped elastomeric supports for a high-speed rotor, which traverses two bending critical speeds. Results of the testing showed that the rotor was well behaved and showed linear response to unbalance. Measured modal damping exceeded expectations and tests were conducted with both high- and low-loss elastomers, enabling the exploration of the practical range of elastomer damping capability.

Tecza, J. A.↗

Acousto-ultrasonic verification of the strength of filament wound composite material

The concept of acousto-ultrasonic (AU) waveform partitioning was applied to nondestructive evaluation of mechanical properties in filament wound composites (FWC). A series of FWC test specimens were subjected to AU analysis and the results were compared with destructively measured interlaminar shear strengths (ISS). AU stress-wave factor (SWF) measurements gave greater than 90 percent correlation coefficient upon regression against the ISS. This high correlation was achieved by employing the appropriate time and frequency domain partitioning as dictated by wave propagation path analysis. There is indication that different SWF frequency partitions are sensitive to ISS at different depths below the surface.

Kautz, H. E.↗

A high-frequency servosystem for fuel control in hypersonic engines

A hydrogen fuel-flow valve with an electrohydraulic servosystem is described. An analysis of the servosystem is presented along with a discussion of the limitations imposed on system performance by nonlinearities. The response of the valve to swept-frequency inputs is experimentally determined and compared with analytical results obtained from a computer model. The valve is found to perform favorably for frequencies up to 200 Hz.

Simon, Donald L.↗

High Intensity Modal Impedance Tube Development at NASA Langley

A High Intensity Modal Impedance Tube (HIMIT) was developed for evaluation of acoustic liners in a normal incidence, high sound pressure level (SPL), and high frequency environment. Capabilities of the HIMIT are demonstrated here by testing three classes of acoustic liners: a narrow chamber liner, conventional single degree of freedom liners, and over-the-rotor liners. The experimental results are compared to results in NASA Langley's Normal Incidence Tube (NIT) for validation. The Zwikker and Kosten Transmission Line (ZKTL) model is also compared to the HIMIT results for selected configurations to study its applicability at high SPLs and frequencies. The HIMIT and NIT impedance spectra compare favorably up to 3.0 kHz, which is the upper frequency limit of the NIT analysis. The ZKTL model was used at frequencies up to 6.0 kHz and showed great comparison for the entire frequency range tested, indicating that the model may be used at high frequencies when the plane wave mode is dominant.

Chelsea Solano↗